Itchy Skin

[ambassador]

My skin itches most evenings and usually on my back.

[whattodo]

My skin itches most evenings and usually on my back.

Can you be more specific?

[penzman]

Had the same problem on my first visit here last year, itchy all over but not only at night. Still have no idea why, was bad especially after showering...

[triplegee]

I started to get the itch approx. 6 months ago and it became a constant frustration. I visitied a number of doctors & spent some time carrying out tests as the doctors were convinced it was an allergic reaction to "something". To this day I still have no idea to what!

The doctors have me taking Telfast which is freely available in most drugstores. They have suggested that I could take this everyday for the rest of my life if needed with no side effects. I have confirmed this with my brother who is a pharmacist in Australia. I now find that I only need to take it every other day (or thereabouts) to be itch free. Initially they had me on 2 tablets per day. It is an anithistamine.

As for the cause of the reaction - it could be the air, water, detergents, etc... I have actually given up trying to identify it.

Good luck!

GGG.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I take Piriton antihistimine to prevent it. It's available from any branch of Boots in the U.K. but don't know about here.

Also it helps you sleep if you take two of them.

I'm about to run out but there's one here called Atarax, but it does make you drowsy and I don't know if taking it daily could be harmful.

[anono555]

get yourself some little one a daypills called Loratadine (they come in a small green packet for about 150 baht)

you can get them in any pharmacy

[ambassador]

Can you be more specific?

I would have been more specific but I had my left hand half way up my back, scratching like a maniac, I had to leave the net cafe and go home to take a cold shower. Afterwards I was still itchy and as I was scratching my upper back and arms I noticed that by rubbing the damp skin:- dirty, wet, dead skin would roll off - not dissimilar to the effect that rubbing wet cardboard with your thumb would have.

This has happened before and it makes it itch more, so I put a shitload of Protex Cooling Talc on, which is no easy task when you've yet to meet a woman on the internet who will do it for you, (*see another post I did) - anyways, I put lots on and took a valiumesque type pill I use to make me sleep on the plane and I was okay again, but I could do without the constant hassle of all that polava, I had ripped my shirt off in fustration when I got in and kicked my wastepaper bin over the balcony onto somebody's food stall roof and it's no laughing matter because it really does get to you and I hate it.

I know this happens to a lot of people so I didn't rush back to finish my post as I knew this would take off just fine.

I'll try to find some of them Laurawhatsit pills and hope for the best.

[stroll]

It could be a fungal infection, if it spreads, i.e. starting to itch elsewhere, have it checked in a skinclinic. Brrr, itching just from thinking about it.

[Bluecat]

I take Piriton antihistimine to prevent it.

I really pity you, GS.

You got them all,...

[KevinN]

I take Piriton antihistimine to prevent it. It's available from any branch of Boots in the U.K. but don't know about here.

Also it helps you sleep if you take two of them.

I'm about to run out but there's one here called Atarax, but it does make you drowsy and I don't know if taking it daily could be harmful.

My back is a little itchy and also some on my arms on the inside of my elbow, it is not so bad but still a pain to contend with,,from what ya say, 3 showers a day is awful hard on skin,specially if you are getting on in years,as your skin will tend to get drier as you get older I have always had dry skin and is is worse now,I

I used to use a soap called KIRK'S coconut oil castile,made in the PI and now is made in the USA,and was always a Proctor- Gamble product. Can't get it here,works well in both hard and soft water, I gonna have a friend bring me about 24 bars when he comes in Aug. don't let the shower run on it and a bar lasts a long time,and you rinse clean with it,most soap is detergent based,hard on skin.

and I also use an anti-histamine,,at any pharmacy ZYRTEC..10 pills for 125 baht,also good for itchy bug bites and hay fever/allergy.Been taking 1 or 2 everyday for years,no prob.

[cathyy]

Wow, I thought I was the only person who had figured out that it was detergents making me itchy.

I use Kirk's soap as well. As a result of being made from coconut it has natural glycerine in it so is very gentle on skin. I found some soap in Thailand that didn't make me itch, in case you're interested. I forget the brand name (as if I could even read it!) but it had evening primrose oil as an ingredient. No, it doesn't smell like roses. I bought it at a 7-11, so it must be widely available. Mostly I just read ingredients to see if a product is a soap or a detergent, and to avoid any added fragrance.

I quit using shampoo on my hair as well. I have very dry somewhat curly hair (natural ringlets on the underside) and shampoo is just too harsh. It leaves my face all red and blotchy, too. I wash my hair with lots and lots of conditioner. In the US that works, because the conditioners all contain surfactants to float the dirt away. In Thailand I have to mix a small bit of shampoo in with conditioner and use that because Thai conditioner only conditions, with no surfactants.

[KevinN]

You are lucky..I can't use most conditioners as they really make me itch and sting where they run down off my head and onto my back,seems like I can't even rinse them off. My wife gets some stuff in a bottle with a pump,"CAREBEAU" silky hair coat,and a pump into the hand and then rub all over my hair and then a little water and rub some more and it really works.

I first used KIRKS on a derrick I was on at INOC oil terminal off of Basra Iraq and they had a case of it on deck in a box without the cheezy paper wrappers,and I used it ever since,especially on cruising sailboats as it works well in salt water too.

and after shower with a detergent,immediately after,My skin starts to itch and sting and feels like someone is cutting my skin with a hot knife,

Thanks I will try to find something with primrose oil.

[possom]

another possibility (although im no doctor )is msg ,which is heavily used by many thais and is common in a lot of sauces etc that are used for flavourings . i had a problem with VERY itchy feet and hands a couple of years ago ,and heard this could be contributing . after reducing my intake of msg (being careful which sauces my girlfriend buys,telling the som tam lady i dont want msg etc ) this problem has largely dissapeared

[KevinN]

POSSOM; I thought about that also,,but it can not be an issue in my case as I won't eat Thai food or most of their bottle sauces.

What I do eat,we buy fresh vegs,meat and fruit,and some canned food like whole kernel corn,tomatoes,pineapple for cooking,stuff like that,use our own spices,sugar and such and everything we eat is cooked right here in our own clean kitchen with filtetred air and clean utinsels,we even wash our hands before handleing food stuffs,which is more than I can say for the Thai cooks I have seen shove a cat off the cook table and the go to chopping and diceing.then knock the cats head out of the pot they gonna cook in.