upper arm itch

[terry dick]

this is a strange one as i have never had any kind of skin problems before except dry skin in the winter months, however it is driving me crazy! i'm a 51 year old women, about 6 years ago i went to bed one evening and was reading when my right forearm started to itch. it continued for about an hour and stopped and jumped to my left forearm. there was no rash or anything to show why i should be itching. i put some lanacain on it but it didn't work and i suffered all night. the next day i was fine. the next evening while in bed reading my right upper arm started to itch. again the same thing happened, it jumped to my left upper arm. then back to my right upper arm, however this is where it gets strange. the itch changed to something that i have a very difficullt time discribing. it felt at though someone was sticking me with a needle or another way to discribe it is that it felt as though i was being bitten by a bug. it is a combination of a sting, itch, tickle and pain! the sensation is so severe that it goes to the pit of my stomach and it feels as though every nerve ending in my body is standing on end. i finally jumped out of bed and got a bag of ice and that stopped the sensation but as soon as the ice was removed it came back. this went on for 5 months. it just brought me to tears and at times i would just dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. going to a dermatologist seemed senceless as there were no marks or rash. after 5 months as quicly as it started it ended. with the exception of 2 times it always happened at night after i was in bed. last winter it came back but not as long,only a couple of weeks and not every night. it's back again this year and i've been dealing with it for about a month. this time,however, i have a rash. my upper arm will break out into tiny little bumbs but no more than 1-5 of them and in the morning they look just like it feels, like i've been stuck with a needle. the bumps turn into tiny little red spots with a scab. i don't think it's from scratching because i don't scratch my arm as it's not really an itch that scratching helps. i usually just get ice to relieve the sensation. my upper arms now have a feeling sometime like they are asleep, sort of tingly. sometimes i will get that "odd" feeling and sometimes i don't. monday night was the worst night that i've had all month. it kept me awake all night. it was horrible. the strange thing however is the opposite arm had the rash on it in the morning. it was 5 red sores in a circle about the size of a nickle. the arm that gave me trouble all night did not have a mark on it. since that night my arms have been fine. it's as though that night it came to a head. for the first time in a month i went to bed and did not have to deal with my arms. when this all started 6 years ago i was living in the florida keys for the winter months and i wondered if i might have been bitten by something as a few weeks before this all started i had a red sore on my right forearm that took about two weeks to heal. when it did it did not scab over but a thin layer of skin formed over the sore with what looked like an x in the middle of it. when the layer of skin came off the x came off also. it looked like it may have been blood. the sore was not painful or ithcy and i don't have a clue what it was. and i don't know if it is related to whats happening now but i have always wondered if there was a connection. when the upper arm problem is not severe gold bond helps but when that odd feeling is severe, which it usually is nothing helps but ice and that's a pain because when i fall asleep i move and as soon as the ice is away from my arm the feeling comes back and it's just an all night struggle. it seems as though heat may also cause the feeling to come on as i've noticed sometimes that when i'm leaning against someone it will start but only when i'm going through an episode. if i haven't had a problem in awhile i can lean on anyone and nothing bothers my arm. i am always worried when i'm not suffering with this that it will come on and if i'm someplace where i can't access ice it would be torture. that sounds extreem but that's how bad it is. the sensation, when it's happening, is about every 3 seconds but continual. is it possible that it's stress induced? i do have a lot of stress in my life right now. even thought i'm very happy i have some things going on that are definetly stressfull. i sure hope you can help. i know i should go to a derm. but by the time i get an appointment the rash will be gone and i may not suffer again for a year. i did speak to my doctor about it one time and he just sort of looked at me like i was nuts and perscribed a lotion that i knew would not work but i tried it anyway. it seems like the feeling is deep in my skin. thanks for any help you can give me.                                                            terry

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Terry:

There are no diseases which cause symptoms like the ones you describe.  On the other hand, lying in bed and listening to and looking at your body with the kind of obsessive intensity you have been devoting to it will certainly make your flesh crawl.  You simply must try to pull yourself together and stop thinking about your skin.  First, see a dermatologist.  It doesn't matter whether he or she can see anything.  If a skin diagnosis is ruled out, you should consider psychological counseling.  Whether stress is causing the itch or the itch is casuing stress --  or both -- you need to get a handle on the matter by attending to both mind and body.

Good luck.

Dr. Rockoff

[James A.]

(*sorry this isn't really a response to your query, but i could find a way to get my question posted*)

Hi...I can't seem to post this question anywhere else so here it is for any of you doctors.  I am 22 years old and masturbate frequently...recently I noticed some white blotchy areas on the head of my penis...up until this point, i found it was getting a little sore (as in, the skin was getting chaffed and red)...but not so sore as i wouldn't masturbate...anyway, for some reason, the skin on my thighs and arms have always had this tendency to get blotchy when i get cold...and when i warm up, they go away...similarly, this blotchiness on the head of my penis acts the same way...if i'm flaccid, the blotches are noticable...if i'm erect or things are warm thereabouts, you can't see them...i was thinking maybe i did something to prohibit bloodflow to that area (through damaging the skin somehow), but i have no idea...i've also been checking on the internet for what it could possibly be, and have seen a lot of pictures that have got me rather paranoid (but of the pictures, none really seem to match what i've got)...i haven't called a doctor out of embarassment...oh, and i should mention something else...lately the eczema on my hands has been acting up, and of course, those are the same hands i use to masturbate...any correlation?  there isn't any noticable discomfort in my genitals, but i think my recent lack of masturbation is beginning to have a psychological effect on me...one last thing...the last time i masturbated a few days ago was my penis felt pretty sore, and the next day i noticed the blotches...ANY FEEDBACK WOULD HELP TREMENDOUSLY!!

