Nummular eczema or ringworm???

I'm a 23 year old woman and during my second pregnancy I developped itchy annular lesions. They are circular with raised borders and central clearing. I started with 3 lesions and immediately started treating with Clomitrazole. That didn't work so I switched to terbinafine cream. Also no luck so I saw my doctor who prescribed oral Diflucan. At this point it had been 9 months and I had 10 lesions. She referred me to a dermatologist who took one look and said it's nummular eczema. I'm a little skeptical because when I look at pictures online it looks more like ringworm to me, but she said considering my age and the fact that it hasn't responded to treatment she's confident in her diagnosis. Here's some other info
*no pets and I don't know where I got it
*my husband and 2 kids have not caught anything (though I've been very careful with cleaning everything like mad)
*lesions started on my thighs and now are on both thighs and belly
*I live in a hot, humid climate

What do you think is more likely? I'm nervous about stopping the anti-fungal cream and putting on the cortisone  because I've read online that would make the ringworm worse.

[Dagnu]

I have been having somewhat of the same problem. I have been having annular rings on my forehead, and the doctor really doesn't know what it is. He said it may be nummular eczema, or ringworm, but he is baffled to what it could be. This isn't the only location it is, it is also on my back and chest. I also have been having this serious cough that, I feel, is directly related to these annular rings, which suggests that it is nummular eczema, but looks more like ringworm.

[LeperGirl]

I've broken out in something similar on my lower left leg.  I'm 28 and got a rounded spot on my leg that I thought was ringworm.  At the time, I had just gotten a cat from a shelter and she turned out to have ringworm.  I treated the spot with lamasil and various antifungal creams but it didn't work.  I ended up in the emergency room with cellulitis (staph infection).  Had to see a dermatologist and after being off my feet for two weeks with the infection, it looked like it healed.  Then in the same spot I started getting two little bumps.  It broke out into two more spots on my leg, front and back, and was raised and ringed.  Ended up getting a third spot on the back of my knee and now have two more spots on either side of the ankle.  Even though the spots heal, after a few days, they re-errupt with the same thing.  Some of them have actually erupted into a raised bumpy rash from the circular ring.  I've tried all types of coricosteroid creams from the dermatologist.  He actually called me a mystery girl - what everyone wants to hear.  Though he said he thinks I have numular eczema, he doesn't understand why we can't make it go away and stay away.  I've just had a biopsy done on one of the outbreak patches to see if it helps determine what it is.  I've been on antibiotics that don't seem to help too.  Clarithromycin is what I'm on now - I think it's to help with the biopsy healing.  I've been on biaxin and cipro too.  So far I've been struggling with this since October 2009 and it's now January 2010.  I've tried to do my own research but end up freaking myself out.  

Other details:
- Been under high stress with job and recent house.
- have two cats
- never had a history of skin problems except for acne.
- I'm a neat freak and keep everything clean!  
- been using Lubriderm at least twice to three times a day.
- spots get really dark when they heal.  Then suddenly the center goes all white and looks shiny.
- repeated outbreaks in the same spot at least four to five times now.  And new spots showed up on the same leg last month.
- Itching seems to be worse at night.

I was wondering what your spots looked like to compare?  I look up pics online but they don't necessarily look like what I have.  Maybe in the beginning stages, but then when I errupt, I get what looks like the circle popped and it spreads outward with lots of itchy bumps.  Is there any way to share pics on here?

Signed,
Melody
aka Mystery Leper Girl

[BBoy2010]

My name is Brian and I'm 24 years old with a history of eczema. I too have the same problem where I had several rashes that were shaped like a ring and clear in the middle. I work at a pet store and last year my manager made me not work for a week as she thought I had ringworm. I went to my doctor and he just prescribed me some hydrocortisone for my eczema and told me to use antifungal on the affected areas i thought were ringworm. Well it took about two months for the circular rashes to clear and luckily they weren't visible so I went back to work. This past December I got the rashes again and they have been healing and coming back for the past few months. I'm also freaking out thinking it may be ringworm so I alternate applying the antifungal and hyrdrocortisone cream. I believe I don't have ringworm but when any other person sees my rash they get scared because they say it looks like ringworm. For now I just have to cover the few rashes I have with bandages.

The ringworm-like rash I get are shaped like a small circle between .5cm-.75cm and I usually end up scratching them at night causing them to have a red border.
They also leave a dark imprint when they heal.

I really hope that our rashes could heal. I find that I usually get eczema outbreaks whenever the weather is cold.
Well good luck treating the rashes Mystery girl and ajjcmama.
I too thought I was special having these mystery rash.

[O_oconfused]

I have been having a similar problem on my arm and neck. I am 17 and have a history of eczema at my fingertips when I'm under alot of stress. I got the rashes when the whether got cold suddenly, so I don't know what it is. I thought it was ringworm, which the doctor agreed with, but the Lotramin only seemed to work on my neck. They itched like crazy and still do sometimes. I was being careful to contain it, but I also have an allergy to the adhesive on bandaids, so I can't even do that well. I started using acetone to kill the fungus and stop the itching (effective but probably very stupid) and it worked somewhat, but it still hasn't gone away completely had the one on my neck, which initially seemed to be healing, looks like it broke out again around the same area and is more of an oval about 2 cm long . The one on my arm is about 2cm in diameter and was originally covered in raise red, tiny blisters, the acetone, alternated with lotramin, got rid of that, and the center is clearing, but I keep irritating the skin out of fear that the fungus will come back to life. Last night I was doing some more research and found info on Nummular Eczema. Now I am completely confused because it fits that description as well. The only thing I can think is if it doesn't go away on its own soon (I've had it about two weeks) I'll go to the doctor and have a culture done to rule out ringworm, since it is caused by fungus.
Also
- I just started college in a colder, drier environment
- I have never had dry skin in my life that i can remember
- the rash started out as a group of bumps on my arm and formed a ring around it later. I don't know about the neck.
- I am sensitive to soap and burn easily if I leave it on my body.
- I have other itchy areas on my neck, arms, legs, and back, but i can't see anything there but an occasional red bump for two weeks now.
- I am normally very healthy, but my brother has very dry skin alot of the time

let me know if you find out anything. I don't know how to handle this