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Itchy Skin, Rash, Bruising

Hello-

Recently I developed these little bumps on my body that are incredibly itchy.  The first one I noticed was on my wrist and it looked like a little bug bite.  I got this when I was on vacation in Maui and I thought it was just a bug bite because it was itchy. When I came home I started to get these bumps on the top and inside of my thighs.  They have been so itchy that it keeps me up at night and I can't sleep.  First they look like little red bumps, almost like pimples or bug bites, then it develops into a red splotchy rash.  Then it bruises, I guess from me itching so much.  I have a huge purple bruise on the top of my right thigh and one is starting to develop on the inside of my left thigh.  Now I have the itchy red bumps on my wrist and hand, my arms, my foot, my stomach, and a few on my buttocks.  They are scattered and small so it's not very noticeable but it is so annoying and I'm starting to worry.  I have never had any allergies or anything like this before.  I'm not sure if it's just because my skin is really dry or the change from one extreme climate to the next- I was in Maui for a week where it was obviously very warm and then I got home to the midwest where it was freezing.  Right when I got home from the trip is when this problem started to happen.  I do have a doctor's appointment in a week but it's been so frustrating I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions- Thanks!!
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Avatar universal
can be induced by stress or cold weather or shifting from hot to cold weather, or any other trigger that decides to mess with your body. as soon as you said Midwest--> boom! moisturize 2-3 a day + anti-itch cream + some antibiotics if you have already got an infection from scratching them. more importantly, go see your doctor, the internet ***** as a diagnostician.
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1 Comments
Concerned with dr... But it was not too usefull.. It just gives a temporary relief.. Then it comes back
Avatar universal
some of you have more than scabies after reading the last couple posts... but original post is dyshydrotic eczema, looks different on different people, starts as small almost blister like with clear fluid, or similar to bug bite, then will scab if you itch, extremely itchy, and then will bruise. most likely to be on hands, palms, wrists, feet and ankles. severe cases will work there way to the trunk. very treatable. just go get help. you will debate bed bugs/scabies, but youve done everything to get rid of those bed bugs and it's still there. scabies will start at one part of the body and spread to rest. could start anywhere.  
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Avatar universal
It is Dyshydrotic eczema. Not scabies. Do not pop any of the bites, will make it more aggravated and could cause infection on top. Some of you may have scabies.
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Avatar universal
I have the same symptoms as described in the above posts. I'd really like to know how many of you recently quit smoking (or any other medication)

I've been going crazy trying to work out what's causing my itchy rash. I've recently quit smoking (about 3 or so weeks ago) and I'm now starting to wonder if that could be the cause.

Nicotine constricts blood vessels - so perhaps it's possible that as the vessels open up, there maybe an oversupply of blood to the vessels - somehow causing a rash? That might also explain the light bruising.
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2 Comments
OK finally got to see the doc after a long wait (good old NHS) Doc says it's Pityriasis rosea - triggered by the strep throat I just recovered from. Maybe the cause was a similar post viral / drug reaction in others too?
When did it finally go away
Avatar universal
Did anyone find out what was causing this. I have the exact same thing and am being treated for scabies but am not convinced it's working as rash and itching just keeps spreading!
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1 Comments
I’d like to know too as my daughter has the same symptoms
Avatar universal
It could be swimmers itch or some infection from parasites living in that water........
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Avatar universal
No it not Scabes. I went to see the DR and he confirmed.  He gave me medical and tropical cream.  It helps some but there are several patch that I scratch so much from itched that the skin is bruised, hard thick skin. I am sure there will take some time to heal. There are still some red spot that is popping up and it itchy.  I wish I know what is happening to cause this.  I am constantly  checking on this site and on web for answer.  I hope we all find it.
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2 Comments
I have had this issue for the last 3 weeks. Went to the Drs they stated it was scabies, did the cream, no luck! A lil leary about doing the 2nd tx cause of the toxisity. I was diagnosed 5 years ago with chronic idiopathic uticuria. I am trying the hot water solution for the itching, cause, cannot get in to c my dermatologist for 4 months (waiting list). It tends to b helping with the itching. Taking fexofenadine/Zantac in the morning, and, hydoxyzine in the pm for the itching, until I can b seen.
What yall have is called allergic pluraplura google it..
Avatar universal
Was it the double barrier cream or the Cavilon lotion?
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Avatar universal
I'm so glad I found this page! I have the same exact symptoms as what most ppl have here. It started with small red bumps (dots) on my inner calves and the more I scratch it, more bumps will appear. It then spread to my outer thigh and back. It gradually flatten and became small red patches (island-like/bigger than the initial dots). I went to two different doctors, took many medicine (cetirizine, telfast, antibiotic, benzoyl cream) targeting anti-histamine and anti-inflammation but it didn't help me stop the itch. My sleep was affected, the itch woke me up. The patches then became blue black bruises. My outer thigh was so bruised, I was got so worried so I decided to do more research on the Internet. At the same time, I have finished all the medicine given by my doctor and decided not to depend on it further because the itching was much more bearable than before (the bruising was much scarier). I was having cold showers prior to this to ease the itch but I decided to shower in SUPER hot steaming water because there was one guy who said it could stop the itch. And I mean really HOT water, it's so hot it's painful but it felt kinda good on the itching skin, it's like a instant relieve. You see steam coming out from your shower, tts the temperature you should go for. Sounds weird but yes it's addictive and i really felt less itchy! I also went on a strict low histamine diet (I was eating whatever I want prior to this) which I'm still on it now. I followed several low histamine food list and strictly stick to it. It has been a month (from when it first started) now and this nightmare have finally come to an end! I was so terrified to read that it may last for years. But I'm so so so glad I'm getting better, the bruises are fading off, the patches became light brown and are fading off too. I just want to share this with everyone because I was once as desperate as you. Don't give up and start eating your low histamine diet now!! Being on low histamine diet really change my perspective on healthy food. What's healthy may not be good for your current condition! Tomato, yogurt, avocado, soymilk are some of my favorite health food BUT it is a NO NO for my current diet. I hope this will help someone out there. It will soon be over! Fight on everyone :)

