I tried to sort this problem out - extreme vulval itching - but only at night - and every night! I suffered for 2 years and it finally disappeared. Then it reappeared and lasted six months. I think being in a stressful situation started it off both times. The doctor said "we need to break the cycle". Finally I talked to the lady chemist and she gave me some phenergan to 'knock me out for a few days - complete sleep', and a cream called DermAid Soft 1% hydrocortisone. Just apply as soon as the itch starts - and it disappears before you feel like scratching. This worked like an anaesthetic, but because I didn't scratch, it gave time for the skin to get strong again. The two days that I spent sleeping gave my body time to de-stress from the itching and it stopped that wicked cycle. Previously I had tried all sorts of creams, antidepressants, antihistamines, Sinequan, aloe vera, pawpaw cream, vitamin E oil, sleeping every night with a wet flannel full of ice cubes between my legs. Ladies - I hope Phenergan and the DermAid cream works for you - I am a human being again and loving it!

I too have been suffering from an all over body rash for the past 6 mths. Not only on my body but on my head as well. I've seen dermatologists, allergist, and 2 GPs who all think I'm crazy. I've been prescribed steroid pills, topical steroid creams, antihistamines and have used everything from vaseline to Extra virgin olive oil for relief from the itch. I've been post menopausal now for almost 18 mths and not on HRT. I'm going out of my mind with the itching and the rash which is very pervasive and with no end in sight. At night the itching is the worst. I've also performed 2 scabies treatments and that didn't work either.... help?
anyone?

I am thinking about trying Biodentical Hormine Replacement therapy. I am wiped out with Fatique and other Menopause symptoms. I like the book, "The Wisdom of Menopause" by Christiane Northrup.

Has anyone had success with NHRT?
D.White

Has anyone tried Biodentical Hormones for Peri-Menopausal Symptoms? D.White

I am going through menopause and experience itchy welts that pop out all over. They are gone from one spot and come out in another about every ten minutes. And then it stops. I have other symptoms at the same time, so I know my hormones are going wacko. It drives me crazy.

Does anyone get irregular heart beats as well? It's almost like a flutter, and feels so weird.

I have had a horrible itchy rash for the past 11 months. I itched till I bled. It was in my ears at one point and in the back of my head in my hairline, all over my arms chest and especially lower abdomen. The first dermatologist thought it was poison ivy even though it didn't ooze he treated me with prednizone-came right back. I had a skin biopcy-still don't know what it is, blood taken twice-not an alergy to wheat. I asked could it be hormonal to my gyn-doesn't look like it is menapause related even though I hadn't had a period in 11 months. After living on cortizone cream and zyrtac which stopped working I came to this forum and someone advised accupuncture. IT WORKED!!! AFTER ONLY 2 sessions. I have since gotton some blood work back and it seems I have an allergy to milk, yet since the accupuncture I don't think I have it anymore. My Dr. and I believe the hormone imbalance kicked in the allergy. I had no stomach problems as do with milk allergies, just the itchy hivey skin. I am so sold on accupuncture! Hope this helps

I have been itching all over. Mainly arms, legs, stomach, sides and back. My doctor prescribed Xyzal and it helps some but you take it at night and by early afternoon the next day I am itching again. It drives me crazy and is embarassing in public. I have been itching since the end of January. I didn't really think about it being menopausal until I read these posts from others. I thought I just had something else. Lotions don't do any good for me at all. Benadryl helps but makes me sleepy. Hope this will help someone.

I had surgery in 2005 where both my ovaries were taken, I was 48 at the time, since then I have problems sleeping and my back, legs, chest, stomach and arms itch all the time and to scratch feels so good but I wonder if I will pay for the scratching later because it feels good to scratch. I wake up hot now throughout the night. I have come to love the winter time. Thanks so much for all the advice and suggestions posted, it helps to know I'm not alone and that maybe one day it will get better. Be Blessed, Mississippi

