Fucking perimenopause ITCHING

[DungareesTrombonesDinos]

Is anyone else itchy since being in perimenopause. Oh my god it is driving me round the bend I am itchy all over. I regularly get hives, my neck in particular always feels itchy and my scalp. I itched my leg so much last night I drew blood.

Will anything help? Antihistamines? Any world class creams I could try (obviously none fragrances as Im now coming out in hives with perfume grrrrrrrrr)

Well I didn’t know that! I’m vitamin d deficient and taking high dose tablets, so it might get better as my levels recover? Good news.

i didn’t know until i was diagnosed with this that everyone in the uk should be taking vitamin D from autumn to spring. My other main symptoms were low mood and being unable to sleep. Been taking loading dose for 4 weeks and only just starting to feel a little bit better.

I have been struggling with this for a year and have posted about it on here. I am 55 and think my periods also stopped about a year ago.

I have a history of eczema (diagnosed chronic in childhood) but have never experienced anything like this intense, all over body (except my hands and face) itching. It got so bad that last last year, I saw the GP twice and one one occassion they advised me to go into hospital for IV antibiotics because the rash was 'significant'. I had to take 2 days off work because I could not move out of bed. It was just awful. in the evening and at night, the itching was insane.

Been prescribed various things that have helped manage it. I finally seem to be getting on top of it now and think I can safely say that heat and my own perspiration are triggers. So, I try to keep cool. Lukewarm baths with a bit of salt seem to help and I have turned the central heating down a notch. I have taken Cod Liver Oil and iron for many years but also added in magnesium recently and I am not sure if that has helped as well.

My GP scoffed at my suggestion that it was hormone related but there's plenty of information online that contradicts that. What I read about menopause itching matches the kind of itching that I have had (sometimes dry and hot, light scratching and sometimes heat related and more of a hives/allergy type of irritation and deep scratching). My GP did explain that heat releases histamine. I am also on daily antihistamines.

One of the best tips I had was to have a gel manicure. Because they coat the ends of your nails, when you do scratch, your nails won't break the skin open. This has worked absolute wonders for me. Simple but so very effective. Or get a 'Scratch Star' but they are pricey.

I changed to a SLS free shampoo and conditioner and body wash which stopped the itching on my body , I use the red garnier body cream which helps with dryness and take an antihistamine at bed time as I find that’s when I tend to get prickly heat the most and I keep my heating low at night . I’ve changed to fruit high in vitamin c like kiwis which help with histamine and i drink cold water when i start to feel hot which really helps too .
I think the worst one for me is itchy ears especially when I brush my teeth .

Legs and my back (in places I can't reach). It's awful. I'm covered in scratches. Doesn't matter what I wear

The only thing that helps a bit is Child's Farm moisturiser. I slather that on.

Itchy neck and itchy eyelids FGS! Antihistamines help. If I stop scratching, it goes away and I stop the antihistamines.

I had to change to Simple shampoo and conditioner too as my scalp was so itchy.

I didnt know either until I went to my gp with unbearable itching! Turned out my levels were wayyyyy low

Easiest health fix ever

I get hay-fever in the summer, but if I ever get symptoms in the winter months it's a sign that my vit d is low

My armpits. Mostly my left one. Drives me mad

Yes!! Inside my ears and my back. Drives me INSANE. Scratch, scratch all day long 😠

Dry skin can also be a symptom of type 2 diabetes.

I’ve had awful dry skin for about 18 months which developed into eczema. I was referred to a dermatologist who asked me to get my hbac1 checked and I’ve just been diagnosed as type 2. I might have had it for a while as there were no other symptoms.

I had this early on in peri.
My doc ran some blood tests & said I was low in B12 & suggested supplements.
I was furious - it seems such a silly response - but turns out she was right and taking B12 supplements really helped.

so as well as taking HRT etc do look at levels of B12, Vit D etc. It wouldnt hurt to supplement with these anyway.

Oh yes it's bloody awful. It's the symptom that seems to be the most long lasting and keeps coming back even though I'be been on HRT 3 years. My skin feels like actual sandpaper when I scratch it - clothes are impossible to wear.

I tried an oatmeal bath the other night using ground up porridge - it didn't help and what a mess! Admittedly I only did one soak and you're supposed to do it regularly but it's such a mess there's no way.

I've gone back to a daily antihistamine which is the only thing that stops it.

I’d say I hear you sister…but I cut my ears off cos they were so fucking itchy I thought I had spiders in there
Ear plugs in the shower helped so no shampoo or conditioner could get in
a few nights with warm olive oil and cotton wool
then a tiny rub round with a thin moisturising lotion every few days (only the entrance, not right inside) also helped

For those with itchy ears, I read that if you spray a small amount of the hayfever nose spray onto a cotton bud and GENTLY wipe around the inside of your ear, it can really help.

As for those with hives etc, this is interesting as I’ve been posting on here for a couple of weeks about a rash I can’t get rid of which is incredibly itchy and almost all over me. Didn’t think about it being hormone related but there a lot of similar stories here!

The pharmacist recommended antihistamine and an aqueous cream but I don’t think it helped much. It’s going away in some patches but not everywhere, and the itching is unreal.

If you have intense itching especially on the legs, after a shower or bath, don’t just assume it is menopausal. See your GP. It could also be a symptom of blood cancer, eg Polycythemia Vera, as a relative of mine found out, after a blood test. She had put up with it for years and just assumed it was menopausal. Nothing alleviated it. She only found out by having a random blood test. Her results were very abnormal and led to her having other tests which ended up with the PV diagnosis.

I had no idea there was this to look forward to ! Just as an fyi, I had insane itching when I had a severely overactive thyroid. Your thyroid also has a tendency to go wonky round menopause, have a look at the other symptoms just in case.

if you do this again put the oats in the leg of a pair of tights & tie it securely - no mess, lovely oat bath (works for chicken pox)

I did put the ground oats in a cloth bag @RobinEllacotStrike but they turned into a sludge and seeped into the water and left sludge all over the bath which I then had to leave to set and scrape out so it didn't block the drain. 😕

My back is the only place that itches- so far! Strangely, I only realised recently that its yet another sign of peri.

My facial skin is bone dry and flaky too! No deficiencies thankfully.

Itchy calves and sometimes shins here. Mostly my right leg 🤨

I've seen threads on here before about perimenopause/menopausal itching and people recommend magnesium supplements (?). Thought that someone would mention it today.

I've had the itchy ear thing. Seems very random.

Itchy legs especially at night. Not helped by warm duvet and electric blanket.

Hate that really scratching it sends some sort of histamine relief.

I did! It's in my long essay upthread somewhere! My itching does appear to have eased since I've been taking the Magnesium. But it could also be other things have helped, too (as mentioned in my essay).

God yes. Stomach and back, mostly. It's like being randomly attacked by fire ants.

Sorry I missed that @ImSweetEnough . 😊

As a chronic eczema sufferer I've done some scratching in my life but I haven't ever experienced such an intense itch.

I actually treated myself for Scabies at one point because it did feel exactly like ants crawling over me.

Yes! So glad to see that this is a thing. Ankles, hips, inside my left knee, armpits and glamorously, my bum.