| In January, here at our home here in southern Oregon, I was building a fence, cutting out underbrush etc. We've lived on this land, hiking, cutting firewood, etc. for 16 yrs and I've had no instance of poison oak alergic reaction, albeit our youngest son has proven very susceptible over the years. The second day of the fence project I began to itch...in very specific areas, not particularly where direct contact would have been i.e. back of neck, left breast, forearms, left thigh and right medial knee. DA! After considering that this had "gone systemic" I consulted local md, wrestled with prescribed progesterin (took it for 2 days), ordered Zanfel, Sumactin, visited local co-op etc. Meanwhile the skin in all the affected areas became "leather-like", changing consistency completely. Visions of elephant skin invaded my dreams. OK that was the initial 3-4 weeks (complete with all the horror itching stories I've read here) but now 8 MONTHS LATER I've had 3 recurrances, for 3-5 days at a time, MUCH less severe symptoms, but what the heck! Has anyone else had these "recurring" instances and if so, can you relate it to any activity/emotional variance? Each time I have been outside, but/and I am outside everyday, walking in the 'hood (dirt roads, fields)! I am happy to just let this run its course each time as it has been brief however, does this mean that the infection did indeed "go systemic" and I will be experiencing this for years to come? Thanks for any input. |
