I just posted this in my comments on the post below, but decided to make it a post too for anyone that might wonder or might have more information to share.
I had allergy testing done because every year I have sinus problems (to the point I’ve asked a doctor before if they could just cut them out) – and any time I end up congested from allergies, I then end up with a sinus infection – or this last time I ended up with tonsillitis. We know it is allergies because Claritin helps keep the congestion away. I’ve had swollen glands most of the fall & winter this year and my doctor suspected it is also due to allergies. Now that we have tested me and found out what my allergies are, they will mix up a special serum just for me and I will go in once a week for injections. (I think it is once a week – maybe once every two weeks?) This will help me build up immunities to my allergies – hopefully preventing the sinus infections and tonsillitis of my past.
My family doctor just gave me Claritin constantly to fight my allergies, without ever testing to see what they were. I went to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist for my tonsillitis though, and he is the one that recommended it (I’ve always wondered why no one did it in the past). Now that we know what we’re fighting, we can fight it better.
On a positive note, I called my doctor’s office this afternoon and she had me come in so they could check my itchy arms. They hooked me up with some special prescription ointment that made the itch go away. For now. Cannabis products from https://d8superstore.com/category/cbg may also help reduce the effects of allergies like swelling or inflammation. If stress is what triggers your allergies or any other health conditions, Dab Pens offers products that may help relieve your stress.
1,336 replies on “Itch Relief…”
In Australia, people with br still itch, but they just scratch in the opposite direction.
Oh Mark, Thanks for making us laugh!!! Mari Anne
I have no tags in my clothing. They trigger itching immediately! Humidity is another trigger. Mine use to seasonal, but now is year round, but has not been half as bad since I stay out of the sun.
About humidity. I’ve been thinking. (Watch out!) In my first entry I told you about the Lipogel cream, that I found worked for me after I had tried every other cream in the book. My dermatologist told me, that that was probably because almost all creams contain water, which actually dehydrate your skin. Just like humidity in the air does. But lipogel contains no water and is therefore the stickiest (you have to use the thick version) ickiest cream to slab on, but it really really makes my itching ‘simmer down’.
I’ll repeat that before I used the lipogel, my arms didn’t look or feel the least bit dry. On the contrary I had babyskin. 🙂 But after a day on lipogel and the soothing started, I got this feeling that BRP might create an inner dehydration that is screaming for relief.
Sorry if this is textbook. If not, somebody try it. Slab on some lipogel and go running in the cool morning air while it starts seeping in, so that you have something to do and don’t even THINK about starting to scratch. (Which in any case is a really good idea if you possibly can…) What happened to me was that after some days, I could scratch my arms when the itch sometimes started -and the itch would go away. No needles and pins.
It is no cure, but it’s been a big help for me.
Mari Anne
P.S. And the sun dehydrates…
Glad some of you were pleased with the comment from Dr Stellon, I contacted her while searching the net for clues to our condition. I was actually hoping to find a ‘champion’ for our cause over here in the UK, but will keep looking!
With regard to the seasonal aspect, my arm and hand have just ‘started itching again’ from February of this year when I was prescribed Antarax and Vicks vapour rub (it must be the menthol and camphor that work for me) I just got better and better, I was careful in the sun this year and kept out of it far more than ever (I am fair, blonde, blue eyed).
But come the beginning of September, my hand started itching (that’s where it all started in 2005 and slowly spread up my arm, leaving just itching at the top of my right arm) and has ever since, this was quickly followed by the top of my arm going into intense itching, I have upped my medication and my neck exercises and the amount of vapour rub I am using, must keep Vicks in business! So there does seem to be a ‘seasonal’ case, just why it seems to do it through the colder months in the UK I have no idea. (Actually we are having rather an Indian summer this year).
I also find that dry, humid weather make the condition worse, tags and labels don’t seem to bother me, but I have noticed since this condition started that I get a very itchy back, nothing like my arm, but like a normal back itch, but just more frequent, I find myself ‘rubbing’ up against door ways, and I often lay on the carpet for a good scratch!
I do frequently use a computer as part of my job and use it at home also.
I think it would be helpful for one or some of us to get together on here and do a survey and perhaps present the results to a specialist somewhere in the world, what do others think?, I really don’t mind being involved or setting something up that could be e-mailed to everyone filled out and then we could calculate the responses.
Incidentally anyone thought about hypnotherapy?
I have recently found that Aloe gel (the green stuff you buy at the drug store with a pump on top) put on my arms morning and night have really seemed to help. I think my skin gets really dry. Doing it regularly instead of just when I itch seems to have made a difference. It’s cheap and worth a try.
