Itching?
 

I have had some autonomic neuropathy things going on the past couple days. Flushing with nasal congestion, a migraine headache and the associated angina pain, rapid HR, nerve pain in my arm and tingling in my hands and feet. These are things that usually happen.

Bad thing is my feet have been itching (on the soles) and scratching does not seem to help. I think it is yet another SFN symptom.

Does anyone have this occurrence? What can you do to relieve it? It is driving me crazy... :Scratch-Head:

Are you asking if anyone has the autonomic symptoms, or the itching? Or both?

I have POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). A lot of doctors/websites say that it is a form of limited autonomic neuropathy. Some don't agree with that. I am on a medication to ease most of those symptoms--heart rate, blood pressure, etc. The thing that the medicine doesn't work for is the blood pooling in my legs and feet.

Is the itching directly on the soles of your feet? I ask because I have had some itching in my feet, but it is not really the soles. It's just a little bit deeper into my foot.. like it's just on the other side of my skin.. (If I could peel back the layer of skin that is my soles, that is directly where it feels like the itch is coming from--right beneath the surface of my soles).

So far I haven't found anything that makes that stop--but it also isn't a total constant thing.. so it's not too hard to just life with.

I haven't been confirmed of neuropathy yet. But have the classic symptoms and itching oh my!!! Te palms of my hand and soles of my feet and my back.

I have bruses on back from the itching and it comes with pricks.
And the palms burn and sting and itch so bad I use to use edge of the computer table to rub against.
Later realized it was my nerves.

Hi Mere,

Just a thought, but are you getting too much B-6 or niacin?

I don't have SFN, but I've had some minor PN related itching. Gold Bond makes a medicated anti-itch cream (other brands/generics are probably also available) that has helped me. If it didn't, I think I would try an OTC topical capsaicin or steroidal (hydrocortisone) product intended for this purpose, and as a last resort, some kind of OTC antihistamine.

If none of those work, or are inappropriate for any reason, I'd be on the phone to my pharmacist or doctor.

Doc

I would try Biofreeze. It has 3.5% menthol in it, which will block itching feelings. Some itching may be from dry skin, or a mild fungal infection which you may not notice. But itching can also be a form of pain, a very low index before the pain escalates.

Dermatologists have recipes for topical creams for chronic itching that contain menthol, for this reason (along with other things like steroids).

If you soak your feet in epsom salts you will find that the skin becomes more hydrated, and softer, and less dry. The magnesium in the epsom salts also relaxes the muscles and improves the blood flow to the feet. Use only lukewarm water, and soak at least 1/2 hr or so.

Well I had and sometimes still do have itching but it was full body head to toe not just the pn/rsd areas. I did go to the dermatologist amd have seborehic dermatitis. I got rx shampoo and some cream. You may want to make an apt with a dermatologist too. For me it helped a lot cause before it was much worse where my skin would shed off.

I occasionally get strange itching in weird places, and use
anti-itch hydrocortisone 10 (1%) cream. That seems to help.

Aso have been plagued by itching but basically in two places - scalp, back from waist to shoulders. Rubbing lightly makes it go away for a while, and Eucerin Calming Creme that I use as a moisturizer does help, but will try the Gold Bond.

Odd that only now I'm remembering certain things before the burning neuropathy began. Itching and feeling warm when I used to feel the cold a lot were the very first things I noticed before the burning startetd a few months later, but thought it was just winter dry skin and that I was finally not feeling cold when others weren't.

First Dx was NLD SFN and a month later with Sjogren's. It can cause one to itch like mad because of the dried out skin.

I went thru a really bad itching bout, and Lyrica helped....when it was over, I went off Lyrica. I get all kinds of odd little rahes and end up using triamcinalone cream....with the nasal congestions, this sounds to me like it could be vascular or allergic. My husbad gets huge hives and he get internal itching in his joints and deep in his tissues...can't even see the hives.:confused:

We just found out today, a friend of ours was preserving butternut squash last night (she belongs to a co-op and gets large amounts of seasonal food)...and she had an allergic reaction to the skin of the squash and was quite frightened in fact! And sure enough on Wiki is a medical factoid about this, and to wear gloves while peeling squash!

There can be all sorts of weird contact reactions to things. One biggie is Downy type fabric softeners. I used to see people with rashes from that alone!

I know, it is probably just one of the many things I need to learn to live with. My condition may actually include POTS. I also get the blood pooling in my feet and legs - sometimes worse than others. I have been diagnosed with SFN and do have some sensory problems. Bit, most of my problems are autonomic - just don't know specifically what it is (e.g., POTS). My neurologist was set to run autonomic tests but I could not go off of my meds because of my arthritis. He feels that the meds I take can hinder the results. He thought we can do the tests when I have a "really bad flare". Well, I hope I never get a "really bad flare" again, although I am sure it will happen again as some point. I do have autonomic problems - pretty much daily; gastroparesis and such. The itching is probably just part of it as it occurs when I have the tingling, etc.

Thanks for your help.

I don't know, it only happens when I get the flushing. To the point where I feel the flush, my face feels hot and then my nose gets stuffy. Happens like this all the time. It happened to a bad degree day before yesterday and then I developed a severe migraine about an hour later. It is weird. Must be vascular.

Good lord! My husband is sensitive to some clothes detergents - He gets a nasty red rash.

The active ingredients in the Gold Bond product I mentioned are Menthol (which provides a cooling sensation) and Pramoxine Hydrochloride (a topical anesthetic used in many hydrocortisone creams, Neosporin, and others).

Yes, I have minor itchy "feelings." I know they are not dermatology related. They are coming from within, definitely a nerve type sensation. Mostly on scalp, but sometimes on bottom of feet.

Oh...........Life never gets boring with this disorder!

