Strange non-itchy Rashes

hi, am 23 yr male.
I have developed Rashes all over my body bar my face, feet,palm& abdomen.
it started a week back, slowly started spreading. I went to the local cling, they asked me to use a FUDIC cream, but the cream have hardly made any difference. with every passing the no. of rashes in my body increases.
they are not painful or itchy & they are not accompanied with fever.
They are not stacked up together but are well spread, but appears everywhere. some looks like red bumps.
there is no pus coming out of the rashes neither are they sticky.
am worried, could it be  a complicated skin problem. please suggest.
any help will be highly appreciated.
cheers
Roy

[jagesh50]

If you have a history of exposure get a VDRL,otherwise I will settle for a diagnosis of pityriasis rosea,which is self limiting.

[roamingrover]

hi jagesh,
thanks for your response.
am almost certain its not pityriasis rosea.
I have searched the internet extensively & i definitely do not have large patches of rash.
they are widespread indeed but not in patches neither do they have any pattern.
am planning on visiting a dermatologist soon, could you suggest the necessary treatment & what it could be.

[jagesh50]

Pityriasis rosea sometimes is not typical like you see in photographs where they bring to show the herald patch etc.Non itchy rash apart from the earlier diagnosis could be hives which generally itchy .I always rule out sec.syphilis in any nonitchy rash, while your case may not demand a test if you have no h.o of exposure.

[roamingrover]

Thanks for your assistance.
                                          sadly I had an exposure, so could it be HIV rash then??
am equally certain its not syphilis, as i don't have any in my palm or in my feet.
I did visit a dermatologist as you have suggested, but sadly they  were also not able to give me a conclusive answer rather they opted for a Biopsy , my report for Biopsy is due to come out on monday. will the biposy help.??
on a general check up the doctor was convinced its not HIV rash but he was not sure what it could be..it kept on discussing crust, scales & vascular..& other medical related terms..& then both of them settled to wait for the biopsy report before diagnosis.
hopefully you can enlighten me on this..
waiting patiently
kind regards
ROy

[roamingrover]

I forgot to add, I did take a test for HIV ,the result came bck negetive.

[jagesh50]

Do not worry p.rosea will be the diagnosis,trust me.

[roamingrover]

I dearly hope it is anything other than HIV or syphilis.
hopefully what you say is true, then can it be medically solved or is it harmful?
anyways, will report back on Monday after my Biopsy report
thanks for helping
cheers
Roy

[jagesh50]

Not a problem at all,eminently treatable.

[roamingrover]

hi Jagesh,
                I went to visit my dermatologist again today, to receive my Gross report from my doctor.
the report states as follows:

C/O: lesians of lesians allover the body predominantly trunk & proximal parts of both U& L
limbs.
14 days gradually ring.
not associated with itching with no fever & no systematic complains.
O/E: papular vesicular & harmorhagic lesions on minimally emthema .
prdominatly on trunk & Upper parts of limbs.

report: expected PLEVA/  P. rosea

as my Doctor was not available today so I had to take my report from his assistant.
would you please enlighten me with the report details.
& wish you a happy doctors day.
you guys have been excellent.
cheers
Roy

[jagesh50]

Good to see that your recovery is assured..Thanks for the good words and the wishes.jags

[roamingrover]

can you please tell me a bit more about PLEVA.
can it be diagonised?? is it harmful.
also what are the chances that a doctors report is complimented by the biposy report oir do the biposy report usually turns out different than the doctor initial evaluation.

[jagesh50]

PLEVANot a serious condition and will settle in due time,however I stick to p.rosea a selflimiting condition.

[roamingrover]

sorry to post again,
but am worried, is PLEVA related to HIV in any sense or form..?

[jagesh50]

Not a chance, forget it.