Haven’t written for a few months. Still suffer with the itch. I live in Far North Queensland and I have the itch just as bad througout winter although our winters here are not very cold at all. Have changed my diet out of desperation to see if that could be causing the itch and I have found that if I eat very healthy I can go for quite a few nights without itching at all. I did have to stop eating cakes, chocolate, Icecream etc. My diet consists of fruit and veges only. Cereal and bread are fine to. Hope this might be of some help to someone out there.
I think Stephanie’s suggestion about getting together a survey, creating a form, that everyone can fill out, is a really good idea. The night I read all fourhundredandsomething entries on this site, I was thinking about making a list and ticking off, when, where, how often, how much and so on. But everyone tells their own bits and pieces and it wouldn’t give any doctor any new information. But if we could pull this through, there is a chance that we would be supplying a lot more information than the doctors who have done studies have had access to. These doctors seem to have involved less than 20 patients in their studies. Some rejoice when they have cured 4 to 5 patients with some treatment, others rejioice when they have treated one single patient with one kind of treatment. And for instance, the Swedish doctor from one of the studies, said that Capsaicin is a cure, and we don’t buy it, because it is only treating the symptoms. (Which of course is fine for those it works on, but we would also like to solve the mystery).
So, if Stephanie really wants to set this up, are we going to chip in and help with ideas about which questions to ask. And does anybody know a doctor who would be interested in helping out or gathering the information?
Mari Anne, Copenhagen
hi stephanie — this would be great — see the questionnaire i tried to set up though, above…got only a few responses. not sure how many itchers are on here anymore, nor how many will answer, but i would be glad to help out. feel free to use the questions i began with if they would help 🙂
Here’s my update after trying my solution since mid-August. I’m still itch free! After being itchy almost 100% of the time, this is a huge relief for me. I hardly ever have any itching….if I do it’s only for a very short time (maybe 1/2 hour) and it’s very light. I try to do some neck stretches when it happens and it usually goes away. I’m down to having physical therapy once or twice a week and acupuncture on an “as needed” basis….with the thought that the PT is slowly healing the problem and the AC is controlling the itching. I’m hoping that eventually I won’t need the AC and I’ll continue on with the PT once a week for quite a while. Maybe even up to one year is what my PT thinks. At that point we are hoping that my spine will have healed itself and I will just need to be very careful to continue with exercises that strengthen my core and pilates/yoga type exercises that keep my neck moving freely. (Mari Anne – the 5 tibetan exercises you do sound like they are really good. I’m looking into them…)
The deep acupuncture has been so effective for me to control the itching. I know it doesn’t work on everyone though. Again, I had to stay committed to it at first (3 days a week) and I went to two different acupuncturists before I found one that seemed to have the magic touch. I don’t have to go that often anymore. It’s been over a week since my last AC treatment and I’m still itch free. (My AC is on vacation for 3 weeks so this is going to be a “testing” time for me.) As some of you have mentioned, massage and even physical therapy make the itching worse – especially at first. That is why I had to do both the AC and the PT at the same time. It seems to me that when my PT takes quite a bit of time doing traction (manipulating the skull up away from the spine), it relieves my itching and neck pain tremendously. It must help to separate the compressed disks in the neck some?? Probably takes some pressure off of the nerves in that area. On the flip side of that though, I am often very dizzy after having a PT treatment. It goes away after a day or so. Evidently, that can happen when making changes in the cervical part of the spine. And another thing I’ve suffered from for years is buzzing/ringing/clicking in the ears. Anyone else have that problem? I’ve been told it’s all related to my BRP.
To reiterate, I had a cervical spine x-ray taken in January of 2006. Amidst a lot of Dr. lingo, it says that I have “disk space narrowing at C5-6 with small anterior osteophytes noted. There is some mild uncovertebral spurring at C6-7 on the left.” Since I have not had a neck injury, my guess is that my condition is caused from some degenerative disease and also ergonomics (desk-computer work). I know many of you have had spine injuries and other conditions (as in Mark’s case) that will make your treatment more complicated. Sb, I am curious to hear how the Thalidomide treatments work for you. I am sure you will get good results, and as you mentioned, it’s a last resort option. Another option I am curious about is any surgery techniques that might be available. I have not gone to any Drs. in that field yet, but I keep hearing about new laser surgeries that might be available. Has anyone on this bulletin board checked into that?
Mari Anne, how is the Capsian cream working?
