What can help with severe chronic itching for a 98-year-old woman?

My Mom (now 92 years old) has suffered from chronic itching for over 10 years. We have taken her to multiple dermatologists and allergy docs. She is currently taking (under doctor's orders) Allegra twice a day, Claritin once a day and zantac twice a day. Zantac is an H2 (histamine) blocker and it does help. We have tried everything we can find to get her some relief. She is going through a really bad time with this and we've found that washing the area with black soap, rinsing and then putting thin layer of a thick cream, like eucerin helps calm it for a while. I suspect Mom's is autoimmune related but no doctor has ever confirmed that.

I hope you can get her some relief.

Try Zyrtec. It helped my elderly relative who was having itching for some undetermined reason.

This article may be of interest. http://www.todaysgeriatricmedicine.com/archive/summer2011_p22.shtml

Try avoiding any shampoos, soaps or lotions with SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate). My brother and I grew into this sensitivity and once we removed it from our routine the itching stopped. Another issue could be her liver. I once worked with a person who had liver malfunction and she constantly scratched her skin due to itchiness.

Is there a geriatrician available in your area? The same way a pediatrician can best handle the needs of youngsters, a geriatrician can be very helpful in diagnosing and treating the elderly.

Many things can cause itching...drug reactions, liver problems, low iron, allergies- a regular primary care doctor might not be as up to date on drug reactions in the elderly as a geriatrician would be. I would try to start there.

Also, make sure your grandmother's diet incorporates lots of healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, walnuts, fatty fish). You might try a cod liver oil supplement. So many people don't get enough healthy fats in their diet and that definitely will affect skin health.

How are her iron levels; I know that severe itching can be a symptom of low iron.

Instead of giving her more drugs, check the drugs she is currently taking. I've taken meds before that made my skin crawl. No rash, just itchy all over. How I recognize the feeling of I've taken some new medication. But the first time I didn't know what was going on. My skin was crawly. All day and all night - even in my sleep - when I was finally able to get to sleep. It was miserable. It was driving me crazy. It made me cry. Don't let the doctor say it wouldn't be drugs if there is no rash. Because that is 100% untrue. I had no rash. I've had an allergic reaction to meds before - and I got a rash. But that's different than what I am talking about. Be persistent in looking at her meds closely. Another thing it could be is laundry soap or fabric softener. Laundry detergent and fabric softeners are full of toxins that can cause itchy, crawly skin. They leave residue on our clothing that clog our pores or enter our bodies through our pores. I would put my money on one of those things. Her meds or laundry soap. Applying oils, lotions or creams might not be a good idea. Unless it was certain that her itching was dry skin, I wouldn't want to risk causing more irritation. Besides, you don't want to just treat or mask the symptom. You want to eliminate the cause. The soft gloves on her hands is a sweet idea ... Just to protect her skin until you figure out the cause. But don't let that he the solution. It would be torture living with that itchiness. (Laundry detergent can make your skin itchy and crawly without leaving a rash too. I've experienced that before as well. Many times.)

Instead of drying off with a towel after baths, dry off with a wet wash cloth. This works for me in winter I itch so bad I feel like scratching with a wire brush. lol You could wet a hand towel wring it out and use that instead of wash cloth. According to how much water is absorbed wring out excess water. This works great.

Sturgeon1,

For my 93 year old mom, her back itched constantly... we used Cetaphil and mixed pure aloe Vera gel with it after her shower. Also, I just looked online and CeraVe Itch Relief Moisturizing Cream gets good ratings from people who had itchy hives from Medication reactions. Hope that helps!!

As someone with eczema I know that it is extremely important to stop the scratch/itch cycle and that scratching can lead to bacterial infections of the skin and just exacerbates the problem in general. I would say your really need to consult a dermatologist. Steroid creams are good but if use strong prescription steroids they can thin the skin after two weeks and cause a localized compromise of the immune system leading to other infections. One really safe and effective way is to use colloidal oatmeal baths. They are very soothing when itching is severe and preserve the skins moisture barrier. You can follow up with colloidal oatmeal moisturizer or Eucerin which is an excellent moisturizer.

