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I'm having a brain fart on the name, but there is actually a kind of urticaria (itching) that is brought on by anxiety. I actually had it a couple of years ago during some stressful period that I don't even remember anymore. I looked in the derm and psych/neuro word books I use for work, and none of them are jumping out at me.

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Uhhhh, urticaria are commonly called hives. Itching is pruritus.

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Got it - idiopathic urticaria.

Hopefully bumping this up with get somebody else to answer with more info. I googled it and all the hits are kind of vague.

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Thanks for your efforts in bringing this question to the fore.

Pruritus may or may not involve urticaria. The relationship to anxiety comes from noradrenergic stimulation of histamine release in the skin.

Enough with the geek works. Emotional stress can make you itchy.

You can take Benadryl (diphenhydramine), but it can make you drowsy. Or, you can inhibit histamine release with niacinamide (the amide of vitamin B3). You can also reduce the tendency to histamine release by making sure your magnesium levels are okay.

You can take up to 500 mg of niacinamide at a time, up to four times a day. That is the upper safe limit for intake. You may find that 100 mg is an effective dose. Everybody is different.

Magnesium works more gradually, so it's not really a treatment. It's more of a preventative. Any magnesium supplement will do, so long as you stay away from magnesium oxide. It is poorly absorbed. You should target 300 mg elemental magnesium, twice a day. It can be anxiolytic, or even make your drowsy. Some people only take it at night, just before bed, because of the drowsiness thing.

Lar