Unexplained Itching

Have you tried Beta Alanine? I use it for unexplained very itchy reaction to contact with water.

Does your itching occur after contact with water such as showering or swimming?

I also have self diagnosed Aquagenic Pruritis. But I also seem to be sensitive to cold, especially A/C after being outdoors on a warm day. No rash, nothing….just a nasty I was so itchy after a shower it was hardly worth having one. I connected with the AP group & finally after water testing, changes to hypoallergenic items in bathing & laundry products, hypoallergenic moisturizers….I tried Beta Alanine not expecting it to work but it did!!! Just amazing! My father had this AP & so does my sister. I had it as a Teen & young Adult but then it disappeared after pregnancy for many years. It has come back with a vengeance in the past year. In some cases it can apparently be genetic. I can finally have a shower without feeling it’s like a torture chamber. Beta Alanine has been wonderful for me.

I've mentioned this before, but just in case new bloggers haven't followed this entire discussion I have stopped my incessent 24/7 stinging burning and itching inside my skin without any visible rashes.
I had several neuopathy tests and nothing was found. The neuologist ran the tests but forwarded me that normally neuopathy is not all over the body, but more on one side of the body unlike me so he didn't suspect it. My issues were everywhere, all over and dramatically worse at night.
Histamines are elevated in the evening.
I do have Allergic Contact Dermatitis, but I had eliminated all allergic contacts base on my 5 Day Extended Patch Test Results and had no more external rashes. Yet something was elevating histamines on the inside.
A miracle shot for me was the Kenalog 40 cortico-steroid injection which I had annually to control my internal symtoms and that worked for about 9 months. I'd hold off and then get another each year end. I was able to sleep at peac. For me the only negative side affect was blushing and reddening of the face for about 2 month. Worse was hair loss for about 2 months afterwards. It would grow back.
I haven't needed this potent steroid shot now for 4 years. Why?
Diet change. I gave up all processed sugar. After the miserable sugar detox of giving up all processed and natural sugar for 3 months I will never allow myself to face that detox again. It takes tremedous will power. A carrot was was sweetest food I could find. Truly it is an addiction and I have never been overweight or ate many sweets, too much fruit perhaps.
Read The Yeast Connection Handbook by William Crook, MD, you can buy it used for under $4.00. It gave me my life back. The book has simple medical explaintions with hand drawn diagrams showing what sugar is doing to your body. The detox also had me give up carbs, especailly gluten carbs. Yet detox is over. I have found I am fine eating carbs and still have none of the internal misery that was leading me to suicide. I'd lay in my itchy skin, unable to sleep and plan how to end it all knowing I would face another day of misery. That was before I learned about the steroid shot, yet this shot is a treatment and doesn't stop the cause! I'm glad I kept searching for answers.
No more shots, no more processed sugar and I am still fine with a few pieces of fruit daily. Good luck.

Good evening @becca123. I would also like to welcome you to Connect. Our moderator @amandaburnett has suggested that you may need some help with severe itching. I don't know if I have solved it....however I have found something that works immediately within 15 or 20 minutes and lasts about 6 hours. It is a topical called Dermeleve with no steroids.

It is not a fix-it forever treatment. It gives you immediate relief on a temporary basis. I also use a heavy-duty topical when my flare is being stubborn and trying to hang on. It is called Tacrolimus ointment. You can use it twice a day and it helps for the long haul.

In the group "Skin Health" look for discussions about unexplained itching or neuropathic itch. @johnbishop has also posted about how to contact the company for more information on Dermeleve in the same group.

In your comment, you mention bumps and rashes. I start a flare with the bumps and know that I had better do something ASAP if I don't want the rash to appear.

Do you think that your itching condition is aroused when emotionality or stress is high?

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

Hi @becca123 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You will see that your post is now part of a discussion taking about unexplained itching. I moved it here so you could connect with members like @artscaping, @artist01, @rhyo9 and @dsisko

How long has this been going on with you?

What causes severe itching of all parts of the body, thereby causing lumps and rashes in parts that are itched. Even after receiving treatments of all sorts.

@rashida Me too! I'm a real veteran of so many of the conditions discussed on Mayo Clinic Connect!

@artscaping Thank you! Yes, I am a mess of conditions, and a veteran of surgeries and procedures (thankfully the last surgery was a laparoscopic gall bladder removal some twenty years ago), lol, which is why I follow that many threads at Mayo Connect! Have been learning a lot through the various members’ experiences. 😊

Forgot to mention the importance of clean air for skin conditions. Air quality is often overlooked in comparison to things that directly contact the skin and food sensitivities. This is especially relevant to people living in urban areas. From a quick search, I see that airborne cadmium and particulate matter have been implicated in psoriasis, for example.

I have found some modest improvement from using a home air HEPA filter; in pre-pandemic times I have worn a 3M half respirator when working in places with high levels of air pollutants (e.g., a cat rescue shelter - lots of particulates and ammonia from the cat litter). Now that there is a pandemic on, I can wear a face mask without being viewed as 'eccentric' . If you can find an N95 mask, they are good for most things, but don't wear one that is past its expiration date or has been stored improperly as they can degrade and make things worse (my own experience). Home HEPA filters can be expensive but there is a video on YouTube by an allergist showing how to make a filter out of a box fan and a furnace filter.
~
PS - ACV also kills my stomach, but this was not always the case. I have had GERD off and on for many years and found that broccoli sprout smoothies (look up Rhonda Patrick for information on this) gets rid of it - worked much better for me than PPIs and seems to do something for the disease rather than just symptoms. For a few years AVC actually helped my GERD (temporary symptom relief) then something changed when I started having all my skin hypersensitivity reactions. The GERD flared up again and I tried ACV (It takes a few days for the broccoli sprouts to start working) and OMG my stomach pain was so awful - I felt I had been stabbed. ACV contains not just acetic acid but also histamine, yeast residue and of course apple. My skin issues started up around the same time my daughter started having her Celiac and oral allergy syndrome symptoms. I believe our health problems were most likely triggered by an infection of some kind.