My 93 year old mom uses hydroxyzine for severe itching which needs to be prescribed by a doctor.

Please have her BUN levels checked by her PCP or in the ER at your local hospital as soon as possible. My grandmother had the same itching that her nursing home refused to recognize as anything more than dry skin. She scratched herself so violently (even in her sleep) that she drew blood and got a dangerously significant staph infection. I had to take her to the emergency room where the staff checked her blood and discovered her severely low BUN levels. The itching stopped and the staph infection cleared up as soon as she received the appropriate medication! Additionally please ask the PCP to check for a UTI as that can be problematic in older women. My grandmother lived to be 98
as well.

Crazy as it may sound-try Biofreeze on it. It worked for us and comes in a roll on to make the application easy.

Anither idea would be order a fidget doll from amazon or amazon or somewhere and maybe that will keep her busy and she will forget about the itching.

My Auntie is 94 years old and we go through this daily only thing that calms her is Atavan but cant give too much of that she gets loopy it is lowest dose that there is and we have to cut it in half for during the day... I beleive that this is because of her dementia or Alzheimer's disease lots of patients get this way they start picking at skin for no reason but it drives us crazy she scratches herself raw !! Now I put soft gloves on her hands so she can't break the skin HELPS ALOT!!

Usually from dry skin. Especially after bathing, use MINERAL OIL -- plain mineral oil. Right after the bath. The mineral oil soaks right in the skin and you won't even know it's there. It's the best thing in the world to relieve itching.

I have it from time to time, and I use fragrance-free soap & lotions. A Loratadine 10 mg pill at night helps. My skin has always been thin & sensitive. It gets more so with aging.But I have developed skin allergies as I have aged, too, and I have to be careful of certain shrubs & even my precious dogs. ( I try to cover forearms which are the most sensitive.) Live life as you wish, taking a few precautions on the way!

My mom had an experience a couple of years ago, eventually breaking out in a blistering rash. PCP referred to dermatologist who took one look at her skin and her meds list. It turned out to be a reaction to Lyrica, although she'd been on it for several years. After weaning off it slowly and a number of visits to clear the blistering rash, no more problems. During that time we did double her hydroxyzine for anxiety to help the itching. Maybe get a dermatologist involved?

Did any skin care products change? My 87 year old mother went through the same thing. Intense itching almost all of her waking hours. There was no rash. Doctors did tests, everything was normal. She had purchased a new body lotion and had been using, but I didn't think that could be the cause. I decided it wouldn't hurt anything to stop using just to see. Within the day her itching started subsiding, and within 3 days it was completly gone.

How's her kidney function? The reason I ask is that severe itching is common in later stage renal disease, and apparently (don't take my word for it) Gabapentin and Pregabalin are the drugs of choice.

Just something to check, and I'd rather hope it's absolutely not relevant.

It seems to me that if Xanax helps, you may be dealing with psychogenic itching. There is evidence that SSRIs like Paxil can help in these situations.

For 3 months cut out gluten, tomatoes, peanuts and eggs, if you want to go a dietary route.

Sarna lotion is very good. Used to be rx, now OTC.

Ugh, my (91 y.o at the time )mother had severe chronic itching under her breasts, on her thighs and torso. We tried everything, nothing really worked. The best thing I got her was anesthetic spray with benzocaine. When sprayed on the itchy areas, she was able to find relief for a couple of hours. Other than that, the doctor prescribed Benadryl cream, Benadryl tablets, and about 10 other things that did not work. They call it geriatric pruritus, and it's quite common. It lasted the better part of a year for my mother, then magically disappeared *thank God*.

Best of luck trying to find something to help.

What have you tried? Where is the itching? Is it possibly shingles?