There could be many culprits but every now and then I get attacks of very itchy skin at night, all over. I wake up scratching. It is a Pred side effect, I am tapering to 6 mgs. What puzzles me, is why only sometimes? Is it worth mentioning to the GP. I do have black crusty warts here and there and lots of skin tags at the site of the worst itching ( dismissed by a GP previously). I have been taking paracetamol and codeine occasionally for arthritic knee pain. Could that trigger it? The drug has never suited me, causing breathlessness and stomach trouble.
Anyone else plagued by this?
Written by
SheffieldJane
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I get intense itching from hydrocodone as a side effect. It’s an opiate like codeine, and I think they both metabolize to morphine in the body, so that could be the culprit. My doctor told me to take aspirin with it, which used to help but not anymore. I just don’t seem to tolerate it. Good luck figuring it out!
Just a thought, histamine levels peak at night in the early hours. Have you tried taking an antihistamine before bed? A decently strong one like Phenergan will make you sleep too. Worth checking with pharmacist for compatibility with other meds.
Does it happen after you take the stuff? I had occasional itchy nights that coincided with having eaten more wheat than usual - but it was always delayed by a considerable time which was what made it so difficult to work it out.
Lidl do dead cheap loratidine (antihistamine) - and I use a lot at times!!!!
I suffered for a long time with terribly itchy legs at night, behind the knee being the most irritating place. I've found that regular use of Aveeno products helps a lot. I use their Baby Gentle Care Daily Wash in the bath or shower, plus their adult moisturiser.
Thanks for your thoughts. I will try an anti - histamine and stop bothering with Codeine.. I ignore so many symptoms I sort of worry that I will neglect something important. I have spent all morning trying, as advised, to make a particular GP appointment, Endocrinologist and Rheumatologist. It is chilling how difficult this task has become. Then you have to prioritise what you have time to discuss. It has become quite a task. Poor NHS, I wish it was in safe hands.
Yes, I agree about struggles for appointments....my doctor has sent for me to have an endoscopy, got letter for colonoscopy, I rang them and asked if they had got the wrong end!! Later got letter for endoscopy, but no available appointments at present, it then said hopefully the wait won't be longer than 18 weeks....well, won't print what I was thinking!😉
Doctor had said don't panic if they want you in quick, it's because you are over 65......as if.....
With you there SJ , half the afternoon trying to speak to the surgery and no answer to my clinic email yet.
It's this sort of thing that gets you down.
There is nothing that makes you feel more sick than trying to get well!
Definitely keep off the codeine , evil stuff , and not just because I am thankfully allergic .
It can become highly addictive , and cause many gastric issues and muck up kidney function .
My OH is Type 1 Diabetic , he kept getting headaches and eventually lower back pain , I told him to stop and to see the GP as I read a medical article stressing that a major side effect of codeine is quick , intense withdrawal symptoms , including severe head and ear pain, even after a few doses .
He had his urine checked at the GP and his kidney function was low too . Finally he listened and takes plain old ibuprofen or migraleve now for the migraines.
The amount of headaches he had went down by about 80% from stopping taking it , one or two a month instead of three or four a week.
Crazy , but sometimes the headaches you can be getting are actually caused by the drug you took the day before to stop it , and then you take it again to get rid of the pain it caused , the codeine circle, that's why it's one of those drugs that can cause high addiction .
Interested to see you mention Migraleve. That has been my go to tablet for years for migraine. Since menopause I don't get them as often thankfully. Anyway... just before Christmas, I tried to buy some and was shocked to hear there is some kind of problem with supply and chemists haven't had it for months. Over the years I've had several different prescribed drugs for migraine but none worked like Migraleve. Hope they get issue sorted soon 😣
Yes, my husband gets them on prescription but we did notice in October when he had run out and had to wait for a prescription that there wasn't a box to just buy over the counter. Good to know that it wasn't just because they had run out in our chemist .
Any dodgy skin things, make him refer you to a Dermotologist, he is not one and should not ignore you. Why do these people, I use the word loosely, think because we don't scream and cry we are not concerned.
I get mad itchies, by golly once they start grrrr. The bleggers move around at speed, thigh, calf, cheek, shoulder, if it was not for the fact I can't move my arms without setting off cramps I would get soooo much exercise just chasing them around.
I now know there are two types, having weaned myself off practically everything pain med wise apart from paracetamol and topiramate (can't survive without, reduces the spasms and thunderclaps). I would like to take full credit for my amazing pain tolerance but its not all mine, I now realise.
