The strangest thing happened to me last night after dinner at East Hampton’s Della Femina restaurant (this was after screening of Margarete Von Trotta’s film "I Am The Other Woman at the Hamptons International Film Festival).
I had a weird allergic reaction and I have no idea what caused it. My hands and feet itched under the skin. My right eye got swollen and my nasal passages got stuffed up. I had a hard time swallowing and was generally very uncomfortable.
The itching on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet was probably the worst part of it.
Here’s what had for dinner:
A delicious three mushroom and broccoli soup with cheddar cheese
A pork chop with apple compote, celery root slaw and swiss chard
Two glasses of a French red wine
Then my hands started to itch. It got worse before it got better. I slept fitfully. Took a Claritin. Thankfully, when I woke up I felt fine. The whole thing was so mysterious.
Just the last few days my palms of my hands and feet started to itch and I don’t know why. I have never had this before and I can’t think of anything that I ate that was different. Can anyone give me advice what this could be or what I should do first?
A few months ago I started having itching feet, mainly on my toes, and the tips of my fingers. I have some (not alot) of itching in various other spots. It is an itch so deep – clear to the bone – that I sometimes feel like stabbing it with a knife. I have almost drove my husband nuts and he’d be up with me sometimes half the night. Some relief was changing my feet from very hot water to ice cold. At a health store a lady suggested foot detox. We spent over a thousand dollars on a foot detox called Chi machine. That has definately brought relief, but I still experience itching occasionally. You can get a foot detox in some beauty shops and other places like spa’s. It is putting your feet in water with an object connected to electricity (hard to explain) If anyone wants to spend the money I can give you the phone number or you can go to http://www.chimachine.com and get it. Lora August 13, 2008
Hello,
I have been suffering from the red spots on my hands and foot area for past few years now. These redspots specially in the foot are painful and itchy.
I met with my doctor and he couldn’t figure it out. Later i went to a dermatologist and had a biopsy done on my feet and nothing showed up in the tests.
I was told to take one claritin a day to avoid this problem. I don’t take claritin everyday though.
I do find relief in Claritin but not immediately. I also take Ibuprofen 500mg along with Claritin and this seems to give me faster relief.
Sometimes just Ibuprofen helps reduce the red spots and the itching.
I am not sure what is causing the redspots /itching. Summers are worst.
OK, It all started like two weeks ago. I was at work, and I walk a lot, so I didn’t think nothing of it at first. I noticed my feet started hurting really bad in the middle of the bottom of my feet. It almost felt like knots of charlie hourses, So I went home and my husband massaged my feet thinking that it would help. It helped yes, however I woke up the next morning with the left side of my lip was swollen. My feet didn’t hurt anymore. It’s almost like it just changed spots from my feet to my face. I obliviously couldn’t go to work, so I called in, got some clartin for the itching and swelling, and some abreva for my lip. Well the next morning I woke up my the end of my figures were swollen….I just about had enough i didn’t know what was going on. I hate hospitals so I refuse to go. It’s been about two week and goin and i still get these weird appearing bumps on my lip, hand, feet, ect.. if anyone knows anything please help…….. I would greatly appreciate it
Hi my name is linda and i had an experiance like this let me tell you the story.. k i was asleep and i woke up and cried like a baby because my hands and feet were itching so server that i wanted to cut off my skin omg. thanks for your time..
OK everyone, the itchy hands and feet are caused by coxsackieviruses and a few other pornographic sounding viruses. Being exposed to the chicken pox, strep infection or something similar… the one with the pain around her waist sounds like Shingles which is also associated with these viruses and the strep, chicken pox viruses, scarlet fever etc. The childhood desease is called hand foot and mouth desease it usually causes thrush on your tongue too but of course adults don’t suffer as bad from thrush as babys do. Taking steriods or cortosteroids of any kind can lower your resistance to this type of virus. Or it could just be an allergic reaction but my money is on the virus since you can get one form or another of it consecutively.
I had the itchy hand and feet problem about a year ago and everyone told me it was the rum I was drinking at the bar but it still happened on nights that I didnt drink (still at the bar). I quit going to the bar and it stopped. Now a year later its starting again. I moved to a new part of the country and the only thing I can think of is I am drinking tap water and not purified. Im wondering if its caused by drinking water. On nights at the bar that I am not drinking I tend to drink lots of water. The hot water thing seems to help.
