Dear Taffy-

I feel for you--I just got over a nasty 3 week bout with poison ivy myself.
 I am also still nursing my 2 yr. old.  The best thing you can do is get the
steroids and get it under control.  The itching really gets old.  I myself
got a shot of Decadron, then did a Medrol dose pack. (these are fine with
breastfeeding).  I also took Seldane , a non-sedating antihistamine. (some
women see a little decrease in milk supply with this).  After all this mine
still rebounded, but I waited it out because I didn't want to get into the
side effects of stronger steriods (prednisone)(steriod side effects are
things like increased appetite, more frequent urination, acne).  If the
lesions are weepy, another option is Burrow's Solution soaks to dry up the
area.  Oh yeah, I also took Axid--an H-1 Blocker--a stomach medicine that
blocks another kind of histamine.  the itching was really awful.  As you can
I don't get freaked out about taking medicines while breastfeeding.  I always
fall back on the thought that for most of these things only 1-2% get into the
milk, and if you are just taking them for a short time, there are only very
rarely problems.

Happy moving day.

Kim Connor, CLE & Physician Assistant (Family Practice)
in Sharpsville, PA