Annoying itchy back! GayCBrighton

[Gaycreasey]

Does anyone else have this irritating side effect? This seems to happen after a flare and then when things are settling down again. The area between my shoulder blades becomes very sensitive and itchy. I am currently taking 9mls of Prednisolone, having started at 15 last November and got down to 6 in August. Having had a flare I went back up to 10mls for a month and now down to 9. This itching comes and goes but does seem to happen frequently.

[SheffieldJane]

I am going to change my sign in name to " me too" because I am always saying it, but I do get a deep itch in just the place you describe that is quite hard to reach. I wasn't sure if it was anything to do with PMR or Pred though. I get the same sensation on my eyelid rim, like an itch you can't relieve by scratching. Odd!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I used to have an itchy back - and a few other places - in the early days of PMR. I eventually worked out I had an allergy to wheat starch. Not gluten, I can eat other gluten-containing grains including spelt and kamut, just not the highly commercialised hard wheat used in bread and pasta in the Europe and the USA. I can eat French bread too - different sort of wheat. Even the NHS site admits this exists. No wheat - no itch.

I am positive my grandfather had PMR - just "rheumaticks" in the 1950s and 60s so untreated, pred had only just been invented - and he would stand at the door post and rub his back to get at the itch between his should blades that he couldn't reach.

[CT-5012 in reply to PMRpro]

Try putting Back Bliss into Amazon I've used these for years. 😊

[Gaycreasey in reply to CT-5012]

Not heard of this. Can you enlighten me?

[CT-5012 in reply to Gaycreasey]

Hi, it's a flat plastic bent thing about the size and shape of a coat hanger with a replaceable washable bit on one end which you can use for washing, cream or just having a scratch. All the places you can't reach if your shoulders don't work. 😁

[Gaycreasey in reply to PMRpro]

That's an interesting thought. I've just stopped eating bread because I seemed to be very bloated after a day of toast, sandwiches etc. I am dairy intolerant so what's another allergy in the scheme of things? Will see if the itching subsides. Another part of me thinks it might be part of the healing process, after a flare. Who knows we can but wait and see what happens next. Fun innit?

[tonypne]

I would like to know more about why you are taking this medicine, if you could email me privately [e-mail] i will do my best to help

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to tonypne]

Since the only medication mentioned on this page is pred there is a very simple answer: everyone on this forum has polymyalgia rheumatica and currently the mainstay of management is corticosteroids.

[borednow]

I too have developed an itchy back but my dear departed mother left me a very long shoe horn which has proved indispensable in dealing with this. Thanks Mum!!

[Gaycreasey in reply to borednow]

Yes, good old Mum. I think I've got one of those somewhere.......could be today's project!!

[GerriMc]

I've had that itch for a few years. It predates my PMR. My doc says it's just a feature of "old" skin and is very common. I saw an item on television a while back and the doc there said the same. It always seems to be just between or under the shoulder blades where it is hard to get at. Just use a good moisturiser, maybe a nice back rub from a significant other.😉

[Gaycreasey]

Yes, a back rub would be nice except that as well as being itchy it is also sore. Significant other has big hands and doesn't know his own strength! Might try the Back Bliss mentioned above as that is also a means of putting on the moisturiser.

[Lone-wolf]

I have been on Prednisolone since 2012 and haven't had any problems with it except when reducing the dosage. I did manage to get done to 3mg but had a flare and had to increase it to 10mg. I am now back down to 5mg which the consultant and I agree is my manageable dosage.