For me, i am 44 years old and my itching started while at work and I have been to my PCP so many times put on steriods but once I finished taking the steriods the itching came back but not as intense, I just visted a dermatologist took an xray to make sure mit is not lymphoma as he said that cuases itching and also took a blood test both came back okay, but the itching still persists. I know it is an allergic reaction, but I am not sure what exactly triggers such reaction. Of late, I notice it gets worse at certain time of the day and slows down again. I will now visit an Allergy doctor to see if for God sake these doctors with all years of training can tell me why I have been so miserable it has been almost 3 months now. I strongly suspects something in the air or my environment. When I am in Florida I do not itch but the moment I get back to Texas, the itching starts.
The strange thing is that I recently as well, quit smoking after 22 years, and drastically cut now on alcohol consumption, slowed down on red meat and now itching has taken over, while I indulged in all above, I never had problem with itching. GO FIGURE.
Over the past year, my child has had three seperate episodes of intense itching on palms and soles of feet. Allergy testing positive to environmental allergans like grass, mold, dust & pollen. Food allergy testing came up negative. Suspected to be allergic to amoxil and cefzil – although has not had any for three + years. We have a strong family history of thyroid problems as well. How can you tell if intense itching of skin beneath palms and soles of feet are allergy related or thyroid related?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Drinking ALCOHOL (in any amount or any variety) always causes a severe itching in my feet. The older I get, the worse the itching gets.
Exercise has always caused my legs to itch so deeply that no amount of scratching can ease.
No explanations for either as far as I know.
Hello there,
Thank God I came across this blog where we share experiences. I have had itchy hands and feet since I was a kid (about 28 yrs).It is seasonal though, sometimes I’m fine and after it gets worse. I feel itchy between the fingers and my palms, after my hands and feet start peeling. I always feel good when I put my hands and feet in hot water. My Doc. told me that it is Eczema/Hand Dermatitis. Any suggestions?
I too have had itchy hands and feet for over a year. The itch is deep under the skin. I have found that taking a claritin each day also, helps. If I miss a dose I begin itching. Also my doctor prescribed triamcinolone cream, a corticosteroid to apply topically. This also helps. I am going to check out the tyramine thing. It may have something to it. Cheese, wine, etc. has tyramine. Worth checking out.
I have itchy hands, feet and sometimes other areas. The hands and feet started a few hours after a dental visit. I don’t know if that had ANYthing to do with it. I’m not using anything different. My MD put me on Zyrtec which has helped a lot, but I woke up last night with more itching on just the palms of my hands. My MD wanted me on Zyrtec for two weeks so things would have a chance to calm down, but I’m now afraid it’s not going to work for two weeks. It worked the first week, but I’m having my doubts about the second week. Can anyone help? Does anyone have a similar experience? Thanks for any and all help!
I can’t take this much longer. My hands and the bottoms of my feet itch uner the skin so bad that I can’t consentrate on any thing. What the heckis going on????
Last night when I returned from Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, I suddenly felt as though I was horribly sunburned. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that my whole face, neck, ears, and chest were bright red. My arms and back were also covered with hundreds of small red hives. My palms were extremely itchy and red too. Even my eyes were bloodshot. Add to that sharp stomach cramps and retching and I began to get really scared. I immediately took a couple of Benadryls and my husband drove me to the ER, stopping along the way so I could throw up. The diagnosis was some sort of food allergy–the best I could come up with was a reaction to the wine sulphites? I am allergic to cherries, although not to an extreme. The doctor wondered if the wine may have either been aged in cherrywood barrels or had some cherry in it. I have no idea but since the meal itself was the typical turkey and vegetables–nothing new, I’m just assuming that’s all it was. Anyway, they commended me for taking the Benadryl right away and put me on steroids for the next few days and advised I continue with the Benadryls. I feel and look a lot better now, although my right palm is still a little itchy. I wish I knew what caused it! The best thing I can advise is if you suddenly get these symptoms, take Benadryl immediately. I’m not a doctor but I don’t think they can hurt and the sooner they’re in your system, the sooner you’ll feel better. Good luck to all!
hey i’m taylor yesterday at skool something terrible happened to me but i don’t know what caused it.
what ever it was i had allergic reaction. My eyes is swollen and i can’t see out of one eye. My back is covered in welts same as by bottom and neck, stomoach. it would be much appreciated if anyone could describe what might of coursed it thabkyou
Hi….my hands and bellybutton itch a lot after i wax my girlfriends booty. One time my left index finger got stuck in my navel while itching it……..my gut has since gone down but myh finger was stuck for hours in my bellybutton……..anyone know why?
