Itching and Hodgkin's Disease (long)

Kaos said:

runr,
I hear the treatments can sometimes be hard, I am hoping for the best. Sure will be nice not to itch so much. Glad to hear your came out so well.
What test did they use to stage your HD? Thats my next step.

Kaos said:

Thanks for the replies.
I had a CAT scan and a bone marrow biopsy done. Nothing found in the bone marrow and the CAT scan showed I had affected glands in the left arm pit, chest and groin. Doctor calls me a stage III a/b. He did give me a good prognosis.
I started my first of 12 chemo treatments on 6/12/03; it took about 3 hours given in arm. I am going to get a medic port in the chest this week, not really looking forward to that either but I am convinced to get it.
I sure felt bad the third day after chemo, didn't get out of bed for about 16 hours for more than a minute or two. Hopefully the 2nd round won't be as tough. I feel great today.
Again, thanks for the replies.

Wally

Hi, Ive read all these posts with interest . I came on here because my aunt has been diagnosed with Hodgkins disease . However I suffer with itchy burns and so now am wondering about myself. About 2 years ago I started to get hot red patches that kind of burned and itched . Random times random places on body. To begin with these were mostly on my arms. I have also to be fair had a range of random symptoms over the years - elevated somthing or another in my blood for some time, achy legs , a couple of nodules near my thyroid whihc they did do a needle aspiration for a few years ago and werent cancerous, psorisis etc etc. Like someone else on here I also often get a pain in my arms and neck from alchohol(again inconsistent as to when and what might trigger that ). Not long after this started to happen my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died very swiftly . Traumatic time and the itching did go crazy massive hives etc. I understood the elevated stress caused elevated cortisol which is what controls these reactions in body. A couple of months after that I saw an allergy specialist who did skin prick test - I reacted to even the saline control and he said that showed my skin was too sensitised. I will agree that even cotton sheets at that point made my skin go nuts. I was diagnised with salliycylate allergy. Ive done the elimination process a few timnes and reduced obvious sources but honestly it didnt make much difference . It comes and goes . At the moment I'm going through a relatively quiet period but I will still get a few flare ups every week. Mostly its bright red burning patches can be anywhere - legs, arms , back, bum, neck  , I dont get hives so much but the skin goes bright red and itches and burns. I only take the fenofexadine allergy meds when I get a flare up as I refuse to take meds on a dialy basis think thats a sure fire why to poison myself over time. My dad was a pill popper(oh he also has mild leukemia for years ) and I dont believe that all medicine can be good for you. I do and have worried for a while now that there's more to this than an allergy and of course I am worried that maybe its hodgkinson . Both sides of my family everyone had died from cancer one way or another and a huge range of them too. Heres my problems - I've no lump (although haven't checked my thyroid again for a couple of years ), I'm a Brit and trust me when I say you cannot get the doctors to take you seriously in Uk anymore . Also when you suggest worries like this to anyone they treat you like a paranoid freak. I just want to check that I havent got something nasty. I currently live overseas I do ahve private medical insurance but medical isnt that great here , its ok but does cost a fortune and something like this Id have to cover myself . What blood tests would I need to check I haven't got cancer related itching . I can also probably persuade my UK doctor its time to recheck the thyroid nodules . Can anyone advise what should I ask for and have done to check myself out as best as possible. Basically without any other visible signs I'm sure I wont be taken seriously but Im in the prevention is better than cure camp . I feel I have a right to be certain this itching isn't something more . SOS please ! Thank-you

dpomroy said:

Hi,
I also had horrible itching particularly on the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet. Itching has so many possible causes that I suppose doctors like to rule out the more likely things first. Like you this itching was one of several weird symptoms that appeared before I was actually diagnosed. Another one was that whenever I had anything alcoholic to drink my neck and shoulders ached. I felt cuckoo going to the doctors with all of my strange complaints. I am surprised though that with your family's history that the doctor didn't think to check. My only advice Wally is to start keeping a notebook. Keep track of symptoms that show up, reactions to treatments, addresses and phone numbers of doctors, doctors appointments and questions that you will want answered. It's good to have all of your information in one place. I also suggest that when you go back to any doctor bring someone with you to be a second set of ears. I was surprised at how much more information I walked out with when I had that person with me. I don't know about you but I'm sometimes in a haze when I'm hearing some of that stuff. And YES, these days, they told me the cure rate for Hodgkins is well over 90 something percent. My oncologist was using the word cure not remission. Best of luck to you.

I have not been diagnosed yet.  I am still waiting for my biopsy to be scheduled but it is strongly suspected I have non hodgkins lymphoma.  I am also itching on the soles of my feet and my hands. I have a large cluster of masses in my chest completely surrounded by vital organs and major blood vessels.  They found it when doing a CT scan to do a heart surgery. The largest of the masses in the cluster is about 3x2 inches. I also have a mass growing in my right neck/shoulder and a tender area in my right arm pit. It is so frustrating to wait and not get on with treatment.  I am do a green juice fast while I wait.  I had heard making your body alkaline by drinking the juice from green vegetables helps stop the progression and may even shrink it so figured at least I can do something while I wait and it surely can't hurt.  I am 4 days in and feeling better than I have in a long time.