One of my most irritating symptoms with this bally (good old fashioned World War 2 expression!!!) CFS/ME is itchy skin.

I know that one of the symptoms of a candida albicans infestation is itchy skin but I don’t have any of the other symptoms … now; so I have ruled out candida as the cause of this particular bout of itchy skin.

I am very careful with avoiding foods I am allergic/intolerant to … so I don’t think it can be them.

Alcohol, yes, well that does make the itchy skin worse, expecially red wine. So when I drink red wine, I know what my punishment will be!

But when I haven’t been consuming wine or sugar or foods I shouldn’t eat, why does my skin itch as if I want to scratch it off, rip it off?

It has been driving me mad recently and I was feeling so sore inside my skin and outside it, if you get my drift. I was also feeling particularly thirsty and couldn’t understand why as I was drinking as much as I normally do. But I had forgotten that I had changed my normal thirst quencher (evian water) to peppermint tea because it was ‘Winter Time’ and I wanted a hot drink. In the past I had always drunk plain hot water so why had I changed to peppermint tea? To be sociable, people thought they weren’t giving me enough when I asked for just hot water.

So I stopped the peppermint tea and all teas in tea bags. And just two days later my itchy skin stopped itching. I am not entirely itch-free I have odd patches here and there, but the overall relief is stupendous!

I am not sure if it is the peppermint tea to blame or the bags they put the tea-leaves and fruit teas in. I suspect the herbal teas because herbs were our original medicines and they do have an effect on the body. They are readily available now in the form of teas and the tendancy is to assume that we can drink them ad hoc throughout the day. We forget that herbal products are medicines and should be taken with caution as we should with all medicines.

Please click on this link for remedies for itchy skin

Please also note that itchy skin is a symptom of liver cyrrhosis and if the itch does not abate within a few days, advice from your GP should be found.