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+    Diagnosed Aug 2005

+     Bipap March 2007

+     PEG July 2007

+     Trache and Vent July 2008

Still Living, Loving & Laughing

Itchy skin - severe itching

 

I have been in contact with quite a few PALS that have experienced itching that is enough to drive you insane!

 

It seems to be an ALS symptom where the nerve endings become super sensitive. Since ALS is a neurological disease this makes sense to me and I have been bothered by this for several years. I initially was able to deal with it by using Aveeno shower/bath Wash and Tide Free for my clothes. Also Gold Bond. But that did not last long, I have been plagued with unbelievable itching on my legs and around my belt line.

 

We have been unable to control it. We have tried everything. The skin looks completely healthy and normal and there are no marks, red spots or any indication. After corresponding with a number of PALS that have had this problem I tried Gabapentin (Neurontin), as a number of them claim they have had some success with this.

 

I have now taken Neurontin for considerable time now and I have found it works to get rid of the severe itching.

 

I have also found that to get rid of head itch if you dab on Apple Cider Vinegar it really helps.

 

Here is an article about itching.

 

New findings about itching ~ it is tied into complex action of nerve cells and their link to the brain. *Given PALS/PMND complain of itching at times, it makes you wonder if it could be an associated effect of nerve damage of another type in MND? While most focus is on the motor neurone it is not to say that the degeneration is always contained to motor neurones ~ perhaps other nerve types can also be involved and where itching is seen?

Perhaps a new avenue of research?

 

How scratching can stop an itch

Scientists have shown scratching helps relieve an itch as it blocks activity in some spinal cord nerve cells that transmit the sensation to the brain.

However, the effect only seems to occur during itchiness itself - scratching at other times makes no difference.

While it is widely-known scratching relieves an itch, the physiological mechanisms for how this works are little understood.

The University of Minnesota study appears in Nature Neuroscience. " We all know that scratching helps alleviate itch, but this elegant study helps to show how this mechanism works "

 

Professor Patrick Haggard University College London. Previous research has suggested that a specific part of the spinal cord - the spinothalamic tract - plays a key role.

Nerve cells in this area have been shown to be more active when itchy substances are applied to the skin.

Blocks activity

The latest work, in primates, found that scratching the skin blocks activity of nerve cells in the spinothalamic tract during itchiness - preventing the spinal cord from transmitting signals from the scratched area of skin to the brain.

 

ITCHING

 

There are many causes of itch, including more than 50 diseases including shingles, Aids, gallbladder problems and Hodgkin's Disease

The itch produced by many diseases can greatly affect quality of life and can not be treated currently

For many types of itch, it is not clear that itch serves any clear purpose

Researcher Dr Glenn Giesler hopes the work could lead to ways to relieve chronic itch effectively for the first time. However, he said more information was still needed about the chemistry underpinning the effect.

Professor Gil Yosipovitch, an expert on itching from Wake Forest University in North Carolina, said the finding was "potentially significant".

He said: "Although there is a long way to go, methods that can induce a pleasurable scratch sensation without damaging the skin, via mechanical stimuli or drugs that can inhibit these neurons, could be developed to treat chronic itch."

However, Professor Yosipovitch stressed that scratching and itching were complex phenomena involving factors such as emotions as well as physiology.

 

"The main open question is what happens in patients who suffer from chronic itch where scratching may actually aggravate itch perception."

Professor Patrick Haggard, of University College London, said: "We all know that scratching helps alleviate itch, but this elegant study helps to show how this mechanism works.

"It's an interesting illustration of a very general principle of the brain controlling its own inputs, in this case by making movements that triggers an interaction between scratchy touch and itch."

Dr Paul Bays, based at UCL's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, agreed that the study provided an important part of a physiological explanation for how the sensation of itch is reduced.

 

"However, it is still unclear why scratching should have this effect, or why it is only effective for itches and not for painful sensations - which are transmitted to the brain through the same pathway."

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...th/7976606.stm

Published: 2009/04/06 00:58:27 GMT

Updated: Nov 18, 2010