# Major upper back itching



## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

I have had major upper back itching for a long time. Just decided to look and see what I can do about it, and I find stuff online about something called Notalgia Paresthetica.

This seems to fit me to a T. Upper left back itchy, little reddish brown dots.

So on a lark I decide to see if anything relates to the issue that I apparently don't have with my thyroid, and guess what-it is another possible link.

So I am wondering, does anyone else feel this?


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Oh and this is almost a constant itch.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sleepylady said:


> I have had major upper back itching for a long time. Just decided to look and see what I can do about it, and I find stuff online about something called Notalgia Paresthetica.
> 
> This seems to fit me to a T. Upper left back itchy, little reddish brown dots.
> 
> ...


You have ruled out shingles and Lyme Disease?


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Was tested? for Lyme. Never tested for Shingles. I will check into that. I thought Shingles was painful. This isn't even like an actual rash.


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

@Andros-

Not sure about Lyme but Shingles based in what I just read doesn't fit. This NP seems to fit perfectly.

It is not an actual rash. It is just a really itchy patch of skin. From what I read, this is a neuropathy. Nerves under the skin


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## Cymry (Nov 12, 2012)

I have something like this, and I read about it a while back, but I can't remember the name of it. What I read had something to do with an impinged nerve coming off the spine that results in periodic itching at the nerve endings under the skin. Scratching can result in a dark patch because repeated scratching can result in a thickening of the nerve endings/skin in that area. It's very hard to NOT scratch, though, because that's one's first instinct when one gets an itch, and it doesn't itch all the time, but when it does, it is sudden and intense. I read that putting extra moisturizing lotion on the area can help. I read the Wikipedia entry on Notalgia Parasthesia and I think it's the same as what I read about earlier.


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Cymry.

That is exactly what I have. I read the same description and it fits perfectly.

Maybe if I get diagnosed I can make it stop.

I am going to go to Dr soon and hopefully fix this.


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## Cymry (Nov 12, 2012)

I'm going to mention it to my doc the next time I go. The itchy back has actually predated my hypothyroid diagnosis by at least several months, maybe a year or so even. My problem is that it never itches when I'm at the doctor's, so I never think about it if it's not itching!! It doesn't itch me nearly as much as it did before, but it does itch now and then. I wonder if that could be due to me taking Levothyroxine??


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

I am not on anything because I can't get a diagnosis. It may not be related, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I am thoroughly convinced-and several members on here agree, that I do have a thyroid problem. The docs however, do not share in our opinion.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sleepylady said:


> @Andros-
> 
> Not sure about Lyme but Shingles based in what I just read doesn't fit. This NP seems to fit perfectly.
> 
> It is not an actual rash. It is just a really itchy patch of skin. From what I read, this is a neuropathy. Nerves under the skin


You may have nailed it then. How will you confirm? This has to feel miserable!


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

Yes Andros it is annoying but so many people on this board have a harder time.

I am going to try to make an appt to see doctor within the next week or so because all of the so cled "non thyroid symptoms" are really getting old.

Hoping this,gets resolved soon. Doc is a DO so maybe just maybe he will be able to hepp.

Like I said, trying to find someone willing to treat me is hard! Trying to get them to believe hyper with low in range FT4, mid range FT3 and "optimal" TSH. along with what most consider "negative antibodies" is a huge challenge.

Last DO was very myopic.


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

I cannot imagine that any of us haven't witnessed a dog "_humping_" someone's leg? I know the object of that canine social faux pas isn't really scratching but my nephew's husky/boxer mix, Desmond, has the craziest habit I've ever seen. I don't think Desmond does this because he's all that itchy, I think it's just a hilarious bad habit but if he can catch an unsuspecting leg, particularly wearing blue jeans, he'll do a reverse hump...to scratch his back!

My back has been so itchy recently and with my upper arms so sore, I've been considering Desmond's approach! LOL!

Seriously, years ago my back and shoulders got to where they were just about to make me crazy itching. I went to a dermatologist and he told me to bathe/shower using dandruff shampoo which I did and the itching stopped immediately. I'm not positive but I think the magic ingredient was coal tar which might be in some bath soaps also.

