Menu
General Updates / My Adrenal Health Updates / My Personal Experiences

General Update #16

General Update #16
Click here to listen to a reading of this blog:
Voiced by Amazon Polly

Read the last blog in this series.

So, I haven’t been all that well recently. 

I’ve had time off work due to viruses, migraines, exhaustion and all sorts. Since the antibiotics and ear infection fiasco back in December/January, I just haven’t felt the same. You may remember that I developed a rash all over my body and, even though this cleared up after a week or so off the antibiotics, I’ve been itching still! All over, though particularly bad on my scalp, legs, back and arms, I have an incessant itching, as if ants are crawling all over me. The doctors suspected a fungal infection after the antibiotics, but shampoo for this didn’t help, so they’re at a loss.

I switched shampoo and changed to a Lush one without any sodium lauryl sulfate, which can be irritating to some, and it has made a difference (I went for a sea salt product, as I figured the salt would also help), but it hasn’t stopped it. I stopped using all shower gels and products on my body and I watched what I was eating carefully, too. No gluten or cashews which are known sensitivities of mine.

The GP said that it couldn’t be a lasting effect of the antibiotic as it has now been months since I was on them.

I and my fiance have since suspected that the washing powder we usually get has been changed, so we’ve switched to another, and it has settled somewhat. It seems to be easing off. The GP has since given me a steroid scalp application and stronger cream to use when I itch, but it’s still a bit of a mystery. And irritating!

I looked in to supplements that I’m taking and tried stopped ashwagandha, vitamin D, K and lowering my thyroid medication dosage, in case I was now over-medicated – all of these things can cause itching all over the body. But nothing has made a difference.

In fact, I had my thyroid levels tested last week and discovered that I was under-medicated, so needed to go back up to 2.5 (150mg) grains of NDT. I’m hoping this will help my fatigue, migraines and other annoying symptoms.

My periods have also become messed up again. As I was doing well acne-wise and with regular periods, I stopped using the progesterone cream which seems to have been too sudden as I’ve had two months with very short cycles and acne. So I’m back to using it again.

I have been managing stress better – I made a positivity board a while ago which helped, I stepped back from a few responsibilities so that I can better focus on my health and I’ve been more strict with myself, making sure I get to bed at a better time, doing things to actively relax and eating a bit better.

I’m still needing to retest my adrenals.

Spring is also coming and the warmer, sunnier weather is so up-lifting.

Do remember that you can keep up to date with my personal health journey via Instagram. My Instagram is updated with realtime updates and you’ll be able to follow along as and when everything happens over there!

Do you have any ideas on what could be causing the itching?

You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information give.

Read the next blog in this series.

About Author

Rachel Hill is the highly ranked and multi-award winning thyroid patient advocate, writer, speaker and author behind The Invisible Hypothyroidism. Her thyroid advocacy work includes writing articles, authoring books, producing her Thyroid Family email newsletters and speaking on podcasts and at events about the many aspects thyroid disease affects and how to overcome these. She is well-recognised as a crucial and influential contributor to the thyroid community and has a large social media presence. Her bestselling books include "Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate" and "You, Me and Hypothyroidism".

2 Comments

  • thestrongermeblog
    April 5, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    Im sorry to hear about your all over itchiness, I hope you find out what is causing the issue.
    I also hope you now feel better with your other symptoms now your meds have been upped
    What do you use the progesterone cream for?

    Reply
  • Carol Clark
    April 4, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    Have you ever hears about Norwex products? They sell a line of towels, wash cloths and cleaning cloths. They are silver infused. A few years back I purchased some of the wash cloths. They are antibacterial because of the silver. The distributor told me about her little girl that had a chronic case of psoriasis and nothing she got from the doctors helped. She accidentally came across this product. No soap, just the wash rags. It was amazing and was sold. Her daughters condition cleared up. I never use bath soap and my skin is the better for it. Amazing products that work.

    Reply

Leave a Reply