WOW.

Who knew an innocent little plant could do so much damage? Since my last entry, my poison ivy morphed into a terrible case of hives. And by terrible, I mean that about 45% of my body is covered in red welts and my skin has been scratched raw. Fun times!

The hives multiplied on Saturday while I was frolicking around Six Flags with my bridesmaids for my bachelorette party. Apparently, poison ivy and rollercoasters do not mix. I ended up in the ER that night, where they gave me steroids and high-dose bennadryl. I’ve been doped up on medicine for 4 days straight. The poison ivy dried up after the first day of steroid treatment, and the hives are FINALLY starting to go away. It’s been a very long, very itchy ordeal – I haven’t had a solid night’s sleep in about a week!

Lessons learned:

– Don’t go near poison ivy, even if you think you’re being careful!
– If you develop a rash, wash everything (body, clothes, shoes, etc.) right away, because the plant oil stays on things and will keep spreading
– If the rash is bad, go to the doctor right away. I put it off thinking I’d get better on my own, and got much, much worse
– Don’t bother with plain old calamine lotion. IvyRest, an anti-itch cream, worked the best for me. Ice and cortisone cream also helped greatly.

The good news is that it looks like I’ll be blotch-free by the wedding. I was seriously considering a bridal turtleneck!