Please help me- mad scratching in my sleep - so tired and fed up now

[AugustaProdworthy]

This is something that has been going on for a while now and I have been down the conventional medicine and alernative routes and tried all sorts but ... Every night I wake myself up scratching. I can't sleep through and I'm in so much pain and my skin looks terrible as a result.
Tried..... Drowsy antihistamines, alcohol, pain killers, hypnotherapy, various skin creams, steroids, herbal remedies but nothing stops it. Liver function tests are ok.
I am completely unconscious when it happens and the scratching then wakes me up.

Please, wise MN please help. Is this something anyone else has suffered with and what can I do to stop scratching and sleep.
Not slept properly since November 2008 and I think it's having a huge effect me.
( I know I could post in medical but maybe on the off chance someone can help here?)

I don't know what could be causing it :(

I'm sure you have tried this, but my first thought is have you tried sleeping in those cotton moisturising gloves? They may work a bit like a baby's scratchmitt & keep your nails away from your skin?

Thanks onetiredmummy, I have tried gloves but they were a rubbish pair and fell off but I will see if I can get some better ones as this seems a really good idea. Thank you.

Do you itch during the day? Scratch during the day?

I developed itchy legs when I was pregnant, and it turned out to be an underactive thyroid. Have you had your thyroid function checked? Sorry to hear you've been suffering like this, must be awful.

Well here I again, awake, in pain, scratched my back so much I woke up and it hurts so much.
I will ask about thyroid, would I have any other symptoms?
I so so pissed off with this.

Have you replaced your mattress since you started getting symptoms? I'm wondering if you might have some sort of allergy to either the materials the mattress is made from or something living in it such as bed bugs or dust mites. Or maybe your bedding? Do you have the same problem when you sleep in other beds?

Maybe ask the GP about allergy testing. Sounds horrific.

You could double rinse your bedding. I double rinse everything that touches my skin as I cannot stand itching. My nighties and my sheets are double rinsed.

Also you could try a fragrance free detergent.

My DH had an operation on the 20th of March as soon as he left hospital the next day his upper body was red and he was itchy. It must have been the hospital gown as the lower body was fine. He took antihistamines for 10 days. His back and chest is still stratched to pieces. It must have been what the gown was washed in. My DH has had a allergy test and he is allergic to perfume, lanolin and balsom of peru. Have you thought to ask your GP for an allergy test or referal to dermatogoly.

Are there any spots of blood?

I hate to mention it but a friend found she had bed bugs. She removed the cover off her headboard and said there were literally hundreds of them. Apparently they are massively on the increase.

Hopefully it isn't but wanted to mention it just in case.

There are lots of potential symptoms of an underactive thyroid, such as tiredness and weight gain, but all I had was the itching. However, I suppose if you've been itching for so long and it was due to that, you'd probably have other symptoms by now. Probably worth ruling out though.

Hi, thank you all. I have had blood tests, patch tests and skin piece tests. Have a long list of things I react to but even when avoiding them and taking anti histamines I am still scratching at night. I have occasional naps in bed during the day and I'm find then . It is just at night time. Weird and getting more painful.

Do check out bedbugs, even if it's wildly unlikely....we stayed in a holiday villa that had them in one room (only), and I never got bitten during the day. At night, I did.

But there are clear bites from bugs, which it doesn't sound as though you have?

No, I can't see them on my back but surely DH would have them too? Will google and see what they look like!

You'd see them, or your dh would, if you had bites.

My dh had all of 3 bites when I had about 50, so they clearly choose one person over the other

Googled but not bites. Changed mattress a couple of years ago and DH pointed out this has been going in longer than that. Have booked GP and Derma Consultant today, just got to wait for the actual appointments.
Honestly, it is doing me in- the pain, lack of sleep and feeling like I look ill all thd time. I know there are much worse ailments but I feel horrible.

Have you had a kidney function test? My MIL had terrible itching all over her arms and legs for months and the GP simply "prescribed" her huge tubs of moisturiser which you could get over the counter anyway.

Turned out it's one of the first signs of kidney disease. In her case one of her kidneys had almost failed, she had to have a stent.

I get this from time to time. Bugs get in your skin and it itches and won't heal properly. You can buy Dermol from Boots to wash your skin with but don't use it for a long period of time or it can itself cause itching! If things have got too bad you may need antibiotics to knock it on the head, but in my experience Gp's can be slow to recognise this and you don't get Abs until you see a consultant. With my skin the problem then clears up like magic. Good luck!

Howis your diet? The skin is a detox organ and can get overworked from time to time.

I used to suffer from itchy legs at night, wanted to scratch all the skin off. I did a strict detox diet (not for the scratching, I did that for general health, not the itching.

But by week 2 of the 4 week 'programme' the itching stopped. It does come back now if I eat too much processed food or drink too much tea, so I cut those out and the itching goes.

It was 12 years ago but I still see the book for sale on eBay. It wasn't the carol vorderman detox btw just a basic no frills regime for 4 weeks.

Are you taking any supplements such as fish oil?

I hope the appoinent comes around quickly. My brother had a terrible skin complaint and it took the doctors a long time to get to the bottom of it but they got there in the end.

i have found that sugar - which is in almost everything makes me itchy,

have skim read the thread - but has anyone suggested cutting your nails right back?

this did happen to me, it was a cross between long nails and sugar, i bit my nails, took antihistimine ( which i know you have tried) wore gloves - i found the 'magic gloves' that are dead cheap and stretch to fit different sized hands were good - also socks ! i put socks on my hands an it did the trick.

i foun it became almost habit forming - if youve been doing it since 2008, it might take a few weeks of glove wearing

i alo kept bedroom window open to lower the temperature