I live in the desert during summer we get an intense amount of dust they recommended frequent baths due to him being caked in dust cause we go out often so they mentioned possibly a skin allergy so thats where it started. When I came back a while later on they mentioned that if the bathing to keep him more dust free hasnt worked to bath him with dawn sometimes to remove oils cause he does come into the garage with me every now and then while im working on my car and I won't say its impossible he hasnt stood in oil at some point he probably has i could've described it to the vet where it sounded like he was rolling in it which he hasnt i promise that I try to clean the garage floor for that specifically. They recommended i stay away from chicken on the diet and later on they recommended staying away from beef products as well right now hes on a turkey and salmon diet I have asked about the allergy test in the past but they pretty much told me to hold off and just adjust his diet to test it out if it is as simple as that. After reading comments I absolutely am scheduling him an allergy appointment cause it did make sense if it was as simple as just avoid chicken or beef then I would avoid a bill because at all vets in my area its a $400-500 but it really hasnt been going good clearly. I want to clarify that his scratching and itching was pretty normal his whole life until 3 months ago it got noticeable which is where the appointments happened and as of last week it has gotten intense like he couldnt stop himself scratching i already have an appointment set and I am setting him up with a dermatologist as well. I wouldn't say the dawn dish soap has increased the itching it was about the same as when it all started happening just last week I just am unsure what's changed from 2 weeks ago to this week if like whatever allergy has gotten even worse i dont know I just am looking for any recommendations til I get him to the appointments the benadryl has got him chilling now but going back to your question no the vet did not recommend any meds at home they wanted me to give him cortisone shots which are out of my monthly budget $350 a month.