Yes, I’ve been to a dermatologist, and I have an appointment again on Thursday. He seems nonchalant about the entire thing, whereas it’s starting to drive me totally insane.
I have itching, burning skin, it’s been around for at least a month, slowly getting worse, mostly from about knees to nipples. No preference for one side vs the other. I have recently developed flat red rashes, but they do not itch any more than any other section of skin. Pics are attached. I have also noticed that my thighs are covered in small bruises, which I can’t really attribute to anything.
Visit #1 to dermatologist was “dermatitis”, steroid cream (amcinonide) helps with itching, but only temporarily. Switching laundry soaps to a free-and-clear soap (his suggestion) did nothing. He also ruled out scabies, which was my guess. (although now that it’s had time to get worse, I have abandoned that hypothesis)
My rash doesn’t look like anything I can find online, except maybe shingles, but the other symptoms don’t fit with that diagnosis.
What questions do I need to ask/directions do I need to steer him to get this resolved? I am totally flummoxed, because the internet hasn’t helped me even the tiniest bit. Attached is a link with a picture of 3 of the rashes, they are localized, flat, red, and seem connected somehow to the hair follicles? One is on my back, one under my armpit, and one on my leg.
Seems to me you need to find another dermatologist. Your current one hasn’t done you any good, and our chances of helping you based on some pictures and a short description are pretty slim.
Antihistamines help with the itching, but I don’t want to be a zombie all day.
I suppose I’ll just keep my Thursday appointment, when I called around to find a dermatologist the first time, average lead time was a month or so. If all else fails, I’ve got an appointment with my GP on Monday.
How did he r/o scabies? A friend had scabies for a while. First MD said it was not scabies. Second MD suggested treating as if it were scabies and it went away.
I can’t view the pics from here - but a couple of questions…
Shingles is often preceded by cold/flu-like symptoms - particularly soreness of the neck(joints) and throat and a general pre-cold ‘lousy’ feeling - have you experienced any of these?
Is the rash hot to the touch, does it ever have red streaks near it? (itchy, spreading rashes that are hot and streaky should be treated as emergencies)
However, Fifth Disease (there is no apostrophe s there, it’s not named after someone called Fifth… though I’m complaining about the linked site, not you!) would have passed by now.
Have you tried changing your soap to Dove unscented and unscented laundry detergent? I get a rash from Ivory soap and some laundry detergents. Try a new dermatologist if your not happy.
Sometimes a rash is just an allergy to detergents.
As part of a detailed workup by the dermatologist (any dermatologist) - provide him/her with information about any drugs you’re taking, cosmetics/personal hygiene items, jewelry, metallic implants - any exposures that could relate to an allergic or toxic reaction.
A good dermatologist who also is knowledgeable about internal medical conditions with skin manifestations will help you get to the bottom of this problem.
I think shingles should be diagnosed on the following basis: it’s a disease of the nerves serving a region of the skin, and attacks a branch in the distributed tree of the nervous system. Therefore, the area of the rash always corresponds to a region of the body that shares a branch of this system. If all the outlets in your house that are driven from one particular circuit breaker malfunction, you approach the problem differently than if an odd assortment of outlets on different circuit breakers malfunction. Shingles is the same situation. This completely distinguishes it from other skin problems.
That being said, I am just some anonymous guy on the web.
And on that note, have you changed detergents, soap, or bodywashes in the last two-four months? New products don’t always provoke an immediate negative reaction, there can also be a tipping point when you’ve exposed yourself to something your body doesn’t like for just long enough.
Changed to unscented laundry soap, unscented body soap (Dove, per reader suggestion) and have been using hypo-allergenic lotion a few times a day, not using the steroid cream for a few days because I don’t feel like it’s working anymore.
Anyway, have an appointment with an allergist on Wednesday, but have a question, having never been to one: when they give me the skin test for various allergens, does it include any chemicals, or just check for allergies to grass and cats and such?