creepy crawly itching
Everyone’s heard about the seven-year itch, but the fifty-year itch is something new for Sylvie, a married empty nester.
Sylvie says that the only real problem with being 50 is the itch that somehow came with the age. It is most noticeable at night - when her whole body crawls with itchy sensations and begs to be scratched - but she also has an itch during the day, too.
"It happens in no particular part of my body," explains Sylvie, "and it doesn’t seem to be related to changes in temperature either. It's very weird."
At first Sylvie thought it was an allergic reaction to something she had eaten or touched, and she went through a laborious process of monitoring her diet and how she washed her clothing before concluding that the itch was not related to these things.
She then imagined that the creatures that lived in symbiosis with us – in or on our bodies – had increased in population for some reason, and needed to be drastically culled.
Sylvie achieved this strange task by scrubbing her body twice a day, and drinking twice as much water to flush out the creatures.
The itch continued.
Sylvie is not the sort of woman who visits a doctor at the slightest change to her health, and she had sailed through menopause without much trouble, so she really did not want the embarrassment of asking a doctor about what this itch was and how to get rid of it.
"What if the doctor didn’t know of such things and thought me a silly old woman?" asks Sylvie.
She finally accepted that the itch must be a symptom of menopause that she just has to live with. And she does, with as much grace as she can.
In her book 'You Can Heal Your Life', Louise Hay describes the real cause of itching (pruritis) as being desires that go against the grain. Unsatisfied. Remorse. Itching to get out or get away.
Sylvie was surprised to read what Louise Hay had to say about itching – it made sense.
"I have been a housewife for most of my adult life," says Sylvie, "and since my children left home a few years ago I have been 'itching' to do something exciting with my life but my husband is a stick in the mud type. He doesn’t want to move, he doesn’t even want to change the children’s bedrooms. He wants everything to go on as before."
It is likely that Sylvie will continue to have a fifty-year itch until she makes a decision to do something exciting with her life, with or without her husband’s permission.
"If the itch is related to unsatisfied desires as Louise Hay indicates," muses Sylvie, "then it's worth buying the book and showing it to my husband."
"This itch of mine is driving him mad as well," laughs Sylvie, "so he may be willing to let me do something exciting in order to see whether it gets rid of the itch."
"I know I shouldn't have to ask his permission," adds Sylvie, "but that's how our marriage works. He's the boss and I'm the little woman. I like things that way."
(Sylvie's story first appeared as the fifty-year itch and is reprinted with permission.)
Sylvie says that the only real problem with being 50 is the itch that somehow came with the age. It is most noticeable at night - when her whole body crawls with itchy sensations and begs to be scratched - but she also has an itch during the day, too.
"It happens in no particular part of my body," explains Sylvie, "and it doesn’t seem to be related to changes in temperature either. It's very weird."
At first Sylvie thought it was an allergic reaction to something she had eaten or touched, and she went through a laborious process of monitoring her diet and how she washed her clothing before concluding that the itch was not related to these things.
She then imagined that the creatures that lived in symbiosis with us – in or on our bodies – had increased in population for some reason, and needed to be drastically culled.
Sylvie achieved this strange task by scrubbing her body twice a day, and drinking twice as much water to flush out the creatures.
The itch continued.
Sylvie is not the sort of woman who visits a doctor at the slightest change to her health, and she had sailed through menopause without much trouble, so she really did not want the embarrassment of asking a doctor about what this itch was and how to get rid of it.
"What if the doctor didn’t know of such things and thought me a silly old woman?" asks Sylvie.
She finally accepted that the itch must be a symptom of menopause that she just has to live with. And she does, with as much grace as she can.
In her book 'You Can Heal Your Life', Louise Hay describes the real cause of itching (pruritis) as being desires that go against the grain. Unsatisfied. Remorse. Itching to get out or get away.
Sylvie was surprised to read what Louise Hay had to say about itching – it made sense.
"I have been a housewife for most of my adult life," says Sylvie, "and since my children left home a few years ago I have been 'itching' to do something exciting with my life but my husband is a stick in the mud type. He doesn’t want to move, he doesn’t even want to change the children’s bedrooms. He wants everything to go on as before."
It is likely that Sylvie will continue to have a fifty-year itch until she makes a decision to do something exciting with her life, with or without her husband’s permission.
"If the itch is related to unsatisfied desires as Louise Hay indicates," muses Sylvie, "then it's worth buying the book and showing it to my husband."
"This itch of mine is driving him mad as well," laughs Sylvie, "so he may be willing to let me do something exciting in order to see whether it gets rid of the itch."
"I know I shouldn't have to ask his permission," adds Sylvie, "but that's how our marriage works. He's the boss and I'm the little woman. I like things that way."
(Sylvie's story first appeared as the fifty-year itch and is reprinted with permission.)
Labels: 50 plus, creepy crawly, itch, itching, louise hay, menopause, pruritis, women
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