If you'll check the labels and find a medicated shampoo with coal tar, it might at least be worth trying.

One reason my skin feels so itchy right now is the weather. I do NOT like central heat but I also don't like freezing! Central heat dries out my skin and my eyes. We've had an extremely mild winter but when your skin isn't used to so much dry air, it can cause itchiness.

I only use goat milk soap which if you ever try it, you'll never go back to regular bath soap.


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## HotGrandma (Sep 21, 2012)

I DClaire:

I owned and operated a Heating company for 20 years. With central heat, put a humidifier in front of one of your "return air" grilles. These would be the larger grilles in the wall not the 4x10 floor grilles. Turn your furnace on "fan" and that humidifier will pump humid air into your whole house without damaging your heat exchanger on your furnace. And without causing "legionairs disease".

May want to try "Bragg's" Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar on the itchy area's. Sure couldn't hurt, worked for my daughter, when her back was itchy.


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## Girlygirl90 (Jan 9, 2013)

I've had this since october and this back itch plus feeling horrible is what prompted me to get extensive blood work...came back mildly hypothyroid and everything else was perfect.

I've been on Synthroid (25mcg) for 2 weeks and I feel incredible!! I could barely move 2 weeks ago and now I'm my old self... but the back still itches...

Wonder if it could it be related???? Mine is also a small patch that itches but there's never a rash or anything there. Near my shoulder blade...
I'm thinking that since low thyroid function affects so many systems... maybe nerves too? I also had leg cramping...

I googled itchy skin and hypothyroidism and I did find some info that lists itchy skin as a symptom...


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notalgia_paresthetica

Thank you for all of the suggestions.

I too have itchy, dry skin from the heat. This seems different.

@jsimms

This disorder apparently is due to nerves under the skin and is located in the scapular region near the shoulder blade!


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

HotGrandma said:


> I DClaire:
> 
> I owned and operated a Heating company for 20 years. With central heat, put a humidifier in front of one of your "return air" grilles. These would be the larger grilles in the wall not the 4x10 floor grilles. Turn your furnace on "fan" and that humidifier will pump humid air into your whole house without damaging your heat exchanger on your furnace. And without causing "legionairs disease".
> 
> May want to try "Bragg's" Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar on the itchy area's. Sure couldn't hurt, worked for my daughter, when her back was itchy.


I'm too zonked right now to write but tomorrow I'll share a central heat "return air" grill story you won't believe...how my husband and I lived in fear of a "mouse or rat" in our unit for over a week! LOL!!


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> I'm too zonked right now to write but tomorrow I'll share a central heat "return air" grill story you won't believe...how my husband and I lived in fear of a "mouse or rat" in our unit for over a week! LOL!!


This true story might make someone laugh. I can laugh now but for a week I lived with such a sense of sadness and futility - what could be anymore inhumane than for a small animal or perhaps a bird to die a slow death trapped inside our central heating/air-conditioning unit?

Our central heat/AC unit is in its own little closet in our hall - dead center of the house, bedrooms/bathrooms on one end of the house, kitchen/den/etc., on the other end, the central heat/AC unit in the middle, in a hall we use a million times a day.

Mid-summer we began hearing, every night around 7:00, some pitiful little creature trapped inside the metal unit _inside the closet_. My husband thought it was a rat, I thought it was a bird. We could hear it frantically clawing, scratching on something metal inside the unit. Cowards that we are, we were afraid initially to even open the door to the closet...maybe whatever it was was loose in the closet???

Poor little thing, whatever it was, never made a sound except the frantic noises we heard promptly at 7:00 P.M.

My brave husband finally worked-up enough courage to climb the nearby stairs to the attic and see if maybe something was coming and going out of the unit? He'd decided maybe it was a squirrel...I still was convinced it was a bird. Whatever it was, what a tragic situation! And, what were we going to do when the poor thing died inside the unit and we'd have that horrible odor to contend with? Overwhelmed and desperate for help we called a repairman...who probably very quickly decided we were two of the biggest idiots he had ever encountered!

