There is now a genuine cure for poison ivy. Zanfel is the first lotion that removes urushiol, the toxin responsible for the itching, from the skin. Moreover, it works at any time, not just in the first few hours after exposure.

Up until now, lotions and spray for poison ivy like Tecnu and Ivy-Dry, while relieving some of the itching, can do nothing to get rid of urushiol.

Upon moving back to Connecticut I got a severe case of poison ivy on my ankles and legs by doing weeding in pachysandra, an ankle high shrub, in our yard. What I wasn’t looking out for were the poison ivy vines that were interspersed in the pachysandra. It was still winter, so there were no leaves on the poison ivy yet, else I would have seen it. Pachysandra has leaves year round, and thus hid the vines.

A week of prednisone slowed the poison ivy, but it came back. Another week of predinose helped, but still it returned. My sister, who has lived here all her life, says mine was about the worst case she’d seen in an adult.

Sue went web surfing and found out about Zanfel. I tried it. You work it into a lotion on your hand, then scrub the affected area for three minutes. Normally this kind of scrubbing would make the itching much worse.

After one scrubbing with Zanfel, the itching was virtually gone. That’s because the urushiol apparently was no longer on my skin. Now, about 15 hours after the first scrubbing (plus one more scrubbing) the rash is almost completely gone.

A 1 oz tube of Zanfel, good for 15 washings, is $42. CVS Pharmacy has a generic for $22, that’s what I used.

And I’m a believer.

10 Comments »

That’s what financially strapped homeowners now realize about their homes. The party is over. There will be more borrowing on the line of credit, because home values are falling now, not rising.

The Fed has aroused from their slumber long enough to say, hmm, this housing thing might ‘weigh’ on the economy more than we initially thought. Inflation is rising. To combat it the Fed must raise interest rates. But that will kill any possible housing resuscitation before it happens as well as dooming even more people to losing their homes because the payments for their variable rate mortgage will then rise.

I’m guessing not one member of the Fed is in danger of losing a home or even knows anyone who is. So they will continue to issue soporific statements (don’t want to roil the markets, y’know) while housing collapses around them. Then they will raise interest rates. Well, one of their primary purposes is to protect the assets of the monied class, so they can’t be upsetting investment banks, bond traders and hedge funds, now can they?

National Association of Homebuilders now says the building slump could last until 2011. That means a whole lot of hurt for a whole lot of businesses; realtors, contractors, building supplies - and all the businesses those people shop at. New car sales are down with the housing slump being an obvious factor. Vacation trips, meals out at restaurants, etc. will also take a hit.

In Debt We Trust covers much of this, concluding with a comment about lawmakers trying to mandate a way out.

We have to drop our pink colored glasses: there is little or nothing we can do. A debt binge is either paid or defaulted. And no lawmaker has the ability to change the outcome. Two options… only.

4 Comments »

Check it out

No Comments »