The FastDay Forum

Fair play to you Tigs3 for posting this.

I was going crazy with itchy skin on my tummy, back and legs.
The chemist suggested an anti-histamine, which i tried but i could barley keep my eyes open from drowsiness. Given that one of my favourite aspects of this diet was the increased energy, I wasn't willing to suffer that and opted for scratching instead.

However last week and this week it's really eased off,
I would say it was at it's worst around week 4 & 5 of the diet.
So perhaps as somebody said earlier, my body may have been detoxing.

How brilliant that we can all muddle through this stuff together
learning from each others experience on this forum.

[carorees]

Hi all

I've been trying to find out some info about this but all I can find is anecdotal reports on the internet, with speculation as to what causes it from detoxing to nutritional imbalance. So it looks as if it is quite common but yet no-one in the medical community appears to have mentioned or investigated it! I'll keep looking but please do update this page if you find it is a temporary phenomenon or discover a cure so we can inform new sufferers!

Me too , how strange I was putting down to the dust as we are having new kitchen , bu t did wonder whether it could be the diet !

You might try looking into candida die off as a source for your itchiness. Lowering carbs and sugar kills candida, which is a good thing, but causes several side effects until you get your candida under control.

I'm itchy just reading this! But I have been really itchy the last 3 days, only thing I could think was a new supplement I was taking, so stopped and feel OK today - I also developed hives on the soles of my feet...erk!

My psoriasis patches on my elbows have improved while I am on 5:2. Using cetaphil moisturiser on lower legs which stops dry skin there
But have itchy hands have been blaming running to loo more due to keeping up fluids washing hands ++ and not bothering with hand cream. Can we have some nerdy input to this please?

I know I should not laugh but we appear to be an itchy bunch ((( )))

[carorees]

Still can't find anything about itching and fasting or weightloss but I did find a link between low vitamin D and itch. Since vitamin D deficiency is particularly common in obesity perhaps reducing the food intake can lower it a bit further and trigger the itch? Just a thought! Anyway, here's the paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21 ... 98/related

[janeg]

Is there a link between raised bilirubin levels and itching skin? Just a thought as some other people have been asking about gout...

[carorees]

I didn't think there was any connection between bilirubin and gout? And a quick look at pubmed find no studies reporting itching with slightly raised bilirubin, only in connection with biliary obstruction.

I hope that it might be a repairing of your skin. I know that often a scab will itch so maybe years of skin damage is getting a chance to recover. I stared using a cream on my skin once that was a repairing cream. I came out in a rash before getting better. Recovery of my skin was why I persevered. It's a nice thought. Maybe we will all have the skin of a twenty year old again.

We can but hope convert52

I'm pleased that you have all found each other so that you can compare notes and hopefully find a solution but I just wanted to say that I get ezcema on the palms of my hands and since I have been following 5:2 it has completely disappeared. I have had it for about 18 years. It seems to have gone as quickly as it came. Weird.

Well I was just about to post about itchy skin, and thought I would do a search first - and look what I find!
I have only had eczema or dry skin when I had babies and had to wash hands so much, not otherwise, but I do now have generalised itching, especially on fast days. It clearly is associated with fasting or weight loss in some way.

I have had really itchy arms and legs lately. Didn't think it could be the diet but maybe it is. Just thought it was my skin becoming more dry due to ageing!!