[skywalker1988]

OK I've noticed something - whenever I take a shower, hot or cold - my hips and thighs go to itching like crazy!!!! why is this!

[SallyC]

Sometimes when the shower water hits your body, it causes a
tickle sensation. MS is full or sensory surprises..

[chaos]

I was itching like crazy, had the hives too. Doc thought it was one of my meds. The hot water made it much worse, but cool water was okay. I still have a huge amount of bruises on my thighs from itching. The doc gave me prednisone for the hives, but the itching persisted after.

Doctor Mom to the rescue! My mom said that her doc suggested Zyrtec, so I tried it and it's been great. Maybe I'm just allergic to something outside. Maybe it's the heat, maybe some stupid exacerbation, I don't know. But apparently the Zyrtec is specifically good for itchy skin.

It's not cheap. She was able to find it at Sam's Club for $15ish for like 300 pills, I could only find 14 pills at Target (their brand) for like $6. We don't have a Sam's or Costco here.

[nemsmom]

My son is allergic to the sun. We had to take him to an allergist, who explained that heat aggravates allergens. So if you are itching because of an allergy, a warm or hot shower would make it worse.


sorry, re-read that and saw that cold water does the same. I get a very odd tickling/tingling sensation from the water hitting my skin that stays for several minutes after I get out of the shower. Just some of the weird sensations we get with MS. I don't know of anything they can do, sorry

[tkrik]

It's totally a sensory issue. I have all sorts of weird things happen in the shower. Why the shower I have no idea. I lose my balance more. I have no sense of temperature so I can't really tell how hot the water really is. I have numb spots that I can't feel the water hitting and that sets off all sorts of weird symptoms - like tingling, odd pressure, and even spasms.

[Mariel]

I'm a Zyrtec enthusiast too. It does not completely remove itching, but mine would be very bad if I didn't take it, because it's a common symptom of another disease, Polycythemia Vera. I take one time release Zyrtec, generic of course, every night. The non-generic is way too expensive, and I do fine with the generic. I am so profoundly grateful for my pcp for looking this up on the internet to find me an anti-histimine I can take even though i also have Porphyria. I had thought there were no anti-histimines I could tolerate. It does not make me sleepy.
People with PV also get itch from the shower, but I am atypical and I do not get itch from the shower.
I also use a humidifier on dry days, at night, one I got from the Gaiam catalog, which has silver in it to stop mold forming the the water. This also helps dry-skin itch. I use Earth Sciences body lotion to help with dryness as well. I use the Earth Sciences body lotion with SPF 15 so it does double duty.
Hope you quell the itch. i didn't know it was an MS thing. I never had it before my PV diagnosis, although I had dry skin all my life.