Been at this almost a year and so glad to find this site . I had to give up wheat and coffee , sugar , no sulfer as in limes , lemons and dried fruit treated with sulfer .These foods made it horrific and gave me extreme headaches and lethargy . I replaced sugar with Truvia O calories a natural sweetner from the Stevia plant . No wine or alcohol as in fermented no cheese as in mold . I found that Colostrum gives relief for itchy skin three capsules in am and pm 6 total . It comes from the 1st and second milkings after a cow has a calf . Add molybydenum it removes aldehyde a waste product from candida albicans that the body does not excrete on it's own this is why you have brain fog and chemical sensitivities .Add pantothenic acid and pantothine the B5's . I use Aveeno( Skin Relief for Itchy Dry Skin brand) cools on contact . The itching I suffered from started inside the left ear and down the left shoulder and all over my scalp if you held up a strand of hair it would sway by itself . It felt like a carpet of microscopic critters were running over my head . Antidandruff shampoos only made it worse . Amazingly hair dye did not kill it . It would pop and I could hear it . Washing with soap inside my ears and leaving the soap in place would cause the infection to try and remove the soap it sounded like it was spitting it out . I found shaving my arms brought relief as well as corn starch powder on my back for the area along my spine . It was hideous keeping me awake at night . I found Tom's Mouth Wash got rid of the rhizoids from yeast fungus out of my mouth and under my dental work . Nuke your tooth brush daily in a cup of water . You will find iodine helps keep the weight off and regulate the thyroid . Use kelp or you can get Lugols Iodine and put two drops in a 16 oz bottle of water for two weeks each day then off for two months use a Kelp tab each day after . I might add I'm sleeping better now and it is improving . I can't take a lot of vitamins because it revs up my sytem and starts my periods up which can be heavy . I tried a lot of remedies and spent a fortune on alternatives. I went to several doctors for this to no avail . Its all been experimental at 56 years old I never thought it would be so hard to go through menopause but i think the birth control pills are to blame for a lot of it . Synthetic hormones are not natural and confuse the body . Getting there but it is taking some time .

Many things that you say I have heard before...Especially the birth control pills...Hopefully you will find relief in the near future...Take care...

Caroline

It's my opinion but I think Candida Albicans gets on the skin . It is not just a vaginal infection . I think it is possible that Leaky Gut Syndrome is the cause when the colon is preferated with small holes and the bad bacteria in your gut finds it's way into the blood stream and out on the skin there are changes in the bowels during the hormonal change's ( loose stools)you will need live culture (good bacteria) yogurt to balance the disruption . If you are suffering with gut pain goats milk can or carton helps a lot . The other idea is that the itch comes from a hot liver during hormonal changes . When I was suffering the most at the outset I srayed coloidal silver on my shoulder and this excited the formication it ran down my shoulder trying to get away from the spray . The spray did not kill it . I really think it is a fungal yeast infection of the skin that diet helps . I have been using clear Pears Soap , a bar soap of glycerine type , instead of detergent bar soaps . I use my towels only once and wash them in Arm and Hammer powder detergent . Wash your shower cap regularly . Use two brushes in the shower one for your back and one for your feet . I also saw something about German women having the formication problem more than other women . I happen to be of Austrian descent . Hulda Clark in her book The Cure For All Disease's says we have two problems: things that crawl on us , and things that crawl in us . It is a sensitive balance between the good and the bad bacteria and I think menopause upsets the balance . Thanks Caroline !

You are very welcome and thanks for the tips...You will find as you age and especially my age, that dry skin is more of a problem...All the joys of life...

Thanks again,
Caroline

Gradually during the year I turned 50 I was more and more overwhelmed with gut pain, terrible hot flashes, no sleep, and muscle pain, especially at night. It got so bad I was thinking I would have to shut down my business. After 6 months of tests, etc with no diagnosis in sight, I stopped eating entirely for a few days (stomach really hurt) and lo and behold, started to feel better. Trial and error,6 more months, eventually I have figured out the triggers: grains, starchy foods (potatoes, rice, dried beans/peas), sugar, alcohol, spices (peppers, cumin, cinnamon), caffeine and vinegar. So now I just eat plain meat, dairy products, and tons of vegetables, and I am sleeping at night, only "warm" flashes, and the AMAZING thing is that I have more energy than I have had since I was twenty. Clearer head, too. Business is back on track. It is amazing to have been able to control this. I am still menopausal but symptoms are reduced so much I can tolerate them, they are minor irritations. If I mess up on the diet, the old bad symptoms are right back within a day or two, so I know I have my finger on the problem.

