View Full Version : Itchy, Itchy Skin
I have suffered with health anxiety for 9 years, experienced all sorts of symptoms but never itchy skin. I have searched on this forum and there are several threads relating to this subject but when looking through my anxiety books, all I can find related to skin is electric shock tingles or pins and needles, which I have had both of these over the previous 9 years.
It all started Monday evening, I was taking a bath and I noticed a bruise, which for some strange reason, stressed me out (sounds silly now when I think about it).
That night as I was lying in bed watching the TV, and I started to itch, all over my body, which I thought nothing of it.
I woke Tuesday morning (around 6:30am) and forgot all about the itching, which I guess was not present until around 10am at work, when I kind of remembered the itching and then it all started again and has since been out of control and has been with me since (Thursday) and I do not appear to have any kind of rash. I'm itching on top of the head (feels like I need to wash hair), arms, legs, ancles and even above the eyebrows as it is random all over the body.
I decided today to go and see my doctor, who looks after me with my anxiety issues and he did some neurological tests and looked at my arms and legs and told me that my skin looks ok and it could be dry skin causing the itchiness or possibly stress/anxiety and to help me rule out sinister things, he suggested a blood test to help me, which I decided to take the doctor up on his offer and accepted.
I left and returned later in the day to take the blood tests (four tests) and the nurse told me, for all tests to arrive back, I would need to leave it for 7 days.
The doctor also prescribed me some OILATUM JUNIOR, which he told me to put a few cap-full’s into the bath and to soak in it.
I was wondering if anybody has suffered with this new symptom of mine (itchy skin) because I’m having trouble tracking the symptom in my anxiety books, which I tend to use for reference these days, rather than google.
Red
bottleblond
26-03-09, 22:06
Red
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you will see a section titled 'similar threads', it may answer some of your questions.
Lisa
x
Well, I woke up still feeling itchy, especially the top of the head today, feels like I need to wash my hair, which I have done and the itchy feeling has come back.
I was wondering if this itchy feeling is the tingle feeling, which is mentioned in my books, I'm just unsure, upset and worried.
I also googled for anxiety+itchy skin and it made me go light headed, with what I read about serious disease etc.
It is funny you should say that but I have started to itch all over this week and I am noticing some red spots around my body - this has not helped my anxiety at all this week. I have plucked up courage to ring the doctors and I have an appointment with them on Tuesday.
I don't appear to have ny signs of a rash but the more I look I keep finding bruises and things, which does not help.
Well I feel itchy ever now and then sometimes i can get it on my head so bad i just wanna really give it a good scratch i really try and not too as this can make it worse, i think it first started in me aftre i had my in jections for my low b12 which gave me acne too, i still get it on my scalp theres not really alot i can do about it apart form try and forget about it or gently itch it, might be worth trying a body lotion as it could be dry tight skin causing it, also have you changed shower bath products lately as some people can be allergic to the ingredients in them especially sodium laurly sulphate, try products with out this in for a while see if this helps a company called MOP modern organic products do shampoo and shower gels with out this in.
It has been an up and down day today as for most of the day, the top of my head has felt itchy (quite badly) with several randomly tingles over the body all day, some of them very annoying.
My family came round to see if he could settle me down but as usual, people close to me automatically close the subject with “it is anxiety” and it has wore off with me, so I don’t tend to listen to their advice anymore (hard to explain, what I mean).
They told me if it was anything serious then I would be ill, in bed maybe etc. I tried to use this as a positive but after thinking about it, I ask myself “Would I be ill first”?
I said something today, which I think upset them as I said “I’m not sure I can take anymore of this” and they looked at me with a blank expression and I’m not sure why I did come out with that statement (have I had enough of it all?).
Anyway, I’m going to try and relax in the bath, see if it makes any difference.
Another thing, which is hard to explain is that I seem to off put my life on hold until when I get my blood results, strange but true.
Red
Hi Red, I thing the itching is caused by sensitised nerves, especially as it is all over your body. Do you find it goes away when you are occupied? It will be interesting to see what the results of the tests will be. Please let us know when they come through. Another thing it could be is a change of washing powder or bath products as another poster suggested, but my guess is that it is caused by the anxiety, bet ya!
