Itch Relief…

Hi. I Googled BRP to see if there were any new postings. When the itch started (back in September, 2007), I looked for rashes and found nothing. The itch finally drove me to the dermatologist who clued me in to BRP. He mentioned nothing about cervical injury, only that the cause is unknown. He sent the nurse for a pre-printed flyer which explained that it was a condition found mostly in people who live in Hawaii and Florida (Orlando, here), and worsens with sun exposure.

As I did more research, I found blogs on “Men’s Health” which recommended massage and a visit to the chiropractor. I mentioned the condition to the massage therapist at my next “chiro” visit. He worked on the brachial plexus (the nerve center) in my pectoral area. Truthfully, it was a little painful. I followed up with a chiro visit (same office, same day) and was itch free for about 4 months.

I bike and walk and unfortunately, as soon as it started getting really hot again (the late spring), the itching returned. I notice the intensity of the itch to increase immediately after sun exposure. Sun screens do not seem to help either, but I have only used up to a 50 SPF (60+ is worth a try)

I noticed someone mention the itching starting on her back. Has anyone else noticed the “itch radius” start to spread to legs, back, neck, etc.?

I had an epidural steriod injection between C5 & C6 this morning. As of now, seems to have helped but I have had this for so long and tried so many things I am not being overly optimistic. Have seen a dermotologist, my GP, and the neorologist who referred me to the pain management specialist who gave me the shot in the back today. I truthfully do hope it works – it cost me $400.

where is everybody, no new coments in a long time, what about the last one i wrote in,,,here isit????sleep softly JoAnn

Cate in the future, dont read my coments, I am sure everyone does not feel like you do, you are a rude sickening person to send a remark like that to me… gee hows your itching doing, hope that chiroprator can keep it away,because if it was that simple, we would all be going to one, your not so bright after all, sleeping softly is a good thing dummy JoAnn Bless you,n you get over it.

my coment is no worse than the one Cate sent in. I have a right to answer her rude coment, you should not of put hers on the screen. she was out of line to be so rude, why isnt her coment awaiting modereration?????????????JoAnn I am sure everyone would agree with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m a 46 year old male. I have blue eyes and brown hair. Sounds like I’m looking for a date but I’m just giving some comparative data. I’ve had the itching forearms for about 10 years. I think most guys don’t go on these sites. But I can attest that it doesn’t only affect women. I’ve always attributed it to the sun. I work outside as a surveyor. I’ve started wearing long sleeves in the summer because, like the consensus, it only comes in the summer. It hasn’t yet stopped completely but I do think the sleeves help.

Hey thanks Linda I really appreciate it. Hope you are itch free lately!!

Hello all again, well it’s baaaaaccccckkk! It started later this year but it’s in both arms and pretty much the whole arm and nape of neck (front and back) Has anyone experienced the itch going down the top of the hand and into the fingers? I’m not sure if it’s just dryness on my hand (I’m in denial) or if this is in fact affecting the top of my left hand and down my middle finger and just my middle finger on my right hand. Anyone else got it in the hands??? My itch isn’t quite as intense this year but it is very prickly always and the ice isn’t taking it away as quickly. I have a great Chiropractor who is coming up with all sorts of things for me to try. I’m really grateful because I at least feel like he’s trying really hard to figure this crazy thing out. I do feel better for a few days after getting a chiropractic treatment. I’m going to try out Garth Wood’s exercise that he notes in his January 18th, 2008 comment in this blog. I’d like to hear from anyone who may be experiencing the itch into the hands.

Yes, I experience the itch on the top of both hands, esp. the left for whatever reason.
This is such a weird afflication that nothing surprises me.
Also, when mine was at its worst, I had a lot of the neck itching.
Still, if I stay out of the sun, it is much less severe. I read some place that sunscreen is not much of a help as I think it might have something to do with the heat also and sunscreen of course does nothing for that.
Whatever!!!!!!

I still think some of the things we eat trigger it too – very sweet food, junk food. I wonder too about some of the hidden additives. I have found that, since I started cooking everything from scratch, watching my posture, drinking enough fluids, it is all much more manageable. The faintest tingle and I think back to what I’ve just had – this morning it was honey on porridge. Ordinary brown sugar doesn’t do it. Simple things but it works for me.

