I think I got freaking fleas...I can't stop itching.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

Fleas or lice...except my whole body itches. It's driving me crazy! Do lice make you itch all over?

[Skittles]

1. here's a way to gauge your flea problem

get a dinner plate and fill it with soapy water; then train a light very close to it. The fleas, attracted by the light, will jump into the plate and cannot get out due to the soapy water.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. I set it up, no fleas so far...

Leave it overnight?

[Skittles]

25. ya, leave it for a while

believe me, if you have any fleas you will see them in the plate

[radiofreesrini]

2. weird... psychic...

i have fleas too... any suggestions?

absolutely brilliant bear graphic by the way!

[Sannum]

3. Could it be hives?

Or sometimes, my nerve endings just go crazy and I just itch. It is usually brought on my stress.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. That might be it..

We have a break and all my projects and tests were held on Friday. Buuut they still have left many other projects and tests due next Monday.

What do you do? Is there anything to make it stop?

[FuzzySlippers]

8. Benadryl helps.

It might make you drowsy though.

[Sannum]

10. Try...

Try taking a hot bath to relax. It will help your skin too. Just don't put anything that would irritate it in the water.

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

6. Dry skin, maybe?

Try some lotion, it might help.

[murielm99]

7. I don't know your age, but

I felt like that frequently when I was going through menopause.

It is an acutal symptom, seldom discussed.

Don't be insulted if I have taken you for older than you are.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. No worries, thanks for the tip!

:) Im eager to hear all advice, it's driving me nuts. I can't sleep, hence my insomniac Du-ing. Im too young for menopause...but I look forward to the itching when it comes now that I know what lay ahead. :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

11. I checked out your thread because I thought you had a flea problem

My two dogs had fleas, this year, for the first time, ever. I was totally freaked out when I went to pick them up from the groomer, at PetsMart, and found that they had been transferred to their vet, next door, at Banfield. Do you have dogs? According to my vet, the flea problem is especially bad, this year. I am treating them with Frontline, which is supposed to be the best for this.

If it's just you that itches, you could have eczema. Do you have a rash? Or it could just be dry skin. I find that I itch when I have dry skin. I use a body lotion, after every shower, especially in the winter, when the air is dry.:shrug:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

13. I have never had it before, but it runs in the family

My mom has a very bad case of it. I completely forgot about that. My skin is reddish now, but I think that it is from all of the itching.

I don't have dogs, only cats. My cats are indoor, but we did have some strays I was caring for a few months ago.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. Well, as I told you, I was totally freaked out by this sudden flea problem

At my vet's, I was asked if my dogs spend a lot of time outside. And the answer is no. I take them out to do their business, and then they come in. I have been wishing for a fenced-in yard, but maybe this could only lead to further problems. My dogs have never had fleas before, but my vet said that this has been a really bad year for it, here in Upstate NY, with all the rain we've had.:-(

If your cats don't go out, then this isn't your problem, though the vet did say that it's possible to bring fleas in inadvertently, like on shoes, but you'd notice if your cats were bothered too. BTW, what happened to your strays? The one that I cared for, I eventually managed to bring inside, and she remained an indoor cat ever since, not that she minded.:loveya:

I'd see a doctor, since it seems to be bothering you so severely. I have had severe itching, due to dry skin, during the winter months, and my grandmother had the same symptoms. I also suffered from eczema for years, on my hands, and that drove me totally crazy, but there was a rash. BTW, the best over-the-counter skin care creams and lotions that I've found are Neutrogena. Their hand cream is the best, and they also make body lotions. I now also use a liquid moisturizing body wash when I shower, rather than soap. I now religiously use lotion, all over, after every time I shower, and I haven't had much of an itching problem in a while. Good luck with this. I've been there. And so have my little dogs.:hi:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Thanks everyone for the help

It was really nice of you all to offer ideas and suggestions. I owe you guys :)

[Historic NY]

14. could be seasonal changes, house tighten up for winter, etc.

If you have changed laundry habits or household soap that will do it, also as we get our houses ready for winter it make the air stagnet and dust mites etc. just love it. I tend to react to the chages myself and I'm male.

[Fed Up]

15. eat garlic, the fleas and lice will jump off you

once they get a taste of garlic blood. They can't stand it.

[Deja Q]

17. Will that work for crabs too?

:evilgrin:

[GingerSnaps]

18. You can't kill crabs unless

You boil them :evilgrin:

[Deja Q]

23. LOL!

:D

[GingerSnaps]

16. Do you have a cat or a dog?

I have never had lice but my Cat brought in fleas one time and they are a bitch to get rid of. They can't live on a human being but they can bite you. If you see a little black bug that looks like it is bouncing off of your cat or dog like it is on a trampoline then it's fleas. You can also check their fur by parting it and looking to see if there are black specks which is dried blood. If you have fleas you have to take all of your clothes to the laundrymat and then remove all living beings from the house birds, fish, cats and dogs and of course people and bomb your house and leave it for two hours. Then go home and open up your windows and let the fumes out and then shut the window and boomb a second time and open the windows and bring everyone into the house after the second bombing and then bomb again about 10 days later. My Mom found the fleas on our Cat and she tossed all of her furniture out and bought new because they wouldn't go away. They can get in your woodwork if the infestation is too bad.
:scared:

If you sat down on a toilet seat in a bar recently :eyes: it might be something else :evilgrin: Boil some water and enjoy your crustacean dinner :eyes: Good luck!

[NJCher]

19. having two cats, I know a bit about fleas

I don't think you have fleas. Like another poster said, a flea will bite you but not infest you, like it would an animal with fur. Fleas are attracted to warmth. You might not know if the flea is biting, however, if you aren't allergic to the bites.

Please be careful with chemical treatments--they can be worse than the fleas themselves. When the fleas are gone, the chemicals live on. Very dangerous.

If you really think you might have them, go to Happy Jack's. They have a flea trap that works well.

I thought my place might have fleas from my cats but it turns out that it didn't. I was just paranoid. But outside, which is a wooded area, there were some. Several years ago I sprayed nematodes to rid the area of fleas. While it took awhile for the nematodes to build up in numbers to eat the flea larvae, it did happen and now a flea outside here is a rare thing.

Cher

[bicentennial_baby]

20. Scabies?

Parasitic skin infection?
Too hot showers?
Hives?
Contact dermatitis?

[distantearlywarning]

22. Also A Weird Flea Problem Here

I don't understand it myself, as both my cats are indoor only, we live on the third floor, and it's mid November and 30 degrees outside!! Neither of them have ever had fleas before this year, ever in ten years, and we keep a very clean house.

It's like a bizarre winter plague or something - everybody in the house has thousand of itchy flea bites, including both the humans. The vet told me that he's seen at least 15 indoor-only cats with major flea infestations in the past two weeks (in November?!?!?!) - he said he's never seen anything like it in the 30 years he's been practicing.

I've had to spend the entire last week spraying and annointing and vacuuming and vacuuming and vacuuming, and I think I am finally starting to get the situation under control now.

I was joking with someone else that all my irritating problems come down to the bloodsuckers. Bloodsuckers in Washington + bloodsuckers in my house = unhappy life right now.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. My small dogs, who only go out to do their business

Have had fleas, this year, for the very first time, ever. My vet said that this a particularly bad year for fleas, because we've had so much rain. He said that they could inadvertently be brought in, even if the animals don't go out. My cats have always been strictly indoor, as well. I'm so sorry for your problem. It sounds much worse than mine, even though my dogs do go out and both picked up fleas. And you're sure right about the bloodsuckers!:-(