Itch Relief…

I was itch free for eleven months then, in December in Australia, it started up again. I had been doing a lot of activity which involved upper shoulders. The Australian acupuncturist relieved it then I came to Canada and went crazy with it, despite no junk food. I had acupuncture here but it triggered more nerves and greater itch. I then went to a chiropractor and it was magic. He worked on the area from C4 down to T1 and the result was instantaneous. Just a tingle. After the next visit, not even that for the past eight weeks. I find that I can trigger it though by sitting a certain way or lying in bed with my neck in a certain position. As soon as I change position, it goes away. The chiropractor said all the blood supply for the nerves in the arms come from that part of the spine and it is a matter of keeping that loose. He worked on the muscles and not on the discs. It is interesting not even to have a tingle. I am still careful about what I eat (minimum additives and sugar) but good dark chocolate is no problem at all – a delight.

HI, JUST CAME BACK FROM MY DR. AND I WAS TOLD I HAVE BRACHIAL/RADIAL/PURITIS. ITCHING ON ARMS FOR 10 YEARS NOW. I HAVE IT ALL YEAR LONG, USED TO BE JUST SUMMER. I WILL SCRATCH MY ELBOWS UNTIL I BLEED. ITS AWFUL. SHE SAYS THAT ITS VERY HARD TO CURE, MAYBE WILL ALWAYS HAVE IT. ITS HAS SPREAD TO THE STOP OF MY BACK. SHE IS HAVING ME GET THIS NOSE SPRAY CALLED BUTORPHANOL TARTRATE TO USE ONCE AT NIGHT. HOPE IT WORKS, PLUS USING A 55 SUN SCREEN, AND WEARING LONG SLEEVE SHIRT. HAPPY SUMMER TO ME.MAYBE THIS WILL HELP SOME OF YOU. SURE HOPE SO.

I have had the most horrible itching for the past year. My dermatologist keeps saying dry skin. I have connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, low acting thyroid, degenerative disc disease, i HAVE never been so miserable. Death would be welcomed at this point. Tried atarax, zantac, benadryl topical and oral. Can’t eat, sleep, have been up for 4 nights straight. Can’t take much more.

I have been suffering with this itching for 5 yrs. it affects both my arms from my elbows to the top of my hands….I am very thankful to my daughter for finding this site for me it gives me hope that someone somewhere will find something to make our lives a little better.

I went to my doctor yesterday and he put me on doxepin I started last night but I was up at 2:00 am itching and this morning I have been itching non stop for 2 and 1/2 hours… My doctor did say something about maybe using an antibiotic so I will mention to him the one Melinda mentioned….I also have lupus and I’m bipolar so my life is pretty miserable right now….I’m praying someone somewhere finds a relief….have a wonderful weekend.

Well the doxepin is not working I was in the tub soaking in water for about 45 minutes at 2:00 am….my doctor wants me to soak in a tub for 30 minutes twice a day and then just barely dry myself leaving the arms still pretty wet and applying vaseline to the arms he says it takes 30 minutes for the water to penetrate all the skin layers and vaseline will lock the moisture in by closing off the pores….It’s worth a try.

Molly I’m taking 20 mg…I called my doctor today to tell him it was not working and prescribe the intibiotic, his answer totally annoyed me he said his dictation from our visit last wednesday was not in yet so to give him a couple of days and call him back, I wonder how he would feel with a couple of days itching non stop….anyway maybe I’ll ask him to increase the dosage before I quit taking it…thank your for your comment.

