I'm being grumpy.

Thank you all again for your kind wishes and comments, I will try the Aloe Vera gel, it should help a bit. I have found the fan a great help though, and I have been getting some sleep for about 4 hours at a time. I do wish I could sleep longer, I feel like a baby, sleep for 4 hours, up for a feed, bathroom and then play for a while and then back in bed!

I'm a bit in limbo, waiting for his highness to go to uni in 10 weeks 6 days! Lol. The house has been left where housework is concerned recently, I haven't the motivation to keep on top of it. I do an area and then he comes along and mucks it all up. I might as well not bother. I've just done all the kitchen again but tomorrow he will throw sugar all over and milk and I'm feeling somewhat of a maid. If I tell him it will cause tension and I am just keeping my mouth shut for the time he is here and putting up with it and leaving jobs for now but it really isn't my stlye at all. I can't wait to get it all "bottomed" and sparkly again. And then I can start using my new things I have bought and put out girly bathroom items instead of razors and stubble being all over the shop!

DD takes probiotics, not the little drinks in a bottle, but the proper probiotics in sachets, also available from H&B and other health food shops.
She doesn't take them daily, but will take them for a few days then not for a while.

Talk of gel got me thinking:

Aloe Vera gel, available from Holland and Barrett and other health food shops could be soothing.

Ruby, a friend discovered that hand sanitizing gel stops his itching. I dare say it would dry the skin if used too often, but I can understand why the cooling effect would work.
I hope you will be feeling brighter soon.

Hope your feeling a bit better now rubylady I think I'll just write this year off. It feels as if there's one obstacle after another. (((((Hug)))) from grumpy old me

thankyou Crafting,

I take Fexofenadine for the eczema. It was prescribed by a skin specialist. Might be a good idea to talk to your GP.

Oh ruby, I sympathise about the itching. Isn't it horrible. I never had dry skin or eczema until I hit my sixties. I get little circular spots, that itch like crazy, and then turn into patches of eczema. I'm told it's age related, but why me? I have yet to find anything that relieves it for long either! I keep my legs and arms covered as they look patchy. Old age is a trial.

hi ruby pleased to hear you feel just a little better. I do take probiotics when I remember to help my seriously sluggish digestive system. They work for me and I feel better than I expected. I'm not evangelical about them but suggest people try them for themselves in case they help. Good luck, hope the feeling better continue yes.

You sound more upbeat ruby and making plans, looking forward to things. I hope someone can suggest somewhere in Blackpool for you and your dog. Or try googling and see what you come up with. Hope you get better sleep tonight as well.?

Thank you all for your lovely comments, they really have spurred me on to keep going, although there is no option, is there?

I have wondered if it is ME, the constant tiredness, lethargy, breathlessness, lack of mobility etc. I don't know, I'm fed up of thinking about it.

The itching is more like prickly skin, I should imagine, like someone is sticking pins in me, all over my body. I don't have dry skin (not yet) and it's not any rash or any marks at all, it just feels like pins being stuck in me.

I have had the heart condition from birth so it does all get me down at times and I do try to be upbeat but the other day, due to lack of sleep, I could have screamed. I went and bought a big pedestal fan yesterday, I couldn't have another night not sleeping (how did I do it when my babies were little?). My son put it together for me and last night it went into my bedroom. Yeah! 4 hours sleep! Then another 3 after a little time downstairs and then another 3 again this afternoon, so now I feel a little more human again, thank goodness. Let's hope it continues, hopefully.

I have been asked to go and have another cervical biopsy too. On the first one they didn't take any skin cells so they need to take another. I thought that was over for now and I was ok. I'm not happy at all about this. Why tell me all was ok if they didn't get any skin cells to test?

Anyway, I changed my hotel for September in Wales to take my son to uni. Now I am on the top floor, in the attic, but with a big double bed all to myself (and my doggie), a lovely sea view and a lift to get me up the stairs, plus room service and some fantastic bara brith to look forward to. I also want to go and stay in Blackpool, see the lights this Autumn, eat some fish and chips along the front. Can anyone recommend anywhere where they take dogs?

Does anyone know of any good menopause books at all?

Does anyone take probiotics?

Thanks again to all of you, you are wonderful and supportive.

mumsy. for you. My DH had ME for many years. If it is any consolation, he did eventually recover and now has a good life.

