I am currently on 10 mg of prednisone, some times overnight I get really itchy lower legs. From the knees down, sometimes one leg or both. Just wondering if this is just an age thing I turn 73 this week or is it the result of prednisone thinning the skin and if so is there anything to do about this side effect
Itchiness in my lower legs: I am currently on 10 mg... - PMRGCAuk
Itchiness in my lower legs
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Skier321
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Of the many strange things that have happened to me in the night while on prednisolone I remember having a period of itchy lower legs. (I am 59 years old.)
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Dry skin can be very itchy - and pred dries skin. Try a good emollient and stop usig soap or any products that foam in the shower/bath,
Are you able to recommend a brand of emollient, PMRpro?
Many people have found Doublebase or Diprobase products particularly good - no perfume or rubbish in them, used for eczema patients and if you are lucky your GP will prescribe them but even buying them is not extortionate. The range includes several products - including cleansing products that don't strip the oil out of the skin and then you apply the emollient to the damp skin after your shower to retain the moisture.
Thank you. It's on my shopping list.
MY GP prescribed it when asked. Still using 15 years later but I quit the prescription once the GCA went into remission.
BTW how often do you shower or bathe?
Shower every day.
Just use water - no soap!
That would be a big change for me but will give it a go although I don't suffer with itchiness at present. I use Sanex 0% shower gel- 0% fragrance, sulphates, colourants and soap but have dry skin on legs despite moisturising. I'm hoping the doublebase will improve this.
jinasc and I are both convinced our lack of skin problems, dryness at least, is that neither of us use soap, except I use shampoo for hair but only once every 2 or 3 weeks. If you are in the shower daily there is no dirt as such to get rid of, just sweat and skin cells - I use a loofah pad. I'm just getting thin skin on my shins but that is after heading for 13 years of pred!
You're quite right. Old habits die hard but I'll finish my bottle of Sanex and try your way. I have a natural bristle body brush that I should use regularly. I'll retrieve that from the depths and will begin a new regime.
Just go gently with the body brush - your skin might not appreciate it as much as it did!
My skin has probably aged a lot in the last few years!
I think all of me has aged in the last few years!!!
You are not alone. I only look in the mirror when it's necessary and never in the buff 😱.
I only have bathroom cabinet mirrors - detest full length mirrors. Just evil.
I would never, ever have mirrored wardrobes! Nightmare!
I wake up every morning to a full view of myself. Big double wardrobe with mirror doors.😂😂😂
🙆
A mirror opposite the bed is supposed to be bad feng shui and should be covered when you are sleeping.
Certainly bad for the morale when you wake up ...
When I did read a bit about feng shui I was pleased to know that I cannot remember if or when I've ever had a mirror in which I could see myself when going to sleep or waking up, except when in a hotel or similar, which I agree, was not a pleasant sight!
We did have one bank of wardrobes somewhere - no idea which house though - where the centre sliding section was a mirror - but never the whole wall sort, As for massive mirrors in a bathroom - disgusting idea ...
Actually our condo has a huge mirror in each bathroom, which I decided to keep when we renovated. It does not reflect the bath or shower, however. Had it done so it would have been gone! As there is no window in the bathrooms I don't mind the big mirror. It's all in the placement.
It’s strange that people don’t like looking in mirrors! I am fond of them - have them dotted around the whole flat (which is large). I get a view of myself in practically every room. They make me straighten up/cheer up (if I look ‘haggard’/smile/grimmes.I suppose that makes me a narcissis???🤔😂😂
YOU are slim and trim!!!!
Yes, but I still have the skin of an 83 year old, hair thin and unmanageable! Without clothes I’am an old lady.
My hair is thick and unmanageable - not sure which is worse!
Drat-you got there first..Dreadful when hair thinks! But know where you are coming from 🤣😂- seems to naturally curly/wavy trait..
A hairdresser described my hair as "determined". Was taking a class in Celtic art, and learned about bushy celtic hair. That was quite illuminating for me!
Sometimes it’s very determined I find 😳
My hairdresser of many years has retired and I'm not a happy camper.
Thick is much better - crowning glory and all that!😊
On a better day I look like the Nuernburger Christkindel ..
😂😂😂
I think mirrors serve multiple purposes. I have an antique one in my dining area which faces the bank of windows along distant opposite wall, hence reflects the outdoors, which I l like. I never notice myself in any of our mirrors unless I intend to. The mirrors which give me pause are those unexpected ones in other places which reflect this old person I don't know, and then I realize it's me.
They make smaller rooms seem larger, and can also add light to a darker one..
Oh yes - they have their place - but that isn't in a bedroom or bathroom!!!!!!
Got to clean the blasted things too!