Ps: Use perfumeless body soap. I switched mine to cetaphil!
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Avatar universal
I have all the same problems as you first I was told it's an allergic reaction as I'm allergic to everything the Dr gave me a steroid and it never worked so I went to my regular Dr and she looked very closely at the rash and said I'm sorry to have to tell you this but you have Scabies
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Avatar universal
Sounds like scabes
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Avatar universal
Glad I found this site.  I have the same itch like everyone here.  My husband had it before but not often or as bad as mine. It started 3 months ago with a small bump and now is in several parts of my body.  The worse on the leg, a patch of red/purple, brused, hard/dry skin.  I am sure because I scratched so much.  It not itchy anymore  on that section.  I have been using coconut oi to help heal the skin.  But still have severl red spot on my hand and my neck that is itching but not as bad as before.  Not sure what caused it.  But I just wanted to share it here.    
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Avatar universal
I'm having the same problem

It started on my inner thighs. They appear as red bumps at first then it turned to a red rash then it later turned to a rash with a bruise/black/purple in the middle.

It then spread on my belly then my buttocks and then my back and now my neck!

I hope this is nothing too serious

I hope we find a cure for this
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Avatar universal
I have had itchy red bumps on my arms and legs.  I tried everything.  They soon turned to bruises and scars.

I had flannel sheets that I changed to a more smoother sheet and that helped.  I also heard about CeraVe Moisturizing Cream.  When I am done taking a shower I spread this all over my still wet skin.  It is on the thick side so I have to have plenty of time to let it dry.

I can tell you after a week I was feeling much better.  The itching is gone and my scars are healing.  I do not pretend to think this will help everyone...but maybe it will help someone that has similar issues to me.
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Avatar universal
First I sympathize with you and your wife as I am going through something similar with my daughter but the one thing I noticed from yours and my daughter is that both had one thing in common and that is it all started after moving in to a new home. My daughters home was built in the 1900 and is oil heat, it has everything from the original build. No changes to the home was ever done.
With my daughter they just hospitalized her last night because they feel she may have Lupus but I am more inclined to believe that it has something to do with the house. Can you tell me when your house was built and if the house has many of its original structures, heating system etc.. I am trying to get to the bottom of this because it is destroying her life and the doctors were grabbing at straws when they made this diagnosis because they couldn't figure out anything else. I truly feel it is something more obvious and less serious but we are not seeing it.
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Avatar universal
I'm sending this to those already suffering with this horrible condition (dare I say, disease?).

My wife is Korean, and has had this crippling condition for over 5 years. I hope that this information in some way can bring comfort to those listed and offer evidence to doctors that might read this.

Let me preface this by saying that when we married, my wife came down with atopic dermatitis, with a strawberry rash all across her chest, she was given steroids for many months until it went away, and we thought that was the end of it...this was over 26 years ago.

About 5 years ago in early summer, after moving into our new home in the dairy belt of Pennsylvania, my wife was working in her garden; this was the second year that we had one, a small plot next to the house. The next day she had developed multiple itchy rashes along her left arm, which resembled poison ivy. I took her to a doctor and they agreed it was either poison oak or ivy, which they prescribed creams for, and we hoped they would go away. However, the itching persisted, and spread to her upper arm, leaving silver dollar sized weeping sores.