Hi,
I'm not sure if it eases at certain times, sometimes I think it does then other times I think it is always present.
The lads at work have not helped me today, they keep saying I have MS, which is adding logs to the anxiety fire.
Does anybody know if the blood tests would pick up MS?
Red
finny12000
31-03-09, 13:35
i rem a few years ago my gf got itchy and i had to call a doc
as was driving her up the wall
they never got to bottom of it but reckoned her nerve endings were imflammed,i use oilatum in bath for psoriasis and its good also if it were that bad a mild steroid cream like hydrocortison would help
dont listen them them at work its nothing at all to do with ms
Hi Reddevil, I have sent you a pm already but please let me know when you get the results of the blood test. Just to say the cause of my itchy skin is eczema.
How weird RedDevil- I've been having exactly the same problem for the last couple of weeks.
Random itching everywhere - back, legs, feet, arms, fingers, scalp. It has been moving around all over the place and I have scratched myself raw. I have little red spots in odd places - most likely because I have broken the skin with scratching - but no rash, no swollen patches etc.
I noticed when I didn't think about it at work or elsewhere when I was occupied, I didn't itch, but when I stopped for a monent and thought 'Good, the itching has stopped' it promptly started again.
At its worst when I was sore from scratching, I found Sudocreme helped with the inflamed areas. Warm bath however, didn't.
I think ultimately it is inflamed nerve endings under the skin - similar to mild shingles - which will probably settle down when I am less stressed (I have been under quite a bit of emotional strain for the last month).
Hope you've stopped itching by now.
I have had itchy skin and scalp for years sometimes it is worse than other times I have to take anti-histamine for a few weeks every now and then, also I have to moisturise quite often as it gets worse when the skin is dry. It can be triggered by an allergy to ]cosmetics,soaps, shampoos etc it is not due to anxiety . However I have been allergic to medications and had rashes. I think it can be triggered by allergens or pollen in the air as well
im glad im not the only one who has a problem with itching however mine is always in the same place which is just below the thumb and before the wrist, it normally starts off when i have been thinking lots (panicking about something) when i scratch it it eventually comes up in white spots similar to heat rash i think!
How weird RedDevil- I've been having exactly the same problem for the last couple of weeks.
Random itching everywhere - back, legs, feet, arms, fingers, scalp. It has been moving around all over the place and I have scratched myself raw. I have little red spots in odd places - most likely because I have broken the skin with scratching - but no rash, no swollen patches etc.
I noticed when I didn't think about it at work or elsewhere when I was occupied, I didn't itch, but when I stopped for a monent and thought 'Good, the itching has stopped' it promptly started again.
At its worst when I was sore from scratching, I found Sudocreme helped with the inflamed areas. Warm bath however, didn't.
I think ultimately it is inflamed nerve endings under the skin - similar to mild shingles - which will probably settle down when I am less stressed (I have been under quite a bit of emotional strain for the last month).
Hope you've stopped itching by now.
Hi,
I had a better day yesterday, still itched but my scalp was ok but today I have started itching again, especially the scalp, which is hard to cope with.
I still have not phoned for my blood test result as I'm worried about the results, first time this has happened to me as I'm usually ASAP on the phone for my results.
Red
Hi all,
All blood tests came back normal, which has been a relief.
Red
It's back, had this back in April but it appears to have returned out of the blue etc.
Does anybody else suffer with this as it is making me nuts?
Hi all,
I wrote this thread about 12 months ago and it appears to of come back around the same time this year. I'm not sure if it is due to the stress of Christmas or the dark nights but the itching seems to be random all over the body. I don't know if I should see my doctor about it or wait to see if it passes as I'm sure it is anxiety but the other park of my anxiety wants me to think it's serious etc.
Red
It's more common at this time of year as central heating dries out your skin, I
don't think it's anything more sinister than that!
Anxious_gal
19-11-10, 08:04
I think you go have an allergy test done, the one they do on you skin called a prick test.
I once was very itchy after my mum changed the brand of washing power!
also i itch real bad after taking a shower, i think it's caused by warm water as i'm ok if i have a luke warm shower.
I did go for period of time where I was itchy a lot and had little dots everywhere, I started using E45 cream and that really helped me.
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