Hi everyone. I have suffered with Brachioradial Pruritus for ten years. I live in Florida and spend most of my time outdoors. I visited three dermatologists and all three gave me the same diagnosis. Apparently it is related to sun exposure. According to all three physicians, sun sensitivity means that even walking to your vehicle can be overexposure to a sensitive person.
I have flare ups throughout the year. Long sleeved clothing or cool temperatures, nothing seems to make a difference. I have treated the itch with Capsaicin, which can be purchased without a prescription. This was the recommended treatment from all three physicians. WARNING: This stuff burns!!! You will forget you are itching because you simply trade the itch for a burning sensation. Also, it will not wash off, so be extremely careful of putting your hands to your face following application. Wear clothing over the area that is medicated to avoid transferring it to loved ones or to sensitive body parts.I suggest applying it with a cloth vs. with your hands.
Now for some hopefully good news. I have tried everything imaginable for the itch. If someone tells me to try an oatmeal bath, ammonia, baby lotion- you get the picture..I have tried it all.
Recently I was waiting in line in our local drug store and I had a man ask about my arms. They are very scarred from the years of endless scratching. I told him that it was sun sensitivity etc. He then showed me his own scars and said that he had suffered for years with the problem. He asked me questions such as “is there an itch initially, but no sign of anything”..and on down the list of symptoms that we all share. He then told me that he had consulted many dermatologists over the years and that finally a general physician insisted that he bathe with Head and Shoulders shampoo. He stated that he had been itch free for ten years and counting!
I immediately purchased a bottle. I am happy to say that I have been using it for eight weeks and have been itch free. I had one minor breakout a few days after I began using the shampoo, but nothing since that time. Normally by this time of the year, I am covered with sores on my arms and scratching horribly. During the past eight weeks I have spent at least four days a week outside, some of these were 12 hour days.
I can’t say for certain that this is the answer to the problem. It could be coincidence and nothing more. However, in ten years of suffering, I have never been able to go this far into the summer season without a horrible outbreak. I wish all of you luck if you decide to give this a try. I have found a new body wash and it even smells nice 🙂

I think that it is a fibromyalgia related thing that works like this: fibromyalgia = widespread inflammation. Inflammation = pain or itching. I think that when the inflammation involves the nerve endings, that is when the itching happens. So anything that calms down the fibro, reduces the inflammation is going to calm down the itching. There is something I have been reading about called substance P that is in play here too.

I’m from Ontario Canada,I’ve been trying to rule out the sun related issue, because if it is sun related, why do I only get it from Aug to Nov. Ontario is warm and sunny in the summer, but I was gone south twice this past winter and was in the sun with a golden tan, and never than or now am I itchy, I don’t get it. I believe it is toxin related with season change, I feel sore, inflammed and of course itchy. I take antihistamine, aspirin and use a perscription sauve with menythol in it.
This is my just my thoughts, I would not rule out a form of fibromylgia either.
Just my opinion

Molly I went up on the doxepin to 40 mg 20 in the am and 20 in the pm and I can’t handle the morning dosage it knocks me out I sleep for 2 to 3 hrs. in the afternoon and I have found no relief from it so I am thinking of not taking it any more. My doctor is putting me on Dapsone starting tomorrow so we’ll see.
Hope everyone has an itch free weekend.
Marta

I completely agree with what Judy P says in item # 820. This definitely applies to me. I am still itch free but I know that for me it starts between middle June to the beginning of July, so I’m gearing up. My Chiro says that I should be on Flax seed oil for it and I agree, I just haven’t gotten into the habit of taking it regularly, which I really need to. I did take gabapentin last year and it worked but, sorry for being so frank, played hell with the libido. I just had an MRI and it showed an issue with my C5 and C6.
Anyway, I’ll stock up on ice as that is about the only other thing that helps.
Regards
Susan from Calgary, Alberta

Hello Melinda I am getting ready to start taking Dapsone I have to see my doctor about it tomorrow and I was wondering if you experienced any side effects from it and how long did it take before it actually started working. I have lupus and I am bipolar so I am a little concerned taking it.
Take care and I hope to hear from you.
Thank you
Marta

I have had a problem like this in the past overnight. I am a 20 year old male. On one hand, I am a bit surprised that the responses span from September of 2004 (with the initial problem being brought up in January of 2004) all the way to recently. I am surprised, because topics like this usually fall off by now. I am not surprised because I have had a chronic mysterious (to my doctors and to me) breathing problem, so I am saying that doctors don’t have all the answers. Also, doctors always want to seem to prescribe SOME kind of medication and also the government supresses a lot of useful information at the expense of the public and the benefit of the big pharmaceudical companies.

