Sick of itching

How can u live like this. Itching all the time. Like something crawling under you skin. Why is there no proper treatment. Its cruel n sad

[Laura009]

That's cirrhosis for you , there is no cure but lots of symptoms. Just be careful not to break the skin and get the wounds infected. Lots of people here try lots of different creams and treatments to ease the itch with varying amounts of success. Hope you find some relief. Keeping your skin cool seems to be the key .

[Hidden in reply to Laura009]

Don't these symptoms go away. As the liver repairs too the best it can over time. It's awful and everybody I know thinks I'm making it up am sure.

[Laura009 in reply to Hidden]

If you dont have cirrhosis then maybe over time with no booze and a healthy diet the symtoms will subside.

[Hidden in reply to Laura009]

And my consultant said I've got fibrosis not cirrhosis. So why would I get all these symptoms if I haven't got it. That's what I can't understand.

[alfredthegreat]

Hi Chris,

Try to keep your body from getting too warm. The itching is always far worse when you get warm. Hard I know in winter when we all like to feel some heat.

I used to sleep with a leg and an arm out of bed to keep my skin temperature cool. In desperate times I used to put towels in plastic bags in the chest freezer and put one of those over me when the itching was intense! Sometimes it would cool me enough to drift off to sleep.

Some on here have used cooling sprays that you can buy at the chemist.

Hope you manage to get some sleep.

All the best with it.

Alf

[Hidden in reply to alfredthegreat]

Thanks mate. I've only just started with it out of the blue. It's not itching like mad just niggles me. On min my foot itchs next my face. Then my leg. Then my hand abd so on so on

[alfredthegreat in reply to Hidden]

I noticed that my itching was always worse at night when my body was warmer.

Such a pain when you're trying to sleep.

Also the more you scratch the more you itch. Try to rub an itch with the flat of your fingers.

[Hidden]

Hi do the same as the bed. I also take fexoy Alf, I stick my leg and foot out of bed. I also take fexofenadine 180mg which seems to help. Take care Lynne

[Hidden]

Hi,

Have the doctors ever tried you on rifampicin,? Its the only thing that helps me.

Angela x

[Highflying54]

I do feel your pain. The itching was the most debilitating part of the jaundice I suffered. Nights are the worst time and disrupted sleep can make you feel so low. I have now thankfully recovered fully (the jaundice was caused by a reaction to Flucoxacillin) I did find the dermacool creams provided the best relief but even then not for very long. I also resorted to anti-histamines which did help me to sleep. My consultant prescribed Colestyramine (not sure I’ve spelled that right) Hope this symptom eases soon x

[gardenfun]

Dear Chris,

Ask your doctor to prescribe Bezafibrat as a try. It helps many liver-patients, but lab-numbers should be controlled after 2 and 4 weeks and later,as some people react with high liver-numbers (AST ALT Gamma-GT ALP etc).

Give it a try.

[davianne]

Hi Chris,

Alf and Lynne are right. I, like them used to hang my legs and arms out of the bed. Keeping cool is the key. I never found anything to apply to reduce the itching, but maybe calamine lotion might help, I never thought if that at the time. As Alf says, don't scratch it, I did once and got an infection and a weeping sore, that took ages to heal.....still got the scar today.

Hope this helps,

David

[Elric1]

Mint body creAm try it

[GardenPixie]

Hugely frustrating isn't it. I didn't have it at all until after a bout of pancreatitis caused when I had an ERCP test they were using to try and establish what was wrong with me. I had been slightly jaundiced, without the itching up until that point. Then it went off the scale. They had given me anti-histamines but they had no effect whatsoever, so after a a spell of 3 or 4 nights of no sleep at all I called my GP and he immediately prescribed the colestyremine powders, and the hospital team has since upped the daily dose based on the PBC diagnosis and that has worked like a dream. But I get you, I really do, something so simple as an itch can drive you so completely mad and affect your life on a day to day basis.