KathyK
Funny you should ask. I tried my Capsaicin cream (under the name of Zostrox, 0,075%) for the first time yesterday since, very coincidentally, 1) it arrived in the mail just yesterday, and 2) for the first time in a long time my left arm went berserk with pins ands needles.(We had had a beautiful Indian summer day and I sat reading in the sun for several hours. Dumb, some of you might say, but very often it doesn’ affect me at all.) Anyway, my arm started up, so I put on the cream -and started burning so bad I spent the whole evening running back and forth to the freezer pulling out bags of frozen vegetables to put on my arm. I can’t describe the look on my husband’s face, having to watch the news with a bag of corn, then when it melted, berries, then… I can tell you we found things in the freezer we didn’t know we had. But it was fine by bedtime and the itch was gone.
Back to the serious part,. I don’t think I am the right person to try out if this works, or at least it is not the right period.. I’m already so much better with my 5 tibetans and my Lipogel (this is the Danish name, it’s probably called something else in English) -or I’m just having a low-itch period- that trying the cream for one bout of itching isn’t going to say anything about anything.
I hope somebody out there who has a constant itch will try it, and buy the solution recommended by the Swedish doctor: 0,025% instead of my 0,075%. I think my cream was probably too strong, especially for my skin that had been in the sun. But remember, it is still ‘just’ curing the symptoms.
What I want to try is the acupuncture -and the traction, because I want to hit the source. Actually one of my husband’s friends is a ‘body-manipulator’. He’s not a chiropractor, nor a pt, he’s a self made man and quite well known in Denmmark and in Tour de France-circles (you know, bikes, Lance Armstrong?) as he has worked with many of the bike riders.
I met him very shortly the other day and told him quickly about this strange ailment of ours. He laughed but said that the neck thing sounded like a logical reason for the itching, but that the number one thing probably was a matter of cleansing our lymph systems. He says that whatever our neck problems arise from, the ‘clogging’ will stop the lymph-drainage and cause all kinds of different ailments. His theory is that most people should look into just that: eat healthy, move healthy, get your sewer system going and you won’t get ill. He’s not alone with that theory, I know, but what EXACTLY to do I’ll ask him when I go to see him next, and he has a long waiting list… He’s not God but I think it’s worth looking into.
So, I’m on the neck-treatment team and will look in that direction only when it comes to myself.
Good for you, Kathy K, that you’re so much better, and good luck again to sb with the Thalidomide.
Have nice day/night/ and I hope every single person who gets relief of some kind will still keep in touch with us, so we know what works for them. Who knows, we could end up getting the Nobel Prize!
Mari Anne, Copenhagen
I do have control of the beast now after eight difficult years and this is what works for me.
1. Keep unconstipated – very important!
2. Drink lots of water
3. Gently exercise my upper back and shoulders
4. Now only very occasional accupuncture on my spine
5. Take Fish Oil and Vitamin B.
6. Eat good food without lots of additives.
From you lovely folk I have taken bits of advice I was comfortable with and added it to what I realised made a difference.
Here are some comments I found on a site for Alzheimer’s patients. The hospice recommended skin creams to help where there was exceptional damage to the skin. Wonder if any of these products would help us? I have also found that the green aloe gel in the pump bottle used twice a day has really helped me. It’s cheap, so maybe worth a try. Here are the hospice comments:Hospice gave me two very effective products: 1. Cavilon Durable barrier cream by 3M Health Care in St. Paul, MN. We use this everywhere and it protects the skin, helps dry areas, and its also good for damage associated with incontinence. 2. Calmoseptine ointment from Huntington Beach, CA. This is a wonder cream. Most skin scrapes or red areas clear up by the next day. I spread this on thick and rub in gently 2-4 times each day. He had rubbed one of his ears raw during the night. In 2 days it was completely healed.
Hi all…. After reading these posts here and the men’s “itchy upper arms” I am pretty sure I am part of the club 🙁 I recently have started to itch on both my upper arms up to my shoulders. It can be mild at times and then (mostly at night) it feels as if there are electic shocks and something is litereally crawlin around under my skin. There is no sign of a rash other then a few bumps and scabs…. but i think it’s due to my scratching more then anything cause when i am “good” and don’t scratch at all there is no sign of anything. I went to my GP and he said he was clueless and reffered me to a Dermatologist. He was of no help either. He said that many people get this itchy thing and he gave me a bunch of creams to try… which none seem to help. I also tried different forms of anti-histomines which i don’t think helped, just made me a little more tired. The time i find the worst (other then the middle of the night) is when i am in class. If I am not careful and scratch just a little, it gets really inflamed and i find it really hard to stop scratching. The only thing that seems to help is Ice. So… I am resigned to the fact that this isn’t just going to go away anytime soon as the Dermatologist says it will… I am still kinda confused as to how this is a seasonal issue. I am in NY, USA and the itching just started in Sept. I would have assumed it would have been bad in the hot summer months????? Why is it flaring up now? And I’ve noticed that people say they have it from Aug til March… are you in the same time zone… or hemisphere???? not sure if i phrased that right? Do I have a whole winter to look forward to??? yikes!! Anyway…. my stats are I am a 37 yrs old white female, blonde, blue eyes. I have never had an “accident or injury” to my spine..but i have had issues. During both my pregnancies I had syatica and to this day I can move a certain way and be in excruciating pain for the rest of the day. I went to orthos and they said they couldn’t really do much about it, unless i wanted surgery… to which i don’t. They couldn’t gaurantee my it would help LOL. Anyway… i do think this is associated to my back and nerve damage. I don’t know where I should go from here? Do I go to a neurologist, dermatologist, regular doc, chiroprator, etc… Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Do i need to go armed with documentation about this weird disease? Anyway… i am relieved to find this site… but sad to know there are so many out there who suffers too. Thanks for all the info…. EG.
