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Aspergers and Itching Attacks?

Allana

Active Member
Hello Everyone

I'm new to this (Chat room/board). My son is 16 and has been put on the spectrum. He gets horrible itching attacks. The doctor says it's stress related. We have tried everything to resolve the issue (food, detergents, etc). The attacks stopped for quite some time but have recently returned.

Does anyone have any experience with this?
 
If he drinks chlorine dioxide, the answer is pretty easy to figure out.

If not, it could be the texture of his clothing or food allergies or that he burns easily (in the sun, for instance) or hair growth (god, sometimes I think I can feel my nails grow, let alone body hair) or any number of other things related to hypersensitivity.

Hyposensitivity too, if he touches say nettles or sandpaper without noticing until much later when it itches.
 
I would add, it's probably stress related not because the stress causes the itching (although some people do get hives), but rather because stress increases hypersensitivity for many of us. Therefore, if he is sensitive to something or prone to dry skin or has thyroid issues (many here do), those things could be more noticeable / more irritable than usual when he's under stress.

Being that he's a teenager, I think hormones are off sometimes and make hypersensitivity worse--even non-spectrum kids will feel hypersensitive or hyposensitive in their teens because of this.
 
If he drinks chlorine dioxide, the answer is pretty easy to figure out.

If not, it could be the texture of his clothing or food allergies or that he burns easily (in the sun, for instance) or hair growth (god, sometimes I think I can feel my nails grow, let alone body hair) or any number of other things related to hypersensitivity.

Hyposensitivity too, if he touches say nettles or sandpaper without noticing until much later when it itches.

Thank you for your response. The Chorine Dioxide is that MMR or CDS type product. Would you recommend we try it?
 
I would add, it's probably stress related not because the stress causes the itching (although some people do get hives), but rather because stress increases hypersensitivity for many of us. Therefore, if he is sensitive to something or prone to dry skin or has thyroid issues (many here do), those things could be more noticeable / more irritable than usual when he's under stress.

Being that he's a teenager, I think hormones are off sometimes and make hypersensitivity worse--even non-spectrum kids will feel hypersensitive or hyposensitive in their teens because of this.

Thank you so much for your response
 
The Chorine Dioxide is that MMR or CDS type product. Would you recommend we try it?

No, absolutely not. Mostly because it's poison. Painfull itching would be the least of his problems. See a doctor instead.
 
Welcome! Glad that you found us. As others have mentioned, it could be clothes/fabrics or even a shampoo or body wash, if that is new. People on the spectrum are known to have sensitivities. It could also be a reaction to a new medication if he is on one.

Either way, I hope that you find out what it is.
 
It could be due to stress,I noticed that I get a itchy rash on my neck when I have been under stress,but it also could be an allergic reaction to something like detergent or types of soap,my brother cannot use normal soap because he has dermatitis so he uses goats milk soap.
 
Other than detergents, labels and certain fabrics, I'm more likely to be itchy when tired. If he's stressed, he's probably not sleeping well.
Itching could also be seasonal. A common seasonal source of itching is grass in flower/seed.
Does he have a rash as well?
 
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I'm very itchy, but for me it's that I get allergic reactions to a lot of synthetic "chemicals" like the dye in blue jeans and some body products. I also like to scratch my skin lightly as a sensory comfort. My two things I'd look at is whether he is scratching at bumps/hives (allergy) and how hard he's scratching.
 
Thank you for your response. The Chorine Dioxide is that MMR or CDS type product. Would you recommend we try it?
I would take the reference to Chorine Dioxide as an 'inside joke' or a jab at those who believe in its efficacy - ie, it wasn't aimed at you or a proposed solution. It has been discussed on the forum before, and I don't think anyone here would support its use. It is much more likely to create problems than solve any.
 
I have had a horrible itching problem over the past few years. I tried everything, new detergents, benadryl, bombing for potential dustmites. I've covered myself in calamine lotion before bed. Nothing helps, and it's only at night, as soon as I lay down to sleep, it starts, and is one of the a few reasons I don't get enough sleep anymore.
 
Itching at night----I remember that.
I would get in bed at night and before I could go to sleep,
a bad feeling of small insects crawling on my skin.
I'd turn on the light, throw off the covers, look for the
crawly little things.

There were no insects.
I was hypoglycemic.
I had to change what I ate.

It doesn't happen anymore.
 
Itching at night----I remember that.
I would get in bed at night and before I could go to sleep,
a bad feeling of small insects crawling on my skin.
I'd turn on the light, throw off the covers, look for the
crawly little things.

There were no insects.
I was hypoglycemic.
I had to change what I ate.

It doesn't happen anymore.

Wow I wonder if being hyperglycemic would do the same?
 
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It seems like you have been going the "biomedical intervention" route, which, I shall be blunt, is highly frowned upon by those on the autism spectrum themselves. I have no idea as to the cause of your son's condition, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were too out-of-line with what could be considered, in some cases, a symptom of autistic spectrum disorder in and of itself. I don't know how best to treat it. It could simply be a manifestation of his autism; or, and I think this is something you should investigate further if you can, something else entirely. Many things can cause such feelings and they are not necessarily related to autism. There can be many co-morbid conditions that can serve to confound things. I am not a clinician and I really wish I could offer you more concrete advice, but I would definitely suggest seeking the help of one or more psychiatrists who specialize in autism and see what they think.
 
People with ASD are more likely to have autoimmune issues. Two of the most common are autoimmune thyroid disease and celiac disease. Both of these could cause itching. I would recommend testing thyroid levels and thyroid antibody levels and blood work for celiac disease. If neither of those come back positive, I'd suggest a 4-6 week trial off gluten, since non-celiac gluten sensitivity can also cause itching, but there's no test for it (other than seeing if eliminating gluten relieves the symptoms and restarting it will bring it back).
 
I am having a lot of itching and skin eruptions myself. I had to change my detergent and my shampoo to basically bar soap. I had to make a lot of changes because of this and my skin is far from dry. My friends and family on Facebook are pretty tired of hearing about this. I also have a pretty bad Gluten sensitivity and did not know that it could be related.


I will be following this thread to see what other information comes up.
 

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