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Extreme Itching all over body w/NO rash, welts or hives.
I've recently been diagnosed with Urticaria. My doctor says I fall into the 99.9% of the people who have it without any signs. My itchiness has been getting progessively worse for the past few years. I'd say almost 3 yrs now. It's to the point where I can't even engage in intercourse with my partner, go shopping or even go out in the sun. I keep hearing and reading how Urticaria, usually has signs on the skin surface but I don't, except for the really bad itchy feeling. Sometimes I question whether or not I have something else because it's really bad and it feels like I have a sudden burning rush of nails/needles stabbing my skin and I can't even move but only twitch. It's like this on a daily basis with my skin, whenever my body temperatue goes up. I feel like my body's thermostat is broken and I'm constantly overheating. I've been taking Claritin and Benadryl but that doesn't seem to help at all. My doctor also gave me a prescription medicine called Atarax, which only makes me drowsy and doesn't help the itchy feeling. Any suggestions? Btw, I've taken blood tests to see if there is anything wrong but everything came out fine. =/
OMG i have the same thing....exactly after few months after i gave birth started again....i had cholestasis also while pregnant but i still have my gall bladder. Now almost 3 years after giving birth i still have the itch....after reading A LOT over i reach one conclusion...its even the thyroid gland or just in my collagen levels are very low. or the itchy dry feel tight skin i have is a symptom of a crazy sickness...one thing i notice...when i get vitamin B12 its less itchy....hope this helps
Also, one of the best coping mechanisms I had was when I couldn't sleep at night due to the itching, I would get a hand towel, get it damp with cold water, and lay it over the areas that were itching (it was mainly my legs, weird huh?). That would allow me to get some sleep.
Let me start off by saying that I hope this post will help someone. Approximately one year ago, I was reading through all 700+ comments on this thread looking for any indication of what was wrong with me. In October of last year, I developed extreme "itching." I used the term itching, but eventually realized this wasn't the right term. Instead, it was more of a pin-prick sensation. I didn't necessarily need to "itch" the spots, but rather, just put pressure on the spots to make the feeling go away. Unfortunately, as soon as I put pressure on one spot, another spot would get the pin-prick sensation, then another spot, then another spot...and if I didn't put pressure on the spot, I would essentially twitch and this made sleeping incredibly difficult. It was like my nerves were misfiring. For those who may be having similar symptoms, let me save you some time. Explore the following options to start ruling out issues (because all of the following issues potentially can cause itching):
-Intake of water (try drinking 10-12 glasses of water a day and see if it helps)
-Have you vitamin B12 levels checked
-Have your iron levels checked
-Have your liver enzyme levels checked
-Food allergies
-Environmental allergies
Let me reassure you, you are not going crazy. I was so itchy that I couldn't sleep and at one point I was sure that this was all mental and completely in my head. It seemed liked I tried everything. I greatly increased my water intake. I had blood work done with normal levels. I went on a special diet to determine if I had food allergies (essentially I was eating poultry and veggies for breakfast, lunch and dinner with no relief of symptoms). I changed all soaps, detergents to non-scented, hypoallergenic. I bought eczema lotions. I took oatmeal/epson salt baths every night. I tried a variety of different allergies meds. I was taking 5 or more Benadryl (yes, 5 or more) per day to help alleviate symptoms (By the way, the special lotions, oatmeal baths, and benadryl did not help...making me realize this was not an issue with the surface of my skin...it was something deeper). If anything, the Benadryl helped me get a couple more hours of sleep a night.
During this time, I spent a lot of time exploring the possibility of allergies causing this. At first, I was convinced it was food allergies. I was prepared to go on the GAPS diet (look it up, I highly recommend it for healing your body) which is a very intense lifestyle change. I had recently moved down the street so I was also considering the possibility of environmental allergies...but it just didn't make sense because we completely remodeled our house. Same dog we've always had...only moved down the street so the outside pollens would be the same...absolutely no signs of mold when remodeling our house and we essentially replaced everything. Anyways, I still decided to have someone come out and test our air quality to see if we had an extensive amount of pollen in the air of our home. It was costly (around $450) and we only had small amount of pollen in the air. Thankfully the man that tested our air quality also stuck the hose up in our air vents, because as it turns out, we had a significant amount of mold in our air vents. We had been using the AC nonstop since the second we moved into the house, thus exposing ourselves to airborne mold spores. I was working from home at the time so I was home all day and all night with the AC on. Let me just say, mold makes your body do crazy stuff!
