Contact dermatitis from stinging nettle? (flower, grow, Honeysuckle, tree)

[carolyninfl]

I love my flower gardening. Last month I did the clearing out after winter. Weeding, trimming dead branches, the usual clean up

I was out there for a few hours. I come in and I feel tingly and itchy on neck, arms and legs. Everywhere where my skin was exposed.

I never had this happen before

It was so itchy, it was maddening! I rubbed calamine on me and took benedryl

I was hoping it would get better overnight. I had to go to work the next morning with my neck inflammed and uncomfortable.

I did not go to the doc for about a week. I went and he prescribed meds, it got better but I dont even want to go out there again.

This is what I love to do. The doc said it was prob the stinging nettle.
I have such sensitive skin.

I was told to take benedryl before working out there.

Actually dont even know if the name is right or this is the culprit
this is a pic of what I think is



thank you for any info

[Innertuber]

There are probably lots of kinds, but that doesn't look like mine. That particular weed pokes me, but I don't burn for days. The nettles as you describe burn. If I put cortisone on after I get into them and it stops the issue. Otherwise it lasts (for me) about 3 days. Feels wierd, almost like a burn. The type I fight has small leaves about 3/8 inch across. Dang stuff even seems to go thru gloves sometimes.

[Briolat21]

My husband always gets a rash when working in our tree line. Its not poison ivy, and so we don't know what the heck he's allergic to. I'll be standing there with him side by side - and he'll be the one that ends up with the wet-weepy hives and the terrible itching. Usually lasts 1-2 weeks.

Now he just wears long sleeves/pants/hat/etc.. when he works back there. We'll probably never figure out exactly which plant it is he's sensitive too.. but this is all stuff we're ripping out (mostly honeysuckle and other invasive brush) - so maybe someday it will all be gone.

OP - sorry for your troubles. Take heart though - you're not the only one out there suffereing for the cause!!

[carolyninfl]

Originally Posted by Briolat21

My husband always gets a rash when working in our tree line. Its not poison ivy, and so we don't know what the heck he's allergic to. I'll be standing there with him side by side - and he'll be the one that ends up with the wet-weepy hives and the terrible itching. Usually lasts 1-2 weeks.

Now he just wears long sleeves/pants/hat/etc.. when he works back there. We'll probably never figure out exactly which plant it is he's sensitive too.. but this is all stuff we're ripping out (mostly honeysuckle and other invasive brush) - so maybe someday it will all be gone.

OP - sorry for your troubles. Take heart though - you're not the only one out there suffereing for the cause!!

True and thanks! I will be in a bee suit if I have to it is crazy how it happened and it never had before but that is like a lot of things to do with getting older (not that I am old 49) but, things change in health from year to year and sometimes day to day

Thank you fellow gardeners!

[foxywench]

the picture posted looks more like a dandelion than a nettle


thats stinging nettle and while there are many verieties they all look very similar in terms of leaf shape and flower...

you could be allergic to dandelion...but typically the reaction you describe sounds more like nettle or poisen oak or ivy...

if you have it around look for Jewel or doc leaves (i dont know if they grow wild here in the us) generally both will grow NEER nettle and/or poisen oak/ivy, pluck the leaves and rub rough side to your skin on the itchies...

in the uk theres stinging nettle everywhere and doc leaves are always the go to...

if not benadryl and calamine lotion is your best bet and just be carefull when working in that area, gloves and long sleaves are a good choice, it could be more your personally allergic to something in that area than a known "stinger" causing an issue...

i get a nasty rash itchy rash if i come into contact with easter lilly or cala lilly pollen...day little not so much, but the big lillies realy agrivate my skin...

[Bulldogdad]

Ah gotta love the nettle. I only come into contact with it when bird hunting. Ducks, pheasants, quail and the like.

[foxywench]

i actually do love nettle as a herb its quite usefull...lol.

i just dont like the apres nettle itching when you touch it unawares lol.

[lucknow]

Nettles really vary in their stinging strength. Here in Ontario I'm pretty much imune to them and only get a slight stinging when walking through a patch of them. Usually when stream fishing.

Last spring I was at my sisters place in British Columbia. While walking in the forest I came by a couple of eastern European Canadians picking nettles to dry and make a tonic tea from. Well, I wondered if they stung the same as the ones here. They looked the same. I grapped hold of a plant and OWWWWWW. It was like grabbing hold of a red hot iron. My hand blistered up and it took almost a month to totally heal.
I won't be doing that again any time soon. DUH to me!!!!

[DewDropInn]

As an avid gardener I've run into all sorts of things that make me itch, sneeze, turn bumpy, get red and generally make my life miserable.

Gloves and long sleeves. (I don't let my plants be the boss of me.)

[Innertuber]

Foxywench's pic is the one I deal with. That stuff is hard to eradicate too.