As some of you have said, mucho itchy can be put down to mast cells behaving badly, either through reactions to meds, which if you are a reactor, you will get, or foods, or just the air pressure. I take ranitadine and loritadine (H2 and H1 blockers) they help to mitigate the all over itchies (and many other mast cell rebellions). That just left the ones that randomly fly around the place, mad, rather deep and often painful, but not really painful?? ones. They are nerve related. What I have also uncovered from my now nearly clean system, (comparitively) is I have reduced pain, not through bravery and an amazing pain threshhold, but because I have numb areas all over the place. I think I have Leprosy! No not really but its clear the nerves have moved on to phase 3, lets just curl up and die we have been irritated for too long and we have had enough. Now while I appreciate the missing pain, I am not sure its a good thing. New types of spiky itchy pain is growing like mushrooms and I suspect this is other nerves trying their best to compensate.
So, if you have the itchies, get a neurological referral because it takes bloody years to get anywhere
Thank you for this enlightening post! It was good of you to take the trouble to set it down. It makes sense ( even the Leprosy). Our bodies and minds have become a full time job, requiring study and uncomfortable change. You feel utterly invincible when young, squandering all that treasure. Xx
dear Jane, and now from a different angle ; try to change your laundry detergent. Even if you use it for years, they can have added different components. Itching can be more of a nuisance then pain. And from time to time ... Maybe you just washed the sheets, or you are more sensitive one day or another. Worth a try ? Xx
You are right. My little baby grandson came out in an alarming rash, I had done his lovely new bedding in gentle washing detergent and fabric conditioner. It smelled like Spring. Big error grandma!
Fabric "conditioner" is a no no! I put a little vinegar and a few drops of tea tree oil in the dispenser in my washing machine. Also I use what claims it is an eco friendly 'he' detergent. As a child was very sensitive to all sorts of things, ranging from perfume to orange peel, to detergents, Recently tried a new body soap and it was great. Then tried one of the other "flavours" in the brand and after a while started to get itchy skin. Back to the first version and within a couple of days back to normal. Both are supposed to be very gentle and using natural ingredients, no unpronounceable ingredients. Long pre-PMR , trouble with my hands, dry and itchy. Nothing seemed to help. Cortisone cream just triggered rebound and made it spread. Eventually found that a certain cream from pharmacy, non-prescription, which included shea butter, helped, but what really cleared it up was food grade hemp oil.
It could be allergies or nerve reactions or the body fighting the inflammation in tiny capillaries , there are many reasons and it will feel worse in areas of scar tissue, warts and tags because there is a build up of skin and possibly the blood already working in those sites adds to the mix.
Whatever the cause I have a good cream I was originally given at the hospital called Dermacool , you can get it off prescription , it is a supercooling cream used for all sorts of skin irritations , dermatitis , allergies but is also used to help reduce tingling of nerve endings and skin rashes from other inflammation caused by rheumatoid, arthritic , neurological and autoimmune skin issues.
It can be used on very inflamed scratched areas too , just not where you have open cuts .
I find it helpful when my feet , legs and hands are throbbing in the winter as well .
You might be able to get a prescription for it , helps reduce dryness from the inflammation too.
I think they have a spray sort for using on your scalp at night , although you need a shower in the morning.
Last few night I have been waking up with intense heat inside my body as if I have an internal furnace burning but my skin feels cool as I have to lay with the covers off. This then develops into a prick type itch, rub one place and I itch somewhere else. Ended up getting up taking a loratadine antihistamine and washing myself down ( now 3am in the morning). Had it again last night too. Eventually got to sleep at 8am. I’ve just reduced to 4mg predisolone maybe this is a reason?
Well past the menopause. But it does feel hormonal like I remember before hrt, covers on and off all night. The lack of sleeps probably due to not getting cool. My insides are boiling my outside is cold as in the night it’s quite chilly. The itching or pricking was better when I got up and improve after the histamine, maybe coincidentally I don’t know. I get this strange whoosh of energy going down my legs in bed that wakes me up then heat. It’s weird. Had it a while now. Bit like the feeling of when you pins and needles just as the limb come to life. That horrible feeling.
No nothing different to usual in the temperature. Been more or less the same for several weeks.
Yes think the over boiling causes the itching but in that extreme summer we had I was hot but a different feeling. Think you might be right need a new thermostat fitted. Know a good plumber lol?
Just wrote a message to you , now can't find it , oh, this brain fog!
Well , what I wrote was there can be alot of environment or other body issues that cause this and the Pred just adds into the mix.
There is a flu/ cold like bug going around in the UK at the moment which is causing temperatures and hot itchy skin so it may be that. Like that Slap Cheek kids get.
It could be the Pred reduction and its affect on your adrenal efficiency of thyroid if it feels similar to your old Menopause symptoms.
If it has been happening for a while , or continues , it is worth going to the GP and asking to have an adrenal and thyroid test , they are simple blood tests to check your levels and if they are imbalanced simple supplement medications and changes in diet can sort it out .
