Help! I am having a heck of a time with itching while exercising...when I was younger this happened whenever I went for walks in wet, cold weather. My legs would itch ferociously, easing as soon as I rested in a warm place.

In the last week, it's been happening again! I was fine on Wednesday while doing 45 mins of strength training, but when I hopped on the elliptical for a quick workout, I found that my legs, my belly, my shoulders all itched painfully. I had to end early because it was so painful! On Saturday, we took a long walk with the dog at a local park. It had just rained and was rather cold. About 3/4 of the way through, my legs started itching...it was actually painful, it itched so much. We had to stop after only one lap.

This morning, I did my strength training and then hopped on the elliptical. After only a couple minutes, there was the itching again. It seemed to start in my belly (the areas with fat...maybe they get less circulation?), then move to my shoulders and my legs. I had to stop halfway through because the itching was so intense. I was fine in the locker room, but as soon as I stepped outside, my knees started itching and then my whole legs. By the time I got to my car, I was almost crying and totally nauseous because it was so itchy it was painful. Like an overload of sensations.

Maybe I'm not dressing warmly enough...but I would really like to know if anyone else is having this problem? I don't want to stop exercising!

Hi Laurie! That sounds just horrible!! I haven't experienced it myself, but I did a quick search on the internet for you and I found this article:

http://walking.about.com/cs/med/a/sensitchylegs.htm

There were others too that you may want to read... I just did exercise+itching in Yahoo.

Hope it helps!

P.S. Just editing to add (after reading the article,) I hope this article doesn't cause you extreme alarm! That wasn't my intent. It certainly doesn't sound like you have the more extreme symptoms that some people get. Good luck with this and please let us know any developments.

Oh, Laurie! That's horrible, hon!
The page that Kris suggested looks good. I would check this out with your doctor. (the good one, not the quack)
It might also be prickly heat. Or it could be what you're wearing.
I hope it clears up soon, sweetie...

I have had that happen to me too. If I haven't worked out for a while when I first start back I get the itching but only during cardio. It itches burns like I don't know what, but I have found that if I keep going, day after day, then after about two to three workouts, it doesn't happen anymore. I always chalk it up to the fat in body reacting to my exercising to get rid of it. One time, it was so bad, I scratched until my legs bled. OMIGOSH it hurts but if you keep working out, hopefully your body will get used to the cardio and not itch anymore.

Tiki.

This has happened to me from time to time. It's usually worse for me if someone has just mowed their grass. NOTHING makes me itch like that. Anyway, I find that taking an over the counter antihistamine a half hour to an hour before I exercise under those conditions can be very helpful.

Tiki, thanks! That's exactly what I mean...if people in the gym hadn't been staring (and if I hadn't been likely to fall off the elliptical like a character from the Muppet Show) I would have itched until I bled. Ouch!

Good point, Fuzzy. And thanks everyone else for the support and good advice. The article was great...after looking through a bunch of stuff on the web, I've concluded that I don't totally fit any of the conditions, so I put in a call to my doctor (the good one...good point, Ellis! ). We'll see what she says. If I don't talk to her before cardio tomorrow, I'm going to take a Claritin and see if that helps. No way am I missing Jazzercise! I hope that you are right, Tiki, and that it will work itself out. I miss my cardio!

Oh my gosh I am soooo glad you asked about itchin cause I do that when I am able to exercise and thought it was just me! So I'm not so unique after all! haha Thanks. Now when I am finally able to start exercising again I will know I'm not alone. haha