As for my personal experience, I don’t think I’ve had the itching overnight this bad in a long time, if ever (that I can remember). It started just a little bit after I went to bed at 11:30 PM Eastern and was at all different areas of my body. It continued throughout the night, with me waking up and falling back asleep. I awoke at approximately 6:30 AM and said “ENOUGH!” I decided to take a shower, as I thought perhaps something was on my skin, as I could see no visible marks such as insect bites, and this seems to have helped a little bit. I am thankful that my problem is not as bad as some of the others who responded, because I do not have this problem all that often. I still have some itching as I type this, but it is improved.

I have not read all posts as there are quite a few, but this may possibly be due to the weather being warmer, as it has been in the mid to upper 70’s, an increase of the preceding weeks here in the Detroit-Metro area over the past several days. I have not been under a great deal of stress lately nor have I been exposed to a lot of the sun nor am I exposed to the sun a whole lot. I was actually thinking of going sun tanning, but may hold back on that for now.

It is comforting to know I’m not the only one experiencing this and I will offer whatever insight I can.

~Dave

I had brachioradial pruritis (confirmed via a skin analysis performed by a dermatologist). It was, as many of you talk about here, an appalling experience. I would have preferred pain over the itch. Every year it recurred, I would try all sorts of things, with menthol and ice being the most successful. That, however, only alleviated the symptoms. It did not stop the itch.

But, I have found something that stopped it.
Not alleviated, not helped-so-I-could-sleep, not numbed … but, it seems, stopped.

The product is called Cortaid. It’s a spray bottle with 1% hydrocortisone (it’s not a cream. I had previously tried hydrocortisone cream [like Mark, in a post above] and that didn’t work. This product, however, is a spray). It is being promoted as an “intensive therapy cooling spray” and it is made by Johnson and Johnson.

I am a veteran of my “brachio” in that it was cyclical and regularly recurring from year-to-year, so not a novice when it comes to this frightful condition. My arms were a nightmare and sometimes I wished I could cut them off. Itching, burning … my skin was mottled with scratch marks and people would look at me strangely as if I were into self-mutilation or something.

But, one day of using the spray and the itch was markedly reduced; two days of using the spray and the itch was gone … and it stayed gone. The scratches are healing. I am sleeping a full 8 hours again.

I exposed my arms to sunlight last week. That always triggered off an attack. I admit, I was so hesitant to do it … but no itch. No itch!

Please, if any of you can find this spray (I bought it at my local pharmacy very inexpensively), please try it. It may be just me and it might not help anybody else. But, how marvelous it would be if I am not just a fluke and there are others who get similar results. If that were the case, I would personally bow down in front of the Johnson and Johnson headquarters in thanks.

Cortaid Intensive Therapy Cooling Spray did the trick for me!

A week ago I read through the many posts here and decided to try Cortaid Spray mentioned in one of the posts and sure enough I had similar results. The first and second day brought noticable relief and by day three the deep itching symptoms on my arm (forearm/elbow area) seems to have gone away. I’m on day 6 and all is well! Even the sunlight has not brought back the symptoms. Amazing! I would not have believed it — nothing else has worked and ice has only provided temporary relief. CORTAID SPRAY (not lotion) made by Johnson-&-Johnson worked for me.

(Note: So far I have lightly sprayed the area, that used to itch, 3-times daily. I plan to reduce that to twice a day for a week, then once/day. My third week I’ll see what happens when I don’t use it)…

Thanks Sappho. I will pick some up. My itch usually starts around the end of August and goes for 2 or 3 months. I will try it then.