Just keeping up with you guys 🙂 Just got back from dermatologist. Have about 25 different patches on my back for allergy testing. I also took a blood pregnancy test that will be complete by Wednesday when I go back for patch test results so that I can begin the STEPS program of Celgene / Thalidomide. I talked to the nurse more about her BRP patient experience and here’s what she said: There seems to be no rhyme or reason, from what they’ve dealt with, to how or why itching happens. She said they haven’t found the sun connection to be true really. Also, they know that Capasin and such aren’t really effective and haven’t found patients who have found luck with Neurontin or Lyrica either. Also, as far as neck pain (mine is terrible with this condition) she couldn’t offer any help except the advice to take Aleve aroudn the clock.
So…More on Wednesday. I know I’m not pregnant, so when we get that out of the way on Wednesday, we then do a survey by phone throught Celgene’s patient system to make certain I’m on 2 forms of birth control and then move forward with receiving the drug to try to CURE this! (I guess they will ship it to my dermatologist and when they get it, they will give it to me, although only in month dosages. You have to take a preganancy test monthly.
Fingers, toes, eyes crossed!
I’m so happy to hear from Judith that after 8 years she’s killed the beast with simple, natural methods. This has GOT to be of help for A LOT of people out there!!! And to me it summarizes what I personally have come to focus on: the neck-nerve-thing and the cleansing of your inner system. If you go back and read all the entries, you’ll find that apart from the people who dull the nerves on their arms with creams and ice, there are people who make the itch go away (at least momentarily) by for example drinking a lot of water or dieting or not sitting at their computer or doing some arm-swinging exercises or going to a chiropractor or doing acupuncture. Natural things. Maybe it works because it hits the root of the matter: the ‘clenched’ (or whatever) nerves and whatever this causes. Untill now I’ve thought that these simple things would only be of help for the milder cases. Judith seems to have been one of the heavy duty cases, and it has helped her. Congratulations!!
For the rest of you, if you don’t believe in this or have tried everything that Judith mentions and nothing has worked, I hope you can try sb’s way: the Thalidomide. And sb: please don’t take Aleve around the clock. There are many warnings about heart damage and I don’t think you need any more trouble! (see site at bottom). I don’t emember if you’ve tried acupunture, but maybe acupuncture could relieve the pain, it actually seems to be what ac is best at. And try several if the one you find doesn’ t have ‘the magic touch’ that someone on this site once mentioned. Good luck and thanks for keeping us posted!
Mari Anne, Copenhagen
http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_news.php?id=097&title=NSAIDs+
(Advil%2C+Aleve%2C+Vioxx%85)+increases+risk+of+first+heart+attack
&event=org_news_print_list_item
Wow! I can’t believe I waited so long to search the web for “itchy shoulders”. Just last week my shoulders started up again. My itching started three years ago with my forearms and has since moved to my shoulders. It usually starts in fall and I don’t remember when it quits. I do not spend a lot of time on a computer. It’s weird how, one day, this whole itch thing starts up. It seems to be quite seasonal. I am blonde, blue-eyed and 39. I guess I’ll try ice tonight as well as the hairbrush.
I noticed my itching started up at the same time as my sinuses–anyone else have sinus problems (drainage, losing your voice, etc)? I’m in Minnesota so I’m guessing sun isn’t a major factor. It’s sunny here, but not for very long.
Wendy
I really think it is to do with basic spine damage plus blockages that are exacerbated by things we do to ourselves – the things we put or don’t put in our bodies and it builds up over time. A lot of the “alternative” talk about blockages puts me off but I think they may have something. I think toxins (which is mostly additive build-up) build up at a weak point.
