NO itch but too stoned

[Bassetmommer]

I finally got an answer from my dermatologist I saw over a week ago. I was lucky it was my annual appointment. Otherwise, I would have had to wait until April. The problem was this blasted itching.

Just to fill in the blanks, I started itching on the back of my head at the beginning of the month. I thought it was dry scalp or psoriasis. But then it was not presenting like psoriasis. It began to travel and anywhere I was warm, like on my back sleeping, it would itch intensely. Then it just spread everywhere. I tried Sarna cream, and then another prescription cream, triamcinolone, and although it worked sort of well, it was short lived. I was grease up like a pig. My scalp still itched bad, and I did not want to put that in my hair. So, I used talc with menthol or tea oil spray for itchy scalps.

So yesterday, I get a call from the dermatologist, and she sent to the pharmacy this new prescription. She said it would work great. I rushed down to get the medicine and got home and researched it. Said it was used for addiction recovery, alcohol withdrawal and way down on some sites it mentions itching and weight loss. Yahoo, a bonus. Weight loss.

I decided to pop one in my mouth at 6 pm. All I can think of the song "White Rabbit" "One who makes you smaller and one that makes you tall"...Holy smokes. I have not been that stoned since 1970. And instead of having a sedative effect, it had just the opposite. I had skipped taking my melatonin, so after two hours of lying there in the dark, holding on to the bed sheets, I got up and took it. That finally helped to get me to sleep.

This morning, I am still sick to my stomach. The itch was gone all night and this morning, it is starting to reappear, but not like it was. Tonight, I will take only 1/2 and see what happens.

"Go ask Alice"......

[horsie63]

Holy cow I've got the itch too but the GP says it's dry skin so I'm trying the stuff you put on in the shower for dry skin. We'll see. I also put on hydrocortisone cream all over at bed time and take a benadryl so I can sleep.

[Bassetmommer in reply to horsie63]

Well, dry skin is part of it and moisturizing helps. But this itch is much more than surface. I did a lot of research on it, and most doctors do not know what causes it and what gets rid of it. This med I am on stop the mechanism that causes itching. It was very amazing going from bleeding skin to no itch with one pill...be it that it knocked me on my butt. As your doctor about it because it is not JUST dry skin. It is call CKD-aP (associated Pruritis) and over 30% of CKD patients get it. Some are on dialysis, some not. kidney.org/kidney-topics/ch....

[jodaer]

Bassetmommer, please forgive me for laughing. I know it's not a laughing matter but... you have a way of putting humor in your posts I itch a lot but it moves around and mostly when I'm trying to sleep..

[Bassetmommer in reply to jodaer]

Jodaer, Your reply made my day. I always try to find humor in things. Unfortunately, I do often even if it is inappropriate.

Yes this itch is terrible. I work on the committee for NKF on hot topics and this is one. How many people have this is stagering. One YOUTUBE video with a Nephrologist said 80% of patients get this sometime in later stage CKD. There are things that are obvious causes such as high phosphorous or uremia. But.... a lot of patients, like me, do not have either. Many docs simply answer to do more dialysis, but that can aggravate the situation as dialysis may be the cause and it dries the skin. I have always used moisturizers and although slathering up helped, it did not cure. And also, the itch is stronger at night, which points to a internal mechanism not working, like nerve ends that seem to hurt more at night, because they do. Ever had a tooth ache and tried to sleep?

There is a new product out that is given as a bolus at the very end of dialysis. What ever mechanism that causes this, this product puts it back in. However, you have to do every time you after you do dialysis but before you pull needles, and it is expensive. They use it mostly in center. They are coming out with a pill of the same product. Difelikefalin. "Recently, difelikefalin, a peripheral restricted and selective kappa opioid receptor agonist, proved its efficacy in the treatment of uremic pruritus" Gabapentin is also a common drug for this issue.

Don't settle for a passive answer from your doctor. Just because THEY do not know the cause, does not mean YOU have to suffer.