Winter skin problems

The winter weather is rough on my skin. Last year about this time, I started to develop some dry, itchy patches on the front of my lower legs. Mostly my right leg. It drove me crazy all winter long. I tried different lotions and even some cortisone plus cream. Nothing worked. I also have a problem with my bottom lip splitting in the winter time. This happens every year, and I can't really remember how long ago it started, but it will eventually split and it is nearly impossible to heal. It will almost be where I think it is healed, and then when I wake up in the morning, and laugh or smile, it splits back open. Very annoying. Anyway, come spring it all starts going away and healing up. Last year was the first time for my legs to get that dry, itchy skin, which I think is some form of eczema. About a month ago or so, I started having the dry skin problem again on my right shin. It is terribly itchy and I've scratched it so much that I have little scabby areas all over from where I've itched myself to the point of bleeding. It then started to show up on my left shin as well. Now, it's on the back side of both of my knees, my elbows and a little bit of bumpy, itchy areas on the back of my right hand. I am about to go nuts from all of the itching. I love to take hot baths, and hot water is the worst thing you can do for dry, itchy skin (however, I do it anyway). I seem to do okay through the day, but come evening when I have a chance to sit down and cover up with a blanket, the itchiness starts up. I get to the point where I'm itching all over my body. My friend Shannon's husband is a doctor and he suggested I take Vistaril, which he could prescribe when I showed him my legs. I don't really like taking a lot of medicine, so I declined. Scott has been getting quite annoyed with my itching problem in the evenings and also at bedtime. I just can't lay still. He has been telling me I need to see a doctor. Well, yesterday I finally called the Dermatology clinic at MidDakota Clinic. I asked the gal if I needed to be referred and she said I didn't need to be. So, I asked her if I could schedule an appointment. She said sure. Then she said the first available appointment would be July. WHAT?????????? You've got to be kidding me? JULY????? Crap, I hope this stuff is gone by then! (It was last year anyway). I couldn't believe it. She said I would need to call my primary care physician if I wanted to be seen sooner than that. Well, that's the problem. I don't have a primary care physician. The nurse practitioner I typically see works at the Women's Clinic and is primarily OB/Gyn. I don't think she's going to be able to help me too much? And, not to mention the fact that she doesn't even work there anymore, so anyone I go to would be someone new. So, I figured I might as well go to a skin doctor who deals with this stuff on a daily basis. I don't want someone misdiagnosing me with scabies or something, right Kysa? HA! Anyway, I then called my friend Shannon on some recommendations on a PCP. Her husband, Rob, answered the phone, and I figured I could just as well ask him, since he would know nearly all of the doctors since he works with them. I told him they couldn't get me in until July. He asked if I wanted him to call them up because he needed to call them for his mother anyway. I was like, "Well, that's not what I called for, but if you think it would help, that would be great." He called them up and they tried telling him the same thing, that there were no openings until July. He told them I was his sister, and that this problem will be gone by July since it only occurs during the winter time, and don't you think it would be a good time to see her, when she's having the problem? She says, "Oh, yeah, I guess that would make sense." DUH!!!!! Well, I now have an appointment for Feb 20!!! I guess it's good to have friends in high places! :-) Thanks Rob! I think by the 20th; however, I will have itched myself into oblivion? However, I'm not complaining since my other option was 6 months from now!!!!!!!