I've suffered from an itchy scalp, itch down my spine, and all around my waistline since about 1990. At first I thought it was heat rash, because it got worse when I got hot in the summer. My dermatologist tried lots of meds, including tar shampoo, but the itch kept coming back. Finally, about 2005, I was pulling poison ivy, and got some juice from the root on my thumb. Well, a leather spot formed, then over the next week, the rash spread on both hands. Strange, it hit my middle and ring fingers at the same time, like it was traveling through my blood. But. I hadn't gotten any poison ivy on my right hand. Kind of freaked me out.
Internet search to the rescue. I found a product called Zanfel. Expensive as all get out, but I bought it anyhow. (It's cheapest at Sam's Club, but the pharmacy must order it.) Their website had tons of information on poison ivy, urushiol, and hundreds of satisfied customer testimonials (I'm now one of the satisfied customers). I mixed it with water as directed, used it as a soap, and washed it off. Low and behold, the itch stopped. Hum..... At that time I had an itchy rash all around my waist, and it was maddening. On the off chance, I thought, let's try the Zanfel. Amazing. The itch around my waist stopped within seconds. After using the Zanfel on my waist rash, it disappeared after several days. But when I got hot again, it came back. It took several months, but the waist rash no longer occurs when I get hot. I've been using Zanfel on my scalp and along my spine now for several years, and that itch has diminished, too. Rather than being an every-single-day itch, it is now an I-got-too-hot-outside itch, but even then, the Zanfel "washes off" the itch for at least 6 hours, usually longer. I have gluten problems, and have heard of the "celiac itch". Whether this is what I'm experiencing or not, I don't know, but I know that using Zanfel relieves my itching for 6 hours or more. It also relieves the itch of mosquito bites and chiggers. For any itch, I now try Zanfel first, and if the itch stops, then returns in a few hours, I continue using the Zanfel until the itch stops coming back. It seems to me, though it may not be medically true, that the Zanfel washes off what is "on top", then after a few hours the itch source "oozes" out again, causing the itch to start back. That's why I have to continue using until the itch no longer comes back.
Another product that works on itching is the clear Benadryl Gel I squirted some in a small medicine bottle that has a dropper, and take it with me everywhere. Fast relief from the itch of poison ivy, chiggers, and mosquito bites, but it leaves the "itch material" on the skin.
