Constant itchiness

[Angel03]

Hi, I'm still fairly new here and made a post about my grandmother being in the hospital with aspiration pneumonia. At the time she was in a delirium and didn't recognise me at all. Thankfully the delirium passed after a day and she was discharged and back home again. While she is mostly back to how she was before she went into hospital but there are a few concerning changes in behavior.

She seems to get agitated in the early evening. She'll constantly fixate on something trivial like whether she's had her breakfast or whether she's had her tablets, she will also keep asking me to phone a doctor to check her breathing even though it's fine. I suspect she's started sundowning but the worst is she's calling during the night with these queries. A few nights it's been constant through to the early hours of the morning and I'm getting practically no sleep.

Another thing that's started more recently (and this may sound silly) but as night draws in she will start to complain of an itchy bottom and will constantly shout me up so I can lift her body up to scratch. Some nights it seems to go on every five minutes until she tires herself out. I've tried to wash the area even more thoroughly than normal but as soon as night draws it starts. The itchiness is now happening during the day but in her legs and she's constantly scratching, I suspect this is the dementia and it's all in her head but has anyone else experienced this and have any thoughts how to get her to focus on something else other than her itchiness or very least help her to drift off to sleep at night as currently I'm running on a few hours a night.

 

[genevieve 76]

Hi, about the itchiness, my husband is bedridden and complained a lot about itchiness, when he was in respite they suggested a wash called hibiscrub, this worked for a while, probably because he thought it was magic as they used it in the carehome. I've also tried calamine cream, if the itching is in her head, perhaps using a cream would soothe her especially if you talk it up saying it will make her feel better. As for the sundowning, there's a lot of help on here if you search for it. In my case I have a routine, cup of tea, same film on tv, try not to stress when he takes pads off and throws them on floor and shouts to leave him alone. Somedays it works, Somedays I cry or swear or have a glass of wine. Being woken through the night wears you out, could you put radio on quietly so she thinks there's someone there.

 

[Lawson58]

Have you checked that your grandmother doesn‘t have a fungal infection? It can be quite common in people who require pads as the fungus thrives in a warm moist environment.

Before dismissing this as being dementia, it could be worth having a chat to your pharmacist as there are many over the counter products availabLe to treat such infections. They may cool the itch for a while anyway.

 

[Jools1402]

Could possibly even be pin worms (caught in hospital) They itch a lot more at night

 

[Angel03]

I'd like to thank you all for the advice. I should have said at the top that Nan is also bed bound and has been since before Christmas from long standing mobility problems. Even though I turn her every so often I thought maybe the itchiness in her bottom was the beginnings of a pressure sore (she already had one on one of her heels). I asked a district nurse who comes to check her sore her opinion and she seems to think it's possible that it's her incontinence pad as we still use the regular ones which aren't designed for bed bound people.

As for the itchiness in her legs I've not discounted other things but I'm still relatively sure it's in her had. The past two days she has a new obsession when sundowning instead of the itchiness which she has forgotten (at least for now). I had the first call with an Admiral Nurse who tells me since she's bed bound it should be ok for her GP to prescribe her something to help her sleep. I'd prefer not to medicate her if possible but it may be the only way for both of us to get some decent sleep.

 

[Reds]

My husband used to itch all over and would end up scratching himself badly particularly his legs. After years of this and eliminating things that could of caused it such as some washing products it turned out that tomatoes and anything with any trace of tomatoes in it caused the itching. He doesn't now generally itch.

May be something is causing the itching you have mentioned.

Reds