For probably thirty years I had dreadful nerve pains down my legs from lower spine damage, even though the spine had been repaired. That is now OK with acupuncture and the flow on from the things I have done for the ITCH. Screaming, burning nerve pain was easier to cope with than the beast which is what I call the itch. I refuse to own it as part of me.
My upper back (and I have broken my upper spine twice) reacted with the arm itch but, by minimising supermarket convenience food which is loaded with strange additives and making sure I don’t get constipated, the itch seems totally subdued. Plus water and a few vitamins and simple upper body exercises. I love wine and good food and this gentle system is working well for me! Constipation isn’t a nice topic but I really didn’t know I was until I was working properly and that only happened this year.
I don’t want to harp but I think the people who have found the answers stop reading this site! I get new messages automatically sent and I find I can’t resist putting in what worked for me because I wish I had read this sort of information when I first got on to this site. I am an eight year (going on nine) veteran. Thanks to those who mentioned water and the Omega 3s. I add constipation, Vitamin B, acupuncture and exercise.
Hi everyone, I have been itch free for months, and in september it has returned….this is driving me crazy…..I am going to try the water drinking and the right food,…it is late and I need to get some sleep..sleep softly .God bless, JoAnn
I am enormously relieved to know I am not a nut and this ” itchy arm thing” is not some psychosomatic BS my body is pulling on me. So glad to read your entries. This is no “itch” really and my allergist doesn’t get it. This is like fire ants all over my upper arm biting the bejesus out it. Like its coming from the nerves outward. I do have a history of mild cervical damage and allergies and I am in the sun a lot. I do get relief from popping an Allegra within about 20 minutes but am anxious to try other approaches. I am so fearful i will be somewhere without my Allegra! I have scars from this darn thing and until now i thought i was alone. why does this hit at night almost 99% of the time? thank you all for sharing. H 🙂
Thank God I have found this site. I am overwhelmed by the number of people that so perfectly described my ailment.
I have a thyroid condition and am on synthroid. I also spend my summers at the beach in New York. I am 43, blonde with green eyes I always wear sunscreen although 20 years ago visited tanning beds. I have visited a chiropracter off and on for years due to back pain. I will print out this info and bring it to him. I have never thought to mention my itchy arms to him before.
I am intrigued by the amount of repetion in all our suspisions about what causes this. My sister and I both get it at the same time of year. We have 5 other sisters though, who think wer are nuts. We initially thought we had caught something in a hottub at a rented house in N.C. where we rent each August but test of our skin showed nothing.
How weird is it that my sister and I both started in the fall of the same year?
I am so tired now from reading all these post maybe i will sleep. I need sleep.
Hi Cindy,I have three sisters, and they donot understand my itching. I am awoman with three grown Sons and grandchildren, and I have had it for years,but never has it stayed so long as last year, and I have been itch free now for months, it it reappeared a few weeks ago. I am not handling it very well…it is awful being up at night, and scratching,n jerking n stinging.I just pray it goes away soon. I am not going to go to doctors about it anymore,because they do not have a clue what it is.I will close for now,pray you all sleep softly, God bless JoAnn
Hi Cate here again,
Well after a winter of no itching via a few visits to the chiropractor it started again and I went back….. my chiropractor asked if i was on anti-depressants, i said i was and have been for about 5 years now….she thinks it is because the antidepressants are screwing up my nervous system?…. plan to go off them next week via a reduction regime….
“anyone else on antidepressants?”…………….????? Cheers Cate
Hi Cate, been on anti depressents for about 10 years now unfortunately, but don’t believe these are the cause, I think most of our drs wherever we live are clutching at straws and keeping their fingers crossed that something works!!
I am going to start compiling a questionnaire, I am going on holiday next week for 2 weeks to Turkey (please god, don’t let it make my itching worse) so won’t be able to complete until I come back but will definately start work on it this weekend, if anyone is interested in helping me and joining forces please email me at: roomes@hotmail.co.uk, and just maybe we can do something to help us all.
I have a Zoomerang account and will be willing to post the survey online for the group, assuming it’s not too long. Then I will post the link to the survey here, and we can all just click through the survey. I could then post high-level results here, and email them to anyone who wants them.
– Mark from WI
Stephanie, while you’re away I’ll gladly think of input for the questionnaire and send them to you to mix with all the other input you will (hopefully) recieve from others. Thanks so much for getting this going! And thanks to Mark!
Mari Anne, Copenhagen
BRP is what caused me to be put on Lexapro. When they didn’t know
what the condition was they gave it to me to help with the anxiety.
So I had the itch years before I was on the medication I have since tapered myself off of it.
