I had thought myself lucky that I hadn't been itching too badly but that all changed last night. I woke up at 2 in the morning to find that I had been frantically scratching my arms in my sleep and had scratched them to raw, bleeding ribbons. The urge to scratch was overwhelming, like there were creatures under my skin. I sat in the bathroom and clawed at my legs and arms, even though I knew I was doing damage. When you scratch, the sensation is pure pleasure and completely compulsive, you do it even though you know you will suffer later. I had to physically make myself stop my clasping my hands together as tight as I could for as long as possible before releasing. It seemed to help.
I had to have an epsom salt bath to releive the itch. I start the bath warm and then let it go really cold. As the bath water cools, I can feel my skin cooling down and calming. I then pat it dry gently and apply a small amount of hemp seed cream to the driest areas, although I am trying to use as little cream on the skin as possible. I then went back to bed with a pillowslip wrapped round my neck to mop up the neck ooze.
Fun Fun Fun....
On a completely different note, people in the UK suffering side effects from steroid cream usage can report the medication via the yellow card scheme:
http://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
The form takes about 10 minutes to fill in and provides feedback to the drug companies about side effects of their medicines. I mentioned the fact that I had used steroid creams for years, needing stronger doses until they caused reddening on my face. I also mentioned how painful withdrawal has been. Hopefully, if enough people complain, the companies will need to put stronger warnings on the steroid creams. I'm not against the use of topical steroids. It is the ABUSE of these creams that causes long term problems. People need to be informed how to use them safely to avoid addiction.
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