I, too, have suffered with intensly itching hands. If I’m not mistaken, you may have a reaction to sulfates/sulfites. It is commonly used in the food business for cleaning and preserving lettuce and other fruits and veggies.
I worked for my stepfather’s catering operation as a teen and I was taught to clean the lettuce or any similar green, leafy thing that came through. You cannot imagine how long it prevents the edges of lettuce from becoming brown or slimy! It also keeps it nice and crisp. Now vinyards use it for grapes in processing and it is used in making cheeses as well.
The lettuce sold in most grocery chains have it – the sulfates/sulfites have usually already been used in lettuce cleaning/processing before it ever got to the grocery chain.
LOTS of folks react to this. Trouble is, since it is frequently used in a cleaning process, it is not considered a food ingredient! So it frequently doesn’t show up in any list of ingredients.
If you buy ANY sandwhich that has lettuce, REMOVE it prior to eating it. Better yet, request all foods WITHOUT lettuce at the time that you order it. Try NO SALADS until you know.
I noticed that you are aware of the clothes dryer fabric softener sheets. MANY folks have horrible reactions to that as well, but I’m pretty sure that it usually affects the skin that the garment/bedsheets come into contact with – NOT just your hands/feet.
ANOTHER common reaction to sulfates/sulfites is diharrea. Does anyone have to dash to the bathroom when you get back from eating out? Join the crowd! If so, then TRY NOT HAVING ANY SALADS OR OTHER LETTUCE NEXT TIME. You’ll be amazed!
Sure hope that this helps someone – I’m guessing that MANY folks are going to be pleasantly surprised.
Warm regards, Rob
This itching has scared me to death. This is only the second time in about six months that my hands and feet are itching severly from the inside. No whelps, just itching. I ‘m having to scrub my entire hand and foor with a handbrush to get relief. What is this, I can’t remember eating or using anything different. What is it? HELP
I too have itchy hands and feet and found it was due to Hypothyroidism. In my research I found that it can also be an allergy to sulfites, found in wine and canned soups.
I did a search for some of these symptoms and can’t believe how many people are experiencing the itching! I think it is really scary. It seems to be a food allergy and it makes me wonder if the GMO (genetically modified foods) we are consuming are wreaking havoc on us.
Oh my God. I’m so glad I’m not alone! It sounds like the itchy hands/feet is an allergic reaction, but to what? Yesterday, I went for a walk for about 45 min. When I got back inside the house, my hands went CRAZY. Red, and extremely itchy. This morning, I got in the shower, and within minutes I had the worst foot itch I’ve had so far. Is anyone else’s itch brought on by water or cold/heat?
I have the same thing.Itchy hands and feet.Underneath the skin it itches.I just took more Benadryl.Has any one tried it?It seems to work for awhile.Who do i see about this anyway?
whoa, i have the same symptoms, i think im allergic to mayonaise since my itching started when i ate hotdog with lots(i mean lots) of mayo on it, then at night it started to itch. The next days, it didnt itch anymore, but today i ate some food with mayo on it, then it started to itch again. I guess i have to observe more on my diet, esp mayonaise.
I had itchy welts all over my body a few weeks back and i took benedry (a lot)and used Corizon cream, and by the morning it was gone. Then a few weeks laters, I had a painful swollen hand, it itched like crazy and looked like it was going to pop. My friend told me that she had the same thing. I took benedryl and it went away. Then today my lip looked like it was the Nutty Professor but only on the right side. I took 2 benedryl and it didnt go away. I then took 4 more (which i dont recommend) and it still stayed. The pharamist said to try Claritin, so I took one of them. All of these meds, made me pass out and when i woke up, (2hours later), my lip had went down in size. Its still swollen but not like it was before. What do u think I should do, and why is this happening. I havent changed my diet, soap, perfume, nothing! My family says that i should go to the hosiptal. Are these all related to each other? My friend said that it could be high blood pressure for the hands, but mine is always good. ANd then my other friend says welts come from lime disease! i dont know what i should do….