I’m sorry but I’m more with Patty’s thinking in that, nothing that we’ve tried works. All the things I swore-by last year, vitamin D, probiotics, gabapentin and relaxation techniques aren’t doing a darn thing this year. I’m convinced we have very little control over it. Here’s why. For years I’ve kept track of the foods I ate, drinks I drank, and activities I’d partaken-in prior to a “flare-up” or a bad night. There is NO(!) pattern to it all! I’m very active and fit (for a 47 yr old), cook almost all my meals from scratch, don’t eat much junk (don’t much like sweets, never even tried artificial sweetener), live in an area of low pollution, under little stress (no kids, no job (husband has a good one)), have no allergies, etc,etc. Basically, healthy, no other major health issues. Yes, like most women my age I have degenerative issues in my lower back, neck and lately hip, but that’s year-round! The BIGGEST CLUE to all of this is that it is so seasonal for A LOT of us (definitely me). I know not ALL of us (think geographically though). But listen to this… I connected to a woman through this site, who lives 10-15 kms away. We communicate via e-mail when our arms are itchy but have only met in person twice. She’s very nice but we are very different, we don’t really have that much in common other than BRP but here’s the thing… every year the TWO OF US start itching at EXACTLY the same time. Within days we figure, one year we nailed it down to the exact same day! This proves it’s not anything we are taking or doing. We may have had a past experience that has made us both susceptible (like a bad sunburn for example) but there is something in our current environment that is triggering it. Neither one of us makes any big changes to our diet or lifestyle at this time of year. Coincidently, last year we both took winter holidays in Maui and the itch ceased almost immediately. Any reading will tell you BRP was discovered due to a high incidence in Hawaii!! So the big question is… what makes US so sensitive to WHAT in our environment?

Oh yeah, in response to the question aboove, my itch is worse on the lower half of my arm these days too. And it has prickled badly at the wrist area of my hand a couple of times. Don’t remember either of these places itching before, always been the upper arm only. My itch has been on my right arm 5 of 6 years but jumped to the left just for fun one year! Has to keep me guessing, seriously though, that’s actually a strong clue if we could only decipher it! I’ve also had a mysterious itch that can’t be sated on the underside of my toes of all places! No rash or visible marks, no creams have made a difference but it’s nowhere near as bad as the arms. Don’t mean to distract from the BIG question at the end of my previous post but, anyone else with itchy toes?

I agree, it is very baffling, when did your itching start?
mine started about the first or second week in July
How long does your last?
Mine goes until about January

Hi all. Just a quick update. I must not have BRP. After 5 years of increasing problems with of intense summer-fall seasonal itching on all aspects of my ams and hands, and which would spontaneously resolve around Nov. 14th, I have stopped itching. No itch this year at all. None.

Since my symptoms abate after taking two benadryll or other antihistamine I have become convinced that I was having an allergic reaction to the sun. This condition is not listed under what are common sun related conditions. For others who get relief from antihistime products please consider minimizing your exposure to the sun using maximum strenght mineral sunscreens and cover up your arms!

I am using Umbrelle 60 spf sunscreen by L’Oreal religiously on my hands and arms and also I put straight zinc on the trouble spots (back of my hands and the croock of my elbow). Additionally, I wear a long sleece 100% cotton button down to keep my exposure to my arms and hands to a minimal. After being itch free all of June, at the beginning of July I started exposing my arms to the sun for short intervals. If the sun is very intense or I am to be out a few hours then I stay covered up. I have been very careful about the sun. I am itch free!

I have now met 2 other people in my town who have this problem with intense sun exposure. We live in a cold climate at 9000′. I found these other two people through the chinese med/accupunture Rx who treats me on and off for various things these past few years. Most of the year (6-7 months), we live with jackets on. All three of us also leave the area in the spring to go to warm sunny destinations (Mex, the deserts of Utah, Florida, etc). In all instances the itching does not onset right away with sun exposure, it onsets later, sometimes weeks later. Once the itch scratch cycle begins it is hard to break.

I hope those who are suffering now find relief!

Regards, Valerie

To clarify, QDall AR is a daily pill…just eliminated the need for Atarax daily. I actually sleep well, and wake rested on the QDall instead of waking lethargic on the Atarax. I still use the Atarax as a pinch hitter when I’m itching…like today. 🙁

Also have the following:
back/neck pain, although with my itching being primarily legs, I’d be interested to know which vertebrae are involved for legs. Will check with my chiro/acupuncturist Tuesday at my next adjustment…have had TERRIBLE back/neck issues for a week after lifting injury.

irritable bowel, treated with WelChol
acid reflux, treated with Nexium
itch, treated with QDall AR
allergy, treated with Singulair
menopause, treated with Enjuvia
asthma, treated with Advair

hoping to find the medical miracle soon…feel free to contact me privately if you find one! kmwhite@insightbb.com

I just went back to the beginning of this “conversation” to re-read some of the old posts. Boy, it’s really overwhelming how many people have visited this site over the years. Begs the question though, where are they all now?? Any of you out there? Did you find a way to live with this hardship? Are you better? Anyone??

