Advice on ITCH , ---please

[obsidianom]

My wife lalely has been dealing with itch all over . She kept scratching and tearing up her skin until we started using a ton of moisture cream all over her at bedtime and all day in some places. She looks better now but still itches. I have been using anti histamines at bedtime also lately which seem to help a bit also. I have read as much as I could find on this issue,  "UREMIC  ITCH ".   She has low phosphorus , so it isnt that.  Her parathyroid isnt too bad either. Her dialysis is excellant with a KT/V of over 3.1  .  We do Nxstage 5 times per week and do no UF as she urinates still.

I would love to have any ideas from all of you out there on things that have worked for you if you have had this issue. It does supposedly effect about 50% of all dialysis patients.   It is miserable for her.   I would love to help her.  ( our home nurse didnt have much to offer either)

[Sugarlump]

I had a terrible rash that drove me mad, with little blisters ... and about 4 months later we discovered it was the Bisoproprol (beta blocker) ... it isn't uncommon for rashes to be down to medication???
Allergies from medication are very common ...

[Angiepkd]

Not sure if what I had was similar or not, but I developed terrible itching/rash after being on D for a while.  Mainly on my fistula arm, but a little on my calves and back.  I started eliminating different tapes, band aids, neosporin, etc. but didn't get any relief. Finally, my nurse recommended eliminating the alcohol wipes and using double beta dine wipes. It did the trick and the itching stopped. Not sure why I had a delayed reaction to the alcohol wipes, but the itching was enough to make me crazy. Hope you figure it out soon! Good luck!

[Shaks24]

I am itching real bad too. My phos is low so thats not it. I take 6 different meds mostly for BP and some list itching as a side effect. I plan to discuss this with my Neph at the next doctor day to see if he has any suggestions. The worst place is my legs.   I get the little blisters that almost bleed. It drives me nuts mostly at night. Lotion seemed to help for a while but that was it. I am going to try a 100% aloe gel that I saw on Amazon. Hope that helps a bit.

[obsidianom]

I had a terrible rash that drove me mad, with little blisters ... and about 4 months later we discovered it was the Bisoproprol (beta blocker) ... it isn't uncommon for rashes to be down to medication???
Allergies from medication are very common ...

WE looked at anything new and all her meds are the same for years. The only new thing was the idiot nutritionist had her try cola to raise her phosphorus as it runs low. The itch started right after that and has continued even after stopping the cola for 10 days. It is better without the cola though.
  Interesting point, the cola I found out only has about 50 mg phosphorus in 8 ounces. That is nothing . She should have recommended soy milk which has about 250 mg per 8 ounces. I will never trust that idiot again . She is very young and inexperienced and I should have known better. She usually has no clue what is going on with my wife as my wife is on a feeding tube for nutrition and gets the same intake every day from 5 cans of formula . We are careful never to change anything.

[Sugarlump]

I am itching real bad too. My phos is low so thats not it. I take 6 different meds mostly for BP and some list itching as a side effect. I plan to discuss this with my Neph at the next doctor day to see if he has any suggestions. The worst place is my legs.   I get the little blisters that almost bleed. It drives me nuts mostly at night. Lotion seemed to help for a while but that was it. I am going to try a 100% aloe gel that I saw on Amazon. Hope that helps a bit.

Are you on a betablocker because that sounds identical to my rash... once I stopped them it went away very quickly. Nights were the worst 

[obsidianom]

I am itching real bad too. My phos is low so thats not it. I take 6 different meds mostly for BP and some list itching as a side effect. I plan to discuss this with my Neph at the next doctor day to see if he has any suggestions. The worst place is my legs.   I get the little blisters that almost bleed. It drives me nuts mostly at night. Lotion seemed to help for a while but that was it. I am going to try a 100% aloe gel that I saw on Amazon. Hope that helps a bit.

Are you on a betablocker because that sounds identical to my rash... once I stopped them it went away very quickly. Nights were the worst 

Actually most medication allergies follow a similar skin appearance as the body reacts to the stimulus or allergen. I had a patient in my office the other day who reacted in a similar way to Mobic which is an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen. She had quite a rash all over and it itched.
Beta blockers are no worse than any other medication in terms of allergies. Any medication can cause an allergy in any person. I see very few from beta blockers in practice.
No one seems to know what causes dialysis itch or uremic itch. I have read every article I could find on it. It is still a mystery. All we can do is look for symptom relief. That is what I am looking for from all of you.

[amanda100wilson]

I itch, and I attribute it mainly to dry skin and low humidity as happens in the winter.  Hardly suffer in the summer but it is very humid then.  The best anti-itch lotion for me is Sarna original.  Aloe gel didn't help me, because the stickiness made it worst.  I have tried every OTC anti-itch cream and lotion on the market.  The menthol in the Sarna lotion helps, albeit temporarily.  I even go to bed early sometimes because itching puts me in a miserable mood and getting out of clothes and between nice cotton sheets is sometimes all I want to do.  Even soft cotton clothes sometimes feel as if they have barbed wire woven into them.  If my phosphate has been high,  I get a generalized itch, that after about two or three weeks, localized to one area.  I find little pieces of dry skin that seem to be embedded in the skin.  I poke these out with a needle and, voila, itch is gone.  I have read about perforating skin disease that dialysis patients are susceptible to, e.g. Curle's Disease, but suspect it could be skin that has surrounded phosphate crystals.