This condition continued to spread to her legs; she resembled a leper. Now, I realize you are thinking this sounds nothing like the condition I have, but stay with me, it does. My wife was given a massive steroid shot, and after a few weeks the condition resolved. She was symptom-free throughout the fall and winter, however, with the warm weather in the spring this returned, again, after she was working outside in her garden. Again, she was prescribed a steroid shot, and like the previous year, this went away by late summer. But, as a caution, I had her tested at an allergy clinic, which gave her a standard scratch test, the results of which were inconclusive.

Another season passed, and like clockwork, in the spring of the third year, the condition came back, at this point, I decided to take her to the Penn State Hershey Dermatology department. Here she was subjected to a biopsy and several blood tests, all of which were, again, inconclusive. She was told she had Atopic Dermatitis, and was given steroid creams. With the change of seasons, we expected this to go into hiding as it did the years prior, but it lingered late into the early winter, and then appeared to recede.

In spring this came back again, by this point I'd had it with the doctors at Penn State Hershey, and moved her to the prestigious John's Hopkins Department of Dermatology; surely they could find a cure. They ran her through a battery of tests, and determined she had dermatographia. Despite the colloidal oatmeal baths and various steroid creams, nothing helped. All during this time the condition seemed to evolve from one form to another. Her body was now covered with these red "pimples" that were constantly itching.

A few points to note here, is that when this reoccurs, the sores appear in exactly the same pots on both sides of her body; there is a bi-lateral symmetry to them: Right forearm, left forearm, upper right thigh, upper left thigh, bottom of left sole, bottom of right sole, back upper center of left thigh, and so on. In addition to these larger recurring locations, he now had multiple tiny red bumps scattered throughout her body. After several months and another year, John's Hopkins also failed to find a solution.

By now I was desperate, she was losing weight, and could no longer sleep; her constant itching resulted in red open wounds, and the sores on her thighs noe had large bruises around them. The sore on her left forearm was weeping and had a red bumpy ring extending about 1 inches around the circumference.

I had read about a place near Washington DC that specialized in rare dermatological conditions; the MedStar Washington Hospital Department of Dermatology, so I decided to move her from John's Hopkins to there. They immediately ran what is called a patch test, to determine what her skin reacts to. The results were interesting; mostly perfumes and formaldehyde, which, unfortunately, are found in almost all chemical soaps, cleaners and cosmetic products. We cleaned house, and pulled all those items which were suspect. Additionally, the dermatologist put her on massive doses of antihistimines; cetrizine HCL, Hydroxyzine HCL, Levocetrizine Dihydrochloride and Doxipine. Added to this were a slew of topical creams to include; Fluocinonide Gel, Fluocinonide cream, Pimecrolimus cream, Clotrimazole cream, Halcinonide cream and Triamcinolone Acetonide cream.

These seemed to help for a while, but she was a zombie due to the drowsy side-effects. I had done some studies on the internet and found that many got relief from a new injectable drug called Xolair. it took several months for the doctor to warm to the idea, but we eventually put her on this. she received two injections every month. Remember, she was still taking the massive doses of antihistimes during this. The results were not instantaneous, this medication must build in the system before it does any good. After 3 months it looked like it was working, her spots were lessening, but I knew all those meds were doing terrible things to her body chemistry.

Desperate times call for desperate measures; by now I was grabbing at straws, I could not just stand by while she suffered. We decided that Western medicine was not working, so I took her to a prominent Asian medicine specialist in Maryland. He took the approach that all the chemicals were affecting her and that they needed to be purged. He put her on a decoction of herbal roots, barks, and nuts, that were boiled into a tea, and placed into small individual packets; she was to drink one twice per day, for three weeks, and stop taking all the pills and creams. Additionally, he performed several acupuncture treatments.

Now, say what you will, but we saw results immediately. All the sores dried up, the red spots started turning light brown, and the itching subsided. Remember, she was still taking her Xolair injections during this, but she was off all the pills. At this point I though she was cured, but three months later the spots began to return. They were very small, and red, but not really itching. However, after another month, they had spread to most of her body, just like before. another point here is that they have never appeared on her face, or the palms of her hands, but they show up everywhere else. Again, the large sore returned to her left forearm, as it always did, as well as the upper back of the thighs, the upper inner thighs and the soles of her feet, with much smaller spots throughout her body.

We are entering the sixth year of her condition, and nothing can kill it. We went back to the Korean doctor, but even the herbal teas and acupuncture treatments are working now, it just takes the edge off of it. throughout all of this, I have also vacuumed the mattress, and sterilized the sheets, just in case she is sensitive to dust mites, and I have bought air cleaning machines. I'm having the air quality tested in our home for molds and spores, as well as formaldehyde gasses; we'll see what that turns up. but at this point, after 5 years and 7 months of Xolair treatments, we are back to square one.