How I long to be Bored!!!

The itch is related!
 

Look at this site? http://telemedicine.org/stamford.htm Go down the left hand index to 'Diabetes in Skin Disease' And read the intro and the foreward! on that section. THEN look at pics and be aware of how bad it can get if you don't care for yourself. It can be SCARy stuffs....
Thing is, with peripheral nerves damaged, they aren't telling the BRAIN correctly, how to work out the vascular and lymphatic systems [those other 'systems' we have, besides the 'nervous' system?] what to DO properly. Ergo, you don't have to have diabetes to have either a potential or actual mess on your hands and feet.
THAT is why we either swell or not, feel hot when not, or cold when not. Listen to Nide, Cy, Mrs D, Echoes AND ALL about what they experience and connect it to what YOU feel.
The best treatments I've found are to slather good quality lotions [I like Eucerin Calming Creme and Bath Oils] liberally to keep your skin as healthy as it can be for the 'duration', which can last years. Soo? Spoil your skin, you can really be a skin 'diva' in this quarter, and IT PAYS OFF!.. Happy skin, Happier skin healing, and thus surface nerves... Would you want to be like a diabetic ignoring ulcers that put them in the hospital etc? Not me, hopefully not you. Read the above stuff, and use common sense... Good things to all! - j

As I said earlier, my itching is deep within my foot, not on my skin itself.. but I have noticed how horrible my skin on my feet has gotten. It looks and feels like leather--at least the majority of it does.

But, my skin is so extremely sensitive anyway.. and the PN has added to that. I can hardly stand to let plain water touch my feet. I try to put lotion on my feet as often as I can tolerate (which is only a few times a week, sometimes less).. but I can only find one kind that doesn't irritate me, and that is Nivea Soft. It doesn't do anything for me, though... even before the pain got this bad and I was putting it on every day, it did nothing. I can't stand any other chemicals, lotions, or whatever touching my skin... so epsom salts, other brands of lotion, and things will not work for me. It's frustrating.. I'm 24 and should not have skin that looks and feels like leather.

Believe me, I've tried it all and then some?
 

IF your skin is sensitive to some chemicals, it can and does get tricky. The 'sensitive skin' types of things help, as does soaking in some sort of footbath--warm/tepid water w/some baby oils thrown in...
I've tried vasolene for some periods of time as well [but then? you gotta wear socks IN bed...can get messy any which way]
That said, my podiatrist is my tie for medical appointment priorities! I go regularly, HE gets the scalpel and pares those feet and I feel soo much better! He'd been doing it less frequently before I got PN? But now it's about 5-6 weeks before I start 'needing' more. Do keep in mind, that you aren't really feeling what's going on? So treat your feet as IF you had diabetic feet. Watch them, use lotions and potions, use scrubbies to get soft dead skin off asap. Then USE your feet as best you can as much as you can! Once you lose foot and toe tone muscle wise, it IS HARD to get some back and often painful.
Ultimately, slather then scrub off, then slather again ....then repeat. The more YOU do? The fewer scalpels you get to meet! :hug:'s - j
And YES the itches are beyond skin deep! Resisting the urge to scratch is hard, but? It doesn't really get to where you need it anyhow! It can get to the point of needing to see your dentist for a 'bite gard' to keep you from grinding your teeth from the ITCHES! -Havent found a tee shirt for it yet tho....

Yikes dahlek, thanks for the info! I will take heed. You are right about things not working properly... my body temperature is always way out of whack... and I know from the migraines that my vascular system is also screwy and directly caused by autonomic neuropathy. Gosh. I also have a feeling that the itchiness in my feet are related to the SFN... I get the buzzy tingling at the same time.

I like Nivea products and have heard good thing about Epsom salts... you are right in that it is just a bit deeper... perhaps one half to one inch deeper from the surface. My feet look awful... They used to be so pretty... I am sorry that you are so young and dealing with this mess...

I guess I am lucky to not have the itching. But you know when I was a kid, whenever I had a fever, when I was ill with something, the bottoms of my arches itched like crazy. It must have been some inflammatory thing?

They don't itch like that anymore. Strange. I do get burning now and then though at night. But not as often as in the past.

I soak in epsom salts, and that really helps, and keeps the skin nice. Better than any lotion IMO for me.

I have had that DEEP itching? And it is NOT fun...
 

Nothing can scratch the sub muscles down to the bone itches... I tend to try and brainwash myself? In that a] At least I can feel it?; and b] it'll go away soon...I HOPE!. My only advice is to slather good lotions etc that keep your skin health and happy... your skin is the largest body organ after all. AND your own body is not working properly to take care of it. At times, stronger topicals are needed? But topical is lots better to treat than systemic issues.
Sort of like the zeeps and zaps of nerves trying to 'reconnect', there is little useful research [I don't know about you, but I don't speak 'newt'....the test creature du jour for these things] These usually go away in about 5-20 minutes for which I'm always grateful.
ITCHES? You can rub or squirm all you want, and usually it makes no dent.
ON THE OTHER HAND? Just be grateful that you can feel anything at all!
As an aside, Shortly after I had my 'PN Onset', I was driving and parked and got out of the car using my cane to GET UP...only I wasn't? Looked down and my cane was in the MIDDLE of one foot--and I never felt it there! And that's why I couldn't get UP.
PS Have you ever had a very sick pet? Didn't they get their 'dander up'? They were showing stresses thru their skins as a result of whatever they were going thru. How are we different? We can THINK,,,at times for good or not... But? Hugs to all!!!! :hug::hug:!!!'s - j

Very true... itching means that I can feel it! I am sorry to hear that you have lost some feeling. Not fun! No fair! And, how true regarding stress... I think it will go away (hope it will go away)...