Rubylady sorry this is getting you down so much. I don't have itching but I do have tinnitus. Sometimes the noise drives me mad. It is such a high pitch I can't sleep or think of anything else. I do know the more you think about it, the worse it gets (big help I know . Have you got or tried one of those cold pads that you can put in the bed? Another thought (not sure if you can still buy it over the counter) is phenergan liquid. Phenergan is a antihystamine in liquid form which has quite a high sedative effect. Not suitable if you are driving but might give you a good night's sleep.

I am so sorry you are feeling so low rubylady. I can't add anything to all the advice above, but I am thinking of you and sending you all my best wishes

Sorry to hear you're feeling low just now-so understandable when you have hurdles to jump every day. Have you had blood tests done? Often itching can be a symptom of an underlying health issue. Hope tomorrow is a better day.

Rubylady,sorry to hear you are feeling so down, it seems that some doctors do dismiss things as just an age thing particularly if you are a women. Is there a lady doctor in your practice who may be easier to talk to? I hope you feel better soon

I do know how difficult it is to stay upbeat when you have chronic conditions, so do not beat yourself up about having mopey days - I have them too, as do most of us. Pain, itching etc are so hard to endure when it goes on for a long time. I am not sure that your GP is being very helpful with the itching and you might like to have a chat with a different doctor in the practice. You should not be having to deal with this untreated. A referral to a dermatologist might be in order - can you ask for this? Have you had blood tests? - sometimes itching is not a skin complaint but a sign of a general condition. Lots of good luck with getting this sorted - and I hope that your spirits will rise a little soon.

Oh heck ! What happened there!

The link should have been at the bottom, not in the middle at the top
This tablet drives me crackers.

www.amazon.co.uk/Weleda-child-Calendula-Lotion-200ml/dp/B000YOFP3O

I hope you can fathom out what I mean

I think your GP really needs to do more tests to find out whahttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Weleda-child-Calendula-Lotion-200ml/dp/B000YOFP3O]]t is causing the itching ruby, has he taken a scraping and sent it off for analysis?
As someone who reacts badly to bites I know anti-histamine is good if used on a daily basis but he/she could prescibe some soothing lotion too.

Do you have enough good oils in your diet, such as olive oil, rapeseed oil (cold pressed if possible) and best to cut out sugar. Or you could perhaps try a course of cod liver oil (liquid if you can stomach it)

I think a firm called Pure Potions make good topical creams and lotions.
www.purepotions.co.uk/pages/how-we-began
Hope this is not advertising, other products may be available!

Calendula flowers - supposedly good for the skin
[[

Do you have eczema Ruby? Or even just dry skin? My skin itches when it's very dry especially my feet. At night it can drive me insane. If it's only my feet I can get relief by putting them on icepacks as the cold masks the itching.

Is your room too hot? Are your bedclothes too heavy? I ask this because both these things make my itching worse.

Have you had your sugar levels checked and your kidney function as both of these can cause itching too?

Hi Rubylady so sorry life is so b difficult for you, wish I could give you a hug, so hope it all gets better

Poor Ruby keep on with the antihistamines and ask the pharmacist about which are best and dosage.
Keep treating yourself and now you have your car try to get out if only round the block.
I am the last one to say try and see friends even if they pop in for 10 mins but like you I am antisocial at the moment so I do understand. I do not have real health issues apart from my knee and my eye. My knee will get sorted, my eye I am learning to live with so that part of your problem I can only imagine. As I say to people when they comment on my H's Alzheimer's and say it must be difficult " imagine what you think it is like, then multiply by 1000" that is what your health issues must be like.

Sorry you are so down ruby . Hope things improve soon

Poor ruby I do sympathise having a long term illness myself. As regards to the itching DD2 has been having a very bad year with eczema so eventually had a private appointment with a dermatologist who did sort it out to an extent (NHS list are lengthy for see one) sometimes a mild sedative helps at night. I would go back to the GP and tell him/her just how you feel. Best wishes and hope you are feeling better soon.

Oh you poor thing, no wonder you are feeling grumpy . It's really hard to keep up the pretence that everything is hunky dory, when actually it really isn't.
I too suffer from intense itching, partly because of psoriasis, but also in places where there's no evidence of any psoriasis or eczema. It keeps me awake at night for ages despite, like you, taking anti-histamines. What can help is E45 Itch Relief Cream, or another one is Aveeno lotion.
Hope your spirits lift soon