OT: Itch

I have major skin itching problems and hives and rashes, especially in winter. I was given the following lists of do's and don'ts.

No hot showers and keep cool showers short, NO anti-bacterial soaps-they suggested that I use only liquid skin wash and best might be those made for babies.

I was told by the dermatologist not to use Neosporin at all. According to him there's a very strong chance of it causing more problems than healing.

I did find a couple of products that will help, but nothing long term. Better than Neosporin, and less likely to cause a problem, is a 1% cortisone cream .

Aveeno makes several products that help a lot. One is called skin relief body wash that I use as an alternative to baby wash and another is an anti-itch lotion that is quite good. It's usually hidden in the drugstore so ask about it.

I also find that when all else fails holding an ice cube on the area helps as much as, if sometimes more than, anything else.

I've probably bought and discarded every kind of anti-itch product on the drugstore shelves so if there's anything you want to ask, email me off line so we don't bore everyone.

Lucille

I'll take a look in my PDR refs, and my pharm books. Might be because of the anti-biotic part that they don't want too much on as you might have dosage issues.

Have you tried the highest percent hydrocortizone cream? Also, if you're having itching I would take an anti-puretic - like Benadryl -OTC or even Allegra for prescription. I'll look and see what else I can find out.

Lotion wise - do NOT use soap on your skin. Try using Cetaphil for your phase, and DOVE extra dry skin body wash (it's what the dermatologists recommend) for washing. Lotion wise I'd suggest springing for "Moisturel" which is expensive, but worth it. Probably about $10 a bottle at the pharmacy. Not Eucerin or Curel - Moisturel -very good and not greasy. Alternatively, the AVEENO colloidal oatmeal bath helps with itching, and they have a deep moisture lotion (body) that's almost as good as the Moisturel.

I definitely wouldn't use a lot of neosporin. Also, don't use the Benadryl anti-itch lotion on large areas - it has other issues. You could use topically the clear gel that is sold for poison ivy - on specific areas.

If you're really having such a bad problem, the best thing may be to see either your dermatologist or gp and get some prescription low level steroid (there are some ointments and lotions that work really well).

Personally, I have extremely dry skin, and also have allergies & some psoriasis issues (thankfully not on my face) so I'm pretty well versed on these topics. And tell everyone to use a decent lotion on your face - it's the only one you've got (Olay is actually pretty darn good and not pricey - though I alternate with some doctor type stuff - from a company called Exuviance & also Murad).

Ellice

Rhuli gel -- you'll recognize it on the shelf because it's clear. Recently found the store-brand version of it.

I can't use most anti-itch products because I have problems with cortisone.

I find the Aveeno even better than Dove or Cetaphil. I will look for Moisurel and I'll try that. I'll try almost anything because I'm so allergic to everything that I most always have a rash or hives somewhere.

For my face I too find Olay as good as anything else I've tried and a lot less expensive.

Lucille

I like the Aveeno for a soak, but prefer Cetaphil for my face, and Dove xtra for the body.

However, you might just need to take a 25mg benadryl or similar on a daily basis to help with the rash. Just Sat night - came back from the ER and noticed my trousers which started out loose in the day were feeling kind of snug in the thighs. Hmmm. So tired, take a soak with the lovely Ahava Dead Sea Salts stuff (really nice, and good for dry or itchy skin). Get out - look down - huge swollen rash from knee up on my inner thighs - lovely - no wonder the pants were feeling a bit tight. I think my new uniform pants must have some spandex or lycra type thing in them that I react to. So, after an Allegra, and some lotion - about an hour later - the burning stopped. I tell you - these skin allergies are really, really annoying. I also keep on hand some serious steroid stuff for rashes - that works a wonder - clear liquid lotion - Betamethasone. Potent - but great when you need it.

And you can get it at Costco. Honestly - I switch around. I'm using Exuviance - about $25 lasts 6 months (at Beauty First with 20% discount), and also Bobbie Brown tinted moisturizer balm - which feels fabulous on and has a slight, slight, tint/shimmer - so if I'm not wearing make-up on my face (most of the time) that's my preferred. Love it. Not terribly pricey, maybe $38 a jar, but it usually lasts me about 6-8 months, maybe more. Eye creams - that's another story - I use Murad at night, and either Olay or exuviance day time - though had a splurge with some really bargain Dermalogica. I really liked some from SkinCeuticals - but it's ridiculously expensive and am about as happy with the newest Olay stuff.

