Itching all over again.

[Carolina]

You guyz are the greatest!

Jazzlover, I hadn't thought of the probiotic, or the Omeprazole (which I've taken for years).

I didn't take the Losartan (latest addition) last night, and had no itching.  So, perhaps that is it.  Though my head and face itch this morning a bit.  But nothing like the misery of Saturday night.

It's always tricky to separate the regular ick from the super ick at this stage, I've found.

It would be ironic if I ended my life with itching.

My first 27 years were a nightmare of eczema, sometimes covering almost every inch of my body, nipples and scalp, face included. 

And this was BEFORE cortisone creams and Benedryl.  I used lovely things like cold tar ointment and shampoo (which really had to be akin to using some of the weird remedies from the middle ages).   

The mantra in my family was, "Elaine, stop scratching!"  "Don't scratch, you'll make it worse".

Anyway, I'm giving it thought.

Let me post the list of tests I have in JUST the past 18 months, to give you an idea of why I don't look for liver problems or vitamin deficiencies or thyroid probelms.

This isn't ALL the tests, and the two years preceeding this list had spinal taps, EEGs, many MRI's etc.

10/11/2011 Cardiology DCR Echo Note
10/10/2011 CULTURE BACTERIA URINE
10/10/2011 DUAP URINALYSIS CHEMICAL
10/03/2011 BASIC METABOLIC PANEL
10/03/2011 LIPID PANEL
10/03/2011 HEPATIC FUNCTION PANEL
09/30/2011 IMMUNOGLOBULINS (IGG,IGM,IGA)
09/30/2011 IMMUNOGLOBULIN E
09/27/2011 CTA CHEST W/WO ENH + PP
09/27/2011 CREATININE
09/23/2011 URINALYSIS COMPLETE
09/23/2011 CULTURE BACTERIA URINE
09/16/2011 URINALYSIS COMPLETE
09/16/2011 CULTURE BACTERIA URINE
09/13/2011 HAND-RIGHT 3 VIEWS
09/13/2011 HAND-LEFT 3 VIEWS
09/13/2011 CHEST-ROUTINE PA AND LAT
09/13/2011 C3 COMPLEMENT
09/13/2011 G6PD ASSAY
09/13/2011 C4 COMPLEMENT
09/13/2011 BASIC METABOLIC PANEL
09/13/2011 AUTO BLOOD CT WITH AUTO DIFF
09/13/2011 HEPATITIS C VIRUS ANTIBODY
09/13/2011 SEDIMENTATION RATE-AUTOMATED
09/13/2011 ANGIOTENSIN CONVERTING ENZYME
09/13/2011 IGG SUBCLASSES, SERUM
09/13/2011 URINALYSIS COMPLETE
04/04/2011 LIPID PANEL
04/04/2011 HEPATIC FUNCTION PANEL
03/22/2011 BASIC METABOLIC PANEL
03/22/2011 CBC W/O DIFF
03/14/2011 MM CAD SCR MAMMO
03/14/2011 Mammogram screening bilateral
03/10/2011 Myocardial Perfusion Study
03/10/2011 DCR Arterial Doppler Lower Ext
03/07/2011 BASIC METABOLIC PANEL
02/07/2011 HEPATIC FUNCTION PANEL
02/07/2011 LIPID PANEL (CALCULATED LDL)
09/07/2010 DUAP URINALYSIS CHEMICAL
08/02/2010 LUMBAR SPINE COMP W FLEX-EXT
08/02/2010 Cerv Spine complete W flex-ext
08/02/2010 LUPUS ANTICOAGULANT EVALUATION
08/02/2010 IMMUNOFIXATION,SERUM
08/02/2010 SM ANTIBODY
08/02/2010 TTG IGA AND IGG
08/02/2010 ENDOMYSIAL ANITBODY IGA
08/02/2010 PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS SERUM
08/02/2010 URINE PROTEIN ELEC RANDOM
08/02/2010 THIAMINE B1, WHOLE BLOOD
08/02/2010 CYCLIC CITRULLINATED PEP AB
08/02/2010 VITAMIN B6/PYRIDOXINE
08/02/2010 RNP ANTIBODY
08/02/2010 CHEMISTRY MISCELLANEOUS TEST
08/02/2010 SJOGRENS A/SSA AB
08/02/2010 SJOGRENS B/SSB AB
08/02/2010 CRYOGLOBULIN
08/02/2010 ANTI NEUTROPHIL CYTOPLASMIC AB
08/02/2010 CARDIOLIPIN AB (IGA, IGG, IGM)
08/02/2010 ANTI-NUCLEAR ANTIBODIES
08/02/2010 RHEUMATOID FACTOR SCREEN
08/02/2010 SCLERODERMA ANTIBODY
08/02/2010 ANTI JO1
07/02/2010 AUTO BLOOD CT WITH AUTO DIFF
07/02/2010 FERRITIN
07/02/2010 C REACTIVE PROTEIN-HIGH SENSIT
07/02/2010 COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL
07/02/2010 VITAMIN D TOTAL, 25OH
07/02/2010 THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE
07/02/2010 LIPID PANEL (C REFLEX DIR LDL)
07/02/2010 DUAP URINALYSIS CHEMICAL
07/02/2010 SEDIMENTATION RATE-AUTOMATED

