Causes of itching

What's the cause of the itching? I'm not jaundice or owt. I was fine last week its just come on. Worried

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The itching (also known as pruritus) is a common symptom of liver function impairment and/or liver disease. It can be all over the body or limited to specific parts of the body such as the palms of the hand or the upper back. The liver regulates the production of many hormones and when it's struggling itching can be an early symptom that all is not right with your liver or gall bladder.

I've had pruritus for many years but mine has been mainly confined to my scalp and sometimes my upper back. Even when tests showed that my liver was fine I had itching so your itching doesn't necessarily mean that your liver is seriously damaged. When I was regularly taking painkillers the itching tended to get worse the more painkillers I took and the longer I took them but it was never really bad like many people on the forum have experienced.

When it's severe the itching can drive some people to the point of scratching so hard that they cause wounds and scarring. Unfortunately scratching doesn't tend to relieve pruritus associated with liver function impairment as many people on the forum would confirm. I've been lucky in that even at its worst my pruritus was relatively mild and I was able to deal with it by focusing on other things i.e. distraction.

If you haven't had an ultrasound of your liver and other organs like your gall bladder and a FibroScan of your liver you should request that they be done. Pruritus is a common symptom of people with PBC and also often occurs when bile flow from the gall bladder is impaired.

I wouldn't worry too much however because despite having had mild pruritus for many years every test I've had has shown that my liver, gall bladder etc are fine. That doesn't mean there's nothing wrong though. I've had many liver test values out of normal range but usually only slightly out of normal range. The most disturbing one is my platelet count which is almost always below normal for no apparent reason. I'm thinking of asking my gastroenterologist to perform a liver biopsy to determine the true health of my liver.

Note: one of the specialists I've seen made the following amusing observation as I described my symptoms in detail:

'So you're a Googler!'

[briccolone]

It's a very good question in fact. A lot of people with fatty liver experience it. In my case first time I experienced it on lower calves and ankles. I had raised ggt and resolved with diet and abstinence. I just had my bile levels tested ..all within range not even elevated but still have sporadic itching. It could point to gallstones as well..how's your digestive system .?