[roamingrover]

hi,
I went to receive my biopsy report.
the report states as follows:
H/P: PLEVA/PNT
I have been asked to go for the following tests:
HB%
CBC
ESR
CxR-- PA view
MT
now, am confused but ain't a Biopsy test suppose to give clear indication of my disease
also why have I been asked to take these tests.
I went to visit my doctor, He thinks its PLEVA  &
have asked me to take the following medication.
cap. DOXY-1 100mgs
& HH Fudic cream.
am confuse & worried.
also, In one of your forums I read that PLEVA could result from exposure to HIV virus as well. Is it true. does that mean it could be HIV virus as well..also it is sadly not P> rosea as you have previously thought the case to be.
hopefully you will eb able to enlighten me on the current dilemma.
best wishes
ROy

[jagesh50]

Since you have already been tested,I am sure after the window period- and negative HIV association is rule out.

[roamingrover]

would you please care to elaborate.
how can rashes cause PNT??
also if its PLEVA, will the rashes stay lifelong or will they disappear.
window period- sadly not. am still within the window period.
should retake a test, if I take now, it will be almost 45 days. but still way short of 90 days window.
thus, could this rashes result from HIv virus.

[jagesh50]

Papulnecrotic tuberculids need to be ruled out,that is why mantoux test has been ordered.Do wait for the result,Hiv rashes are typical and you have no associated symptoms like fever,lymphadenopathy.I would be happy to receive a diagnosis of PNT, while PLEVA by it self is a benigin condition.

[roamingrover]

thanks a ton. appreciate your patience in answering my questions.
will report back as soon as the diagnosis is conclusive.
PNT it wil be then , hopefully.
thanks again
cheers

[jagesh50]

The histopathology must have shown granuloma charecterestic of PNT,otherwise these investigations would have been unwarrented.

[roamingrover]

the following are my test results, got my test results today.

complete test report as on 11-07-09

HAEMOGLOBIN >> 15.30 g/dl
W.B.c count >> 14900
Erythrocyte Count>> 4.81 million per c.u mm
P.C.V >> 40.9%
M.C.V>> 85.03 femtolitres
M.C.H>> 31.81 pico-grams
M.C.H.C>> 37.41%

DIFFERENTIAL COUNT

Neutrophilis: 80%
Lymphocytes: 16%
Eosinophils: 02%
Monocytes: 02%
Basophils :00%

Platelet count: 2.08 lach/cumm

ESR: 15 mm at the end of 1 hr.

G6P.D>> within normal limit.
decolourisation Time : 30 min.


HIV I & II (Spot Test) : Non-reactive. ( am 5 weeks into it, still pretty early)

V.D.R.L : Negative

X-Ray PA view:
               1. There is no active parenchymal lesion seen.
               2. There is no evidence of effusion seen.
               3. Both hila are normal in postion & density.
               4. Both costophrenic angles are clear.
               5. Bony thorax norml.
               6. Heart & aorta normal
               7. Both domes of diaphragm are normal in position & contour.

This are My Test results, what can you conclude from the above test Results.

Only rashes thus far. all across the body predominatly in the trunk, now slowly appearing in the face as well.
what can you interpret from the above.
eagerly waiting
cheers
Roy

[roamingrover]

its confirmed that it is PLEVA .
how long will it take for a complete recovery?
could you suggest some posible drugs for the disease.
I have a marine medical coming up in mid sept. could I be rejected on the basis of PLEVa??

[jagesh50]

Medium-dose ultraviolet A1 therapy for pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta and pityriasis lichenoides chronica.Six patients showed complete clinical and histologic recovery out of the eight.J Am Acad Dermatol 2002 Sep;47(3):410-4 Abstract quote

[cutecarebear]

Hey roamingrover,

Just to comment from personal experience: I had pleva for a period from october 2007-june 2008. It was scary because the doctor told me it might never go completely away. No matter if the condition dies or not, you won't have as many spots as you did when it first appeared, I promise. I get one or two spots every now and again, but only when i get super stressed out; The condition shouldn't affect your marine thingy at all considering pleva isn't contagious. According to my dermatologist a number of things can cause it: stress (mental or stress on the body due to an illness (even strep throat can cause this to appear!)), a severe bug bite, etc

Pleva IS an autoimmune disorder, but it is not AIDS, nor is it a cause of AIDS or HIV. When I went to my family doctor after being diagnosed the first thing he said was "OMG LEIK DO U HAV AIDS" to which I had to respond kindly "no you *******". You might get that, because PLEVA is apparently associated with AIDS, but as long as your tests came back negative you're okay.