Hi
For about a year now I’ve been suffering from sporadic itchiness in the hands and feet. It’s so itchy it’s painful. It’s almost coming from the inside and scratching doesn’t even help it. I take Benadryl and it helps. I would love to know what it is though-Am I allergic to something. Sometimes it happens on an empty stomach.Help?
Some of you may find this site about Hypothyroidism interesting. My wife has suffered many problems the last 5 years and I think we have found the answere.
Search for an article by Dr. William Nelson, NMD
Hypothyroidism- What your doctor may not tell you but you need to know. After reading this look up as much as you can about the thyroid and take your temp. a few times and see if you have some of thre other symptoms. Hope this helps. Warren writing form Canada
Hi, Ah yah, the first time I dicovered this nightmear of an itch, I was clueless and still am. I had gone to an All Class reuinion and partied down. the next thing I knew I was woken from my sleep with this deep under my skin horrible and unbearable itching. No rash, no sores, no dry skin, no zip. Just this itch. Back of my hands, the palms, in between my fingers, and then the bottom of my feet would chime in. Man! The only thing I could think to do is to run at least my hands under cold water and down a Benadryl. Which eventually helped. Since then I have discovered that this seems to occure when I drink wine. I dont drink often or alot, but when I do I have this itchy result. I am 40 and I have had my party days. Never has this happened before. I was even tested for Hep C, which Iam neg for. What could this be?
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Just two days ago, I got red, itchy spot of my hands, feet, and elbows, I thought it was bug bites… But this soon turned to the hot and itchy hands and feet with bright red spots that most of you have described. It still hasn’t gone away, with Benadryl or Claritin.
I’m trying to figure out what it was that gave me the reaction….. Food?
I did spill Clorox bleach on my hands briefly on Saturday while doing laundry, but wouldn’t the reaction have been immediate, not two days later?
Should I see a doctor?
leo
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Have you seen your doctor about this? Has diabetis been brought up? With dry mouth being one of your symptoms, I’d have it checked out. Apparently itching is also a diabetic symptom. I am going to see my doctor about this too, as I’m having symptoms that lead to the same diagnosis.
Good luck.
Wandered in here because I’m feeling the same thing. I’ve had identical symptoms to those here, especioally the one about scratching random parts of your body. My hands are the worst; itchy red and swollen. And painful. I’ve had this for 3 days now, and I’m going INSANE. I’m ready to cut my hands off. Gonna run to the store and try so Claritin. Ugh, I hope it helps…
I have itchy red feet and hands right now and it’s driving me mad! I decided to do some research on my own and found this site—thank GOD! The comments I read from people just like me gave me hope. I am on my way right now to pick up some Claritin. Itch BE GONE!
Hi all ppls with a Itch..i see most of you are taking claritin..Ok there are different kinds out there or does it not matter wich one i can take?
itchy allergy is a kind of reaction like me i put my hand in lemon its came there is no proper solution
Bren:
Thanks for your comment. No, actually – that’s what is bizarre! No soap changes at all – using same detergent, fabric softener, and bar soap for years. I discovered hives this morning – they show up, put me in a frenzy for a while, disappear and then pop up in a different spot. I took an allegra – my mom’s prescription (bad to do, I know, but I was desparate!) late this morning and it seemed to help. I’m dreading the moment it wears off though. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what could be causing this. Any other suggestions?
Renae, have you recently switched detergents or fabric softener? since your itching is kind of all over… also, perfumed bar soap sends me into an itching frenzy, are you using some new perfumed soap or new cologne?
For the past 12 hours I have been itching almost UNcontrollably. I have NO idea what is causing this, but it’s making me NUTS. I started itching in random spots all over my body – small bumps would appear, then in some spots, welts after I have been scratching for a while. If I force myself not to scratch, I can suffer it out and it goes away, redness, welts and all. But last night, I woke out of a SOUND sleep with horribly itchy hands – red and swollen, and feet as well. Help! What is the deal?!!! What do I take? Benadryl causes a strange reaction in my children, so I am afraid to take it myself and I do not have any Claritin. My hands are so sore now . . . is this a reaction to something?
I have also had itchy skin and feet (underneath itchiness) I went to an allergist and I have been taking hydroxyzine HCL 25mg – this is the best.. I take it every other day.. one day yes and one day no.. I wish what was the cause of this– I have been thinking it might be a toxic liver maybe.. Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine like benedryl but works MUCH better..
hope this helps someone.