Don’t think this is the cause!!!!!
I live in New York, have never been on antidepressants, don’t know of any neck/spinal injury, tan very easily and don’t abuse the sun, am 47, brunette with brown eyes, don’t really use a computer during the day as I am a high school teacher so…why do I itch? I have no idea but this website has been my sanity. I now know that I’m not crazy. I have been going to the dermatologist for 10 years (the duration of suffering) and have been treated for ezcema which I now know is not the true diagnosis. After finding this site I went to my internist to show him that I don’t have ezcema and to ask his advice. Natually when I went he noticed lesions on my one arm and I told him they are from the scratching – not the cause of the scratching – but he insists I go back to a different derm and have them biopsied- so I will do it his way and go back to the dermatologist one last time (of course the lesions are now all gone!) and then I am pursuing a neurologist to see if, in fact, I have any injury (my right arm was recently tingling for several weeks). In the meantime it’s an icepack every night. My question is- in what state/country are you that you are being treated with thalidomide?
Hi everyone,JoAnn here, it is late late on friday night, and after two hours of sleep the itching woke me, and I scratched, to no relief………here I sit reading and hoping I find some info on this itching, burning, stinging, what ever it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been to many doctors, to no avail!!!!!!!No Help!!!!! I am going to sign up for Yoga, it might bring me to a calmer situation. It is imposibile to sleep, the sting part, makes me jerk, if I donot scratch!!!!!!!!!I am not on any antidepressments,I just donot understand, this is making my life miserable!!! I will close for now…pray you all sleep softly, JoAnn
Hang in there JoAnn ~ have you tried the ice? I apply this along with goldbond medicated cream that has the vapor and it seems to help. I also take ibupropen and it seems to calm the nerve endings. Recenlty I’ve started taking the omega 3 and believe there may be some help here.
I too am totally confused as to why this could be seasonal ~ the spine damage seems feasible, but how could it also have a seasonal affect? Someday hopefully well all find the source or most importantly, healing!
Best wishes…
I just found out my iron level-hematocrit is quite low, i am anemic. My doctor says that may cause itching. I;ve tried everything else like the rest of you (for 13 years). Ice is the only thing that helps. Does anyone else have low iron? I’ll let you know if it gets better when my iron level comes back up.
YES…..I would be glad to fill out a survey.
Some big news: The results of my allergy test came back. Although my doc agrees that the BRP is definitely caused by the cervical issues, nerve endings, etc, the results I got were fairly helpful as well: I am allergic to fragrances. All kinds. And Balsam of Peru (more on that later). Fragrances exacerbate my itching. And fragrances are in everything. Detergents. Soap. Shampoo. Conditioner. Toilet Paper. You name it. So the first order of business for me was finding things I can put in and on my body that are fragrance free.
I’ve said from the beginning that I always knew that fabric softener was a terrible agitiating part of itching. But I didn’t realize so many other things could be. I would suggest you all find out if this relieves your itching, even in the least bit as well. Remember: UNSCENTED does NOT mean no fragrances. You must look for fragrance free. Big difference. I would suggest a health food store: Wild Oats, Whole Foods, etc. I just picked up fragrance free shampoo, conditioner, body wash (Kiss My Face has a whole new line out right now that is free of fragrance), soap, lotion, and deodorant (I bought the crystal spray kind) etc. Fragrances includes ESSENTIAL OILS. Those are fragrances, too, obviously, so just because something is natural does not mean it won’t make your itching worse. Think about it. Nearly everything we put on our bodies has some sort of fragrance in it, even if it’s a fragrance to mask another.
Balsam of Peru is more tricky, because it’s in all sorts of things. Vanilla flavorings. Cinnamon flavorings. Curry even! Some ice creams, prepared cakes, chocolates, etc. use root ingredients that might offend a person who has a sensitivity or allergy to balsam of peru. One thing is for sure: NO MENTHOL. NO TIGER BALM.
There are specific chemicals you can look for, but my aim for the next month (until I see my dermatologist again to get my Thalidomid and report if the fragrance avoidance helps relieve some of the itching) is to use things with none of these offending chemicals or essences. It isn’t an expensive thing to try, when you consider the alternatives. I would urge you all to try this, too, for more than just a few days, and see if it helps.
More as it develops.
Oh, and, by the way, to the person interested in Thalidomide, I’m in Tennessee. And although it’s getting cooler lately and I thought my itching was getting better for the season, the past few days have proven me wrong. Ugh.
For posterity: Yes, I’ve been off and on antidepressants, and no change, and no, I’m not anemic. I never had an allergy before this, either. To anything.
