[raebeaR]

Everytime I lose weight, the fattest parts start to itch. I walk around scratching like a flea-bitten dog! My tummy gets it worst (especially "the apron"), but this time it's closely followed by my chest, hips and thighs. Gawd!!

I've always chalked this up to shrinking skin. I HOPE it's shrinking skin. I'm losing slowly, and I hope the consolation prize for this is shrinking skin.

Does this happen to anyone else??

Excuse me while I go scratch some more!!

Rae

[rockinrobin]

No, I can't say that I've experienced this. And lord knows my skin has shrunk. But, and I'm not really sure if this is valid or not, I use moisturizer - a lot. All over.

Good luck on your weightloss and I hope this clears up quickly. I'd definitely try some moisturizer if I were you. I love Nivea.

[CLCSC145]

Hi Rae!

I remembered this post from earlier in the month. Towards the bottom there is a pretty good answer to your itching question. Good luck!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...hlight=itching

[raebeaR]

Thanks to you both for your replies, Robin and CC. Not sure how I missed Mug's original itchy thread -- maybe I wasn't itching that day!

The exercise thing is fascinating, and it makes sense. The foods I'm eating aren't all that different than what I usually eat, just a whole lot less of them and with healthful substitutions where appropriate. I'm drinking lots more water, so skin is probably better hydrated than usual.

I'll definitely start moisturizing more regularly and will try the fish oil as well, but if itching is one of my punishments for slothful living, then I'll just have to get through it... I refuse to be deterred by something so dumb!!

Thanks again for your help.

Rae

[MugCanDoIt]

Yes, yes, yes! I have that problem. I scratched so hard in some places it was making it red and a sore!!!

[endlessly]

Oh my friend! I am dealing with this! My stomach is itching like crazy. Ugh.
I thought it was all in my head. LOL

[1oftheLuvs]

Me too! We're staying at our property in Virginia this summer which is wooded, so at first I thought it was bug bites... chiggers or something like them... Then after staying inside for a few days and still itching I though it was hives of some kind. I'm glad to know what's really going on...

[Dr Geri]

Wow, this is enlightening! I just washed everything made of fabric in my house, thinking I was having some kind of allergic reaction. It appears, however, that my capillaries are allergic to inactivity.

Here's one question though... whereas other folks seem to be itching in places where they are losing inches and the article from the previous itching thread references itching in the limbs, my itching seems to be especially concentrated at the base of my neck. I have PCOS, and I have noticed that the itchiness is on the same neck skin discolored by acanthosis nigricans. Any Cysters out there who can explain this itching weirdness?

Geri

[sockmonkey70]

My tummy and my thighs itch like CRAZY sometimes after working out! You are not alone sistah.

[sweetnsassyfied]

I've had a simular problem but mine occured everytime I went from sloth mode to fit active babe. My legs, belly, back would itch incessantly. I wanted to pull my skin off! It was terrible.

So after doing a bit of research this is what I had found... amazingly enough right here at 3FC.

"Itchy skin usually occurs during exercise performed after a long period of inactivity. The itching is not on the skin, it's inside the actual limbs. There are millions of tiny capillaries and arteries inside our muscles which expand rapidly due to the demand for more blood that is brought on by exercise. When fit, these capillaries remain open allowing maximum blood passage, but when unfit and inactive they tend to collapse, allowing only minimal blood passage (which is sufficient for a sedentary person however). The rapid expansion of these vessels causes adjacent nerves to send impulses back to the brain which are interpreted as an itch. That's why after a few sessions the sensation tends to go away. Just another indication of increasing fitness levels."

Source: Maximus from the John Stone Fitness Forum on 02/09/04 (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/a...php/t-830.html)