Hi Lydna. I have mild seasonal allergies from pollen, some years I don’t have them at all. Mild itchy eyes, runny nose. I Luffel (sp?) it is a European homeopathic nose spray. It gives great relief. As for the sun allergy,, I grew in South Florida. I was a sun whorshipper then. I move to DC at age 20, lived in NYC for a year, live in North Florida then Miami again before moving to 9000 in Colorado. I lived here many years without an itch but 5 years ago or so I started having the itch on the crook of my arm and sometimes the top of my hand. Each summer it got worse and last summer was by far the worse. I was going in for surgery on my knee last Nov. 14th and was scared to death of the itch. It spontanesouly resolved just before surgery and has not come back. I found this site that week and started my journey of discovery. I did not find anything about my type of itch, one that is not preceeded by any kind of rash, nor does my skin look damaged at all. After just scratching for a moment, my skin would feel rough when running my hand over it lightly and small red dots appeared. Very often the itch would occur at night. Not so much during sun exposure. I would be sitting on the couch and feel a zinging sensation in a localized area, say on my forearm or bicep. Just brushing it with my hand will stimulate the itch. I would rub it so as not to itch. Often the itch would not onset until after I had fallen asleep, and it would awaken me. Last summer I was taking 2 benyadryl at the VERY FIST, smallest twinge. If I could hold off on itching for 1/2 hour the antihistime would take affect and the symptom abate.

After reading hunderd of the posts here, consulting with and having accupunture treatments I am sure that all I have is an allegery to the intense sun exposure and long term sun exposure. Perhaps it is too much exposure to the suns radiation (radiation sickness). I have had 2 mild twinges of itch this summer. But no full blown itch/scratch episode. One time I was actually in the sun at an art show (I sell my work at arts festivals in Colorado in the summer – very sun intensive) and the top of my hand itched. Before I knew it I was scratching. I put a good layer of zinc on my hand and the itching stopped. This happend again to the top of my forearm – again zinc to the itching area and put my long sleeve sheer on. Both times the itch stopped and did not come back.

Have you tried benyadryl yet? May I suggest that the next time you get the itch try oral antihistimes at the very first slightest twinge, then wait and see. (The cream did not work for me). I have had not had to take more than 2 but 1 did not give me relief. I hope this works for you? I strongly believe that is this works for you you will be able to at least manage it until it resolves itself. It will be next summer that the real results will be seen. I really managed my initial exposure to the sun this year. I did not take a trip to a hot, sun intense location. I minimized my exposure but did slowly increase exposure so as to aclimate my skin to the sun. Of the two others I have met here that have a similar problem (mine was the most severe) one is having the itch this summer, she went to Mexico for two weeks in May and is not, in her opinion, being “careful”. I don’t know about the other person and his experiences this summer. I hope to find out.

I believe part of the trouble for those with sun exposure issues that part of the problem is going from minimal exposure to intense exposure – or going from a place where the suns rays are weaker to a place where they are stronger. I know that here at 9000 with thin are the sun is really strong. I belive that in the upper latitudes the sun is intense in the summer months? Perhaps it has a lot to do with simply going from protected skin to exposed skin and it is simply too much. If we are more careful about that perhaps for those of us who find relief from the itch by taking antihistimes will be able to manage to condition, and enjoy the outdoors! When I first made the connection I was sad because I love the outdoors and spend a lot of time hiking, biking, skiing, etc. But after a summer of no itch and just being careful I can still do all of these things, I just don’t do them in a tank top anymore!

Please follow up when you have a moment. I hope you are not suffering badly.