Ali, I too was diagnosed with anemia. It has since been resolved (5 ulcers!) and the itch remains. sb – I am also allergic to fragrances, as is my mom. Working closely around other people has always been difficult – perfumes and sweet smelling handcreams could send me home SICK with headache and nausea.
For this itch I was recently given an Rx to Zonalon cream, which works incredibly well (it’s a nerve agent), but in the last week I’ve developed an allergy to the cream!! Of all things I have now broken out in an itchy rash on top of my itchy arm. I may try the oral version of Zonalon since I got so much relief from the drug – I hope it’s just the cream carrier I’m reacting to.
Something I’ve noticed is most people posting their ages tells me we’re in the 40s-50s age (some exceptions). From what I’ve read 75+% of our age group has the beginnings of osteoarthritis in the neck/cervical spine, but very few of that group actually shows any symptoms from it. Eventually, however, most of us will develop back/neck problems as we get older. The seasonal thing for most folks … that still perplexes me.
Bring on the survey!!
Molly
Hi all thanks for the response I have already worked on some questions and how we will bring it together at the end, thanks Mark for your input that sounds great, if both yourself and Anne Marie can e-mail me, (and anyone else for that matter) so that I can have your e-mail addresses I will send you what I have started on, obviously I can only think of so many things so the more people to look at it and add questions the better, once everyone is happy with the questions, we can then go ahead and publish it on line with Marks help and then collate the answers!
Stephanie, please use this email address (without the spaces between the letters of course): s e g h e r s g m a i l . c o m
Please get the survey together completely and I will build the online version… sorry to say this is all I have time for… cannot collect questions from various sources and do editing.
All: careful posting your email addresses on this or any other forum like this… spammers have ways of auto-harvesting anything that looks like an email address.
Hi everyone.I am still itching,I did not itch all day and it started about 11 p.m. The vick vapor rub is helping a little. I have read alot of the post, I am beginning to think,that keeping unconstipated is very important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is all very frustrating, and everyone’s body reacts differently. I will stay in touch. My heart goes out for all of you.I am going to try to get some rest and sleep. God bless you all, sleep softly….JoAnn
Hiya , so surprised how many sufferers but my hair is dark brown & i live in hertfordshire in the Uk , ive suffered for almost 6months now , like many only ice is a good relief , ive had all sorts of stuff from my GP but they seams to make it worst ,like many its at night mostly so im getting to bed at around 6am & havin to get up between 9-10am so now im spending most of my days light headed from lack of sleep , i will try some of the ideas posted , but again i find sugary things make it worst too.
good luck to fellow sufferers hope we all get better soon.
Uk sufferer
forgot mention broke my back in 2003 had a spinal op on C5 could this be why?
Hi everyone,I check every night to see if anyone has somthing NEW to say. My itching has gone on for over 40 yrs, but I went as long as 20 yrs without of whatever this called, itchies would be ok. I had it really bad last year and it lasted for about 5 months, and that was the longest I ever had it. But the thought of having it, is awful!!!!!! I have had it now for about three weeks, and today it was itchting, and I was giving a BD Parety for my granddaughter, it is really no fun!! I found this web site last year, and I appreciate you all so very much!!! Yes i would love a survey. God bless you all, sleep softly JoAnn
Dear JoAnne
I’, sorry to hear that your itching is that bad and that you’ve suffered from it for so long. But just like you look at this site every day to see if anyone has something new -so do the rest of us. So I was wondering -have you seriously tried ANY of the things people on this sit have tried? Did you go on the diet you said you would? Did you try drinking and keeping unconstipated like you said you would? How did it go? Did you feel any better? If not would you consider tring a chiropractor or acupuncture? Have you tried any of the creams that seem to at least relieve the situation for some? Have you read ALL the entries to see if there was something to inspire you to do something? The best thing we can all do for each other is try something and give some feedback. I hope you find something that at least lets you sleep at night.
Good luck in your search!
(Just for the record: For me doing my daily “5 tibetans” with the neck exercises every day still seems to be doing the trick. There’s no garantee but it feels right. Wanna try?)
Mari Anne, Copenhagen
Hi Mari Anne, thank you for your encouragement, but this is not an easy thing to live with, as you well know!! I have tried every cream on the market, and tried several presscriptions, they worked for a very short time, or not at all. I went to dermatalogist, all to no avail!!!! Sleeping pills do not work at all.I do not know if certain foods affect me, I do no think so, I have a good diet, have never been over weight. I do have dry skin. But I will continue to read and listen to you all, thank you again for encouragement!!!! I am trying to drink alot of water…God bless you all…sleep softly… JoAnn
I’m happy to say that the Itching is gone, hopefully for the season, early this year. Stopped about 4 weeks ago. Don’t even need ice in the evenings anymore.
