lots of itching

Flat, brown spots are the result of cumulative sun damage over the years. I have some, but they don't itch, except sometimes when they first appear. My entire back, shoulders, and upper arms itch like crazy, though. I tried to get Atarax or cholestyramine from my PCP on Tues., but she didn't prescribe it...feels I should get an Rx from my hepatologist...but I have no upcoming appts. with her.

Hugs,
Connie

Hi Butterfly.

The red "rash" and the itchiness it caused, is what made my mom's doctor refer her to a rhumetologist. It was the rhumetologist who ran a series of tests that help with the Hepatitis B diagnosis. From there a referral to a GI/hepatologist who confirmed that the "itchy red rash" was related to the liver disease.

I would recommend you speak to your GI/hepatologist Doctor about this and hopefully, he will give you some answers.

Good luck.

Hi BF,

Mike had terrible itching for YEARS. A liver doc in CT recommended he try cholestyramine (Questran) for the itching, which he said was caused by bile salts...too much or too little...I forget exactly.

It comes in a powder that he dissolved in water, like TANG. some hate the taste, but Mike is a complier and will take any kind of goo if it will help him feel better (he never complained about the lactulose either!).

It took it after every meal and that was that. No more itching.

They stopped it at transplant and no more itching after!

It is used to lower LDL cholesterol and for itching.

This is what they say in Wikipedia:

Bile acid sequestrants such as cholestyramine are primarily used to treat hypercholesterolemia , but can also be used to treat the pruritus, or itching, that often occurs during liver failure, due to the liver's inability to eliminate bile.

Butterfly, I wonder if what you are describing is similar to something I have noticed just recently. They are raised bumps that are flat on top and almost look like a dried up blister, not red though, just tan or whitish colored. They itch like crazy. That is how I finally noticed them, because I kept going to scratch at a certain spot. Different than my everyday itching, which actually is a lot worse at night and wakes me up. That is all over my body, but feet and legs are worst.

Most of my spots are flat and tan and don't itch. However, I had one come up a month or so ago on my rt. forearm, that looked like a pink bump and was itchy in the beginning. I peeled part of it off. It is now nearly flat and a pinkish tan, barely noticeable. I have a number of light tan spots on my body, but especially on the backs of my legs, forearms, and hands. I forget to put sunscreen on these places. But I even have a couple on my face, where I always use an SPF of 30.

As I mentioned earlier, these are from accumulative sun damage going back decades, before there was even such a thing as sunscreen. Living in FL, it's about impossible to avoid the sun. And believe me, you don't want to be wearing long sleeves or pants during our 100-degree summer days--and we have a very long summer.

I keep a close eye on these spots, as they can turn into skin cancer. If you are concerned, see a dermatologist. Hospitals and clinics often have free skin screenings, too. We have techs come here to my apt. complex each year to do screenings. They have a special hand-held instrument that scans the body and determines if there is anything suspicious. If they find something, they recommend seeing a dermatologist. I skipped it this year, as nothing had changed. Then, right after they were here, the pink spot popped up.

You shouldn't obsess about it, but just keep an eye on it for changes. And get it checked out if it really worries you.

Hugs,
Connie

Themiz,

You describe them as if you are looking at my husband legs... Now if we can just figure out what exactly is causing this... He is going crazy scratching them,.. We have a doc appt on June 19th..hopefully he can shed some light on this. My husband has lots of over exposed areas from the sun, this is different..

Butterfly422

Themiz, thanks for the clarification.

I'm doing zinc oxide on the midriff wound for another month, then Plastic Surgeon will decide whether it's healed enough for a skin graft. It never ends. I do have an abdominal MRI with contrast on Fri.

Hugs,
Connie

Butterfly and Denverdoni,
My husband had what you describe and we went to a dermatologist who diagnosed it immediately and gave him meds for it. This was about 10 years ago, before he was in ESLD, but had Hep C and Doc said it was common for folks with Hep c virus. I can't recall the name, but will look it up in his med records and put it on here.

This was very different than the regular "itchies" he had years later from ESLD, it was just like you describe. I tried googling it, but no luck. Hope I can find it and share info with you, as the meds dermatologist gave him worked well.
Angie1953

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 6/18/2013 6:27:41 PM (GMT-6)

No "s" at the end of lichen, but otherwise okay.

Hugs,
Connie