But I also asked about where you were because for many illnesses it could be as simple as the weather.
And it's not just the swings in temperature at the moment but the swings in air pressure that affect you. Even if you haven't noticed that much change when you go outside.
There was a good reason fircthe old barometer on your parents wall!
Changes in air pressure can have an affect on your blood pressure . What you describe , the whoosh feeling going to your feet , then throbbing heat and itching are common with blood pressure changes, even mild , unthreatening ones .
It is more noticeable in the Summer but happens in winter too . The weather plays about with your circulation and the fact that it happens more at night and changes with movement sounds like circulation too.
Blood pressure changes along with being on medications can cause throbbing , swings in body temperature , prickly heat and in extremes Raynaud's Reactions and Chilblains , and that happens with the ' Normals' over 50 not just Pred Heads like us.
Morning Blearyeyed. You were up early! Thank you for your reply with suggestions.
The only change I’ve made is reducing my preds from 4.5 to 4 and my adrenal glands struggling. Seeing rhuemotologist on the 8th with bloods being taken next week to see what’s what. This was the criteria to see if the encronologist would do a proper adrenal test as on the last appointment in October I was too high for him to allow this procedure. This ‘ain’t’ no fun as you know and most of the time I feel like a wet weekend struggling on a daily basis and what with the lack of restful sleep and this itching it’s just getting me down
I’m already on thyroxine so that’s under control so can rule that out. Arm pain initially how polymyalgia manifested itself is there but very mild but have additional pain most everywhere else especially back and neck but scans show disc and shoulder problems etc. So it’s not easy to say if I’m coming into remission. So no MOT needed as I have all that covered. As for the new problem who knows but I’m grateful for a rant and your invaluable input. Thank you.
Definitely tell them about the new night symptoms , it's important for them to know all the little details to make the best assessment of your needs.
Have you also tried going to bed with your feet on some pillows , if it is partially circulation related it might reduce the throbbing that brings on the itchy skin and overheating in the first place.
And lots of fluids , we lose as much water in winter keeping ourselves warm as in the Summer keeping cool but we don't notice as much because of the clothes .
Eczema people recommend soap only washing powder and to avoid anything labelled new or improved. Hundreds of years ago I had an all over rash which itched a bit, dried up and fell off, like all over dandruff. 😫Ref. to dermatologist who gave it a fancy name and sent me back to GP and suggested a stronger steroid cream. Moaning at work about a waste of time it was suggested I should talk to a couple of people who had long term skin problems. Was advised to Choose a shampoo, if it doesn’t itch keep it. Then choose a moisture lotion (it dries quickly) then moisturise from your hair line to your toes at least once every day even if you don’t itch anywhere. The rash has never reappeared in spite of the dermatologist saying there was no cure and that I would have this from time to time for the rest of my life. 🤬 Took a while to find stuff that didn’t make me itch but worth the effort.😊
I've been suffering from an itching rash primarily on chest and upper abdomen since Dec 26. Saw my GP and he recommended Zyrtec [antihistamine] and prescribed Triamcinolone Acetonide cream USP 0.1%. This helps, the rash is better but still there and now some itching in other places. I'm assuming eczema [atopic dermatitis. [ have a history of allergies]. mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...
"Atopic dermatitis (eczema) signs and symptoms vary widely from person to person and include:
Dry skin
Itching, which may be severe, especially at night
Red to brownish-gray patches, especially on the hands, feet, ankles, wrists, neck, upper chest, eyelids, inside the bend of the elbows and knees, and in infants, the face and scalp
Small, raised bumps, which may leak fluid and crust over when scratched
Thickened, cracked, scaly skin
Raw, sensitive, swollen skin from scratching"
A 2nd theory: "Hypersensitivity vasculitis[allergic] is commonly triggered by a reaction to a drug. Common drugs linked to hypersensitivity vasculitis include:
-certain antibiotics such as penicillin and sulfa drugs
-some blood pressure medications
-phenytoin (Dilantin, an antiseizure medication)
-allopurinol (used for gout)........................
People with autoimmune disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease can also experience this condition. "
"The word “vasculitis” relates to blood vessel inflammation and damage. This inflammation and damage causes palpable purpura, the main sign of vasculitis.
These spots may appear purple or red. You’ll most likely find them on your legs, buttocks, and torso. You might also develop blisters or hives on your skin. Hives are potentially itchy bumps that appear on the skin as a result of an allergic reaction."
I am on 2 BP drugs, metaprolol and losartan. I have been eating a lot of sharp aged chedder cheese recently and just before the rash struck a big dollop of blue cheese;
both have a high histamine content. Or could it be the lime flavored corn chips?