I haven’t weighed in on this subject in a long time, mostly, honestly, because once my itching subsided (lasted from late May last year until February of this year) I didn’t want to “jinx” it again and write about it. I still can’t wear a bra. The lycra/latex straps rub my shoulders and cause me to itch. I have looked everywhere for a bra that truly has NO LYCRA. It doesn’t exist. Even when it is advertised as an “organic cotton” bra, the straps have spandex or lycra in them. It’s awful! But, that being said, I just wanted to update…Besides the bra thing, I still use FRAGRANCE FREE products (ALL products that go on my body or come in contact with my body, INCLUDING cleaning products and LAUNDRY products) and have, since last summer, avoided the sun hitting my shoulders or upper arms AT ALL. So far so good 🙂 This coming from a sufferer of BRP for 10 years now, who has tried and taken everything EVERYTHING, (including Lyrica, Nurontin, Anti-depressants, Allergy meds of all kinds, chiropractors, neurologists, acupuncture, stretching, yoga, pilates, vitamins, topical meds and creams and gels and the only thing that works when I have an attack: ICE! etc. etc) to no avail…I am truly PRAYING that staying out of the sun, avoiding fragrances on or about my body, and I guess until I learn to sew a bra that is truly all cotton (!!) that this awful awful affliction will NOT RETURN THIS YEAR. The neck pain is still there. ALWAYS there. But it’s the itching, as we all know, that will literally drive you mad. I am also thinking positive thoughts for all of you suffering right now from it. I hope you find respite, and very soon that we all find a cure from this. Forever.

sb
You sound so much like me. I have been in remission myself for quite a while after 8 years. I also have been through it all. As far as the bra is concerrned, I have worn a strapless for a couple of years now.
I am not that well endowed so I can get away with it.
The sun never hits my arms or shoulders either. I have to admit although I didn’t want to that it works for me to stay out of the sun an heat.
Hope it keeps up for both of us.

Sappho I wonder why the spray would work and not the cream or lotion. I already have both cream and lotion and neither helps me. Thats why i was curious to see if there were any other ingredients that would make the difference. Thanks for the reply maybe I will call.

OK this is gonna sound crazy but I’m gonna put it out there anyway. I keep reading all the comments i find on all the different sites i go on regarding “Itchy Arms.” What I am basically getting and also what I believe from all of this is we all seem to fall into 2 categories. Most of us believe the itch is due to nerve ending damage either from the sun or injury related. Some believe it is a blood related problem, deficiency of some sort or even a food allergy. What i am getting to the crazy part is one of the comments I read on a site got me thinking. There was a person who asked if when a strong bout of the itching comes on and you know when you get those real intense spots of itch, did you ever take a real strong magnifying glass and look at the area real quick? Did you see tiny little white specks or tiny little black splinter specks on that area ? I HAVE!! Also sometimes when you clean your arms and apply whatever you use topically to help get rid of the itch do you sometimes feel sorta like tiny little grains of sand? I HAVE!! Ok here goes. We all seem to go thru I know I do periods where the itching subsides drastically even goes away. At the time I might think it was whatever I used then that was the answer. Made my itch go away. Then couple of months or so later you can feel the twinges the tingling of the itch coming back. Now even the last comment sent above mine says “Itchy Season.” Others say “that time of year again” “hot months” “cold months”. Some of us it is year round no rhyme or reason. Well this other person’s comment goes on to say that they believe it is some type of parasite, not ringworm or scabbies or chiggers,that you or a dermatologist would see upon external examination of the skin surface, but a parasite that lives beneath the skin. It thrives, becomes active,lays eggs, “Itchy Season”, then the adult parasites die and the itch goes away until the new “eggs” hatch. The cycle starts again. Some of us think it is when the weather gets hot. I live in Florida now have for 5 years my itching started in NJ where I lived all the years prior to these 5. I don’t believe anymore that it is due just to heat and the sun. I think it does add to it though. Every one has there own idea of when they think and why the itch is at its worst. Now here’s what I can’t understand. If it is a parasite and like I said I do see and feel what this other person pointed out, after 9 years of this itch , what keeps the parasite from traveling all over your body why would it just center on your arms? I just want an answer so bad that it kinda makes sense but then it doesn’t. The question is how did we get this parasite, we all have to have done like a common thread sorta thing, and there must be a way to kill it!! The neurological drugs that some people take again may help to suppress the itch but it is not truly getting rid of it curing it! I know I am sounding like a crazy person but I really am sane just looking for permanent relief. Anyone else out there who can get what I am saying?