Not me!😂😂
At 17 looking into a mirror at my face I thought "thank goodness I an behind this". I can put lippy on without looking".
Only your skin? Lucky you 😊
I wish! 😂😂😂
Yes - DL is right. I have to get the skin really soaked under the shower before using the loofah and have to go about it gently or I get loads of petechiae and bruises.
I didn't use it as a loofah but on dry skin. I no longer have the instructions but I remember they said to use in gentle circles starting from the feet and up towards the heart (not in breast area though). Supposed to help with blood circulation and cellulite 😏. I would think that it should be used carefully on areas where skin is thin eg. backs of hands and forearms?? Chest??
I also use no soap, having had lifelong eczema. I find a lot of the more watery emollients actually make the dry skin worse. But Epaderm, liquid in a pump dispenser, or an ointment, is good, unless you can't tolerate paraffin. It's available on prescription and OTC, so if the diprobase doesn't work for you, it would be worth a go.
I was advised to stop showering everyday, it strips the oil out of your skin and does not give it time to replenish.
I was not a happy bunny until I thought back to when I was a child - we did not have a bathroom and used the tin bath every Friday (taken down from the wall in the yard where it lived. The rest of the time, was face, and fairy.
When we got a new house with all the facilities then life became different. We still only had bath every three days (no one had showers then - only the pit baths were Dad worked.
So I stopped showering everyday, threw out the soap, shampoo etc and used double base gel and followed the instructions to the letter. No-one has ever complained I smell 🤔 so far.
As PMRpro just use water and try not to shower everyday.
BTW I don't use loofah etc.
When you stop using soap, your natural skin flora (bacteria) reverts to what it should be - like natural habitat rewilding. The "wrong" sort of bacteria find themselves unwelcome - they are the ones that cause BO - and die out. Fresh sweat doesn't smell until there is bacterial action. You don't get smelly, except natural body smell - the pheromes that attract a partner ...
Your childhood memories have sparked my own. We had an outside "lavatory" as it was called in those days. When one of my sons was little and Mum and I were talking about the old days, he was horrified that we had no loo in the house and had to go outside and asked, "Couldn't everyone see you?"Mum replied, "Nooo! We used to wrap a blanket around us."
As you say, no daily baths or showers in those times.
We would sit threading pages from the Farmer and Stockbreeder onto to string - no cuddly koala or puppies - and it was a 2-seater backing onto the pigsty! My great aunts were really posh - upstairs bathroom and Izal medicated toilet paper, glazed on one side 
Izal! My kids used to ask why Nanny used greaseproof paper.
I have itchy skin in the lower legs and it is really annoying especially at nights! My GP has prescribed Cetraben cream.
Hi, I have itchy skin on the back of my right lower leg. I use E45 itch or Aveeno. Both really help
I use Avenocream Cream morning and night for itchy skin
I use beeswax based products which do cost a bit more but most skin moisturisers are made with petroleum unfortunately including the ones my GP can prescribe freely and even brands like Aveeno use the dregs of the petroleum barrel as a base. Good for their profit margins of course but not for our health - so I check the labels for ingredients and avoid those.
Ahh! I too have had itchy lower legs, and ankles top of feet. Use aquaphor…and skin does not appear dry, yet I still itch. Good to know may be caused by prednisone. Did not wish to investigate as thought it was liver/kidney not working so great. Since diagnosed with Gca and taking all these meds, my gfr has dropped by 30 points.
I had really dry itchy skin long before PMR and pred. I tried everything in the drugstore. Only prescription I ever got was for hydrocortisone cream, specifically for my hands, which I discovered caused a rebound effect, so I learned to wean myself off it (good practice for pred which came later). The only things which worked were food grade hemp oil and a cream called Impruv (now sold as Physiogel).
It could be that you've developed restless leg syndrome.
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I've tried the no using soap thing and it does not work for me. Possibly skin needs longer to adjust than I'm prepared to give it. Had a spell of really sensitive skin a while ago, and decided it was a new allegedly environmentally-friendly laundry detergent. I even removed labels from clothes, which I've never had to do before. So think carefully whether anything else has changed in your life. Even winter is a factor. In younger days I got really itchy ankles every fall. After a few years I figured out that after a summer of wearing sandals it was my socks which were irritating skin. Have always had dry skin, and I guess the socks were just a step too far. So I learned to use moisturizer every autumn with the change in footwear. It is only the last few years that I've had to moisturize all over. The favoured product made in Germany disappeared, only to resurface again under a different name and made in a different country. It is now called Physiogel and sold by Avon! I only use the "daily moisture therapy intensive cream for very dry and sensitive skin" because the other products, lotions and such, using that name, which are cheaper, contain palm oil.
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