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ITCHY ARMS

I have suffered itchy arms on and off for ten years. Usually if I go out into the sunshine without barrier cream. It can last for a few weeks. It starts with burning sensation and I can feel the hairs on my arms standing up. Sometimes I get a stinging sensation which is unbearable, I haverer to dig my fingernails into the area to get relief


This discussion is related to Severe Itching on arms.
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Avatar universal
Oh my gosh I found someone who suffers same symptoms. Mine also starts at 3 am every morning burning tingling that hurts then itching. I also sometimes get these little white pimples that I have to dig open to get that burning feeling away it hurts bad like it follows your nerve endings then forms that pimple. does any of this sound familiar?


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Avatar universal
I am a nurse and have the same symptoms. no relief , especially at night.  Doctors and derm have no answers.  please let me know if you have discovered anything. I am thinking it could be post menopausal but doctors do not agree. the itch is so deep, I can not get relief.  I have scratched so much I do actually get small sores on my arms.
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I have had the same symptoms. My arms tingle and feel on fire mostly at night.I am kept awake itching them and the cold helps but only initially. I have had this problem on and off for 5 years or so and thought it was related to the sun and heat. I didnt know if it was stress related as I would have indigestion too. I have had low iron levels on and off over the last few years . Last year after receiving an injection of B12 my symptoms were relieved within a few hours. I am 47 years of age
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your symptoms sound very similar to mine. Pure lavander oil gives me relief that lasts for hours.
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Avatar universal
I have exact itching, tingling, prickly feeling in arms. Happens when heat and humidity comes, May -Sept. Only relief is ice and bio freeze. Worse in afternoon around 4 and late at night about 2. Deep tissue itch that is relentless. Any advice on more relief or to see a DR and what kind of DR.
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Avatar universal
I have had exactly this going on for years.  It began when I was spending a lot of time in Hawaii each winter.  Now, it happens in the summer months, beginning in June and ending usually in December.  I am never without my ice packs anymore, but even they seem to be working less and less.  This started in about 1999 for me, and it is almost unbearable.  Here I am, up at 3am again..unable to sleep, skin burning from scratching it until I bleed.  I too have scars all over my arms, I feel I am going to dig all the way to my bone...and still no relief.  Years ago, I had a dermatologist give me what he called "Millers Mix", his name was Miller.  It was a mixture of menthol, camphor, the base was a lotion, and there was one other ingredient that I can't remember...and this did help, but I can no longer get it.  

It is sometimes my wrists, sometimes near my elbows, but most of the time it is my upper arms.  Tonight/this morning, it is both arms from shoulder to wrist and even ice is not helping.  I am a 50 year old woman.

I hope someone can figure out what this is...it's really almost too much to bear any longer!
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Avatar universal
Every summer for the last few years I’ve had itching on both of my arms, one at a time.  This is the only place on my body that itches.  It is usually a spot near my elbow or wrist, but can be on my forearm or the area between my shoulder and elbow.  It usually happens in the night, or evening, occasionally it happens in the afternoon.  There is no real pattern.
It starts with a strange sensation, then it gets warm, and then itches, and if I touch it, it explodes into a relentless deep itch.  My only relief is ice, or an icy hot patch when it is mild.

I’ve had physicians watch it as it would start to happen.  For a while it would occur at about 3am every night.  (I worked swing shift.)  On those nights it would start with a strange sensation on my arm.  Then the area would turn red as the small area would get hotter and hotter.  The tingling sensation would start, and then the little itch would grow into an intolerable, relentless itch.  If I did scratch it, the area would grow quickly, usually just a few inches in total, but it would feel deep.  While the malady occurs, my blood pressure sky rockets.  

What makes it worse is if I put water on it, or fan to cool the area, or the a/c vent in my car, the moving air feels like fiberglass being rubbed into my arm.  No creams help.
  
When the itch is at its worse the joints in my wrist and elbow closest to the itch swell and hurt as if I had arthritis.  This part doesn’t always occur.  When I use ice to relieve the itch this swelling also goes away.  However, I have an overwhelming sense of irritability in my whole body when it is extremely bad.  

The suggestions from the various physicians that I have seen with have not helped.  I stopped caffeine, this didn’t help at all.  I have tried super cold showers, the sensation of the running water hurts my arm, and the shower doesn’t relieve the pain like an ice pack.

I live in Arizona where it is hot and dry.  This only affects me during the summer months.  Every summer I go to San Diego for a week, as soon as I get to California I notice when the itch occurs it is very mild, and goes away completely after I’ve spent time in the ocean.  I will have total relief for a few weeks after my trip.  I drink lots of caffeine and get lots of sun while I’m there…these are not the cause.

I have four sisters with the same problem.  None of us knew the others had it, until I was over and it started and made myself an ice pack.  Then this mysterious itch was described by all of my sisters, exactly the same.  The only relief is ice and sometimes Benadryl, but antihistamines make us all tired.  Our Mother also has the same problem.  It started at different ages for all of us, but somewhere between 25 and 35.

This is not a superficial itch, it feels as though it is coming from deep inside the tissue.  I’ve had a nerve check while it was occurring, and my nerves are not the cause.  The only unusual occurrence of note is mosquito bites.  This may be a simple coincidence, but it all starts shortly after I get my first mosquito bite of the summer.  About two years before this all started, I had been out at the lake and at dusk while packing to head home, I was bit by over 200 mosquitoes.  Over the period of a week I grew sick and weak and the mosquito bites took days to fully emerge as bumps that oozed.  My joints swelled and I itched intensely.  I had what my general practitioner called a “severe allergic reaction”.

When it is mild I can get away with using an icy hot patch.  It takes a few minutes for it to take affect and during that time I want to scream, or rip my skin off.  I travel with ziplock bags because I know I can get a cup of ice at any convenience store, and sometimes I travel with an ice pack, just in case.  
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Avatar universal
I've been using ALOT of Aveeno products, along with the ice packs and a steroid cream that my dermotologist perscribed. The Aveeno is good. The best one that I have found is in a tube and it's called Aveeno Intense Relief Overnight Cream.Another good one is Aveeno Anti-Itch Concentrated Lotion. I also stopped using regular soap and I use the Aveeno soap. It's all pricy stuff, but worth it. I've been complaining so much that the doctor wants me to go to an Immunologist. I'll try any thing at this point. I hope this helps some of you.
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Avatar universal

I think that you have hit it on the head. My itchy arm problem started when I was 47. When I have been on HRT don't remember having this trouble. I have just started back on HRT to see if it helps.Will let you know
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Anyone try anti-fungal products? I've only tried them a couple of times but they seemed to work. Will try again tomorrow and report back.
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Avatar universal
I have the same problem.its mostly when I sleep and right now its just my right arm. I wake up from scratching around 4am every morning. my arm is almost on fire and purple/red. I have to go and get an ice pack from the freezer to cool it down and that eventually allows me to go back to sleep. This has gone on for 2 years now. On and Off. I dont know your age but I am starting to believe this is menapause related either pre or post because all the research seems to be common in women in their 40s to 60s. Suzanne Summers wrote about it in her book Ageless.........If you have found any relief other than ice please let me know....Thanks
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