Horrible Itch...I'm going INSANE!

For the past month or so I have been dealing with possibly the worst condition I've ever had.

 

It started around my ankles at first and I thought it was flea bites.  I looked and I did have some small red spots.....but then the itching moved to my lower legs...I had some mosquito bite my legs starting itching everywhere! My thighs, my butt and now my stomach, breast and back.  I itch all the time...but here's the thing...it looks like a few mosquito bites (maybe 10) but then I itch in places where i have no bites.  I've tried everything...cortizone, calamine lotion, oatmeal baths, benadryl...and I get no relief...I wake up in the middle of the night scratching...it's hard for me to go out because I start scratching...I changed the mattress that I sleep on and all my sheets and blankets...I havent started using any new dertergents...I  almost feel like it's pcychological!!!  I don't know what to do but this is driving me crazy 

Err,,,, Go to the doctor?.... You know they spend several years at medical school precisely so that they can work out what's wrong with people and saving us the bother.   It's their job.

Please see your Dr asap.  He can tell you what it is...could be mites, could ve something else. 

Additionally, there are some wonderful meds that will reliecve the itching.  I have horrid allergies to poison ivy/oak/sumac and I get them airbourne.  I carry a prednisone dose pack with me.

Call the Dr.

I agree, time to go to the doctor.  Certain liver diseases can cause this type of all over itching.  Don't put it off. 

Yes, if it is driving you crazy, go and see your doctor.

Did you recently get some used furniture?, it might be bedbugs.

Getting rid of the itch is easy.  Go and buy some tea tree oil.  Smells horrible, works like a charm.  Great for more than itches.  It is like a first aide kit in a bottle.  Cost between $10-$15 for a bottle and a little goes a long way.

An unexplained itch like this can be a symptom of serious liver, kidney, blood, pancreatic or thyroid disorders.  Please see your doctor immediately.  I don't want to scare you and it's probably something minor, but you must get it checked out immediately, and an internet forum is not the place to do it.

Ax

Yes, you should go to the doctor.

This happened to me once, but thankfully it wasn't liver disorder or anything. It was actually a side effect from my birth control, and after that one month I never had it again.

Did you start a new medication you may be allergic to?

You've been chronically itching and breaking out for a month and you haven't gone to a doctor?

 

...................

I don't have the means to go to a doctor right now...:(  I was just curious to see if anyone else had experienced something similar.  I haven't done anything differently....I dunno...maybe I'll try to save up to go to an urgent care for the next couple of weeks...I itch but that is all...I have no other symtoms.  I've been trying today not to scratch...Everyone that's close to me is getting tired of hearing about it...I'll figure something out though.

If you don't really have the means to go to a doctor right now... you can at least stop in at a "Minute Clinic" they have them at CVS i believe, you dont need insurance and its pretty cheap, and they can probly give you a Rx or maybe recomend something...

If you think its bugs you can look for bedbugs in the stiching on your matress, but the fact that it started by your ankles sounds like fleas..

Good luck!

Why don't you just go to the ER and let them give you a steroid shot (which is what they will most likely do) and they can probably give you some free samples of antihistamines and/or oral steroids to take with you. It is most likely an allergic reaction of some sort and is not responding to OTC doses of antihistamines such as benedryl. You might also try taking a double dose of benedryl at home.

you need to see an allergist. i developed severe allergies while pregnant, at one point i was in the er because my reaction was so bad. it started EXACTLY as you describe. to this day if i get cocky and stop getting allergy shots my hives come back. which is what all those little pissy, annoying you to the point of insanity dots are going to turn into. please feel free to contact me and i will share my experience with you. as i'm typing this my ankles, the soles of my feet, my wrists and both sides of my hands are itching like hell. my stomach has rejoined the act too.

If it started low on your ankles, and is moving up your legs, and you can kind of see tracks where the itch is, its chiggers.

This sounds a lot like what started happening to me and my daughter a few years ago.  It nearly drove me insane.  My ankles always itched, but that seemed unrelated to the bumps that itched intensely. They came and went with no rhyme or reason. They would move around, one day a few on a thigh, the next day my mid section would be covered.  Though never on face, hands, or feet. Some times it would be so bad I could not stand to wear a bra, other times it would disappear for a week or two.  Some times it was so itchy I would scratch till I was black and blue, other times they would come and go in a few minutes or not even show.  And the attacks were getting worse.

It was nothing food or contact related, as I said my daughter also had it (though never as bad as me) and she was a toddler, so we ate different foods and used different detergents, but I tried other detergents anyway.  Nothing helped.  I thought fleas, because sometimes the bumps looked like bites in a track, especially at first, but my husband never had any, and fleas are not that picky.  I thought bedbugs, and inspected our sleeping areas, but again nothing, and bedbugs also are not so picky as to ignore my husband. 

I went to an allergist eventually and got the diagnosis of Cronic Idiopathic Hives.  Which means a rash/hives of unknown cause and no known cure.  The good news though was assurances that they usually go away after a while on their own.  I was prescribed allergy meds, Claritin and Zyrtec to ease the itch and shorten the outbreaks but they didn't help.

Its been about three months since I've had an 'attack' of hives and what I think may have gotten rid of them and the itch is using a Benzoyl Peroxide wash in the shower, (I used Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask, yes its an otc acne med), like a shower gel, anytime I had visible hives.  The Benzoyl wash was recommended by my daughters pediatrician to get rid of a rash she had (Hot Tub Folliculitis) over the summer, and it was in my shower when I in desperation tried it on my hives. I feel it helped to lessen the itch and lessen the out breaks.  My daughter hasn't had an attack since using it either.

I dont know if it will work for you, or iritate you more, so take caution but dont panic.  I 'feel' your pain, its aweful and frustrating, and I hope you find relief quickly.

Please go to the doctor right away.  They have payment plans.  Severe itching of the skin is a symptom of lymphoma.  Cancer.   Do not mess around with this one. 

Went to see a doctor...he said he'd give me some benadryl.  I told him I'd been taking benadryl...he looked at me...said "okay"...and then left and the nurse came back with benadryl.  He barely looked at me.  Now I remember why I don't go out of my way to see doctors...I still itch :(  

My neighbor had the same thing but she died before we could figure out what it was.

Guess I'll get my will together...:(

 On a more positive note...I lost my first 10 pounds!!!!

I've never heard of anyone dieing of hives.

But there is no treatment for hives, so the doctors treat the itch with allergy medication and shrug. In my case, after three years of itching my brains out, seeing many doctors, and trying every allergy pill to no avail, using a benzoyl peroxide wash for a couple weeks did the trick.

I'm definetly going to try that when I get paid...Thanks everyone!

You can die from allergic reactions. Hives are only a step or two down from anaphylactic  shock which can kill you. I see an allergist once a week and recieve an injection in each arm. What they do is desensitize you to the things that you are allergic  to. This is a really basic explanation, sorry I can't do any better, I just know that seeing an allergist has saved my sanity not to mention kept me from clawing my skin off.