I pray regularly, as I am a Christian, in hopes that someday soon, someone will find out what this condition.
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17105538 tn?1453751569
I to have come out with the same rash and bruises, I live in England so it as nothing to do with the change of climate, it's cold here. Not been to the doctor yet but I am taking a lot of med's after having a car crash, my husband thinks that it might be down to them. I will let you know what they say at the doctors.

Best wishes Jane.  
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Avatar universal
With all due respect to all persons who have these symptoms, .. Can you tell me your age?
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Avatar universal
Same thing here but with all the rain in the South there was a poison ivy explosion.  I had a allergic reaction to it and doctor put me on Cyclosporin for 2 weeks.  It all went away. I had the bruising after math as it spread.
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Avatar universal
As did I, Ya'll have a Drug or chemical rash, no two ways about it......rub pure Coconut oil to relieve all types of itching, stress less and the body will self heal...... End of story...Ya'll can thank me later......
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Avatar universal
I have had a series of out breaks of this sort ,like all of you have described. My experience has been this.
I fell very badly over a child gate and a highchair tray was loose that I tried to grab as I fell  so I ended up landing on the edgy underside of the tray and got deeply hurt on my upper outer thigh.
Then after many weeks about  six I think I had no sign of purple blue black bruising , A terrible itch started and from the first scratch a blistering rash showed up and took over the whole area the size of Pamelo or large grapefruit but differently shaped.Anyhow,this rash was very disturbing and really I found no cure but to resist itching,applying an old psoriasis remedy called grandpas pine tar shampoo or the soap they carry,ice,,florasone--inflammation-eczema-rashes cream  and waiting four months for the last bumps to leave was my ultimate cure. My doctor said not sure but seems I may have broken my cells when I fell and they were surfacing. Now last week I hurt my other thigh actually,uggh. I bumped my dresser corner and got a swollen bruise scrape not very big and sure enough when the  bruising disappeared the same mosquito bite looking blisters I think is good way to describe them came back,I am on day three of this "cycle" maybe.
I have always been very aware of my life surroundings and take notice of things that may play roles in my ails/illness/etc.
I have theory that some may say especially doctors is far fetched . But with that said I still have this to share.
I have had  a couple of viruses that got me sick  over some years. When I was  23 now 37 yrs of age I caught a virus call slap cheek or  fifth disease a relative to measles and got a full blown case even though it is uncommon in adults. The illness caused a high fever and my whole body was covered from head to bottom of foot, hive like rash that itched like a hell if I knew how that felt. Also I had severe body pain that seemed to last a while. I did heal but years later got fibromyalgia and now this. I think there may be a connection as there in is shingles with chickenpox..Fibromyalgia is a soft tissue disease and  viruses like to live in that part of the body like shingles would. I may be running with it but just some ideas I have. Also this new rash thing seemed to happen after I had got ill with high risk hpv and had a leap and had to be out under because the pain was very bad. I wonder if this may cause  a problem with my healing now,like platelet issues or soft tissue damage. somehow I find my body is handling injury differently now.
Still in search of answers to my ails... To be continued. Any comments on this are welcome and would be great.
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15545184 tn?1441268917
Start eating haridrakhand an ayurvedic mixture..!!
Zyrtec leaves withdrawal symptoms which is addictive life long! Leave zyrtec!
I was taking zyrtec since 8 years..now I switched to an antihistamine which does not have hydrochloride and started Haridrakhand too. Hope to get off these demonic Hives.
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Avatar universal
well, for me it could be a histamine intolerance too. Because among the most common symptoms of histamine intolerance are skin and cardiovascular issues. These can include nasty rashes and swellings such as hives, arrhythmia, problems with the regulation of body temperature (which can cause sweats or chills), or hypertension.
Food like tomatos, sauerkraut, (fruits and vegetables which ripens) are high in histamine and can cause the allergic reaction.
I would recommend to go to your allergist for a blood test as well as if needed by having a histamine intolerance "Daosin"!

take care
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Avatar universal
i too had this problem on my upper left thigh. I just wanted to know what it was because it looked very strange. i found this website, but them i also found this article. Here's a clipping that i hope helps some of you like it helped me.
-Purpura is a purplish discoloration of the skin produced by small bleeding vessels near the surface. Purpura may also occur in the mucous membranes, especially of the mouth, and in the internal organs. Purpura is not a disease per se but is indicative of an underlying cause of bleeding.

When purpura spots are very small (<1 cm in diameter), they are called petechiae or petechial haemorrhages. Larger, deeper purpura are referred to as ecchymoses or bruising.

Purpura may occur with either normal platelet counts (non-thrombocytopenic purpuras) or decreased platelet counts (thrombocytopenic purpuras). Platelets help maintain the integrity of the capillary lining as well as being important in the clotting process. As a general rule, purpura indicates a problem of the platelet system whilst a deficiency of clotting factors will cause haematomas or haemarthrosis as in haemophilia. Nevertheless, clotting factor deficiency must be considered.
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