Itchy

I am plagued with the itchies. I have NO idea what it is. I have never had skin issues before, or allergies, or hives, or anything. I don't have dry skin and the heating season has not come on us yet so I cannot blame the forces air heat for dying out both my skin and my bank account. Yeah, I had allergies as a kid, but they were all resporitaory, and I got shots. Yeah, I am allergic to some form of hornet who makes me swell when they bite me, but not bees. But that is not like this. This is a weird random..I CANNOT fiqure it out..little itchy bumps. I will random, unconsiously scratch..like my left forearm. Then I notice that I am scratching..and I look..and I see little hives..casued by ??? that get big and red when I scratch. Sometimes they are like long lines..I fiqure the rake of my nails? My head itches, at night it can be my stomach, my back, my butt, my theighs. I lay in bed at night and fight off itching. One night I was so itchy..I was scratching my stomach a whole bunch and then I noticed the skin felt ...weird. So I got up and went to look in the light..and the whole damn thing was raised and swollen and angry. One day, while on the phone and not thinking I itched a hole so deep in my ankle that it bled and I had a scab for two weeks. I have creams and anti itches, and benedryl, and cortisons, and lidocanes..and STILL I itch. My left hand, the plam, has a major itch spot...at night I itch it like crazy..typing away here..till my hand is red and swollen. Now, I remember when I started itching like this..last year. I would get to work at the resturant and my arms would be all freakig out. I thought that maybe it was my car. It was an old Sabb ( that I adored) that my MIL had given us, but was filled with moth ball fumes. I haven't driven that car for a year. I still itch. I though maybe it was my old job...pretty dusty. Haven't been there in a year and a half. Stil I itch. It's not the resturant, coz I itch at home when I haven't been there for days. No soap, no food..just itching. Then last night, it occured to me...I started itching when I made direct contact with Max. It is TOTALLY the time frame. Hmmmm?? My son makes me itch?? I haven't seen him since he was two days old. Too weird, but look at what it says: I am itchy for my son. I am waiting, hoping, trying to be patient..yet I am still itching. I am itching to see him, to get over this last hurdle to reuion. So is it a case that all my mental "calmness" is all BS? The unsatisfied, wanting of my increased desire to see him is coming out as a physical manifestation in a literal sense? Is that too crazy? I can tell you the itching is making my nuts. I am at the point where I want to anything to make it stop. Is it driving me to get over my fears and just put myself out there..say to him that I am making the road trip and that is that..come see me! Could that be the answer to the itch that plagues me? It's not really that far fetched. I know moms that suffer bulnemia for years or anorexia or infertilty until they were physically reunited. If they can have their stuff get repressed to phyical outcomes, then why not itching?? Right? And if that IS the case, then they don't make a cream for this. Nothing I can buy is gonna really work..except maybe a tank of gas..enough to get me to Boston.
By Claudia Corrigan D'Arcy aka FauxClaud on Wednesday, October 11, 2006

11 comments:

  1. Claud, what detergent do you use to wash your clothes...I have had recurrent allergies all of my life, respiratory as well as skin..and I went to a national allergy hospital. They told me that any type of allergic reaction in a person can lead to other types.And the many chemicals in soaps, laundry detergents, and other household products can definitely be a contributing factor.
    I have had the same problem with my skin...especially at night, in bed, itching and itching and getting weird bumps. It kept me awake.At times, it felt like my skin was burning..
    I changed my laundry detergent to Tide Free...for hypersensitive people and I do not use those dryer sheets..they are really bad for people with allergies/skin problems. Now I do not use anything to soften clothes and remove static except for liquid Downy Free, but only once in awhile.
    I use plain Ivory soap on my face and body.
    I have gotten a red rash inside of my arm/elbow area, simply from bending my elbow while talking on the phone for a long time..it is called "skin writing." It is inheritable and my granddaughter has it too..she said to me"So NOW I know where that comes from.!"
    Stress can make it worse..it triggers chemicals that affect the immune system, so your excitement and hyperalert state when you have contact with Max could indeed contribute to it.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I was really thinking anxiety/ stress and then I saw the Max thing and was thinking, yes.

