I have terrible itching, all over my body. Mostly,my hands and feet, right hip and the back of my neck. I've heard of the Hep itchies but this is ridiculous. Does ANYONE have some input on this, of course I've bought what I thought were all the right itching creams...but they are expensive and am going through them very quickly. Any home remedies/advice??? I need some advice!!

Also, how about someone talking to me about elevated AFP levels in a blood test.

Anyone? :jester:

hi heidi. im sure someone will have a better suggestion, but i use aftersun lotions because i find the cooling effects helps to relieve the itching longer.

I went through the itching too. It is horrible, I got some benadryl and I started using Quench body lotion and that helped me alot longer than anything else I tried. It is made byOLAY. I hope this helps some.

Gold Bond Cream works great ive heard.

I have terrible itching, all over my body. Mostly,my hands and feet, right hip and the back of my neck. I've heard of the Hep itchies but this is ridiculous. Does ANYONE have some input on this, of course I've bought what I thought were all the right itching creams...but they are expensive and am going through them very quickly. Any home remedies/advice??? I need some advice!!

Also, how about someone talking to me about elevated AFP levels in a blood test.

Anyone? :jester:


Could be that bile salts are building up in your bloodstream. Ask your doctor about this and about ursodiol (brand name: Actigal)to lower them. People have some success with a variety of commercial products. If the symtoms are topical, then they should help. If they are systemic, then a prescription may be in order.

Elevated AFP is not uncommon for those with hepatitis C but do not assume this. Your doctor can investigate further if the reading warrants it.



thanbey

I used to soak in the bath with a lot of baby oil in the water. Hot water makes it worse so take you baths or showers as cold as you can.

I just use my wife's hand lotion and rub it in about three times a day. Mine is back, chest, neck and lower legs. It seems to help some if I can keep my finger nails away from my skin. That seems to set it off more than anything. I hope you find some help on it. I think increasing my water intake has helped more than anything. I try to drink 80 to 100 oz of water a day. Dale

Try Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion, with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal. (For relief of Extra Dry, Itchy Skin). Gold Bond also works well. My husband has suffered from these bouts of itchy skin for almost a year now. We think it is stress-related (his itchiness increases with stress). Fortunately, his doctor has prescribed 'doxepin', so that he can at least sleep at night.

The itching sucks, do not take a hot bath or shower, try to stay cool (under a fan). I had acute hep and im on ursodil right now and in about a month and a half my biliruben dropped from 35 to 6. the biliruben in you blood is what causes the itching because it is so high in sodium. tell you doctor you are itching and they will either give you this chloesteral med.( I don't know why but it works) or somthing like Zyrtek. In creasing your water intake will help and i eventually cut my nails back to where i could not scratch.

YOu have to find the right lotion for you. I swear by Aveeno products but everyone has their choice. WHen my hands itch really bad, I grab and handfull of ice cubes and rub them all over my hands over the sink. It stops. Works everytime. I have to sleep with my feet hanging out of the sheets. If they get hot, they itch. Ice works for that too. I have slept with a bag of frozen vegetables. NOt the worse thing I've ever slept with. :jester: Don';t take your showers too hot. If you like them hot like I do then at least rinse in cooler water. That helps too. AT one point I had to use Questran, Cholestyramine, cholestral owering drug. Not a good thing to stay on but my itching was drug induced and awful. You mix the stuff with juice or water. I didn't take it long. That ended my first really bad bout with itching. I don't know how your kidneys are, but they can make you itch as well. So can your thyroid gland. I itch from all of it. Diabetes can also make you itch. Cirrhosis makes your skin very dry. Well, I guess you don't even have to have cirrhosis to have dry skin from liver disease, so try and find a really good moisterizer. Some of them even make me itch so buy a small bottle to start with. I also can't use laundry soaps with many chemicals. I use ALL, free n Clear. Gain and Tide both make me itch. No dryer sheets either. Stay away from caffeine and see if that helps. I drink de-caf Ice tea. You cannot tell the difference. I can't do caffeine at all. I only wear cotton. The higher our billirubin, the worse the itch. Drink alot of water to flush out toxins. Also, the AFP I have read numerous times has to be in the 100's/200's before it is dangerous. But, with the info we get on this stuff, I wouldn't know for sure, it's just what I have read. Mine is about 22 and has been as high as 39. It came down, why I do not know. Hope this helps and by the way, I found that Gold Bond new lotion stuff to be pretty good stuff too. It moisterizes better than Aveeno but, Aveeno still stops the itching for me or at least, calms it.
Maggi :bouncing:

I forgot to tell you about one other thing that really helped with itching. Seabreeze astringent. Maybe it is the menthol? I don't know, but I put it on a cotton ball and rubbed it all over my legs and it helped so much. I had itching from hyperthyroidism, and the drug they put me on the control it so it was much like drug induced hep at that point. Still didn't know I had hep C. But boy did I itch. Try it. It's cheap enough so you won't be out much if it doesn't work for you.
Maggi

Hi. I'm not sure if you're on interferon treatment right now. I was and I itched horribly. I found taking a warm, not hot, shower and then immediately rubbing a combination of vaseline with skin lotion together all over my body helped. Also take an antihistimine pill such as benedril and drink lots and lots of water.