Breaking the Itch Cycle: Prurigo Nodularis Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe prurigo nodularis, the hard, itchy nodules that kept writers awake and covered up. A plumber sure he had fleas, a pharmacist with lifelong eczema, a line cook in short sleeves, a man on dialysis, a security guard living with HIV, a sheep farmer used to having skin cancers cut off, a police officer in a heavy uniform, a paramedic on nights and a new mother all tell their part, from Ohio to Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi to Stockholm. Writers describe steroid creams and tape, injections into the lumps, tablets, light treatment forty minutes' drive away, a clinical trial, a newer injectable medicine, and insurance that refused it twice. Several found something else tangled in: diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid trouble, low iron, a problem in the neck, pain pills, stress and anxiety. Itch diaries and spreadsheets, dark marks left on dark skin, a son who puts ointment on his mother's back and a wife watching her husband suffer at night all appear. Not everything helped: one man was treated for scabies three times, another used too much cream for too long, an egg-free diet did nothing, and a grandmother's herbal paste made things worse. Ten years in, one writer calls herself mostly okay.

Who it's for

For anyone kept awake by itchy lumps and told to stop scratching, people newly given the name prurigo nodularis, and the partners, parents and grown children who help with the ointment.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 235 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.