Does anyone else who lives/works in Austin have ITCHY SKIN? (live in, dry)

[love roses]

I definitely need to. The skin itchiness is happening again, but all the oak pollen in the yard isn't helping and I worked in my garden too.

[Tinkerbell1914]

I lived in Austin for the past 6 years and only in the past year have I had this issue. For me it was only after bathing and forget washing my hair, my scalp was beyond itchy. I tried changing soaps across the board several times. I can now say with great confidence it is their water. We just relocated to Santa Fe, NM and I have not had any issues. I posted about it on my fb and several other friends said they had the same issue and when they moved away they no longer had a problem. My concern is that since they add fluoride to the water if they changed brands and if there is a bi-product from that. But then again who knows.

[merk95]

Could be the hard water. Do you have a water softener?

[love roses]

My skin does that. It could partly be the water, but for me, it's because ever since moving to central Texas, my allergies have jumped the shark. I used to only have sneezing and itchy nose, but I've developed a peanut allergy earlier this year, and a serious dust allergy (several points away from anaphylactic). My mucous membranes are affected and my face gets puffy, and my skin gets red, splotchy and itchy every spring. For the last 3 years I've ended up in the ER or urgent care. This past year, when I finally saw an allergist, she gave me a topical steroid cream and told me to wear a mask outside when I do yard work or dusting/vacuuming. It's worked well this year and I haven't had to go to a doctor all summer for allergic reactions/skin reactions.

[merk95]

reading this makes my skin itch

[jread]

I'd be interested to know where people who have this problem moved from. I grew up near the Gulf Coast and had this problem when I moved here, especially in the winter, due to how much drier it is here. The humidity back home did not bother my skin, but the dryness here always does. It has not been a problem this summer, though, due to the humidity being so high from all the rain. This has been more of a Houston summer than an Austin summer. I expect it to be back in the Fall/Winter, though.

[FueledByBlueBell]

Yes, eyes and skin all of the time since moving here. I use Flonase and take Allegra/Claritain, and it helps somewhat. I agree that the hard water also contributes.

[Panotaker]

I lived in Austin for over 20 years, one day the itching started, so I don't think it's the water. I only itched from the waist up. One day, my neighbor across the street saw me scratching. We started talking, and come to find out, he had the same problem. His doctor prescribed Zyrtec. He gave me one of his Zyrtec, and within 30 minutes, the itching stopped. I went to my doctor, and he gave me a prescription Zyrtec also. It was a miracle cure, but it only lasted 3 days. After 3 days, the itching would come back, and I would simply take another Zyrtec, and I would be fine for another 3 days. This went on for 5 years. After 5 years, the itching stopped. I no longer have to take Zyrtec, and I no longer itch. I lived in the same house this whole time, still live here. I took Zyrtec for so long, that all my other allergies stopped too. My doctor didn't know what it was, or what caused it, but he did say that it might eventually stop, which it did. It was some kind of allergy to something, but I don't know what. So if you itch non stop like me, try Zyrtec.

[coachtaylor]

So interesting other people are dealing with this too. It just started a few weeks ago for me and is intermittent. One doc prescribed a steroid which helped for a week and it has come back but not nearly as severe. Another doc then prescribed Zyrtec but I haven't felt the need to use it yet. I've lived here for two years, moved here from NYC (I also went to college here 15 years ago and had no problems). I've never been allergic to anything so this has been an annoying surprise.

[merk95]

sometimes allergies take time to develop. I read somewhere that your skin changes every seven years?