I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, although this was coincidental to that, which is an annual checkup.
Last Wednesday, I noticed small blisters breaking out on my fingertips. This was not long after I mixed up a batch of buttermilk biscuits, using some buttermilk that had been around awhile. As the day went on, the blisters became more numerous and somewhat painful to pressure, and somewhat itchy.
On Thursday, I was finding the same thing on my neck near the hairline, and that a rash was breaking out on my shoulders. On Friday, the rash had spread to my feet and there were more blisters on my hands and neck.
Saturday morning I awoke to what I can only describe as a full-on visitation from a biblical plague. I was coughing up phlegm and a spigot had opened in my head, releasing a flood of mucus. I took some cough syrup and a couple of antihistamines and basically slept almost the entire day. I thought: well, I must have finally caught whatever my wife has been suffering from for the past week and somebody please shoot me now.
Here’s the odd thing: this morning I woke up feeling, if not great, a whole bunch better than yesterday. A little congestion, an occasional cough, and the rash is quite clearly receding, with most of the blisters now just angry red pinpoints. On reflection, this seems to have been an extreme allergic reaction, rather than a cold.
I’m going to bring this up to the doc tomorrow, obviously. But any opinions from medical types?
I agree that it’s likely two different things. The blisters on your hands and feet sound like eczema - are they filled with a clear liquid? Are your hands and feet peeling yet? I get the same thing once or twice a year. It also sounds like you have a chest cold.
When I read the line about blisters on your fingers, I thought “hand foot mouth”. A new strain hit North America a year ago, and it’s a particularly nasty one for adults. However, blisters on your hairline and shoulders are absolutely not part of that picture, so never mind.
I imagine the buttermilk is purely coincidental - while a suddenly-developed allergy isn’t out of the realm of possibility, this doesn’t sound like a typical food allergy reaction. If the buttermilk had some kind of contaminant (mold or something) I’d have guessed it would have smelled or looked really wrong somehow, though I don’t know for sure.
Hand/foot/mouth did jump to my mind as well (maybe an idiosyncratic manifestation).
Have you had any unusual chemical exposure lately? Anything sprayed in or around your house? Any carpet cleaning? New cleaning supplies? Anything at the house serviced in any way?
Oooh - just googled “sudden blistering rash” and one of the things that cropped up was “id reaction”. I’ve never had one nearly as bad as the photo shows - just a spot or two on a hand. In fact I was showing it to a doctor once and she immediately asked if I might have athlete’s foot.
I don’t think it sounds like shingles, as you’d still be praying for death from what I hear.
I’ve been pretty sick myself. I think I’ve coughed up a lung. Or at least pieces of one. I also have little blister like sores. They are mostly under my nostril and I thought it was just a cold sore, but today I noticed they are also on the bridge of my nose too. Weird.
I thought I was gonna die for a day or two…I feel a little better today finally.
Well, the doc says it’s probably connected to the virus (cough, etc) that I also have and that it should go away in a couple of weeks. Wow: eight years of college, huh? He also ordered up a platelet test just to make sure there’s nothing more serious going on. The Ms got antibiotics, as her cough has not abated in the slightest in 10 days and she’s coughing up phlegm. Her upper lungs had some gurgling, which isn’t good. Apparently this is all related to the Type H flu bug, which the current inoculation doesn’t affect.
Oh, and the BIG news: EVERYbody’s getting it. Coming soon to a grade school near you.
Yecch. My daughter (10th grade) has had a minor cold for a few days but nothing worse. Crossing fingers that she doesn’t bring anything else home!
I’m glad your other half was seen - while it may all have been triggered by a virus, secondary infections can and do set in and those are treatable (that’s how my respiratory infections often go, anyway).
My wife is a docent at the Portland Museum and does a lot of tours with 5th graders and the like. I think I’m going to insist that she either not do these in the fall, or else pitch a tent in the back yard until January.
He also ordered up a platelet test just to make sure there’s nothing more serious going on. The Ms got antibiotics, as her cough has not abated in the slightest in 10 days and she’s coughing up phlegm. Her upper lungs had some gurgling, which isn’t good. Apparently this is all related to the Type H flu bug, which the current inoculation doesn’t affect.