Candida? Is this a thing? I know about opportunistic candida infections, having survived the mother of all utis last year, but I’m reading about candida overgrowth in the body causing skin itchiness among other symptoms, some of which she does have. I’ve completed a couple of quizzes that indicated she is “very likely” to have this. But I’m always suspicious when I’m then led to order a product or program. Any feedback on this?
Be skeptical about candida.
I had a miserable itch (not systemic, but somewhat localized) which seemed to go away when I washed the furniture where it contacted my skin with liquid castile soap. I suspect it’s the lemon oil in a lot of cleaning products.
Xerosis in the elderly is extraordinarily common. Treating it isn’t always easy because the oil glands in peoples’ bodies shut down as they get older. Usually some heavy-duty creams (not lotions, creams) or even ointments can help immensely. Aquaphor and Eucerin are both excellent.
Some words from the Cleveland Clinic:
Do read more from the site, it is quite thorough.
This. It’s been oversold as a “cause”.
Go back and try the simple stuff. See a gerontologistif you can find one.
ETA: Mona Lisa Simpson is onto something with the compounded treatment. I’ve used a mixture of Eucerin ointment, Curel cream, and my steroid ointment in the winter. My legs and hands get awful (eczema).
Grumpy bunny, I have put in many years working with seniors mixtures and concoctions, lotions and potions seem to be every nurse’s own trade secret. Like I mentioned out floor physician was extremely fond of ordering GEW cream with hydrocortisone. For raw bottoms without broken or excoriated skin my colleagues and I liked to mix up Vasaline, zinc oxide and a few squirts of Curel. I could apply it and remove it easier than zinc alone, it provided a moisture barrier for the skin and it was easy to mix up a few days worth at once.
Now there are more commercially prepared creams that are bought by the facility. The most common one is petroleum jelly and zinc oxide. I still miss the blue green denture cup mixed with our “butt savers goop”
Wouldn’t candida be eliminated with the elimination diet the allergist has her on?
I just found out she occasionally (maybe once a week) was using scented Dove soap. So we’ve discontinued that. She only showers 2-3 times a week, and only uses soap 1-2 times a week. I’ve also reminded her to use her ointments and/or oils every day. She has tried so many that I can’t even tell you the names, both prescription and otc. I might see about mixing up something like what’s described above, and see if that helps.
She said this morning she is feeling “slightly” better, but that’s happened before.
Thank you again for all the feedback, she is so impressed with my friends “on the computer.” 
How about plain coconut oil?
She’s using plain coconut oil now, and I may make her up a concoction of some good skin care oils soon.
Tentatively good news today: she reports that she feels better now than she has for a long time. So maybe the food restrictions and/or the unscented soap (gah, I hate corporate soap. Will get her some handmade castile asap) are helping. <knocks wood>
This was one of the symptoms when my gallbladder flared up - the itchiness was, in fact, worse than the pain. It was fairly localized (hands and feet), and over a short period of time (48 hours), and I was in fact feeling utterly wretched during the flare (largely due to the sleep loss associated to the itchies).
I gather the OP’s mother’s itching is more widespread, but still it would be a good idea to make sure her liver functions are checked out.
I have a similar condition, and have found CeraVe cream under a layer of a prescription steroid ointment to be somewhat helpful. Socks and gloves on top of that.
Papergirl’s experience with the attitudes of the dermatologists unfortunately mirrors my own. No one seems interested about getting to the cause of the condition, or so it seems. I wish you luck.
I had random itchy spots before my infected kidney stone was found and (mostly) removed. I ended up using Gold Bond Medicated powder to alleviate the itch.
So far, it looks like it may be a milk allergy. She cut dairy products for 2 wks and felt that her itchiness was “75% improved”…I don’t think it was quite that dramatic, but she definitely was sleeping better and complaining less.
Now she is trying milk again (per doctor’s advice), and is having more itchiness. So I’m thinking dairy is out for her. It would make sense; she was practically living on yogurt and cereal with milk there for several months because she wasn’t feeling well.
She still needs to introduce eggs and a few other foods back into her diet, so we’ll see what else causes problems.
I’ve made a list of other suggestions for her doctor to look at…liver function, thyroid, several other ideas discussed here. I so appreciate all the input!
This, and your milk products entry rang bells for me.
When my mother was in her 70’s and 80’s she had her thyroid reduced and was taking some kind of medicine to compensate for the loss. Then the itching began. After a lot of tests, someone in our family recognized the itch as a symptom of thyroid med side-effects. Turned out Mom was taking 2 pills a morning, rather than one at night and one in the morning. Yeah, it was 2 pills a day, but…
Then, months later, the itching returned, primarily on the legs and back. A review of her medicine (and dose/schedule) showed no weirdness. A dermatologist looked at her whole body and then ran some sensitivity tests. It turned out she was “always cold” and didn’t realize she was par-boiling herself every time she took a (scalding hot) bath. To her, the baths felt lukewarm! But doing that to the skin was making it lose oils and crack and itch.
And the milk comment made me wonder if it’s cultured milks like yoghurt culture may be causing allergies, not the milk itself.
–G!
I’m definitely not a doctor.
I’m just anectdoting and speculating.