Scratching, Scratching and more Scratching

sweepmore

It never quits.  She has scared herself and I just keep plugging the leaks.  I have tried EVERYTHING.  Dermatologist said it was a part of the disease.  Googled it and yes there are a lot of Alz patients that do this.  I have tried lotions, oils, pills, changed washing detergent to hypoallergenic, don't bathe by 3 times a week, Cotton pjs,  but mom still scratches till she is bloody.  I even bought mitts (which she still scratches with) but when I take them off buddy she goes for it.  Fingernails are almost non existent from me cutting them super short.  She is on a low dose SSRI.  When I hold her hand, her fingers are moving as if she is scratching.  Why did I get this part of this crappy disease?  Usually I don't get any replies, but here's to trying.

Goodtogo

Hi sweepmore,  scratching and picking can be the worst.  

Besides the mitts I found the arm sleeves with thumb holes helped.  My LO left her legs alone, but I did use similar stockings at times.  The down side with the stockings was with the bathroom.  You can find these on Amazon.

She had thin skin and would bleed easy.  I don’t recall her scratching her face much.  I kept her nails short too.  

I had limited success with fidgets toys similar to popping bubbles.  I found if I could keep her fingers moving she didn’t seem to scratch as much.  

Good luck, hopefully you’ll find a combination of something to work work.

May flowers

I really feel your pain. My FIL picked and scratched himself non stop for almost a year. I was constantly treating wounds, and like you nothing I did helped, lotions, antihistamines, anti-anxiety medicine, distraction, short nails, fidget toys, mittens… I tried keeping him occupied as I didn’t know if it was from boredom or anxiety. It was very hard to deal with.

I did use tegraderm film on the sores, and he would pick at those instead of his skin. 

This stage did pass, thankfully. It may have helped that he was put on an antipsychotic for another behavior, it may have helped this behavior as well.

harshedbuzz

sweepmore-

I am sorry you are dealing with this. It sounds really miserable.

I wonder if bumping up or swapping out the SSRI might help fade this compulsive behavior as it does from similar self-injury including picking and trichotillomania (hair pulling). Anecdotally, I've have seen people do well on Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro for this. If that doesn't work, a low-dose atypical antipsychotic might calm things down. 

I've never used Tegraderm, but found Liquid Bandage worked well for smaller wounds. My son, who is one spectrum, used to "pick" at wounds and this worked well against that.

HB

hardcore mother

Thanks for bringing up this issue. My mom scratches her arms until she bleeds. Her skin is so thin, and she often would wake up with blood on the pillow and sheets. I tried cortisone and other creams, but they didn't help. When her nails wouldn't work, she would ask me for a hair brush to scratch herself with, so keep an eye out for that. I also try to keep her in long sleeve with the cuffs buttoned, so at least she can't get to her skin. 

I'm sorry you are going through this, and I hope you're able to find some relief for yourself. 

mommyandme (m&m)

I’m so sorry for this troubling issue.  I understand also.  I’ve tried many things too.  If my moms hands are idle, well then they’re picking at her skin, wounding herself.  She must have something to mess with like stuffed animals, strings, fidgets etc.. I keep fingernail polish on her simply because she focuses on picking it off her nails.  Sometimes a book in her hand helps.  I gave her a bunch of her pretty necklaces that kept her busy for a full day, one day down.  It’s horrible and frustrating for sure.  I’ve put bandaides on her fingers and finger cots.  I wonder if Lorazepam or something like that might help your LO.  It seems my mother’s fixation isn’t because her skin is actually itchy though.  She finds any imperfection or dry skin patch and goes after it.  Then of course makes an imperfection (scab) to keep after.   Hydrocolloid bandaides have helped us too, at times.  

I really hope you can find a solution that will help.  

jfkoc

My dermatologist says to use Zyrtec and Cerave cream, not lotion. You might give it a try.

mabeene

Sorry to see you're going through this for I know how sad and frustrating it is to watch as they scratch their self and rub themselves raw from what I see in our LO as mostly anxiety. Nothing we tried ever seemed to help. The mitts seemed to cause even more anxiety and she would rub and beat her wrist and hand against the bed rail or wheelchair causing bruising trying to get it off. Meds didn't work either. She has only one arm with 2 fingers on that hand that work so things like fidget spinners or anything else for that matter that involves to hands is useless. For the last month the sores and rashes from scratching have cleared up and now we are fighting another battle as the dementia is worsened to the point of I think end of life stage. I hope you can find something to help for as we never did. The posters here are full of great advice.it just takes time and effort to find the thing that works for your LO. Just wanted to chime in and say you're not alone in dealing with this sort of behavior.

LJS45

So sorry you are going through this. My mom suffers from anxiety and depression and she used to pick at her arms constantly until they would bleed and get infected. She has scars. I tried putting sleeves on her and she would not always cooperate. When I told her she needed to stop picking her reply was that she needed to get it out, meaning the scabs. The behavior stopped when her doctor put her on seroquel and celexa. Perhaps there needs to be a change in her medication since it sounds like you have tried just about everything. Good luck to you!

Grandot

This discussion is so helpful. I thought my husband was the only picking and scratching. I bought sleeves from Amazon and he likes to wear them. His left arm is covered with sores from the scratching. After encouraging him several times yesterday to not pick he yelled at me and said I can’t help it!! That was a telling moment because he really can’t help it.

Emily 123

My mom would pick at her face in one spot, but since her provider put her on Lexapro it's abated.