I don't want any more TESTS!

Hugs

Elaine
 
     

[A66eyroad]

Good grief!!!   

Elaine, do you have a lab tech who perhaps has long and pointed fangs teeth?

[soycoffee]

Elaine,

Itching is maddening. There are always so many possibilities. This discussion, though, has turned up a couple of contenders: medications, and peripheral neuropathy. If it's on the skin, it's more likely to be medicine; if it's "inside" the skin, it's more likely to be PN. I often don't find which it is until I start to scratch. If I can't get at it, because it's not on the surface, then I figure it's PN.

"And by scratching, scratching, we'll come 'round right!"

This season is definitely not my favorite, either.

But the days do get longer, starting Thursday. More sun, no heat yet. All goooood!
(except for snow and ice, I had to add, just to be honest!)
Soycoffee

[irish]

Caroline, I am sorry that you are backing to consuming your time with the itch-scratch cycle. I do want you to know that it is not unusual and it is very common for people to develop an allergy to a food or a medication after years of taking them. This is just the way the body is. There is othing sacred when it comes to allergies.

My husband was on Spireva inhaler for many months before he started itching. We stopped all the newest drugs or the ones that seemed more likely to cause itching and hives and to no avail. For some reason I decided to look up the inhaler never thinking that it would be the culprit.

Darned if it wasn't the inhaler. After months of being on it he started to itch all over his body but not always at the same time. Some hives appeared also. He stomusclepped the inhaler and in a week he was better. He had taken so much medication and used to many creams and none of them helped.

One thing I do want to mention though is that benedryl can cause a bad case of reflux. Years ago my hubby developed a rash on his body that was bad and ended up taking benedryl several times a day for a month or so. By the end of the month he had the worst case of reflux and had to be put on a med for that.

It turns out that benedryl relaxes the sphincter/muscle at the top of the stomach causing the reflux of the gastric acid into the esophagus. That is something I didn't know until it happened to him. Just to let you know.

Also, I don't take benedryl anymore as it sedates me so badly. I have a tendency to develop itching and little hivey things that can keep increasing. My immunologist put me on the Xyzal for these skin eruptions to keep them from getting worse. It is a second cousin to Zytec but doesn't cause the sedation.

It is spendy but I don't use it that often so I continue to stay with it. I can take that pill and my itching will stop within about 45 minutes and stay gone. I had a whole body hivey reaction to my first IVIG infusion product after using it for one year. I started itching under my arms and in 10 minutes it was all over my body. My lips swelled up but it didn't go into my airway which was a miracle. That little pill really helped me through the event along with some extra IV push steroids.

Hope your itching comes to a halt. Once those histamines get released they can raise havoc. Irish

[Carolina]

Dear all,

Last  night I popped all my pills into my mouth, and as I was swallowing I realized the Losartan (anti hypertensive) was in the mix.

Soo, another itchy night, with achy arms, hands, legs and feet.

I'm going to take them all out of all the pills boxes today.

If it turns out they aren't the culprit (tho' it looks sorta like that now) I can put them back in.

Thanks soycoffee and Irish for the thoughtful posts.

I would say the itching is more surface that not, soy.

I take Benedryl precisely because it makes me sleepy, tho' it may be fogging me up round the clock, as well.

I don't get the reflux, in fact I've never had it even tho I have the hiatal (hiatus?) hernia condition.

Sometimes Aleve bothers me a bit, but it's in my stomach, I take some Tums, and try to be more careful for a while (whatever that means).

That allergic reaction is really scary, Irish.  I had it with my second Talwin (pain killer not used much now because of side effects, but my Orthopedist tried it) pill.   I spent the entire day in bed after a night of gobs of Benedryl.  I also had the lips swelling and all your symptoms. 

I am getting more and more suspicious of everything I take.  Sigh.

Thank goodness for this forum.

Hugs

Elaine