Antidotes for Poison ivy

If you notice direct or secondary contact with it quickly enough, one of these folk cures may work. But they carry no guarantees. This list barely scratches the surface (though you probably will scratch the surface upon which Poison ivy’s toxin lingers):

•  Clean the area with absolute alcohol or plain baking soda and water.

•  Carefully wash the area with high alkaline content soap, but not an oily soap, since uroshiol is soluble in oil and can spread over other parts of your skin.

•  Squeeze the juice of Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, pallida, or bi-color, on skin, or rub bruised leaves and stems over skin. I’ve done it and it worked for me. In wet woodsy areas, you can sometimes find both Poison ivy and Jewelweed growing near each other.

•  Native American Indians used Shepherd’s purse, Capsella bursapastoris steeped in water, or crushed Plantain, Plantago, leaves to neutralize uroshiol. Other herbalists recommend Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, and too many other herbs to mention here.

•  Paint skin with a 5% solution of potassium permanganate which turns the skin brown, then clean with weak oxalic acid.

•  Jump in a chlorinated pool. Theoretically, the chlorine kills most stuff on the surface of your skin and will destroy poisonous residue.

•  Apply commercially available Tecnu. And again, too many more to cite…

Cures? Wait 2 weeks, the irritation most often limits itself and runs a 2 week course. Or to make skin more comfortable, you can use: OTC remedies like calamine lotion or anti-itch creams, see a dermatologist for Rx cortisone, or use one of many legendary hordes of folkloric cures listed above. There is no earlier cure once uroshiol has had time to bind with your skin.

Toxic Plants in the Deadly Nightshade, Solanum, Family.

Many useful plants belong to this family such as: Tomatoes, Potatoes, Eggplant, Peppers, Tobacco, and Petunias. Folks in ancient days avoided consumption of some of these because of the bad reputation of their cousins. The potato had to be introduced to Ireland, with some persuasion, in 1588. It came from Peru, where it was not feared and had been eaten for 7,000 years. Tomatoes originally daunted cooks even in early Italy.

But, alas, the Deadly nightshade family does have its renegade poisoners and intoxicants. Bella-donna, Black henbane, and Jimson weed lead in toxicity.

Deadly nightshade is such gloomy dark name, that it evokes visions of exotic poisoners destroying royal rivals in days gone by, or of Renaissance beauties risking death for a high or an entrancing look. All that macabre acclaim belongs to Atropa bella-donna, the true “Deadly nightshade” which contains the lethal atropine, renowned for its abilities to dilate the pupils, to intoxicate, or to poison. (no photos)

Black henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, contains deadly hyoscyamine and hyoscine (scopolamine) and atropine. These toxins disrupt the parasympathetic nervous system and cause symptoms such as: decreased saliva and intense thirst, diarrhea or constipation, dilated pupils and disturbed vision, rapid heart-rate and changed breathing rate. Like many toxic plants, this one arrived here for medicinal uses. Ancient Romans used it as a hit-or-miss anesthetic. Since it creates a mildly hallucinogenic flying sensation, it got the reputation as an ingredient used by witches in their flying potions. While it’s quite toxic, the highly visible sticky hairs all over plant parts taste awful, so most foraging people and animals tend to avoid it. Each plant can grow to 5’ tall, can produce 100,000 seeds viable for 5 years, grows sturdy taproots, and once it enters a dry waste area, like the spot shown below near railroad tracks, it spreads enthusiastically. Fertilized flowers form a globular fruit that pops its top to release hard-coated seeds.

Left: Black henbane in bloom and ripening Right: Black henbane in fruit amidst other weeds near railroad tracks

Highly toxic Jimson weed, Datura stramonium tends to prefer richer soils. It volunteered profusely in the well composted new beds I installed in the early days of my Virginia gardening. Like Black henbane it too contains atropine, hyoscyamine and hyoscine (scopolamine), but appears to be more toxic. It can even contaminate honey. Small amounts produce symptoms, large amounts cause death. Less than 1/4 ounce of its leaf or seed can kill a child—it takes less than 0.1% of body weight to equal a toxic dose of Jimson weed. Symptoms of poisoning include: intense thirst, disturbed vision, skin flushes, delirium, elevated temperature, rapid or weak heartbeat and respiration. Further, it can induce convulsions, coma, violence, paranoia, and hallucinations. Its common name is short for Jamestown weed. In 1676, soldiers sent to quell the Bacon rebellion in Jamestown, VA received a surprise, mass poisoning and subsequent death from Jimson weed. In a CSI: Las Vegas episode, a teenager took it to get high, drank lots of water, ran naked (from elevated body temperature) into the desert, tried to rip off his own skin in a paranoid hallucination and died. It’s not a reliable psychedelic.

But it sure does have a pretty 2-4” trumpet-shaped flower on plants up to 6’ tall. Fertilized flowers mature into dramatic, scary-looking, egg-shaped, spiny seed capsules up to 2” long that split into 4 sections. When ripe and brown its capsules pop their tops to release seeds, up to 35,000 seeds per plant. It becomes weedy as well as dangerous. (no photos)

One of its fellow Datura tribe members (a member of a separate genus, Brugmansia) is the lethal, tropical, ornamental cultivar Angel’s Trumpets, Brugmansia suaveolens. It has the same toxins, but flourishes on up to 15’ high specimens with gorgeous pendulous trumpet shaped flowers up to 12” long. (no photos)

ANTIDOTES: None consistently recommended. Doctors most frequently use: induced vomiting, gastric lavage (stomach pumping), or activated charcoal.

Other Somewhat Less Toxic Solanum
have Super Weedy Qualities

Horsenettle, Solanum carolinense, has nettlesome qualities from its painfully sharp prickles, its poisonous content and its easy spread. Skunks and rodents like it, but to some of us, this only enhances its ability to nettle. Like its other toxic cousins, its berries have a colorless juice containing narcotic toxins. No source seems to applaud any specific medicinal uses nowadays, especially since its sedative effect comes from its toxicity. Avoid its consumption.