Hi Kim it is a Mentholatum gel, usually blue in color, in a plastic jar, it is for sore muscles. It is called either Ice or Deep Cold, there are other similar products on the market. Hope this helps. I would also stock up on refreezable ice packs so you always have one handy. That is about the only thing that helps me. Last summer I went on Gabapentin (also known as Neurontin), that helped completely but can’t remember what the dosage was, I started the Gabapentin and it wasn’t working until I upped my dosage then it went away completely, just didn’t like the side affects (lack of libido).
If you go this route and it doesn’t seem to work just try a little higher dosage.

Susan in Calgary

Hello my friends:

I am a former sufferer of this dreaded disease and thank God, this summer I have not had the problem. My upper arms itched so that I have scars on them both that appear white in color and may never tan again. A nurse who I work with, and who knows well how I have suffered from this, suggested that she was using “virgin olive oil” this past winter for her dry skin and that I should try it. While I still feel this itch comes from cervical spine injury, since I started this regimen, I can say I am praise God, “itch free”.

After bathing and exfoliating daily with a nice wash cloth and using Dove soap, I splash “virgin olive oil” (yes the kind you cook with) on both my upper arms and rub it in.

I am amazed at how long I have suffered and the wonderful relief I now feel by simply using this oil.

Please somebody try this and let us all know if this helps you as well.

Sincerely,
Lynn Brown

hi all, haven’t written since last August when i had the severe itchy arms…it has gone away for me, thank God…not sure what worked or changed.

i live in Phoenix, Arizona and still go out in the sun when doing things outdoors. I too tried everything under the sun to stop the itch and also wanted to cut the skin right off my arms it was so bad…what worked for me temporarily was Vicks mentholatum rub or anything with menthol.

Someone on here said to NEVER use ice because it does permanent damage to the skin so i tried not to use that.

i am still itch free now…knock on wood…The only thing i can think of that has been a permanent fixture for me since then is the smoothie i have every morning. It consists of frozen fruit, watered down cranberry juice (NO SUGAR kind), one scoop of protein powder, and 1 tablespoon of liquid flaxseed oil.
Every diet i tried, etc. stated the benefits of Flaxseed oil and even my general Physician told me to start taking fish oil and flaxseed for my cholesterol so i did.

i don’t take fish oil anymore but the flaxseed is easy to take because it goes into my drink in the morning.

Just thought i would share since i am itch free and still remember how horrible it was.
Try liquid flaxseed oil everyday for a week or two and see if it helps…can’t hurt you..

Ginger in Phoenix

P.S. i also remember hot water working better in the shower than cold water. I KNOW it seems counterintuitive but i swear after the cold water was turned off the itch was back, but after turning on mostly hot right before i got out of the shower and letting it hit my arms for a minute or two it seemed to provide some relief for a little longer. it did not make it go away however….

I just developed this awful rash two years ago. The first year I went to doctor after doctor. Finally it was determined that I had Brachioradial-radial Summer Pruritus. It is due to sun exposure. My second year (last summer), I did NOT get the rash & thought – yea – the doctor was wrong!! However, this summer it is BACK! I, too, was advised to try the red hot Chilies – among many other meds. I also have a skin condition known as Dermatitis Herpetiformis, which is suppose to be related to the Scandinavians and gluten! Any feedback would be appreciated.