Itchy skin

[hbug2416]

I had my first baby at the end of July. My recovery went well and my 6 week postpartum appointment was uneventful. In the last 2-3 weeks, my skin has been very itchy, primarily my back, chest, and arms. Sometimes my lower stomach and butt are itchy. My ears will get itchy, too, and feel hot to touch. Seems to get worse at night, and when I first wake up for the day. I haven't had a rash at all. Went to my GP last week for my annual physical and mentioned the itching. She did a chest X-ray and added some more thyroid labwork to the other labs. Everything came back completely normal. I'm due to see my dermatologist soon for an annual look at my moles and will talk to them about it, too. Could there be some medical issue not picked up in labwork that would explain the itching? It gets pretty intense sometimes.

[MagicalSprite]

Aside from the obvious (Dry skin or slightly irritated skin from shower gel/products etc) anxiety/stress can cause this. I’ve had it twice now, itching all over. Second time was very recent and I’m still getting it a bit. The minute I itch somewhere, somewhere else is itchy. On repeat. I just ignore it now and try not to itch. In the absence of other symptoms (and especially given your tests have been fine) I doubt it’s anything, and will pass. It went away for me the first time around (years ago) and now I’m like “Ah, random itchy skin is back, ok then” 😂 Xx

[NoraB]

When you have a baby, your hormones play up, and this can cause all sorts of sensitivities. (You can look forward to lots of this when you hit the menopause!)

First thing I'd do is to change your washing detergent and conditioner to non-bio 'Pure' types. The less crap that is in them, the better.

Then look at shower gels and bath oils and change those to something like Sanex Hypo-allergenic etc. Or just bathe in water, like I do.

I'd also ask my GP to run full blood tests to check for vitamin deficiencies (lack of VitB12 can cause this)

If all this fails, I would consider anxiety. How anxious are you at the moment? This is an anxiety symptom caused by hyperstimulation. I have fibromyalgia (which can cause this symptom) but I also have anxiety, so it could be either with me and I've had it a few times, only mine has always been in specific areas - so chest, or my thigh, or my foot. However, this anxiety symptom can affect the whole body at the same time.