Are itchy hands ever a symptom of detoxing? It's only on random spots on my hands, and there are a few tiny, skin colored bumps. I've had these symptoms before (a couple times a year, usually on one spot on one hand), and now it seems all at once.

I've been mostly raw for 3-4 weeks, lost about 14 lbs, but now that I'm almost 100% this symptom has come to the surface. I recently had bloodwork done by a holistic MD (before raw), so I assume it's not anything serious. I thought it could be a liver detox thing since liver stuff can make the hands itch, or an estrogen-detox thing since estrogen is stored in fat cells and I've been losing so much fat.

Anyone had this symptom? Especially when going raw?

Thanks!
Shayla

Hi--

I don't have any answers per se, but I can tell you I've experienced that. I had never had anything like excema or psoriasis before, but I did get itching and dry flaky areas when I first tried raw about 4 years ago and it was very psoriasis, etc, like---as it is labeled. I guess it is some sort of elimination. I don't know what of, from where, etc. It was a mystery to me then and now. A few things I read mentioned starch elimination, or starch and sugar.

I was so confused. And, I read, the skin is not that primary of an elimination organ---maybe there is such an excess to eliminate that some is being shoved out of the skin---because it seemed to me to be a primarily active elimination site!!

If you come across any interesting info, let ME know, heh heh!

Good luck, hope it is over soon. Water helped me a little. (soaking) I had it on my arms and body and I soaked in tub, my only relief.

Elakti

Crazy! I get itchy hands too!
I had scabies a couple of years ago (GOD, that sucked) and I thought I'd gotten it again when this started happening, but I was just overreacting. I guess it's reassuring to know it's some sort of elimination.
And yes, it's stopped for the most part.

Haha your post is soo funny because i was going to post the same thing as i saw the topic i was like hmm weird.my right hand thumb and index finger are itching like crazy i didn't even want to stop itching it to type haha i dont know if it detox bu ti do know other detox symptoms hit me a little hwile ago and now this..so it could be tied in
love earthangel
xoxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Yeah, I get the same itchies...I use tea tree oil over it at night and most of the time clears up overnight. I dont know what it is either, Ive been raw over 2 years and this seems to come and go. I try to figure if maybe I am allergic to some food I eat, but my diet is pretty varied everyday and I havent been able to track it yet. So good luck, maybe try the tea tree oil? I also found that red clover hand salve worked, then they stopped selling it where I got it. Now I dont even remember where I got it...hummm...I think the brand was Watkins...

Not sure if this will help, but hope it might. I found that if I don't vary my greens enough (i.e. eat a lot of spinach too often) that i get a little rash on my hands. It seems to go if I rotate my greens as much as poss. In V. Boutenko's book on green smoothies, she mentions the importance of rotating greens and getting plenty of variety. There is some kind of poison (I think ???) in them which is why animals browse their greens when they eat and eat a variety). Probably Mother Nature's way of preventing overeating of one particular green.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2007 03:59PM by vegan john.

Hmm...I've been using tea tree and/or lavendar oil and they both seem to help. It's not cleared up yet, but it's getting there. I'll look for the red clover salve next time I'm at the HFS. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't really vary greens, either. I pretty much only eat romaine for my leafy greens. When I was eating a little cooked food I'd eat turnip greens and collards too, but I don't like them raw. That could be it.

My main reason for thinking it was a detox thing is that during pregnancy women can get rashes/itching on thier hands, either from estrogen or from the liver being taxed where stuff (bile acids, maybe?) get built up in the skin and make you itchy. So I suppose in theory it could happen when not pregnant when major changes are taking place in the diet and the liver is trying to process all the stuff being released into the bloodstream during detox.

One interesting thing I've noticed that the joint stiffness and soreness in my hands upon waking (part of the fibromyalgia I've been "diagnosed" with) has been gone since the itching started. From a homeopathic/naturopathic viewpoint this is a positive thing, meaning that the inflammation within my body has become external so that my body can rid itself of it. Now we shall see if it continues...

Thanks for all the replies. Nice to know I'm not alone!

Shayla