    I hope it gets better.

    I should go pick you up next time I'm in your neighborhood. My daughter lives near where you are and I live near where Max is. Let's switch.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Anxiety and stress, yes. They could cause hives and itching. And there could be a problem with what my dermatologist called "contact drematitis." I bought a new, cheaper laundry detergent once, and had to get up in the middle of the night and change the sheets because hubby was red, raised itchy welts all over. Another time, I bought a store-brand fabric softener. This time it was me with the itchies. Little bumps just like you said...AND that was also at the time that my reunited daughter was re-marrying and I was not invited to the wedding. It all fits, doesn't it?
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  4. Adoption and reunion is literally in the blood, in the body. I felt my blood CHANGE under my skin the first time I saw my daughter's childhood photos.

    Reunion has made me realize that adoption is felt in the body, it's stored in the blood, it goes right to the very core of our being.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Claud, watch for other signs - angioedema, which is swelling around your face, mouth, tongue. If that starts to happen it could be an autoimmune syndrome. Autoimmune hives are associated with angioedema, and at its most serious, that kind of edema can cause throat swelling. I've had this condition for years, and have to keep an epipen around just in case.

    Unfortunately, no cure, but there are treatments that keep the symptoms down. So look for those signs and see a doctor if it starts to happen.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh.
    Well nothing else is swelling..thankfully!!
    It's weird, coz I thought oflaundry detergent, but I have been using the same stuff for years!! I suppose they could have changed it, but?? I shall try the tide free hint, but man, I hate to pay so much!!

    It felt, like a light bulb moment last night when I thought it. Thinking how itchy I am to see Max..it just went..AHHHHH! And oddly, I have not itched today, except when I wrote this...but I did itch last night after thinking it.

    Oh PS...how odd that we have the opposite parallel life! I know how close you are, now I wonder how close I am!
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  7. And I should have said - stress is a trigger for autoimmune hives, so itching to see Max could very well be a trigger.
    ReplyDelete
  8. I have that toooooooooo! OMG! I've been thinking it was my friends dog. My doctor was like, "People get this and there is usually not a cause"

    It can be related to liver/gallbladder problems...which would mean, less alcohol and coffee and soda....

    But a lot of times there is no reason. Ugh...it really sucks!!!! The thing that sucks though is that...if I am itching to see my daughter...I don't see her enough to stop the itch either!!!
    ReplyDelete
  9. Claud, I have also gotten hives from some kinds of makeup, and jewelry..I can't wear a watch for that reason. And from some kinds of glue.
    When I was in jr high I developed the huge facial hives that Third Mom mentioned and the throat swelling. It turned out to be caused by chewing gum..but after not chewing gum for about 10 years I was no longer allergic to it. I am also allergic to aloe vera..which is now found in many cosmetics and even in soaps.
    I learned at the allergy hospital that changes in hormones can effect allergic responses.Stress hormones from emotions and the changes in a womans cycle can also make it worse.

    Watch out for products which contain formaldehyde..it is used in perfume , paints,furniture,makeup, and as a preservative. It is a trigger for many people.And some medications can make people itch.

    I do hope you will feel better,dear, it is very unpleasant.
    ReplyDelete
  10. I have stress induced excema. It's starts out as an itch in one place. I itch it a little and then it looks like a dry skin patch. Scratch it some more and it gets raised and swollen. Scratch it some more, and either it will start weeping or bleeding. That's when it spreads everywhere. My worst place it spreads is my stomach. Nothing seems to help the itch, and eventually (weeks) it starts to heal on its own. Cortizone cream, shots, and steroids all do nothing. Only happens when I get totally stressed. Hmmmm... You're not under any stress at all! I kid.
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  11. Claud, there is a condition named erythema nodosum. Some symptoms are random, lumprs or nodules that are caused by a special pattern of infection in the higher levels of the fatty tissue just below the epidermis. EN is sometimes linked to some respiratory diseases, such as strept throat and even mononucleosis. Go see your doctor and explain the situation, bringing any type of medication that has been in your system while you have had the appearance of these symptoms. I hope that I have been some help
    ReplyDelete

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