Ellice

Be careful with Rhuli gel; if the itching is worse STOP - you're having an allergic reaction - I have a scar from it!

You poor thing - won`t some kind of anti-histamine help?

Pat

I never let soap/water near my face - I always use sensitive baby wipes! I suffer from dry skin too - Udder cream is really good for that. I know you have it there - Victoria sent me some a few years ago, but I can buy it from a farm supplies shop here now. It`s fine to use - one of our Nurse Practitioners was thrilled to bits to find a source of it when I mentioned it to her.

Pat

I seem to turn into an alligator every winter, and the older I get the worse it gets! Last year there was an ad on TV about using plain old Baby Oil, and I tried it, and it works! What I do is take short, tepid showers, and when I turn off the shower, before I reach for a towel I put on wee bits of baby oil. (I got one of those haircolor plastic bottles, filled it with baby oil, and keep it in the shower.) Use only a few drops on each leg, arm, front, back, etc., and then just rub it in lightly before you dab off the water with a towel. It really does work! You will want to use a separate towel for your hair, of course, or dry your hair first. I used about a half of a regular-size bottle of baby oil last year, and will probably finish it this year -- a little goes a long way. I have stopped itching and flaking, and am a much happier lady!

I have a scar on my hand right now -- I got a tiny scratch, then it began to get worse and worse, and wound up looking like a ringworm. So, I tried cortisone, which didn't work, then tried an anti-fungal, figuring it really was a ringworm. It got better, but wouldn't get entirely well, so I used iodine. The iodine killed whatever was in there, but dried out the skin horribly, so I waited a few days, and used vit. e cream -- I'd never had a reaction before, but every place the vit. e cream touched, I burned, so now the area dried out is about four times as big as it had been, and it's clearly going to scar. I'm afraid to do anything else to it to help it heal.

The thing about skin allergies is that sometimes I use something I've never reacted to before, and I react terribly. I'm assuming it's yet another sympton of the cfs.

I'm also allergic to oatmeal now, which is a shame because the oatmeal soaks used to work so well for me.

Needless to say, I take a LOT of benadryl.

Can't help you with the Neosporin question, other than to comment that I've heard it used more as a healing cream rather than an anti itch product. The subject is very timely, though. DH was putteiring in the kitchen last night around 8:45 & brought us each a bowl of mixed fruit - honeydew, canteloupe & mango for dessert. About a half hour later I realized that my head & hands were starting to itch. I finally got up out of the chair & took two generic Benedryl capsules at 9:30 and went to bed to read. At 10:30 I took two more capsules & probably would have had DH drive me into town to an urgent care place except that it would have involved a 25 mile drive on snowy/icy roads. If I had started having trouble breathing I would have called the neighbor/paramedic up the road and then had DH drive me into town later. My whole upper body itched & sometime around midnight I got up and threw up. I was fine this morning, but we're wondering if I haven't developed some kind of allergy to Mango. ????? Now I just look like I've had an overenthusiastic Botox treatment. :-))) Even though I tried very hard not to scratch last night, I did an awful lot of rubbing, which gave me a swollen head this morning. :-)) Even now, my neck is still swollen and my ears are still pretty red. At least I don't have to work today! :-))) Good luck to all in whatever itchy problems you may have. Liz from Humbug

Thanks for all the suggestions. This mess covers at least 30% of my body. I've been scratching in my sleep because I wake up a bloody mess. Cool showers make me tense up which in turn makes the fibro pain worse so instead I shower only every 3-4 days (ugh!). I still have my usual oily face and hair and no itching there. So I do use deodorant bar soap on my face since that controls the oil without causing acne better than anything else I've tried. Only a light bit of the non-comedogenic Olay formula (Do they still make that? I've been using the same bottle for about 20 years.) for the face.

The Neosporin reduced the swelling in the worst areas. A friend looked at the mess and said it looked like the world's worst case of razor burn. Now if only it appeared in areas where I actually shave ... no, the underarms look just fine.

I know it is just ordinary winter skin on my hands--they are white and flaky and cracking a bit at the knuckles but don't itch. I get a little of that every year, especially if I have to spend any time outside. Any brand of lotion works on that just fine. The stuff on my chest, belly and legs is completely unlike anything I've had before. It almost has to be an allergic reaction but I haven't a clue what could be causing it. I've either developed a new allergy or some manufacturer has surreptitiously changed the formula of a product I've used for years. I'll have to make a drug store run tonight for some Benedryl I guess. I only use nasal spray (fluticasone) in the winter for allergy meds and won't get the pills (fexofenidine) refilled again until late next month after I can get in at the GP.

