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Permalink Reply by Marcus McKinley on November 11, 2009 at 11:07am

Hey Nana007, how are you? I can feel your pain. This happens to me all the time with diluadid, morphine, oxycontin, and any other opiate based drug. When I am hospitilized my doctor gives orders for benedryl every 4 hours for the itching. Also I get benedryl when I am being transfused. I also buy a pack of benedryl like once a month for the meds i have at home. If i forget to take the benedryl it feels so bad, I am always scratching myself. And yea it is horrible!!

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Permalink Reply by Sickle Cell Warrior on November 12, 2009 at 8:46pm

LOL...this happens to be everytime I take opiates. I always scratch my skin off! Benadryl doesn't really work, it just zonks me out. If they give me 50mg every 4 hours, this helps but that dosage is somewhat high. So the compromise is Benadryl 50mg IV every 6 hours, with Atarax for breakthrough. I have to take the Benadryl before or right when I"m taking the pain medication or I'll be itching. The other thing is that this interaction most often occurs with Dilaudid...any dosage, whether the pill or the IV. I still itch with other opiates, but not as bad.

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Permalink Reply by sedika gazey on November 13, 2009 at 5:36am

Hi Nana007, Like the name by the way. I also have sickle cell disease and yes itching is a very common side affect. I too have scrached my self so bad that i ended up keeping my nails cut as sort as possible. I getting itchy right now just talking about itching. Besides cutting my nails short I found that a cool washcloth at hand is a better solution. And yes, benadryl is not a great except in large doses. Because its knocks you out for the better part of the day and theres really no living that you can do!!! I know when the pain kicks in its hard to concentrate on much except the pain...in my opinion. Ive found that looking to alternatives where you dont take any meds at all sometimes help me...I havent found the one for itching yet but Ill let you know when I find it.

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Permalink Reply by Nana007 on November 14, 2009 at 12:55am

I really feel as if its a know win situation. I'm going to be walking around half the day somewhat drowsy and scratching like crazy, or in the bed zonked out because of benedryl, and its true Sickle Cell Warrior unless I take it at the exact moment I take my meds it doesn't help at all.

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Permalink Reply by Neise on November 23, 2009 at 2:08pm

I too suffer from itching with narcotic use. I have tried benedryl but like everyone else has stated, it merely makes me sleepy. Sometimes I itch so bad that I've made myself bleed scatching so hard. I try to stop but sometimes the itching is so intense that it drives me crazy! The diluadid is the worst! I have tried cool towels and it seems to soothe me more than anything else.

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Permalink Reply by Sickle Cell Warrior on November 26, 2009 at 4:53am

Cool towels...that's a great suggestion, I will give that a try next time.

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Permalink Reply by Pooja on December 8, 2009 at 12:14pm

hello Nana007,
yes I suffer from intense itching starting right from my face to whole body, after buprinorphine but only when its given IV, so now i prefer taking IM injections, or else keep avil (anti allergic) like drugs in hand before taking any opiates.
take care.

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Permalink Reply by Keenan Murray on December 12, 2009 at 10:12pm

yea mine start where the IV is in my arm when given morphine, then my face and head usually get real itchy, they give me some kinda stuff that helps a lil

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