This game is impossible to enjoy

[Lines]

This thread is marked as hot right now.

 

Seems appropriate.

[AboveTheChemist]

20 minutes ago, Nafsmar said:

From my recollection hot water does take the itch away for a while.

Hot water (as hot as I can stand) has worked well for me in reducing the itchiness of a poison ivy rash. A former co-worker was extremely allergic to poison ivy and he started using a product called Oral Ivy which seemed to work quite well for him.

[Luminara]

2 minutes ago, Lines said:

This thread is marked as hot right now.

 

Seems appropriate.

 

Hot and itchy is appropriate?

I'm trying to figure out whether you're making a veiled reference to your kinks, or a veiled reference to something you picked up from a date.  Or both.  Veils!  Veils everywhere!

[Lines]

Just now, Luminara said:

 

Hot and itchy is appropriate?

I'm trying to figure out whether you're making a veiled reference to your kinks, or a veiled reference to something you picked up from a date.  Or both.  Veils!  Veils everywhere!

I associate plant stings with burning feelings.

 

But, I mean, not denying that second thing. ¬_¬

[Nemeroff]

"Take a bath. And wrap a hot towel around your head." Ferris Bueller's dad.

[Luminara]

5 minutes ago, Lines said:

I associate plant stings with burning feelings.

 

Nettles.  I had my first encounter with nettles this spring.  Grabbed the stalk to pull one out of the ground... it took an hour for the burning to stop.  Damn jellyfish plants, that's what they are.

 

There's also something out here with tiny thorns.  They lodge under the skin and dig into the flesh, but they're so small that the only way to remove them is with a needle or a knife.  I hate those more than I hate nettles, and almost as much as I hate poison ivy.

[Frostbiter]

Have you considered learning how to avoid the dangerous flora and fauna? 😛

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Frostbiter

[Luminara]

1 minute ago, Frostbiter said:

Have you considered learning how to avoid the dangerous flora and fauna? 😛

 

 

I avoid it when I can.  I can't always.  Sometimes what needs to be done isn't something I particularly want to do, but I still do it.

 

My encounters with animals and insects have been considerably better.  They like me.  Except the black widow that bit me... but that was three years ago and I'm positive the other black widows like me.

 

[Luminara]

It occurs to me that this situation is being exacerbated the fact that my fingers break out in hives when I'm stressed.

 

Poison ivy is very stressful.

 

I'm on my third application of diphenhydramine HCL (the active ingredient in Twhatever.  i bought the generic ointment, because i make less money in a month than someone on minimum wage makes in a week).  The itching isn't abating.  The swelling hasn't gone down.  My left palm looks like a spiky ball pet toy.

 

I'm going to take another 1000mg of ibuprofin and try the hydrocortisone ointment that I also picked up when I went shopping.

 

And if that doesn't work, I'll try the chainsaw.

[Jolly Ogre]

get some Diphenhydramine 25 mg as an IM injection and do a prednisone taper and you will be fine.

[Doomguide2005]

This thread is really making me want to move to say the Arctic or something.  If the Murder Hornets and Fuzzy Puss Caterpillars don't get me first the plant life will ... planet is trying to kill us before we kill it I'm certain. 

[Luminara]

11 minutes ago, Frostbiter said:

I feel like I should start identifying poisonous snakes for you or something.

 

No need.  The copperhead is the only dangerous snake where I live.  There are no rattlesnakes in this part of the state, and the next runner-up is a comparatively harmless water snake.  Three live in my stream.  One of them lives in my water hole, and she never minded me being within 12" of her.  She was aware of me, but not aggressive.

 

We've also got some absolutely adorable worm snakes.  Last autumn, I found an itsy bitsy ring-necked snake (it's body was no thicker than a 2B pencil lead, and it was only about 4" long).  This summer, I found a hog-nosed snake... that was freaking awesome.  Mostly, it's just black racers and rat snakes, though.  They're moderately aggressive, but all they can really do is break the skin.

 

As far as dangerous animals go, I've got very little to worry about.  I've been within 20' of the bear who lives just south of my cabin.  It runs away when it sees me.  Couple of grey foxes, one of them came right up to the porch and let me talk to it for half an hour.  Red fox that trotted along the path in front of me, completely nonplussed by my presence.  There are some other spiders out here, various orb weavers (absolutely gorgeous, too), but none of them have venom fatal to humans.  I even had four does standing about 15' from my cabin this spring.  I didn't notice them until I finished making baby noises at Jessica and turned to step off of the porch.  They all stared at me for a few seconds, then slowly turned and ambled back into the woods... like, "Ooooooookay... going the other way now so we don't have to talk to the weird person."

