Poison Ivy by the Coasters

She comes on like a rose but everybody knows
She’ll get you in Dutch
Now you can look but you better not touch

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you’re sleepin’ poison ivy comes a’creepin’
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

She’s pretty as a daisy but look out man she’s crazy
She’ll really do you in
Now if you let her under your skin

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you’re sleepin’ poison ivy comes a’creepin’
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

Measles make you bumpy
And mumps’ll make you lumpy
And chicken pox’ll make you jump and twitch
A common cold’ll fool ya
And whooping cough’ll cool ya
But poison ivy, Lord’ll make you itch!!

You’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion
You’ll be scratchin’ like a hound
The minute you start to mess around

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you’re sleepin’ poison ivy comes a’creepin’
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

Measles make you bumpy
And mumps’ll make you lumpy
And chicken pox’ll make you jump and twitch
A common cold’ll fool ya
And whooping cough’ll cool ya
But poison ivy, Lord’ll make you itch!!

You’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion
You’ll be scratchin’ like a hound
The minute you start to mess around

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you’re sleepin’ poison ivy comes a’creepin’
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

La da la da la da
La da la da la da
La da la da la da
La da la da la da

I never got it at the shore but sure have since moving up here. I have had my eyes swell twice. And I’ve caught it every where including after having used nature’s facilities for tinkling. (It was dark!) NOT fun!

My husband caught got it on his schwing schwang in the dead of winter. How? He was chopping wood for his grandmother and the poison ivy vines were all over the wood. He assumed that since there were no leaves, it was cold and wintertime that it was dead. Nope…evidently something must’ve been in the vines he chopped.

The 2st time I had it (all over my legs) someone said to make a paste of baking soda and water. My aunt wanted to know what the white trail of powder was all through the house. Didn’t help anyway.

For a long time …if my husband had it but I didn’t I would make sure we slept separately because I thought you could catch it from coming in contact with their rash. It wasn’t until I worked at the hospital that I learned it was systemic and from direct contact with the resin.

Then someone told me if you take boiling water and put it on a cloth and as hot as you can stand it apply it to the rash…OH..my..g-o-s-h…it feels like an orgasm of the skin. That is the best description…seriously. It gives the most intense and pleasant itch relief, like a million perfectly attuned fingers to the area…amazing and then it STOPS itching for awhile. I’m not sure but it seems to prolong the rash though, but I always try to dry it out with alcohol or the lotions too.

I told my doctor I did that and he said that is like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer. I’m not sure why though and I never asked him.

But when I can’t stand the itch now, I use water on a paper towel heated in the microwave.

I will try the ice next time. Thanks for this post. I will copy it to save for future reference if needed.

Also, there are some of the older people here that want “that poison ivy vaccine”. Years ago, there used to be a “vaccine” for poison ivy. It didn’t seem to work; it isn’t on the market anymore (as far as I know).

But, in compensation, any time a rose thorn touches me, I get a massive rash… and she doesn’t, so I guess we’re even.

Too bad–I really love roses.