Deathly afraid of poison ivy rash

[Yurochka]

Hello all; I hope this is the right subforum for this. I've been working myself into a complete panic over the last few days due to some potential exposure to poison ivy (first time!). I currently have no symptoms or issues after my foray into the yard & didn't touch the leaves or vines directly, but I was cutting down tree branches very close to the ivy and wasn't wearing gloves, so my brain is stuck on the idea that the tree branches could've dragged over the ivy & been contaminated. Just the potential has sent my anxiety utterly over the edge, with special triggers of the repetitive washing compulsions of my OCD. Unfortunately, this is setting off my ezcema, which resembles early poison ivy rash...and thus the cycle of panic continues.

I think my issue is largely because everything I've read seems to stress over & over just how little of the urushiol is needed to cause the rash - and more importantly, I can't find ANYTHING to reassure me about what is proper washing procedure for my clothing or anything I could've touched. Additionally, nothing I've read says anything about whether urushiol is visible or not. I don't remember seeing a single thing on me when I came inside that day, but...should I have to scrub the floor with alcohol or Tecnu? How many times must I wash my clothing? Must I decontaminate the washing machine afterwards, and how do I do this correctly? If I could find anything that gave me reasonable instructions, I feel like I might be a bit calmer abut this.

BLAH. Thanks for letting me unload. And if anyone can advise, I'd be most appreciative.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi,

With this being an OCD Contamination issue, you want the OCD board but it can be a bit slow going on there as there are not many of us with OCD on NMP from what I've seen.

However, extreme reactions are rare. Do you have a known allergy to this?

Washing can be done by:

Immediate washing with soap and cold water or rubbing alcohol may help prevent a reaction. Hot water should not be used, as it causes one's pores to open up and admit the oils from the plant.

Washing once is enough, anything beyond that and you may be practicing compulsions and you really want to avoid this. I know thats hard, I have various forms of OCD (not contamination though)and have beaten many of them now so I know how strong that inner pull is to do it.

It can be easily treated with some lotions or even steroids by your doctor if needed but hospitalisation is rare. Up to 30% of people don't even have a reaction so that could easily be you.

This is a reputable source from the US for advice on proper cleaning of this:

https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/m---p/poison-ivy/tips

[Yurochka]

Thank you very much. I'm definitely knee-deep in compulsions right now for a variety of other reasons (far too long of a story to type), so logically I'm sure this is just something new that my brain has chosen to latch onto instead of the other things that were previously the problem :P I'm actively trying to dissuade myself from performing any more with mixed results.

As for the poison ivy itself, this is the first time I've ever potentially been exposed at all. My fear largely stems from the concern that I could have somehow tracked the tiniest bit of the urushiol onto some item somewhere in my home, where it could continue to cause me to react over and over again until I isolate it. Hence the cleaning compulsions. I think I've finally reached the point where I can trust the washing machine again, as I gave it a good scrub with rubbing alcohol before starting to wash other things in it, and I feel pretty confident about what comes out of it. I think I've shaken this bout, hopefully. I do appreciate your comments, though. Thanks so much :)

[Frenchy]

To add some reassuring science to help you re-build trust in your washing machine, urushiol is an oil - and as such, it will dissolve in water and be washed away very quickly and effectively with even a small amount of soap/detergent.