The stuff on your belly, etc., could be just extremely dry/irritated skin. I get that when we go to Colorado, everywhere my clothes chafe my skin. Another possibility is a new soap allergy -- I use allergy free soap to wash my clothes.

I also use only Ivory soap in the shower, and that seems to work well for me.

Tends to cause skin sensitization (and more itching). Neosporin is a combination of antibiotics, including neomycin -- and neomycin is supposed to be about #3 in skin allergens. If you don't have an infection that is susceptible to the antibiotics, this is not what you want to be slathering on.

If standard home remedies aren't working, it's time for a doctor's appointment, imo -- itching can be a clue to many things going wrong that can't be cured with something applied on the skin.

It knocks me out. Lately I've been taking prescription Allegra - as an alternative.

It's all just a pain - sorry about your problem. There was probably some oil in the vit e cream that you're allergic to, as opposed to straight vitamin e.

The worst thing that I had for a long time was an allergy to the carrier oil for the hormone injections I was getting for years. Doc decided I could make do with every 6-8 weeks instead of every 4 as I would get an inflammation about the size of a big hand, up to washcloth size, swollen, hot and red (raised up nearly 1/2") on my high hip - around the injection site (behind the ovaries. And the fever that went with was at least brief. But that swollen but/hip thing - yuck. Nothing to be done - just deal with it. Lots of cool compresses.

ellice

Lots of people have allergies to the sap from Mango - more rarely to the fruit itself. However, if there was mango skin, peel, stem around - that would be a typical reaction. And once contacting it you could have spread it. This sounds very much like the contact version - typically the reaction from ingesting would also include hives/rash on the abdomen.

WRT generic drugs - on things like allergy meds, it's a good idea to stick with the brand name (it's cheap enough). Generics have to contain the same minimum dose of the primary chemical, but the way they are formulated can be different, which means what is called the bioavailability - how much your body/system gets in a useful way, and how fast, can differ significantly - as in 20 % less wouldn't be unusual.

Neosporin is definitely not an anti-itch thing. There are some really good prescription ointments and lotions for a Rxn. If I were you, I would at least call my doctor and see if they will prescribe something over the phone. Definitely take 2 more Benadryl. If you were going to have an anaphylactic reaction with the breathing problem - 99.9% it would have happened within a few minutes.

Hopefully you're doing better. Cool compresses tend to help a bit.

ellice

Brenda - call your doctor or see them and get a prescription ointment. There are special powders, lotions, creams that will help you. Seriously. If you're this bad then you need to see a dermatologist - for real, girlfriend. Get the prescription stuff - it will make a world of difference.

The other thing that might be happening - some women get a yeast infection in/on their skin. Especially well endowed in the chest area. It looks like a rash, can be painful, and may be a bit smelly. You can get an OTC powder called "Zeasorb" for that - usually behind the counter kind of thing, but no scrip. When that happened to me, my dermatologist had them concoct a prescription thick cream of some steroid cocktail - and it works a treat, plus I use the powder under the bra (thankfully it was only there). But, it scared the heck out of me.

So, my professional (tee hee) advice - get thee to a dermatologist! And get some relief. And make yourself lotion up that skin.

ellice

I've either developed a new allergy or some manufacturer has

Now I am itching...............just not fair guys!! Actually tomorrow I have to have the annual dermatology consult; I sure I don't have another basal cell on my face come off. That was no fun

Keep smiling and stitching!

Gillian

My doctor recommended 10 mg loratadine tablets for my allergic reaction to an anitbiotic. One maker is Claritin, and it's available over the counter. It works wonders once it gets going. It takes a couple of hours to start, so be prepared. I took them for about 3 weeks before things settled down to where just cortisone handled the itch.

Dontcha just hate it when you're allergic to something you have to have? It really is a pain.

I'm allergic to corn, so if I have to take large tablets, after a while I can begin to react just to the corn starch they use in binding the tablet ingredients.

I'm sorry you have to live with so much of it too.

Benadryl used to knock me out, but I suppose I've gotten accustomed to it. I do know that when I'm having a really bad reaction, such as Brenda described, I can take 6 otc benadryl and it won't even make me sleepy, but if I took a dose like that when not having an allergic reaction, it would knock me out cold.