Pruritus at its max

[GP7852]

How do you deal with pruritus.Mine has reached the pinnacle where I can't sleep anymore,my skin is so sore,black and blue and torn up from the rubbing and scratching.I am going through a container of Sarna a day.I am so bitter at my insurance company (Cigna) as they continue to deny me funding for Harvoni yet they are happy to continue to dock my paycheck for their payments.I feel like such a fool.Meanwhile it is like I have a million bugs living right under the surface of my skin trying to eat their way out,the worst nightmare of my life.I am a lifetime non responder who finally got negative on sovaldi-olysio only to relapse immediately.At this point I don't even care about my liver anymore,my #1 priority is to just stop the itching and get the soreness to heal.I am trying the Gilead assistance program since I meet all their criteria but it is slow and the torture is getting to my nervous system.Do any of you stage 4 cirhotics have any helpful info,even the cholestyramine isn't helping anymore.
                                                          Glen

[pooh55811]

If the Benadryl does not give you relief, then I would get a prescription for Atarax (Hydroxyzine).

Your PCP or Hepatologist should order it for you but, if not, then you may need to go to a Dermatologist to get it. (My original treating doctors were useless and did not want to treat the rash so I finally went to the Dermatologist.)

Benadryl did absolutely nothing for my rash and itching. Atarax worked, but you need a high enough dose to make it work. I started on 20 mg at night but that barely made a dent. The Atarax was increased to 50mg every 6 hours and that gave me relief.

I had the rash for months before I finally got the right dose and some relief. I would never put up with that again, ever. One has to be assertive and get the appropriate treatment and relief.

Best of luck.

[GP7852]

I just picked up the Benadryl,really praying that it helps.The cholestyramine is so dangerous for me.When it hits you cant control it and wherever you are everything is coming out,very very embarrassing at work.I was pleading with Gilead today and a nice lady was going to contact my insurance company (Cigna) and try and move things along on their end or on hers.It is so frustrating for me to have them take all that money out of my check bi weekly but when I need them they sweep me under the rug and tell me to die.This disease is like a big,scary tree that keeps growing evil branches like horrible leg cramps and the nose bleeds and malfunctioning thyroid.I guess the liver is the quarterback of the body.                       Glen

[AWorriedMom]

Benadryl helped me the most and it is very liver friendly and over the counter. The only bad thing is that it can leave you feeling hung over in the AM. For me, that was better than the constant itch.

[AugustineMama]

Glen I got to the point it was like bee stings. Nothing I put on it worked. I ended up with Atarax 3-4 times a day and Benadryl at night. It wore me out and left me with scars.

[hrsepwrguy]

Hey Glen, atarax is RX only, so you will have to talk to your doc, many of us used during treatment with incivek which had some super intense itching as a side effect. Hope you can get some relief.

Have a great day

[HealingHearts]

Very good advice as I am on a plant based diet and improved my hep c symptoms greatly. I have cut back on salt, sugars, etc. and am able to function as I wait to get the Harvoni treatment.

The liver is the only organ that can regenerate. But as long as the virus is attacking our body, it cannot do it's 500+ functions at 100%. Therefore, we need to "lighten the load" and watch what we are putting in our bodies.