Rheumatoid Arthritis horrendous itching

[LostCats]

Hi all,
I’ve only recently (finally) been diagnosed with RA. I’m on hydroxycholoroquine which has helped a lot.
However I had a fairly stressful weekend and on Saturday my face started itching really badly. By yesterday my skin was peeling off my face. Not much but it was odd.
Then last night the itching started. It’s horrendous and everywhere. It felt like an allergic reaction (I have a food allergy so know the feeling). Like a bad sunburn with needles being pushed out of my skin.
I’ve taken double the antihistamine I usually do (so only half the recommended dose anyway) and I’m not tired - usually it knocks me out. The itch has mostly gone down but the feeling like I’ve a bad sunburn without the pain is still there. I keep expecting to look at or touch my skin and it be red and sandpaper like but it isn’t.

So the long and short. I can’t find anywhere that says allergic reactions are something which happen with RA but I’m new to the game. Given the hectic weekend, I should be very tired or sore but I’m just not. Is it possible the reaction is just another part of RA?

Thank you so much

Hi, I also have RA and had a mare with hydroxychloroquine for about 10 months. Spent a fortune on skin care and even saw a private dermatologist. Apparently it can cause sun/uva sensitivity and I wasn’t told. This will even flare during winter months so not just a summer thing. Eventually a pharmacist picked up on what was happening. I would contact your rheumy team and let them know asap. Within 3 days of stopping it my skin went back to normal. Good luck! x

Thanks you so much. I’m fairly certain it’s the hydroxycholoroquine. The pharmacist and gp don’t seem to think so but I’ll speak to my rheumatologist.
it’s such a shame as it’s made such a difference to my RA 😞

If it is the hydroxy it can be awful. During the 10 months I had issues, I saw my gp twice, 3 different pharmacists and paid for a private dermatologist as I was so desperate. . None of them joined the dots until the final pharmacist I spoke to. They ought to run a blood test as well for you. I guess the only way you’ll know will be if you stop it for a few days. If you can take some pictures of your skin too that may help your rheumatologist. It is frustrating if it is helping your RA but there are plenty of other options and it can take a while to get the combination of meds right x

I've been on HCQ for 7 years. I also struggle with itchy skin, never knew the connection! I did see a dermatologist at one time and use heavy duty creams to keep it under control.
I'd be reluctant to give up the HCQ as it does a good job and all DMARDS have their drawbacks. I also take sulphasalazine more recently. Spent 18 months on prednisolone and that cleared up my skin but I'm off it now.

Hydroxychloquine is known to have issues with skin rash side effects

www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/hydroxychloroquine/

As you are only new to diagnosis you may not have come across the Versus Arthritis website but that has loads of useful info about drugs, treatments and also has members talkboards where you can ask people who all have various types of arthritis questions or just have a bit of a moan. It was a bit of a lifeline when I was first diagnosed and then again when I went through pregnancy. It might be better than Mumsnet as it's a community of people all with arthritis.

There are lots of drugs available to treat RA and it might take a while to find one that works for you but has side effects you can tolerate. Unfortunately everybody reacts differently so there is no one solution.
Reading about the drugs can be scary as the potential side effects can sound terrifying but it's important to remember some drugs come with regular monitoring to keep an eye on these.
I'm on methotrexate with Tofacitinib and both sound very scary on paper but I've been on mtx for the best part of 20yrs without problems (it just got less effective over time hence the Tofacitinib)

Thank you all so much. The pharmacist gave me a strong antihistamine which has mostly worked, but now I feel wrecked 😁

Thank you for the Versus recommendation. I’d heard about them but as I hadn’t been diagnosed yet I felt a bit silly going on their site but I will now.

The relief HCQ has given me, I’m a bit nervous to give it up.

NRAS is a good site to go on. I find hardly be anyone posts on versus.

Ooh thank you. I’ll look there