Numbness/itching driving me mad!

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hi all

I’ve got this new area from the middle of my back, round my left side and including my left breast that is currently numb. Every now and again, parts of it becoming very itchy. There is nothing at all of the skin and it feels deeper than that anyway. Scratching doesn’t do anything and antihistamines don’t work.

My MS nurse is puzzled and said she’s never heard of anything like it. I don’t know what to do because it’s waking me in the night and really getting me down.

I’d be grateful for your thoughts!

Thanks x

2

i use moisturiser on my itchy bits, probably mind over matter but it won’t do any harm. my skin is softer than a baby’s bum.

try cool pads then warm pads because it can trick your brain into sending the correct signals.

3

Thanks Carole. I’ve been moisturising just in case but will definitely try the heat/cool pads too.

Itching can be MS related on your experience then? It’s just my nurse didn’t seem to think it could be.

4

I’m currently going through diagnoses but I also suffer with itching which can be anywhere on my body and appear all of a sudden. My neurologist dismissed it as an MS symptom but my own reading suggests that other people have experienced itching too.

5

it makes sense that random itching is an ms symptom if there is no physical cause.

brain sends message that you have an itchy back so you feel itchy.

i’m astounded that your ms nurse is so dismissive.

do NOT scratch!

6

I’ve had this too, my neuro was very interested when I mentioned it. All 5 senses can be fooled by the brain:

I have tinnitus - hearing noises that are not there.

I sometimes see shadow movements and spots that are not there.

I experience tastes (usually aniseed or parma violets!)

I smell toast and a baking cake aroma - not real

and I have had that itch - it feels like my bones are itching and it’s just too deep to scratch. I’ve made my shins bleed by raking at them with my finger nails!

All you can do is try to convince yourself that it isn’t real. I agree with the cold/hot trick, and also I got some E45 Itch Relief cream. I know it won’t actually work but I tell myself at the time that it will. Rub a bit on and then go and do something else to take my mind off it. It takes practise but as has been said it just mind over matter.

AngC x

7

Try something cold. Bag of frozen peas, bag of ice, whatever. My worst MS itching has been in my hands, which is easy because I can just run them under the cold tap or put them in a basin of iced water. You could try a cold shower, but there’s not much fun in that at 0300 (or any other time). :slight_smile:

Alison

8

Me too, I’ve read lots about it. It’s all very odd!

9

I will mention it to my neuro when 8 see him next and see what he makes of it. The itching coincided with the beginning of the numbness and sits at the edges of it. That’s way too much of a coincidence to not be linked in my book.

It has calmed a bit now thankfully and I do manage to leave it alone (most of the time).

You have had some very odd symptoms … glad I don’t have the cake one, that’d do nothing for the diet :))

10

Thanks Alison, it’s all I can do to get myself in a hot shower at 7am :))

1 Like
11

I get horrible itching across my stomach where my c section scar is and i have never recovered sensation, so makes sense you can get itchy patches with ongoing nerve problems