Excessive Itching

[Sidwell]

This is my first attempt at posting an item here so I hope I am in the right place.

I am suffering from stable angina and moderate aortic stenosis. A couple of months ago my cardio consultant changed my medication and I am now taking spironolactone, nicorandil and micrabegron as well as some other tablets.

Lately I have been experiencing a lot of itching day and night. So I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience when taking any of the tablets mentioned above before I contact my GP please.

[Blackknight57]

both spironalacton and micrabegron are diuretics, side effects include itching. See your doctor

[devonian186]

When I had angina I took none of the medicines you cite. You must have other things going on as micrabegron is surely used for treating bladder infections.

Worth contacting your practice pharmacist to see if the medicines are reacting with each other or ask the dispensing chemist. This will then give you the ammunition to tackle the actual GP.

I often liken taking a variety of medicines for unrelated conditions as being similar to the installation of new traffic lights on a busy road. They seem a good idea at the time, but often cause problems down the line as traffic then builds up elsewhere, junctions get blocked and a roundabout then gets added into the equation making the problem worse than before!

So a basic analysis of each medicine, what they do and how they interact might be a good first step.

[Bahamasgirl]

Yes I have. Itching is so horrible! After trial and error discovered it was the spironolactone. Even though I had taken it over 10 years. No more itching since I stopped. My best wishes to you.

[Positif]

I have had itching since being put on 3 different medications for SVT. I now take an Antihistamine daily which helps considerably but you need to be careful which one you take as some are not good if you have heart conditions. So I suggest you ask a pharmacist to recommend one that is safe for your conditions and medications.

[Myrtleinmygarden]

I have AF and my medication is different to yours. I have recently started to suffer from itching and have been prescribed Dermacool 0.5% Menthol in a rich aqueous cream, plus an antihistamine. I'm reluctant to take more meds. I bought OTC phenergan and I cut it in half at night. If you read the info sheet that comes with meds it warns about skin irritation.

I hope it clears up soon.

[Coralie44]

I have been on spirolactose for a number of years and had no side effects until one of the brands was changed. The colour was an orange shade and reading the ingredients there was colour added. This caused very bad itching. I make sure now that the tablets are as near to white as possible and no side effects.

[Jedi14]

You have picked upon a very delicate topic, itching. My mrs (god bless her) in the last part of her life suffered unbelievable bouts ot itching! The meds were completely different to yours. Triple bypass (successfu), kidney failure towards the end diabetes for several years.

The itching started suddenly during a session of dialysis, we put it down to an allergic reaction from something she ate. It progressed so badly that in weeks to follow she could not sleep normally due to whole body itching! Bathing and showering were a daily, but temporary relief from the itching

Weeks down the line, it got so bad, on one occassion an ambulance was called and the staff could'nt stop laughing when they arrived (I assure you it was no laughing matter!), not having seen such a case before. Several meds, creams later she was no better off! Due to a complication she had to be hospitalised again. Her itching was so out of control that she was writhing in the hospital bed continually (360 degrees). It was appalling, lack off sleep as well.

On her last day, alive she seemed at peace, the writhing had stopped she was mostly unconscious.

Sorry but I felt I had to share this.