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Steroids for Poison Ivy?
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My 12 yo ds has a severe case of poison ivy on his body and completely covering his face. The Dr. prescribed a steroid medication prednisone. I have not started him on the prednisone yet due to the terrible side effects. I’m hoping if I can just keep him comfortable, the rash will begin to subside without the prednisone. It’s now been 5 days since exposure, and last night was another sleepless night for him. Have any of your children been on steroids with no ill effects? I’m so torn on whether or not to give it to him due to his misery. He’s had poison ivy before and it’s always gone away on it’s own, but never has the rash been this bad. Any thoughts or poison ivy helps for severe cases would be helpful. Thanks so much! Heather
I haven’t had to do this for a child but I took steroids when I had it on my neck and face. The relief came really quickly. Personally if he is really miserable I would go for it.
Nebby
3/4 of my kids have had prednisone for asthma or breathing issues. It can make them grumpy, but that was our only side effect. I would definitely give it. 5 days is misery enough IMO.
Please give him the medicine! It is a very short term prescription, but you will be amazed how quickly it will begin to help and give your poor child relief. My own ds13 has needed this twice in his life as he gets a very severe rash. The most recent time it involved his face and eye, even causing his eye to swell completely shut. The misery of poison ivy rash can last a couple of weeks without intervention, and again, the course of treatment is short! You risk secondary bacterial infection from severe scratching as well, so IMHO it is far more risky to not give the steroid. Also, you mentioned that this rash is worse than his previous one…repeated exposure in a sensitized person will lead to a more severe reaction, so prevention of future cases is going to be very important. I hope this info helps, coming from another mom who has been there!
My son had to take steroids for contact dermatitis a month ago. He had a rash all over his face and some spots on his arms. It did not go away on its own. We treated the rash for two weeks with calamine lotion and it kept getting worse. I finally took him into the doctor and he prescribed steroids. The rash was better in just two applications. It was completely gone by the 4th day. He had no side effects except maybe crankiness, but that may have been because he is a teenage boy and is always cranky. lol!
Tammy
Please give it to him!! My stepson had poison sumac everywhere….*nothing* we did helped, the steroids were the only thing that maked him feel better. He was miserable and it wasn’t getting better on it’s own.
The steroids are probably necessary at this point. I am pretty darn allergic to poison ivy – and this just happened in the last few years. My doctor told me that the more I get it, the more allergic I become and that it goes systemic after awhile. That means the longer you wait the easier it is for it to spread to his lungs, etc. It is miserable and quite painful to have it as bad as he does. It gets significantly more painful in sunlight, sweat and heat.
Agreeing with Missceegee, we get grumpy. But after 5 long, itchy, painful sleepless nights, I feel pretty sure that the grumpiness from steroids will not be all that noticable combined with his tired crankiness (if he is like my kids). =)
For consideration of the next time he gets it: I have started using doTerra essential oils when I get it and they are amazing. Last year, during a nature walk, I accidently got it on my leg and it was blistering nicely and being quitely painful. My friend mixed 2 drops of lavendar, roman chamomile, melaluca and rose together in a tiny bottle and I dabbed it on my blisters. After two applications, the blisters dried up. It still itched a bit, but after the third, it quit itiching. It took a while longer for the red spot where it had been to go away, but I could wear pants again without being miserable. 😉 I am currently treating my posion ivy with this blend again…sigh. I know what it looks like and avoid it like the plague, but sometimes I think that all I have to do is look at it….lol
Have you tried charcoal (activated, food-grade) compresses??? I use charcoal for all sorts of things. I bet it would feel good (cool) and would draw out the toxins. Otherwise, medicate! Especially if the dr. said so adn it seems reasonable.
Ladies, thank you so much for your advice and encouragement. I started him on the steroid yesterday and he finally slept through the night and is feeling SO much better. I regret being hesitant to put him on it – he’s just always been so sensitive to meds and I didn’t want him having an adverse reaction. However, his severe case definately warranted it! Thanks again – blessings to all!
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