My friend has eczema and another lupus skin issues they also use the Dermacool between other ointments , especially at night too , for the red hot itches because it doesn't interact with other creams or medications , it is really cold when applied.
I have a pot of the highest % cream it's sinks in rapidly and doesn't leave heavy residue or feel uncomfortable when you get dressed.
It also helps alot if you get bursitis or inflamed joints after exercise or alot of walking , basically cool any low level inflammation .
I have gone through periods of intense itching, too. I have used over the counter hydrocortisone cream to relieve it. Now that I am down to 3mg Rayos and the Actemra shot, it has stopped. I believe it was from the Prednisone. If you feel concerned, I would see a doctor. Good luck.
Hi Jane, yes to the itching and scratching!!! I’m down to 6 mg too and it doesn’t affect me every night but drives me nuts sometimes!! It’s my knees and feet mostly affected, sometimes they are really hot too but no rash. I’ve tried swapping my medicines round, started taking my Cetirizine at night. I have to get up and walk round in the middle of the night...barefoot on a cold floor!! I’ve now got into the habit of taking paracetamol if I have to get up, and slathering knees and feet with SBCs arnica gel. It helps but doesn’t solve the problem. There’s always something isn’t there? 😊😊 x
Yes it is menthol base , it literally feels like it is freezing you skin and pushing the heat and itch out . I suggest you do a patch test with it when it arrives , maybe on the top of your foot and a little patch on your hand , just in case you find it irritating
Did you get the strongest one ? The tubs last for ages you need just a thin film .
I put it on in a strange direction but it's a tip that seems to work for me .
I do this with any cream for non infectious things.
I start by putting the cream on the area, about two inches around, just beyond were the itching or throbbing is , working inwards not outwards .
This seems to limit the irritation to the original area , it means the site around or above your itch is already prepared for any radiating heat or itchiness that is heading from your affected spot , stops that itch crawling away .
If you can cope with leaving the area free to the air for a few minutes while it dries it seems to speed up the cooling time , probably because you aren't sealing the escaping heat in with your clothes or adding to the itchiness because you are moist.
Let us know how it works for you , and how you find you skin feels with it .
Yes , you do need to check for open skin , it's alright if you have rubbed or scratched but best of open wounds as it is a super coolant effect.
It can feel like cool stinging at first , just thought I would warn you , it is literally drawing the heat out so quickly it tingles , but soothes off into a cool skin feeling.
What strength and type did you get?
I have just literally put some on my temples and neck to help reduce my headache , and on my calves and feet to stop the throbbing.
Are you in the UK at the moment ?
I am just wondering if the weather has something to do with it.
It's not too noticeable if you have been mainly indoors but there was quite a rapid swing in temperatures and air pressure in the last three days , and this can cause these throbbing issues and prickly skin itches.
Last reviewedMon 2 October 2017 By Zawn VillinesReviewed by Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COI
Why does psoriasis itch? How to stop it Treatment
Psoriasis is a chronic immune disorder that changes the way skin looks and feels. People with psoriasis develop skin rashes, scaly patches, and other skin changes.
These changes in the skin often itch. The itching can become intense, and scratching increases the risk of an infection. While there is no cure for psoriasis, it is treatable.
The right combination of creams, medications, and home remedies can stop the itching."
Thank you for taking the trouble to post this. I do have Psoriasis, thankfully confined to my feet, much worse in summer. Rather than itching, I get bright red burning feet at night. Plain base cream seems to soothe it. The bodily itch I get from time to time, seems very deep, almost as if it were in my blood. There is nothing to see. It hasn’t occurred since I aired it with you folks. Finger’s crossed!
There is a website , but you can order it through the pharmacy or see if you can get a prescription.
Just check the ingredients make sure there is nothing you know he might be intolerant to on his skin , and do a little patch test first .
They use it in hospitals for all sorts of skin issues and neuro inflammation skin itches , so it is tested and friendly , but you never know we are all different .
I also get big pump bottles of something called Epaderm on prescription for the dry skin patches when I don't have itches. It's more expensive than E45 and I don't know if it's just over the counter , the dermatologist recommended it.
It's like E45 but works quicker , and isn't as thick or feel so oily when you put it on , sinks in better and soothes nicely .
Your Gp may give you prescriptions for the big bottles if you explain you need to combat the dry skin and itching to do with taking steroids for PMR.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
No not really but its clear the nerves have moved on to phase 3, lets just curl up and die we have been irritated for too long and we have had enough. Now while I appreciate the missing pain, I am not sure its a good thing. New types of spiky itchy pain is growing like mushrooms and I suspect this is other nerves trying their best to compensate.
Itchiness in my lower legs
Update on remission - itchy feet!
Thin skin and Prednisolone
Itchy scalp on 5.5mg of prednisolone 