Not sure why… I have not changed anything except less Sun now, of course. In the peak of it, when I run my hand over my upper arm, it would feel like there was fiberglass between my hand and arm, little needles… Now, it feels like normal skin.
Anyone else get early relief this season?
Hello all,
All I can say is Gabapentin or Neurontin. It is a nerve pain blocker. I have been on it for about 2 months steady and my itching is gone, I get a little tinglie if I miss a dose. I take 300mg twice a day. I was trying 300mg a day but didn’t find it helpful. In the last two months I have probably iced maybe 4 times. You have to stick with it thought, it doesn’t work over night, give it a good 2-3 weeks of consistently taking it twice a day. Worked for me. Maybe it might help others on this site. I hate taking medication but I will ween myself off of it in late December, I think the itching will have stopped by then.
Take care,
Susan (Calgary, Alberta)
I am really itching alot, all day and at night too!!!! This is awful,nothing helps, just ICE, this is depressing…JoAnn
JoAnn,
I really urge you to try the aloe gel. It is moistening, and soothing. I would continue to try the ice but in addition, I would use the gel generously on your arms several times a day until it improves. This has been working for both my husband and myself this summer. I have had this “thing” for over twenty years, but my husband only two years. We both have had neck/upper back issues, and we live in a sunny climate. Hope you get some relief.
I haven’t posted on here in quite a while, but I do read every day. My morning routine is Solarcaine Burn Relief Gel with Aloe on my arms right after my shower, then a coating of Gold Bond Anti-Itch cream, and I take a Benedryl. This has helped immensely this year. I had a bad bout back in the summer and for the first time in over 10 years, it itched at and above my elbow instead of the elbow to wrist. Strange..
I posted a long time ago, but to catch you up, I am 54 years old, live in Atlanta, Ga, am NOT a sun worshipper, but do have neck/back problems.
Chocolate and sun aggravate the condition. So far this fall I haven’t had any problems……YET. My Grandmother had this same condition and I remember her arms being scarred from scratching. Her doctors blamed it on her nerves and diabetes. I’m not stressed and I don’t have diabetes. I’ve also tried Neurontin and it did help, but can’t find a doc that will give me a prescription for it….For now, I’m just dealing day to day. Leslie in Atlanta, Ga.
I tried every gel, and benedryl, etc…. when it was in its peak, NOTHING except ice helped. The gel just built up and made my skin break out! The only gels that worked a little bit were gels that “fooled” the nerves… e.g. created heat or icy sensations… but these were only short-lived, and again, created the buildup side-effect.
I’m happy to hear that gels work for some people… but for me they only were expensive and gave me false hope. When doctors hear “my skin itches” their knee-jerk reaction is “lotion”. This condition, being more about nerve endings than skin, is of course resistant.
Perhaps where the gel comes in, is in minimizing the effects of the sun. Perhaps sunburned/dry skin makes the nerve condition worse. In which case a gel would help a person maintain a level of some sort. But… if the nerves are sending signals, I’m not sure lotion of any kind would eliminate or alleviate the condition itself…?
At least these are my thoughts… I don’t discourage people from trying anything!!
Hello to all. I completely fel you on getting frustrated, feeling like giving up. I really do. Which is why I researched and tried everything else before asking my dr to prescribe thalidomide. I am now on day four. Taking 200 mg a day. No improvement yet, but I had a freak accident on Friday involving a ceiling fan (!) so I went to the ER and got 5 staples in my head for that, making it hard to judge whether the itching is normal or is due to the vicodin! Will let you all know if anything changes at all. It’s hard. I’m praying that this will be a cure all of us can investigate and use if it works! Try to avoid carrying anything of any real weight when you can. Avoid repetative arm or neck movements. Avoid holding your neck in one position for too long. Don’t wash the itchy areas with any soap and do not apply anything with any fragrance in it on those areas. If you’re a woman, don’t wear a bra. I know that’s hard for some, but I found my bra really brings on a lot of itching episodes. Also, cut tags out of shirts. Look for built in bras in shirts. This has helped me. And ice…Ice packs are the ONLY thing that work for me to numb the itch. Still. I’ll write and report any news as it happens. Until then, found another article on Thalidomide. Hoping it’s correct!
http://alpenmic.com/pharmacy/thalidomide.htm
Muscular sclerosis is also a nerve-ending complaint. Would it be worth researching what is effective with that? Also, my dentist says mercury leaching from amalgam fillings causes nerve end damage. Do many people have many amalgam fillings. Just wondering.