[BobN]

ob, I've suffered from occasional itching ever since starting dialysis some eight years ago.  At times, it has been my phosphorous, although it has been under the normal limit, I know that's what was causing it because when it went a little lower, the itching stopped.  I think everyone's threshold is probably a little different.

I also have very dry skin and in the winter make sure that I slather on the moisturizer, especially after showering.  The only other possibility I can think of is clothing.  If she's wearing something new, maybe it's some kind of allergic reaction.  I assume there's nothing new in her diet.

Best wishes.

[Michael Murphy]

Personally the tape they use at my center has been giving me a very bad case of dremititis. Paper tap, silk tape band aids all had the same effect some not as bad but the itching was making me crazy. My dermatologist prescribed a medicine that was effectively 2% cortisone.  And as a side effect the various tapes were ripping out my arm hair.  I bought a hypo allergenic tape and the dermatitis cleared up but the wondrous thing is my hair on my arm stopped being ripped out.

[cassandra]

When I have un explained ridiculous, driving me mad itching I use teatree creme on every part of my body (bar the sensitive areas) that itches. BTW I agree with BobN that phosphorous levels can be different per person, and vary, as in sometimes I Itch with a perfectly good P 0,9 and sometimes I'm fine with 1,1. I also use teatree shampoo, and moisturise as much as poss.

[Sugarlump]

Nappy rash cream (sudocrem) worked best for me to control desire to itch and to promote healing where skin had broken. it's amazing stuff!

[ianch]

There can be many reasons for itchy skin. One not to ignore is treatment time. On a 12hr  per week schedule I had itchy feet as well as very dry skin all over. The nurses would say i did not get enough dialysis.  Both went away when I reached 6 hour treatments. Now on 10hrs (150 per month) I have softer skin and no itchy feet ever.

[dublin]

I am itching real bad too. My phos is low so thats not it. I take 6 different meds mostly for BP and some list itching as a side effect. I plan to discuss this with my Neph at the next doctor day to see if he has any suggestions. The worst place is my legs.   I get the little blisters that almost bleed. It drives me nuts mostly at night. Lotion seemed to help for a while but that was it. I am going to try a 100% aloe gel that I saw on Amazon. Hope that helps a bit.

hi when i had the itch i was told it can happen if your phosphate is low aswell it dosent have to be high for you to itch so i take 4 binders a day ( FOZONOL TABLETS ) and it has really gone now , i still get itchy nothing special now when i heat up from walking and exercising in the gym i told the doc she said it was like a heat rash without the rash she gave me no answers though , i hope it helps yous out as the itch is  :waving;really bad one to have wishing yous all the best.

[obsidianom]

I am itching real bad too. My phos is low so thats not it. I take 6 different meds mostly for BP and some list itching as a side effect. I plan to discuss this with my Neph at the next doctor day to see if he has any suggestions. The worst place is my legs.   I get the little blisters that almost bleed. It drives me nuts mostly at night. Lotion seemed to help for a while but that was it. I am going to try a 100% aloe gel that I saw on Amazon. Hope that helps a bit.

hi when i had the itch i was told it can happen if your phosphate is low aswell it dosent have to be high for you to itch so i take 4 binders a day ( FOZONOL TABLETS ) and it has really gone now , i still get itchy nothing special now when i heat up from walking and exercising in the gym i told the doc she said it was like a heat rash without the rash she gave me no answers though , i hope it helps yous out as the itch is  :waving;really bad one to have wishing yous all the best.

Is fozonol fosrenal, for high phosphate?

[kristina]

I am still pre-dialysis and at one time I suffered terribly from itching...
I then started to use cream all over my body every time after each shower...or after a bath...
...and it has helped me a lot to keep the itching at bay.... Whenever I feel a little itching on one part of my body...
I immediately use some cream on that particular part of my body without any compromise... and it helps every time...
it takes some time every time... and it takes time to cream my body...and it is very boring every time...
...but it helps me a lot every time to use only a little cream...
... sometimes I thought I might get away without using any cream...
but there is no avoiding it... the earlier I make the effort to use a little cream on my body, the earlier it helps me against the itching...

[Jean]

If it is dry skin, then adding some baby oil to lotion, maybe half and half will wipe that itch right off. Of course when you put the baby oil into the lotion you have to shake the bottle until your arm falls off. BUT, it does work!!

[iolaire]

Personally the tape they use at my center has been giving me a very bad case of dremititis. Paper tap, silk tape band aids all had the same effect some not as bad but the itching was making me crazy. My dermatologist prescribed a medicine that was effectively 2% cortisone.  And as a side effect the various tapes were ripping out my arm hair.  I bought a hypo allergenic tape and the dermatitis cleared up but the wondrous thing is my hair on my arm stopped being ripped out.

In the first month of dialysis (January) I had two large chucks of skin pull off with the paper tape...  Luckily one of the tech's gives good advice and moved me to the cloth like tape and everything has been good since. (I don't know if the other techs would have moved me to a different tape, this one seems more ready to give advice that seems good.)

[Bungarian]

I read that getting sun on the skin that itches helps.

[obsidianom]

I have been using moisture cream and Benedryl (antihistamine) at night and my wife is doing a lot better.
Thanks for all the input.