[To Justin]

What you seem to say seems normal to me. After any sexual tention on your penis, it's bound to feel sore. Those blothes on your penis also doesn't seem to sound that important in my opinion.

Best Regards
Jason:))

[Staciechrs]

To the woman with upper arm itch. I would suggest a complete internal cleansing. It sounds like parasites. Any good Health store can recommend a good product. Should take about 3 months.

[terry dick]

dear staciechrs, thank you for your comments. at least you gave me something to think about. i was a bit dissapointed by the doctors answer. i was hopeing for some clue. it definetly possible that it is stress related but i definetly do not obsess about my skin. telling me to not dwell on it is like telling someone with a stress related migrane to not dwell on it! a migrane hurts and my strange sensation in my upper arm is real and extreemly annoying. i suffer with it, i don't obsess over it. i honestly thought that parrasites might be a possibility but never looked into it seriously. however i may. i thank you again and hope i can find a solution to my problem soon.                                                             terry

[Chiana Ciccone]

To the lady with the upper arm itch.
First I'd like to say that the reply to your post was patronising to say the least. How dare this medical "expert" tell you that it's all psychological. I know of the itching you discribe. It's maddening and distressing and is certainly not in your mind.  
From time to time I get a similar irritating and unexplained prickly itch mainly in my left forearm, mostly in bed at night, though it did happen at other times. The results of itching - it's difficult not to - are usually the small red scabby dots that you describe. When something as annoying as this occurs you look at everything that could possibly be causing it (which of course may sound obsessional to one not experiencing the problem). I looked at everything that could be causing it, from sunblock cream to the woollen underlay on my bed. I considered the stress I was under at the time, as well as any plants I may have been in contact with. Sometimes a shower helped, but my conclusion was that it was a combination of dust (dust mite?) and the woollen underlay on my bed. Hope this helps.

[terry dick]

dear chiana ciccone, thank you for your understanding of my problem. i was absolutely blown away by the answer that i got from the "expert". my daughter found this web site for me as she has seen how i have suffered over the years and we both were hopeing for some sort of lead or answer to what it may be. i couldn't believe what i was reading. i absolutely do not obsess over my skin and body. the fact that i have gone as long as two years without an episode and usually many months in between on other occations tells me that i do not obsess over this. in fact i don't even think about my arms at all during the day nor do i think about them at night, that is until i start to get that sensation then i can't help but think about it as it drives me crazy. your suggestions to what may be the problem sound likely, however i have slept in several different beds and have had the same problem. two of the beds were water beds the others regular mattresses and had slept in two of them for many years before this started. i do not rule out stress, however, i do rule out that i obsess over it. thank you again for your help. it was more than i got from the doctor!!                                                             terry

[evelyn delaney]

Terry
one thing theres always help Hon it may take alot time and research but if it was your child you do everything. the symptoms may not match what this doc knows about or ever seen this way but i was wondering have you ever been tested for
lymes disease maybe as with me i dont have the same reactions to things and medicines im extremely senstive. Sounds you are on right track of being bitten the circle with something in middle
is a lymes disease systom just have the test and if theres a definite no ill be glad to help you research till we find whats wrong theres a answer also might sound dumb but your matteress is it the smae one or new did it start with a different matteress
if you are interested my email is ***@**** no im not a medical anything im just a concerned creative helper. im not a kook or anything I feel theres help I research alot things for people and no i dont charge or expect anything just trying to be a friendly helper. I have been bitten by bugs with different reactions. Theres no sense in living with misery if theres help
I have some ideas and id need some more information. i have some
problems i needed to know about and i want to see what the doc says remeber docs do not know everything but most do their best and he cant see thru the screen and diagonsing you wrongly could be worst sometime docs say physocolical cause many thing can be cause from that but sores caught my attention im a very creative minded person who comphrends very deeply and by way i have a therapist im anorexic and im researching a illness of his wifes
cause im interested and he also knows as does my doc i alot times come up with my own health prognosis and remedies.
email anytime i think this may not be where i want to ask my questions i had to the doc but i believe ill go else where for
certain reasons    hugs butterfly good Luck and email only if you feel i am sincere in doing my best im not a healer ok

[Oddie]

Terry, I was just browsing through the medical forum, trying to see if someone had asked the doctor about the symptoms that I have. While mine have not been going on for as long as yours, (6 years? I would be a fruit cake by now!)(mine just started 3 days ago)I can certainly understand how you feel.The itching started around my waist, so I thought maybe I was becoming allergic to the elastic on my underwear,but that night when I took off my socks (I wear tennis shoes) the itch became so sever all over my legs, torso, arms and even my head that I thought I would surely go nuts. I showered, used lotion, then baby oil then anything I thought might help. Needless to say, nothing did, and still nothing does. Now my skin feels so sensitive that I can hardly bear for my housecoat to touch it. But I am going to have to get dressed and go out because I am going to try the antehistamine lotion and pills. I'm sorry you have this problem, but am glad I read your letter 'cause I most certainly would have retaliated and told the doc just what I thought about his evaluation. Please let me know if you find anything that helps. Take care and God bless.........Oddie