My surgery was ~8 mos ago.

I've started having very itchy skin all over my body... legs, arms, chest, abdomen, etc. Everywhere except my face. And there are some areas that have red 'bumps'. They look like a teen breakout but they're not actually pimples, and I haven't had breakouts for > 20 years. If I'm not paying attention, I scratch so much that I end up with huge hematomas/ scratch marks in large areas. The areas with the 'bumps' are most itchy but I'm essentially scratching everywhere depending on the day.

I thought it was dry skin but moisturizing hasn't helped. And I've never had this type of problem before during any season.

I've lost just over 55lbs or almost 30% of my overall starting weight, and just over 80% of my excess body weight. Not sure if this is even related to the surgery/ weight loss, but my partner remembers we were told something about skin issues if there is some sort of malnutrition after surgery, but we don't recall the details.

My latest lab work was essentially ok except for still very low ferritin and vitamin D, which are both HIGHER than pre-surgery because I'm taking the supplements so those don't seem related to my issue. I think Vitamin A was normal as was everything else.

Has anyone else been told of any specific deficiencies that may lead to these skin problems, like itchiness and bumps? What specific nutritional deficiencies have you been told may cause this?

Thanks!

Edited September 13, 20214 yr by kim0221

it's not uncommon for WLS patients who've lost a lot of weight to have skin rashes from the excess skin (although this would be under the skin "folds", not everywhere..), but I haven't read about this on this or other bariatric boards about skin issues from vitamin deficiencies. Although I just quickly googled it, and rashes and other skin issues CAN be a symptom of various vitamin deficiences. Here's one of the articles I found (below). It looks like it can be caused by any number of vitamin deficiencies, so it's hard to tell which one it is in your case. Did they test all levels? It also says they can happen to people who have malabsorption issues or have had G/I surgeries. Again, I haven't read about this on bariatric boards (and I've been hanging around on these for about seven years), so it's evidently not a common issue, but it's certainly possible that could be what's going on in your case.

https://www.ccjm.org/content/83/10/731

I have Psoriasis, and I think it exacerbated with the rapid weight loss. I’m just one giant itch with spots all over ? I have been upping my light therapy and that seems to be clearing it - I don’t have Vitamin D issues (due to the light therapy) my dietician was like that’s one of the highest we have seen? My Ferritin was low pre-surgery, it’s higher than it was due to consistently taking my vitamins.

Could be an allergic reaction or sensitivity to something too. Could be something you ‘re eating like some artificial sweeteners can cause skin irritations. Or external things like washing powders, shower gels, etc. Have you changed anything you’re using or eating lately?

There’s also a couple of viruses that cause skin irritations & itchiness. I had one a few years back - I scratched myself silly for a couple of weeks until i got over it.