Al-Anon Family Group

The material presented here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method to exchange information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal level.

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: Itchy Skin


Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 19
Date:
Itchy Skin


Has anyone come across their As having itchy skin?  My (ex)ABF has had this thing for the past year where he constantly scratches his side overnight, to the extent that it wakes me up.  He doesn't even know he's doing it.  I've said to him about it and he claims it's to do with my cats but he's also done it when I've stayed at his where my cats have never been!  Has anyone else come across this?



__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 5663
Date:

Alcohol dries everything out including your skin. Not to mention alcoholics don't pay the best attention to hygiene so...that could explain it.

__________________


Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 19
Date:

well weirdly one thing he does do (when he's dry!) is totally take care of himself, almost obsessively!  I wondered if it might be anything to do with his liver as I've heard that that could be something to do with it?



__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 3026
Date:

My son can take up to 3 showers a night. He also has very dry skin and itches a lot. He also bangs his legs with a hammer because he said they hurt. Alcohol can and will destroy the body in many ways.

__________________

 Lord, put your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth

Speak only when you feel that your words are better than your silence.

 


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 5075
Date:

Hi flossy, how is the alcoholism affecting your health? Its poisoning him but whats it doing to you? I found that it was making me ill in many ways, the difference is I can work on my part in it, his symptoms are not mine to deal with.

__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 13696
Date:

 

 

I have  a itching condition and it is I believe neurological.  The nerves of the body are all interconnected and send signals all the time and for me often those are "itch"..."scratch" signals.   Nerve ending statements.  I have a VA MD's appointment on the 4th so this is a good reminders to ask again.  I've had the condition for years and may or may not have something to do with the disease...(((hugs))) smile



__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 7576
Date:

My skin itches and a lot of it is simply dry skin that was inevitable as a fair skinned person as my body aged. Unscented oil helps. There can be so many reasons for itching skin that could be simply remedied or not. The itching happens more at night for me and I'm not an A. My skin is very sensitive to various soaps, perspiring and various threads in garments and sheets. If it bothers him, a dermatologist might help or just using oil after a shower? Water dries out the skin, too, so 3 showers a day doesn't help the condition either. Regardless the cause, he will get help for it or he won't. It is obvious you care very much for your loved one and the scratching he does in his sleep. It doesn't seem to bother him, however, and maybe that can give you a little peace?

__________________

"Darkness is full of possibility." Leunig



Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 19
Date:

el-cee wrote:

Hi flossy, how is the alcoholism affecting your health? Its poisoning him but whats it doing to you? I found that it was making me ill in many ways, the difference is I can work on my part in it, his symptoms are not mine to deal with.


 

el-cee yes it's making me ill.  I'm starting to lose my zest for life.  I'm normally full of energy and always on the go.  At the moment I want to do nothing but sit on my sofa I'm so tired.  And I'm so tired because my head won't stop spinning with the chaos of it all.  It's relentless.  I feel miserable.  I feel guilty if I so much as have a single glass of wine with friends over dinner because he constantly asks why is it ok for me to have a drink but not him, despite the fact that I have NEVER drank when around him or knowing I will be because I think it's unfair.  Then he makes sure if I see friends he sees me afterwards so I can't drink.  Yet if I pull him up on it he says how he doesn't have a problem with me having a glass of wine with dinner!  I am starting to question my own sanity and his crazy making has got my head where it wants to explode and I'm occasionally getting migraines.  So yes, his miserable disease is poisoning my life as much as it's poisoning him.



__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 3613
Date:

Some kinds of addictive drugs can also cause itchiness -- opoids, in other words codeine and morphine.  Here's a Scientific American article on it: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/defeating-pain-without-the-itch/

I don't know if your A has other addictive habits, but I've heard this can be one sign.



__________________


Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 19
Date:

Thanks Mattie, that could well be it.  I don't know about currently but last year he bought a pack of codeine for 'ear ache' and while he was actually buying them he turned to me to tell me how addictive they were.  A couple of days later as he was leaving mine for work he muttered about taking some just in case.  When I got up I checked the packet as taking codeine 'just in case' raised warning signs for me.  At this point I knew nothing about codeine whatsoever as I don't generally take pain killers.  I was horrified when I discovered he'd been eating them like smarties pretty much.  Half the packet had gone in a matter of days!  I asked him not to take any more, he turned it around that I was going through his stuff despite the fact that he'd left them in my house, then swore he would stop taking them.  We split about 2 weeks after that when he upped the anti.  I didn't see him for 3 months but he did tell me that during that time he took oralmorph or something like that?  I know he had a drug abuse problem years ago and he ended up with drug induced psychosis smoking too much weed but he says it's only alcohol these days.  He says!



__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 5075
Date:

Its your sickness and your symptoms that are within your control. One symptom I had was the need to try and control the alcoholics in my life, this came out as mothering them which is enabling them to continue on self destruct mode. It was when I took my eyes off them and put them on me and the effects and symptoms I had, they took some responsibility for themselves for their own life. My ex had lots and lots of health issues that he never ever attributed to alcoholism, and it was all due to his disease so I wouldnt listen to his nonsense and excuses. No medication or band aids was going to fix the real issues he had of which alcoholism was a major symptom, everything else was a distraction away from that.

__________________


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 3613
Date:

It sounds as if you're learning more about how much addiction you're dealing with.  It's not unusual for an alcoholic to have other addictions going on.  Take good care of yourself.



__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.