The "mouse" was ice! Our A/C unit was low on freon so ice crystals were forming all day...then melting, falling and hitting a metal grate inside the unit around 7:00 every night as the weather cooled down making the sound we were hearing! For app. $250, the mystery was solved!


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## HotGrandma (Sep 21, 2012)

I DClaire said:


> This true story might make someone laugh. I can laugh now but for a week I lived with such a sense of sadness and futility - what could be anymore inhumane than for a small animal or perhaps a bird to die a slow death trapped inside our central heating/air-conditioning unit?
> 
> Our central heat/AC unit is in its own little closet in our hall - dead center of the house, bedrooms/bathrooms on one end of the house, kitchen/den/etc., on the other end, the central heat/AC unit in the middle, in a hall we use a million times a day.
> 
> ...


Good one. I hope he charged your A/C with freon for that price. Cheaper than the mouse or rat that gets inside the cabinet and chews all the wires anf tubing.


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## Cymry (Nov 12, 2012)

I DClaire said:


> This true story might make someone laugh. I can laugh now but for a week I lived with such a sense of sadness and futility - what could be anymore inhumane than for a small animal or perhaps a bird to die a slow death trapped inside our central heating/air-conditioning unit?
> 
> Our central heat/AC unit is in its own little closet in our hall - dead center of the house, bedrooms/bathrooms on one end of the house, kitchen/den/etc., on the other end, the central heat/AC unit in the middle, in a hall we use a million times a day.
> 
> ...


This reminds me of a couple of years ago when our septic began backing up into the tubs and the toilets, mostly just water when we would flush or run the water out of the tub. We got some heavy-duty pipe cleaner and poured that down, no luck. We finally called a tech, who dug up our septic and showed us where there was a blockage at the outlet where the pipe pours into the septic tank. It looked kind of powdery, which suggested some kind of detergent that didn't dissolve (which is weird since we use liquid detergent, but anyway). He hit the clog with a shovel, the clog broke up, and the water ran free. Like you, we learned a good tip for $200, the price of a house call.


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## piggley (Sep 15, 2012)

Has the Dr ruled out psoriasis or excema?


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## sleepylady (Mar 18, 2012)

No piggley. But it is funny that there really is no rash. I should take pictures of my dry skin for you to see. My hands look like orange peels with the pitting.


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## piggley (Sep 15, 2012)

Hi Sleepy lady,
Skin problems can be so mysterious
Just a suggestion for the itching.......one thing that works very well for a lot of people wiith Psoriasis is a mixture of Glycerine and Witch hazel- the main ingredient is the Glycerine which hydrates the skin, you can put 50/50 Glycerine and alcholol free Witch Hazel in a spray bottle and spray it on, or rub it on.feels sticky a first but soon dries, As you dont know what the condition is yet, you could just use Glycerine,but thats a bit stickier.
pretty amazing stuff and it shouldnt irritate your skin -just try it on a small area for a while and see if it helps,its really good for killing the itch while you wait to get it diagnosed,
Lets hope it something transitory and goes away soon.


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## acroll (Mar 6, 2015)

I'd had NP for two years before I found out what it was. My doctor had told me a year earlier that it was nothing to worry about but didn't tell me what caused it or what to do about it. Six months ago I happened to meet someone who also has NP and she told me to see a physical therapist who practices in our neighbourhood. He told me that I needed to stretch my spine to relieve the pressure on the nerve that was causing the problem. He told me to do the following exercise that only takes a couple of minutes:

Grab your left wrist with your right hand and bend over as far as you can to the right while pushing your left hip out as far as it will go. Hold that position for twenty seconds and then reverse the procedure on the other side. Repeat the cycle three times. I've been doing this exercise for six months now and have been itch-free!! No meds needed. If I forget to do the exercise for a few days, the itch comes back and goes away immediately as soon as I do the exercise.

It makes sense to address the cause of the condition instead of just using drugs or creams to mask the symptoms. As they say on the internet, your mileage might vary and the exercise might not work for you. I also do a bit of yoga every morning and front and back bends are part of the sun salutation exercise but this alone did not alleviate the itching; it wasn't until I added the side stretches that the itch went away. Hope this helps someone else.


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