Itch relief?

Pika

So in the middle of the night last night, I woke up with a rash all over my right forearm, and a little on my left elbow. By the morning I had subconsciously spread it to my right eyebrow, behind my right ear, and on part of my thigh by scratching while asleep. I've taken Benedryl, and I've been putting hydro cortisone on it, but it just started to itch SO MUCH more! Any ideas to help the itching and help it heal faster?

Not sure on the cause. No change in diet, no change in surroundings. I'm thinking my Chesapeake Bay Retriever did it. She's been cuddling up with me in bed the last two or three days, and her wirey hair isn't exactly cottony soft. Otherwise I have no leads. We've already changed all the sheets and bedding, and she's permanently banned from the bed.

Any way, I'm going crazy and the hydro cortisone isn't working anymore for some reason! Help! ARG!

radroadkill

Calamine lotion? Or aloe.

Pika

Ain't doin' a goddamn thing. This is like super rash or something. It's been 24 hours now, and it hasn't gotten any better, and I keep freakin' spreading it because I'm retarded and scratch unknowingly. I think I'm just gonna try and get an appointment with my doc.

Hypatia

Gold Bond actually does help with the itching, so does tiger balm, you might not like the smell of either though!

The Cat

Definitely doctor time. You may have just picked up some Tinea-ey thing that needs a prescription cream (the spreading certainly makes it sound like a fungus rather than an allergy). It happens.

Pika

I actually love the smell of tiger balm. The swelling and the redness has gone down, but it itches even more today. Plus sometime in the middle of the night I spread it to just under my left eye. I am dreading going out in public now. I look like a god damn leper.

Bliss 101

My first thought was scabies, an insanely itchy mite I've been unfortunate enough to catch twice. It's an absolute nightmare to get rid of, but in my experience it doesn't spread from one part of the body to the next nearly as fast as what you're describing. Could be a fungal infection like The Cat said. I've had one of those too, on my face, a nasty rash that spread extremely fast, but disappeared equally fast after I got anti-fungal cream for it. You can get the fungus from dogs (I'm pretty sure that's where I got it); apparently it's usually asymptomatic and harmless on them, but can spread rapidly on people until our immune system adapts to it. Scratching is a great way to spread the infection, because the mechanical damage to your skin makes it easy for the fungus to settle in. Not sure what you can do to prevent yourself from scratching in your sleep though. Wear mittens at night?

Avoid hydrocortisone until you know for sure what's causing the rash. Hydrocortisone suppresses your immune system locally, which would only help a fungal infection spread.

If it does turn out to be fungal, remember that you need to keep applying the anti-fungal cream long after the symptoms have disappeared. The spores stay in your skin for weeks.

Pika

Just got back from the doc. It is an allergic reaction. They (a dermatologist saw me too, just to make sure it wasn't scabies) said it's just really really bad hives. So they prescribed me a ton of antihistamines. Tried the mittens things, but my hands got hot or something because I kept waking up with them off and missing somewhere. But the doc said the antihistamines should help a lot, and fairly quickly. Oatmeal bath for me right now, until the allergy meds kick in.

Thanks for all the advice dudes.

Artereis

Chlor-Trimeton is OTC allergy medication, and great for getting rid of hives.