Valerie

I will look for Zyrtec, may or may not be available in Canada OTC. Other anti histamines didn’t help. They were the very first thing I tried 6 years ago on my drs. recommendation. I’m doing better, 4 days/nights in a row with a milder itch that I’m able to ignore (with a lot of effort). Five days ago I went to a middle aged, chinese woman specializing in chinese medicine and accupuncture. I’ve since been a second time. She seems very competent (worked in a hospital in China many years, highly recommended to me by a chinese friend). Nice thing is, she really listens and thinks then acts. Amazing the consideration you get when you’re paying! I must have had three dozen needles in me. I had been taking a number of different vitamins some in high doses, she suggested I cut back on some but I decided to simple go back to one good-quality multi and an extra C. I was up to 700 mg of neurontin too and have since tapered that off to none. It just wasn’t doing anything on way or the other.
I too have had to admit the sun theory is starting to look like the most plausible. Don’t understand the mechanics of it but my itch is so seasonal it’s getting harder andharder to deny. I grew up three blocks from the beach and worshiped the sun as a teenager. I still spend a lot of time in the sun (gardening, cycle everywhere and play lots of tennis) for the three (!!!) months it shines in my neck of the woods. I too usually go on a tropical-type break in the winter (ironically, itch subsides then, partially why I was in denial). Baffling. Don’t know why I’m doing a bit better, just hope it continues, this I can just bear (and sleep).

Linda, I am glad to hear that the itch has eased off a bit. You mentioned that you tryed antihistimes years ago, did you get any relief? Have you not tried them recently? Perhaps if you try benydrl now, when the symptoms are not so bad you can get some additional relief? I think once things really get going with the I/S cycle that our levels of histimine it is very hard to resolve without nuropathic drugs. For those of us well into the I/S cycle our thresholds are so low that just a moment in the sun is enough to push us over the edge. That is why I think I am doing fine this year, I never let my exposure to the sun toxify me so the cycle never set in.

Again, I am glad to hear that the itch has abated some in the last few days and hope that you find a solution!

Good luck, Valerie

Although I agree the sun exaserbates the itch, I live in Calgary Alberta and we have to cover up around the end of September, so not alot of shorts sleeves but my itch lasts until at least January February, even though my arms haven’t seen the sun for months.

Gotta say, for me, Neurontin, even at the highest dosage my Neurologist would allow me to take did nothing – well, except make me dizzy, tired, woozy, nauseous and nutty 😉 Lyrica, pretty much the same thing. I have skipped a year before and thought I was cured – HA! Sun definitely plays a part for me. Some seasons it is the tops of my hands. Some, like this one, it is my neck. It started on both shoulders. At the time, I ran every morning in a sleeveless shirt, so that makes sense. Nowadays, I know better than to let sun touch my shoulders, so I guess my neck and tops of hands are the only thing that is exposed to sun. Zyrtec, if I catch the itch in time, works for me most times, and the best part: I can take it during day because it does not make me feel like I am going to pass out like Benedryl does. Claritin works if I take it in AM, but boy if you have ever mistakenly taken it in the evening, you will be up ALL NIGHT! Ice and Zyrtec are my standbys now. But no cure. Not that I can find. Nothing keeps the itch from happening. Like I said, I do believe I have earned the right to say, after the BIZARRE effects of Thalidomide, that I have tried everything! 😉 My advice, for what it is worth – stay out of sun or wear clothing over exposed parts, do not carry heavy objects, try not to do repetitive hand or arm motions, no more weight training involving arm or neck or hand, do not keep your head in one position (long car trips are the WORST!), do not drink too much caffeine, do not use ANY detergents or soaps or shampoo or lotion with ANY fragrances in them, and keep ice packs and Zyrtec (or Claritin) nearby! Of course, that might only work for me. This thing we all suffer from — well, it is just so darn confusing!

Well, my itch is back. I went all of last year without it from what I can recall…but just 2 weeks ago it’s back. It’s localized this time to my right upper arm and this time forearm as well. As usual, nothing I’ve tried (creams, antihistamines, etc.) has worked. I’ve been dealing with this now since 1999…it just comes and goes. Usually comes in fall and gone by February.

John

My 3 year old daughter has this, it seems to wake her up at night. I is raw and hurts when I try to put creams on it.
I think I will try the yogurt and sunscreen.
Will let you know how it goes.

To all you that itch… and I sympathize with your dilemna, here are the ONLY two things that work for me:

1. Ice, an ice pack, frozen peas… whatever is very cold, applied to the area that itches for 30 seconds and the itch is subdued, say lessened by 80% or 90%. Sometimes it makes it go away entirely for the rest of the night.

2. A prescription cream, available in many countries without prescription, by the name of DIPRODERM 0.05% (manufacturer is Schering-Plough). Applied several times a day, it stops the itch within a day or two.

I hope this helps!

Henrik

Thank you Linda! The New Yorker article is wonderful. Taking into consideration the poor woman who scratched a hole in her brain, it puts our itches into perspective somewhat. I think our brains have a lot to do with it because I frequently get a prickle when I have a drink of water. Doesn’t make physical sense. For me though, I am going for spine damage which is good because it seems to be the easiest itch trigger to control. Works for me anyway.