Stinging

For 8+ weeks now I have experienced stinging in my eyes, ears and most of my body. I do not call it an itch because I do not feel the need to scratch. The stinging gets worse if I get hot or eat a full meal. I have lost most of my appetite but have not lost any weight. I have small bumps on my body that goes and comes with increased body temp.  No hives, but my skin does feel like it is burning or flushing sometimes. I also have mild nausea, watery diarrhea, terrible cough, voice hoarseness and a reoccurring headache with sore throat.
I have a lot of problems with side effects from medicines.  4 weeks ago I stopped taking most of my medicines, but every thing got worse.  My dr. says people itch for years without knowing why. Again I do not describe it as itching, but a stinging. The dr. did do a test that came back with high RDW (16.4), low Lymph (20) and low HGB (12.2). He was not concerned with any of these numbers.  He is new to our town and seems to be very inexperience although he graduated in 2001. This is a small town and the only other place I have to go is the hospital ER which is my last option since I am on Medicare. Do I just learn to live with this (I do not think I can) or do I go to the hospital. I am not usually this confused in my discussion making.

[Bridget A. Hewitt, RN]

Hi and thanks for using the forum.

Have you tried an allergy medication, such as Claritin or Zyrtec?  Some of  your symptoms may be allergy related and this may help.  Or, you could try something like Benadryl at night (since Benadryl has a tendency to make people sleepy).  

Bridget

[hammy810]

Yes I have tried both claritin and benadryl and prescribe medicines(hydroxyz hcl 50 mg & fexofenadine 180) and all I do is sleep. I see my life passing because I can not function this way. Very depressing.  Condition seem to be getting worse so I called Dr. to ask what to do, never received a return call. That is the reason that I am so upset. I seem to be caught by a dr. whose does not care or does not know what to do and I have no idea of what to do. I do believe that this is allergy related. I know that I am have an allergy to soy. Is soy used as a binding agent in generic medicine? I did not get this sick until I had to which to generic medicines. I quit my last generic drug yesterday (metformin). The stinging is not as sharp and I feel better in general. Without a doctor to guide me it is trail and error, that is scary to me, but I do not know anything else to do. Thank you for any and all imput.

[hammy810]

I wanted to put closer on my posting. I finally got to see an allergist. The test showed that I am allergic to soy. The Dr. said that almost all genertic medicines and vitimins have soy as their binding agent. That is the reason for the stinging  or itching. I will only be able to take brand name medicines and very little vitimins. Medicare is not going to like that!! Havn't crossed that hurdle yet.  There is no instant cure for this and the only way to control it is to just not eat, drink or have soy in any form. No soups, mayo, salad dressings, potato chips, butter, are just a few foods that have soy in them. Soy is in just about every food on the market. The other side effects are also going away also. The  diarrehia, nausea, headaches, chest pains, trouble breathing and lots more. The thing that makes me mad is that it took 6 years of suffering side effects and the lost of my gallbladder before any doctor (6 of them) thought of allergies. Then it really was a nurse that sugested the idea of food allergy. So the end of my story is if you have stinging or itch that will not go away try a allergist.
Thank you to all that post to me.

[Bridget A. Hewitt, RN]

I am so glad for you that you FINALLY have an answer.  Soy allergies are becoming more common, so, while it is not easy to follow a soy free diet, it is not impossible.  Good luck.

Bridget