The answer to the first post is
CHEESE
It is the culprit for your allergy cos of th esubstance called tyramine..Avoid it and you’ll be ok..
itchy reaction is kind of allergy of thing medicine give u tempory relief but not permenant solution so avoid those things
TEMPORARY RELIEF FOR ITCHY HANDS—-RUN HOT WATER OVER YOUR HANDS FOR ABOUT 10-20 SECONDS. I was searching the web because I have itchy hands. I found a article so I tried it and it works.
WOW!! Just like most of you, I thought I was the only one! I have found the source of my reaction which is in my feet only. As soon as I have any alcohol to drink, my feet turn beet red and start to itch like crazy. I recently had a severe reaction to a drink that caused me have severe breathing problems, I use benadryl for these reactions but am going to try claritan for less adverse reactions from the meds.
I have had the same problem with itchy hands and feet for a couple of years now. I take loratadine (generic and cheap form of claritin) for my allergies and everytime I try to stop taking it because I’m tired all the time and have chronic dry mouth, the itch flares up again. I know that the loratadine stops it, but I don’t want to take it everyday for the rest of my life. If anyone has any suggestions, please help
I thought I was the only person with this issue. This morning my hands and feet are so hot and itchy, its not actually the skin its underneath the skin, both my hand and feet turn bright red to most of the time!
After reading the posts I’m going to but some clarytin today to see if it helps as its driving me insane. I’ve been having this issue now for about 7 months. Grrr. If anyone has a better solution and cause then drop me a mail. Thanks.
Hi Everyone…
I, too have had the itchy hands and feet (and even sometimes at the waist-line). I had been taking Progesterone in Oil (PIO) shots as part of In Vitro Fertilization back in the fall and since then if I go out and have fatty, oily foods or alcohol I get the flare up where it is SO unbearably itchy it’s amazing! I find if I take one Benadryl it relieves it. Obviously some sort of allergic reaction, but I’ve never had this before. My sister suggested maybe with the PIO shots they saturdated my body with oil and caused the allergy for anytime I have too much oily/greasy kinds of foods. I didn’t find any creams to help — although cold packs seemed to help relieve the pain the swelling was still there. Benadryl did it for me!
Hi, I usually don’t eat anything before work but today I had a sandwich about 2 hours before I left the house. It consisted of tomatoes, lettuce, processed cheese, pepperoni and mustard on a sub bun. I didn’t have anything else until I got to work and had 2 sips of a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I was at work for about 30 minutes when my hands started getting uncontrollably itchy. It started on my right hand and then moved over to my left, both my hands got really red too. I tried putting on some cream to moisturize my hands but it didn’t work they continued to itch. Then my feet started itching as well, it was unbearable how itchy they got. I had to run to the bathroom, take off my shoes and socks and wash the soles of my feet with warm water and antibacterial soap, it did calm them down a bit but not much. I also washed my hands at this time too. Then I dried my feet and put my socks on inside out, thinking it might be my fabric softener? I went back to work and my feet and hands continued to itch for approximatly 45 minutes. Finally the itching went away. I still don’t know what made me itch, someone suggested tomatoes but that never happened to me before so I don’t know.
I have been struggling with itchy hands and feet for about five years. I can’t tell whether it is from stress or something I eat, but I can tell everyone that I found a treatment accidentally this year. For some reason I decided to take Claritin for my sinus allergies this past fall. After about a month I noticed I didn’t have itchy hands and feet. I didn’t know why at that at time and then allergy season was over and wham I had unbelievable itchy hands and feet again. After reviewing what had changed in my routine I realized it was the Claritin. I kept my diet the same but started taking Claritin in the morning. Sure enough I haven’t had itchy hands or feet again. Now, I am only taking 1 Claritin every other morning and still no itchy hands or feet. It is obviously an allergy of some sort, but I don’t know what and that will be my next venture. I am really glad I stumbled upon this treatment now, it is true relief.
hello. I just went to the local street fair and had a combo hummus and tabbouleh with pita bread. shortly after eating it, my palms of my hands and bottom of my feet started itching like crazy. I sneezed about 10 times, nose became very stuffy and both eyes are swollen. another strange reaction!