ITCHING

[Bennijax]

Does anyone with PMR diagnosis suffer from an onset of diabolically itching ears, back, legs?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I did itch in the earlier days of PMR - but by a process of elimination linked it to eating things made with highly commercialised wheat. I can eat French bread products - different sort of wheat and usually made more slowly than UK bread - and spelt and kamut cause no problems. But baked goods and ordinary pasta made me itch and if I ate it every day it eventually turned into a real eczema on certain area. It was very like the skin version of coeliac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, but it only happens in response to wheat, no other gluten-containing grains, and also happens with Juvela's flour which is gluten-free but made from wheat starch.

[Bennijax in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks. I stopped all gluten products, then most grain products other than oats and rice and buckwheat a year ago. The body itching started suddenly in January, but the itchy ears started several years earlier in just the left ear. The Dr. gave me a steroid cream that put a stop to it, but recently it came back but in both ears. If someone was secretly filming me it would be terribly funny to watch as I go back and forth scratching one ear and inner ear to the other non stop at times. This must be - I assume - indicative of some form of inbalance, but I can't seem to find the cause.

[YuliK in reply to Bennijax]

Have you checked your body wash soap or gel ? It’s possible that is causing the itching.

Or you hair shampoo.

YuliK. 😷

[SheffieldJane in reply to Bennijax]

Do you take painkillers ? I did in the early desperate days and they made me itch like crazy - strong ones like Tramodol.

[Bennijax in reply to SheffieldJane]

no painkillers other than paracetamol up to two taken twice a day

[SheffieldJane in reply to Bennijax]

I doubt it’s that then. I have removed all scented creams, soaps, shower gels etc from my routines. I seem to be hypersensitive to them now.

[suzy1959]

This may not answer you question directly, but in last year or so, I have found that whenever I get a bruise or injury, especially on my lower legs, I then get horrendous itching. My GP couldn’t explain it, but I found something on google that linked bruising, leading to inflammation, leading to histamine production. Anti-histamine works pretty well to contain it. I currently have a terrible bruise and lump on my shin which is extremely itchy and I have to take anti-histamines especially at night. I also finD that the swellings take an enormous time to go away.

[Bennijax in reply to suzy1959]

Hi Suzy, not not in my case. But something is set up by body processes not quite working as they should....

[OzLon]

I haven’t yet got a diagnosis of PMR, but I have also been suffering with an itchy back - for no apparent reason - for the past 2-3 months. It feels a bit like sunburn - that ‘tight skin’ feeling.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to OzLon]

An enduring memory of my grandfather is of him rubbing his back on the door post to scratch an itch! He almost certainly had PMR but this was in the 50s and early 60s so it was put down to normal "rheumaticks" and he lived with it for years.

[Bennijax]

Thank you. I hope you never get PMR!

[tangocharlie]

Yep, I think it's connected with the histamine intolerance thing. Not ears, but neck, back and legs, especially at night, sometimes upper arms. I often take an antihistamine at night. I also make sure there is no trace of detergent left on sheets etc by double rinsing and even have to wear nightwear turned inside out so the labels and seams don't scratch! My doc prescribed a steroid cream I use occasionally and cetraben to use on legs. She says it's venous eczema. it hasn't bothered me much for a while now, so whether that is due to change of diet or being on the steroid injections I don't know.

[Bennijax in reply to tangocharlie]

Thank you for your input. I never had skin problems. It started with my left outer ear several years ago before I developed PMR. Then the night after I had an injection of D-M steroids in January I woke next morning to my back covered in tiny reddish itchy bumps. My GP said it was Eczema and wanted me to take another form of steroids to deal with it. Instead I use, and still use to contain it, either a rub mixture of virgin organic coconut oil mixed with ACVinegar, or an expensive cream used for eczema. Neither cures, but contains the itchiness and reddening. Then this last week the ear itching reappeared by spreading to the other outer ear, and now my legs and feet have joined in as part of an expanding chorus of itching. I will do a second rinse for my wash.