 

Copperheads are the only thing that might hurt me, and if one did, it would be my fault (no snake wastes venom, or energy, on something that isn't food or a potential threat, and i'm definitely too big to be on the menu).  The animals out here like me.  Only the plants are being assholes.

[Frostbiter]

6 minutes ago, Luminara said:

Only the plants are being assholes.

🤣🤣🤣

 

The deer that come down into my backyard aren't afraid of me anymore either. They just kind of give me this look like "Oh, it's this asshole again." Then they go back to eating my peonies. Literally smacked one with the broom a few weeks ago that wouldn't leave the last few bushes alone. Haven't seen any foxes this year though, just a bunch of crazy squirrels and daredevil chipmunks.

[TJBC]

Prednisone is a wonder drug for poison ivy,. It does require a prescription, but it's an easy one to get.  If you're reaction is as bad as it sounds they'll write it for you immediately anywhere you go.  If you're sensitive to steroids it can make your mind race a little and possibly keep you up at night though, but for me it's worth it. Benadryl can help a little.

 

I like to keep my rash wrapped, makes incidental contact or mindless scratching much less irritating, especially when sleeping. I avoid sunlight and exercise, sweating seems to make it more irritating.

[AboveTheChemist]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

And if that doesn't work, I'll try the chainsaw.

Groovy

[Hardship]

4 hours ago, Luminara said:

And if that doesn't work, I'll try the chainsaw.

Just be sure to attach it to the stump afterwards for killing hordes of undead!

[Troo]

 

You could move.. There's an area in Texas and well.. Nevada

[Luminara]

14 hours ago, Troo said:

You could move.. There's an area in Texas and well.. Nevada

 

It took 10 years of working 40-80 hours per week, averaging less than $8.50 per hour, to pay for what I have now.  I'm not doing that again.  And, honestly, I love where I live.  I'm not going to let a little itching drive me away.  This is my home.  I'll spend the rest of my life here, I'll die here and this cabin will be my mausoleum.  A mausoleum covered in poison ivy not long after I die, but I don't think I'll mind so much then.

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

I'm not going to let a little itching drive me away.

 

Okay... a lot of itching.

 

So... much... itching...

 

I've got my big person pants on, I can take this.

 

😣

 

[Heraclea]

My suggestion would be to wash the area in warm water with a small amount of bleach (maybe a tablespoon to the quart) and baking soda added.  This will at least help the raw areas heal faster.  And bleach is generally sovereign against anything from mere organic chemistry. 

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Heraclea said:

And bleach is generally sovereign against anything from mere organic chemistry. 

 

So is carburetor cleaner.

 

Oh.  Right.  Inner monologue is reminding me to tell everyone not to use carburetor cleaner as a poison ivy remedy.  I was cleaning the carburetor from one of my chainsaws.  Pertinent information.

[Frostbiter]

I managed to think of a home remedy that may actually help with the itching though I've not tried it for poison ivy, just insect stings and bites. It does work for those by drawing out the stingers and toxins so theoretically it might work for the poison ivy oils. Just take pipe tobacco (non-flavored unless that's your thing), wet it and make a poultice out of it. Leave it on for 1 hour minimum and no more than 3 or 4 without changing it. Can't be any worse than carb cleaner.

[Luminara]

3 hours ago, Frostbiter said:

It does work for those by drawing out the stingers and toxins so theoretically it might work for the poison ivy oils.

 

The blisters are just blisters, filled with lymphatic fluid, it's not the body producing more hell oil to torment itself with.  Nothing to draw out but the lymphatic fluid, and since it's not from an infection (clear, rather than discolored pus), it's better to let the body reabsorb it.

[Frostbiter]

37 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

The blisters are just blisters, filled with lymphatic fluid, it's not the body producing more hell oil to torment itself with.  Nothing to draw out but the lymphatic fluid, and since it's not from an infection (clear, rather than discolored pus), it's better to let the body reabsorb it.

I'm sure you're right. At least those blisters are a gross sign that it's getting better.

[EmmySky]

I hope you are feeling better now and ready to beat up some baddies!