Itchy skin

Hi, I'm new here, and have CKD with Lupus. I had the horrible itching problem head to toe for over a year. It drove me nearly insane and I have scars from scratching. After being hospitalized and getting my potassium and phosphorus levels under control, the itching is almost gone! I believe I have read that extreme itching can be a side effect of the high blood phosophorus levels. I take a phosphate binder for now and avoid all dairy and foods with high phosphates. Hope you get some relief soon.

Hi @megwill100! I'm a little surprised to see your concern about itching in the Kidney and Bladder discussion, yet nothing seems to get less enduring attention than the itch. Maybe that's because itching seems to be far more discomforting than it is hazardous. In my case, the cause of interminable itching is still unknown, and we're not doing anything right now to identify the cause. In this discussion, we've dealt with chronic kidney disease and allergy histamines -- apparently without much success.

We started instead with the standard dry air of winter as the cause, despite the excellent humidifier on my heating system. No luck. Then we checked out soaps, both laundry and personal bath soap and shampoo and cosmetics, looking for the ingredient Isothiazolinone (a "biocide" or pesticide that soap manufacturers add to extend shelf life by preventing biochemical reactions -- the name is usually prefixed by such chemical signs as "metho-," "benz-," "octyl-," or "chloromethyl-"). A non-allergenic soap helped somewhat, but not enough.

So a dermatologist took a look, threw in the towel without any contact tests, and prescribed: an anti-itch salve to eliminate the symptoms, but only for a few weeks before it's limit on extended use kicked in. After that, the final tactic in the sequence has been shorter, cooler showers along with skin moisturizer lotions. Waiting now for Spring and higher humidities in the atmosphere. Fortunately, the itches are less intense and limited now to arms, legs, and belt line. If it continues in the summer, we'll take another pass at my kidney disease and histamine sensitivity with contact tests of my skin this time.