roses4lace

I have had itchy bumps appear on various parts of my body since at least 1980. In 1982 I finally went to a dermatologist after I had scratched so much there were scabs all over my legs. He tried lotions, creams, tar shampoos, pretty much everything he could find. When I get hot, the area around my waistband will have itchy raised bumps on them. In the small of my back, on the back of my head on my scalp. Upper arm. It is usually about a 2 inch area, but it would move to different locations. I put it down to "heat rash".

Well, a couple of years ago, I finally found what it was, and thought I would share this since it is so unexpected. At that time I got the oil from a poison ivy root on my thumb, and it proceeded to get a rough leathery spot on it. I hadn't gotten the oil anywhere else, but started breaking out on my fingers. Then it started on my chest, and my entire body turned red and became nothing but a red bump. I could watch the raised redness advance down my arms, down my legs. Well, my mind wasn't working too well then because of some other issues, so I didn't even go to the doctor. Just told my son that if I woke him up and couldn't talk, to call 911. Duh. I was desperate to get the itch stopped, and decided to try Zanfel, even though it was way too expensive. I had used other poison ivy lotions and washes which took a lot of rubbing. The Zanfel took about 10-20 seconds to stop the itch on my fingers, but would start itching again in about 5-6 hours.

However, the bumps that had always been on my scalp and waist were still itching, and on a whim, I used the Zanfel. Well, the itch went away within like 10 seconds. And started itching again in about 5-6 hours. I finally figured out that apparently sometime in my distant past, I had a bad case of poison ivy, the oil went into my skin, and is circulating. When I get hot, the oil rises, and oozes out my pores, and I itch. The Zanfel is like a soap that washes off the poison ivy oil. But because the oil is in my body, it keeps oozing out. So every morning I wash the itchy bumps with it, and during the day I'll use the clear Benedryl gel. I am hoping that eventually I'll wash all this oil out of my body. The latest spot is my earlobes and all inside my ears. Drives me nuts! My allergy doctor says just take extra antihistamines (over and above my allergy drops), but I don't like the side effects. I'd much rather wash the oil off than cover it up.

I've seen several "unknown cause" itchy bumps/ hives posts lately, and wanted to share my experience.