Itchy skin - no rash, might be contagious

[darktears]

I don't know which category this belongs in but about 4 months ago my sister started to itch. She had extremely itchy skin with no rash. She basically scratches herself raw to the point where she has scars from bleeding. She also had small clear whipe bumps on her hands/palms which have discoloured her skin. She went to three doctors. Two of whom advised her it was allergies and prescribed her hydrocortisone and one told her it was an infection and gave her some blue/orange pills to take 3 times a day for 5 days. It didn't work. She's now waiting to go see a dermatologist but is still scratching... About 4 weeks ago I started becoming very itchy as well. Again no rash but it's such a deep itch that when I scratch I end up with tiny red bumps and some have started to bleed. I'll start scratching one area and the next thing I know the entire area is itchy so I end up scratching everywhere and it starts to burn. I tried all the baths, creams (Polysporin anti-itch, Calomine lotion, Hydrocortisone), washing the sheets, changing detergent but NOTHING helps. I also had a few of those clear white bumps in between my fingers and palm but so far they haven't left any scars and have disappeared except for two. So basically from head to ankles I'm itchy. Most severe areas are back of my thighs, bikini line area, arms (lower and upper), face and back. I think it might be contatious because another sister of mine that was visiting went back home and is now complaining of being very itchy. Yet other people that have visited haven't complained of anything. I don't know if it's from physical contact or if it's the weather because if it was in the house I would think other people visiting would have been complaining as well.

[onea4ms]

Hi there, I know this post is really old but I have this same issue and cant seem to find anything online about it. Did you ever find out what it was?

[darktears]

Thank you for the answer. My itching became so unbearable so I went into a walk in clinic last night and when I told her all, she thought it might be scabies as well although there are no visible signs. She prescribed me a lotion to apply and then re-apply after 7 days. I will have to have my sister do the same at the same time so we don't get re-infested. I am dreading the massive task of cleaning the entire house now though. Thank you for your answer though!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms I would suggest you to get scabies ruled out. Scabies is an infestation of the skin with the Sarcoptes scabiei mite. It is characterized by intense itching, usually at night and by small insect-type bites lesions on the skin. Diagnosis of scabies is made by scraping the skin and viewing the material under a microscope to see the characteristic mite or eggs.
Please get it evaluated from a dermatologist.
I hope it helps.Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.