My theory is that everybody has things that stress them out, mine happen to be foods, and those things trigger extreme menopausal reactions - if you can isolate what they are, you can reduce the symptoms.

Now as of this week I've got a skin rash - that's why I'm on this site - sounds like it's menopause, I'll have to figure out the triggers if I can.

Good luck to all, hang in there, and I hope these ideas help somebody...

Kiryah

Hi Kiryah and welcome to ehealth...I have heard that a change in diet can help...Hopefully others will have some good results...

Thanks,
Caroline

I am almost 49 years old and am still taking a birth control pill. My GYN said it was fine, because I don't smoke (never have) and am in otherwise good health.

A few months ago I began getting itching all over my body. It started when we were on vacation in Venice, Italy and I got a lot of mosquito bites. At first I thought it was some sort of allergic reaction due to the mosquito bites. But when we got home, even long after the bites had healed, the sporadic itching persisted.

I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (Hypothyroid) and thought perhaps my Synthoid was too much and the itching was a symptom of thyroid hormone over-replacement. I scaled back the dose of my Synthroid. The itching got better for a while but now just recently has come back, seemingly "out of the blue."

My GYN told me that I wouldn't have menopause symptoms while on the Pill and plans to "cut my Pill in half" in a few years and then discontinue the Pill when I'm in my early 50s. My mother went through menopause at around age 52.

I got back on the Pill about 4 years ago because I had an ovarian cyst, and also was getting bad acne and very heavy periods (despite my TSH being normal). The Pill cured all that and she said I could just stay on it.

Now I'm not so sure that this itching is being caused by my Thyroid or something else. After reading the replys to this post, I'm wondering if my body is trying to go through some beginning stage of menopause. Like many other women who have posted here, I get itching on my legs, arms, and back. Sometimes I just have to plaster myself with Benedryl cream or a combination of that and Hydrocortisone cream. I'm thinking of buying some Gold Bond, as others here have suggested.

I have not had any hot flashes or any other sort of menopause symptoms. But I have lost about 10lbs recently on Weight Watchers. I know that body fat contains estrogen. Could this be a reason?

Should I be talking about to this to my GYN? I was thinking of seeing my allergist or dermatologist. I itch EVERYWHERE, including my scalp and at the front of my vagina (by the pubic hair). It comes and goes for seemingly no reason and sometimes interferes with my ability to sleep. It seems to get worse at night.

Hi,am 2 months off 50,for the past 18 months have had irregular periods,sparse fertile mucus(have used the billings method of birth control for 33yrs),so I know changes are happening.Last 4 wks have had excruciating lumpy ,itchy arms,legs,belly,groin,COCOA BUTTER seems to ease mine more than calamine.Tried slices of cucumber(I looked like a dressed salmon!)Slices got really hot in seconds but helped.Going to try aloe vera,and ice packs.might try freeze gel?Hang in there girls,it cant last forever can it?P.S.have just got married again,my hubby must think he's got a freak!Hope other hubby's are sympathetic,take note,you men!.xx

My doctor has prescribed me allergy tablets - piriton. The itch - skin crawl seems a little better - its the lack of sleep as well that takes its toll..... hey ho I will wait and see if they work - will keep you posted.... eurax cream helps too

I am 53 and have had itching for 3 months; it began at the same time I joined a gym, so I naturally thought I had picked up something there. I do know that the odd glass of wine is makes it worse and that the effects carry on for at least a few days. Twice when I have cooked with prawns the itching is worse and last night I had one lamb rissole (bought from the supermarket) and started to itch badly. So I think food additives must also be avoided. I want to mention that over this time I have also had the odd heart flutter like another poster mentioned. I am seeing a naturopath and taking a herbal concoction but not seeing any improvement. Maybe I'll try acupuncture.

Oh my gosh, I can not beleive so many here have this syptom of itchy, I itch on my back and my arms, just like someone sticking me with needles and something crawling in my skin, I am about to pull my hair out, I turn 50 this year , my symtoms are, severe itching,stiff feet and hands, mood changes,( family hates that one), but I am really happy I found this site, thanks for listening.

If you try "Off" or "Repel" insect block and it helps, then mites may be your problem, whether from dust or pets. Unfortunately, it's not permanent relief. Apparently mites are attracted to females, whether dog, insect, bat or human. Doctors are very quick to dismiss the itching as menopause or allergies.