Also, I would like to point out, whether your issue is mold or anything else, remember, sometimes your body takes time to heal itself. We had been using the AC/exposing ourselves to mold for 2 full months before we figured it out and had our vents replaced. My symptoms did not get better right away. Actually, it took many months for the body to get back to normal. Just remember IT TAKES TIME TO HEAL. Good luck!
-Intake of water (try drinking 10-12 glasses of water a day and see if it helps)
-Have you vitamin B12 levels checked
-Have your iron levels checked
-Have your liver enzyme levels checked
-Food allergies
-Environmental allergies
Let me reassure you, you are not going crazy. I was so itchy that I couldn't sleep and at one point I was sure that this was all mental and completely in my head. It seemed liked I tried everything. I greatly increased my water intake. I had blood work done with normal levels. I went on a special diet to determine if I had food allergies (essentially I was eating poultry and veggies for breakfast, lunch and dinner with no relief of symptoms). I changed all soaps, detergents to non-scented, hypoallergenic. I bought eczema lotions. I took oatmeal/epson salt baths every night. I tried a variety of different allergies meds. I was taking 5 or more Benadryl (yes, 5 or more) per day to help alleviate symptoms (By the way, the special lotions, oatmeal baths, and benadryl did not help...making me realize this was not an issue with the surface of my skin...it was something deeper). If anything, the Benadryl helped me get a couple more hours of sleep a night.
During this time, I spent a lot of time exploring the possibility of allergies causing this. At first, I was convinced it was food allergies. I was prepared to go on the GAPS diet (look it up, I highly recommend it for healing your body) which is a very intense lifestyle change. I had recently moved down the street so I was also considering the possibility of environmental allergies...but it just didn't make sense because we completely remodeled our house. Same dog we've always had...only moved down the street so the outside pollens would be the same...absolutely no signs of mold when remodeling our house and we essentially replaced everything. Anyways, I still decided to have someone come out and test our air quality to see if we had an extensive amount of pollen in the air of our home. It was costly (around $450) and we only had small amount of pollen in the air. Thankfully the man that tested our air quality also stuck the hose up in our air vents, because as it turns out, we had a significant amount of mold in our air vents. We had been using the AC nonstop since the second we moved into the house, thus exposing ourselves to airborne mold spores. I was working from home at the time so I was home all day and all night with the AC on. Let me just say, mold makes your body do crazy stuff!
Also, I would like to point out, whether your issue is mold or anything else, remember, sometimes your body takes time to heal itself. We had been using the AC/exposing ourselves to mold for 2 full months before we figured it out and had our vents replaced. My symptoms did not get better right away. Actually, it took many months for the body to get back to normal. Just remember IT TAKES TIME TO HEAL. Good luck!
what did u get prescribed, i.e. anitbiotics, myotics, tetracyclins.. etc i tried amoxy x 1000mg day + 500 metronidazol . self diagnosis no idea flaking skin and possibly imigined pests around certain rooms in house saw some weird stuff .. morgellons... please no.? not same problem really but im interested in scabies and how most doctors treat and dignose in general.
I have had severe itching everywhere for 17yrs triggered by temperature changes. if im too cold, too hot, get wet etc. i have been told its urticaria but 100% sure it is not!! never had a rash. I dread showers n baths as i have a fit of itching after i get out that can last up to two hrs by which time im exhausted!! ive been on cimetidine and fexofenadine for 15 yrs but no idea why!!! in the summer i have to plan bmy bath time to fit in with being able to then sit straight in the sun to warm up extra quickly to shorten the itching time! so sick of this now!!
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