Posted in Itching and Hormones, Menopause, Peri-Menopause, Women's Health

Mysterious Itch Solved

A few months ago a client requested help with an exasperating itch. This poor woman had gone great lengths to figure it out, but nothing was helping. Her itch would start small on the back of her head. Then it would move both up over the head and down the neck; spreading to the back and arms. She believed she had bug bites and she also had hives.

She thought the itch and “bites” were a result of insects biting her while sleeping. She wasn’t sure if they were lice, scabies, dust mites, flea bites, or bed bugs. She vacuumed, washed, dried, sprayed; threw out bedding, pillows, curtains, blankets and clothes. She cleverly hunted with lights and a magnifying glass. Despite this effort, she never found bugs or evidence of them like droppings or body shells on her sheets. She would obsessively inspect again in middle of the night when the itch awoke her. She hadn’t a good night’s sleep in a week.

She considered pollen and moved house plants outside. She contemplated synthetic material in her clothes and threw them all out. She removed dairy and even chocolate from her diet the week before we met.

After seeing the ‘bites’ and hives I followed her original idea of bugs. Ledum didn’t do anything to help her, so we tried Histaminium thinking it was perhaps a deeper allergic reaction. This did help some; however, the itch would return during sleep, which caused her to believe in the bug infestation theory.

What changed the entire case is when she revealed that her skin would violently itch and feel better by scratching. Then it would quickly begin to burn and sting and feel like a biting sensation. There was a high heat and redness to the skin. It was worse at night and upon waking. Undressing also made it worse. She tried rubbing instead of scratching, but the stinging and heat were still there.

I recommended Sulphur at that point which (instantly) drained the heat and stinging. She would get relief for an entire day but the symptoms would come back at night. She would dose again, and indeed, the heat and stinging completely disappeared, meaning she finally got sleep.

She was quite happy with this result. The bonus was that she finally got good rest which cleared her mind. She realized she had gone quite manic over the bugs and in fact, there were none in her sheets at all. She was content to dose Sulphur whenever a hint of the heat and relentless itch came on. She was both relieved and satisfied.

I was not satisfied, however. Part of my job is investigating and this case did not make sense. The Sulphur was making the burning, stinging, and even the itch go away. But it would still come back. Why was the itch still coming back? It was clearly not bug bites, so what was it?

I suggested that a Biofeedback scan might give us more detailed information and thankfully my client agreed. The scan gave us so many more clues. What was her number one issue? Hormones. My mind instantly began racing.

I asked my client if there was any possibility that she may be going through peri-menopause or menopause. I hadn’t considered it because of her age. I assumed she had already went through menopause. She hadn’t considered it because all of her cycles were normal, except the last one, which never happened, she just realized.

Her mind was blown with the possibilities. She realized she had unknowingly been in peri-menopause for about a year! But because her symptoms were so sparse and relatively uneventful she was clueless. She had had a couple migraines with nausea and a couple abnormally heavy menses that lasted unusually long. She recalled missing one, then having a couple within two weeks of each other. But over the last twelve months, all others were normal. She recalled having a terrible time coping with cold temperatures.

She thought that women had hot flashes when they are menopausal. She had never had that symptom. But, I explained that what she was experiencing was similar. She was having hot flushes of her skin and severe itchiness which can be part of menopause. Estrogen actually helps maintain the skin and with lower levels of estrogen, the skin can be easily irritated, dry, and sensitive. This was all very revolutionary to her.

In addition, she was having a very difficult time tolerating her large family and all of her duties in the home. Far before the end of the day, she found herself exhausted, moody, unable to be nurturing. Her family’s needs were agitating her beyond what she wanted to discuss. She loved them dearly yet she was yelling at them and being downright hateful towards them. How could she love them yet be sick of them all at the same time?!

So, at this point, I clearly understood the case much better.

Using biofeedback, I addressed the stress involved with aging, the endocrine system, and hormonal imbalance. This provided a way to de-stress and also monitor the other therapies we were employing. She continued with the Sulphur for relief from the hot, stinging itches reducing them in frequency, strength, and duration.

The estrogen in plants is identical to the chemical estrogen in the body so we also added some natural estrogen through herbs like sage, licorice, saw palmetto, black cohosh, and garlic. Foods such as yams, broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables were increased as well as avocado. I also added some good B supplements, C, E, homeopathic hormones and glandulars to help regulate the frequency communication between glands and chemicals. These helps go beyond just relieving itch to improving her mood. Because of this deep healing of her emotions, she can now pleasantly handle the demands of her family once again.

Unfortunately, the itch can remain up to a year while the body adjusts to less estrogen. However, the sensations are managed to her approval. Simply having answers combined with a way to treat quickly, plus a reduction in symptoms has made the situation tolerable for her. She says she is so happy now like before she got married and during the early years of marriage. She also is able to continue her work later into the night whereas before she would blow up at her family and need to go to bed early. She enjoys her family again.

We used chickweed and neem oil topically to soothe the damaged skin. Her “bites” were not bites at all, but rather broken skin from scratching that needed to be addressed. We used a few herbals for infection at the beginning, which are no longer needed.

The biofeedback scan revealed that she did not have a leaky gut but she did have a sensitivity to dairy. So, kudos to her for stopping dairy. It’s possible that once the body has adjusted to the estrogen change she will be able to re-introduce it. She also went as far as getting rid of chocolate. She credits this to healing her urinary symptoms including a vaginal protrusion. Wow. That is amazing! This has been a great case. It has been a few months and she is still doing well.

If there is anything I can help you with, please go to my website www.newleafholistic.com for more information about me. I also will do a free consult by phone if you contact me at info.newleafholistic@gmail.com