The drugs they had me on were tetracycline for a period of 3 months or so. (it took a full three months to properly diagnose me including 3 trips to the ER due to wrong medications!) But once on the tetracycline, i became severely sensative to the sun, getting sunburned extremely easily. One day, as the sunburn on my arm faded into a light tan I noticed all the spots on that arm had faded. OMFG! So my boyfriend got me to go out to the beach one day and I got extremely sunburned, but all my spots went away :D  Like I said, I still get one or two occasionally, but only when I get super duper stressed.

Hope that helps, best of luck :)

[roamingrover]

Really appreciate er response mate.

My rashes are slowly responding to the drugs prescribed by my doctor (which is a good thing)
am 10 days into medication & already I can notice a massive improvement.
The spots/Rashes are fast disappearing (they are getting smaller & smaller, ultimately disappearing completely)
I just hope they don't come back, soon i will be able to move around in shorts & sleeveless.
now, as far the HIV thing is concerned, am still not "out of the woods"
my 5the week test came back negative but the window period is that of 12 weeks & presently into my 7th week. ( will take a test on 8th week & 12 th week)
if those results come back negative then only am completely safe.
My dermatologist thinks am 100% safe from any STD or HIV.
the past few weeks have been tough for me figuring out what it actually is & ya can never count out the HIV thing...
but I do get hope from ya ..actually  I had a High degree Bug/insect bite, which took quite a while to heel, its important to mention..about a week into the Infection these Rashes started appearing. could it be that then..??
who knows..if HIV comes back negative, it doesn't matter really.
I will start afresh & hopefully learn from my mistake.
Thanks for you concern
much appreciated
cheers
Roy

[jagesh50]

Good to hear you are responding to treatment,and surely be back to normal soon.Could not reply to you was down with severe back pain, after some weightlifting.

[cutecarebear]

It definitely could have started with the bug bite! My PLEVA began after I had a really bad bug bite on my leg but also while I was taking Yasmin birth control and had just gotten over a bout of strep (not to mention I am a college student stressed over maintaining a high gpa), so they really couldn't give me a direct cause. He said the rash had probably been dormant in my body for a while and just one of the above factors caused the rash to react. You can ask your dermatologist next time if he thinks it could have been the bug bite, and as long as your tests come back negative then I would say it probably, most definitely was the stupid bug!

I remember how nice it was when my rash started to go away and even though I wasn't big on shorts/short sleeves/dresses before the PLEVA, I wore all of it after the pleva was gone. I got just this renewed appreciation for my body after "the spots".

I'm glad you're responding to the meds, you'll be spotless soon enough! I hope your tests go well, best of luck Roy!

-Carebear

[roamingrover]

hope er recovering well mate. Back pains can be a killer IMO
am recovering steadily .
Thanks for your expertise guide. much appreciated
will report back soon
cheers
Roy
                          

[roamingrover]

well for starters, we can safely rule out the "birth control pills" . lol
on a  serious note, can ya precisely tell me how long was it between the start of the rashes to the bug bite in er leg.eh!
now, stress could definitely be a factor. I am in my final year at Uni & it being the placement year one is always stressed out , also I consume very less fluids as to normal standards.
anyways thus far I don't have any of the patent symptoms for HIV  which is always good.
hopefully the test result will compliment my feelings!!
appreciate your concern
speak soon
cheers
Roy

[jagesh50]

Thanks Roy,back on my feet mate.

[cutecarebear]

It was about 3-5 days between when I noticed the bug bite to the start of the rash. Actually, my first (and worst!) spots were at the site of the bug bite (it rhymes :D ). It was a really itchy bug bite, so it could be the physical stress from me scratching to the point of bleeding that started the rash there, but I don't exactly know. The same night I noticed the bug bite, though, I was in the emergency room for hyperventilation due to some medication I had taken due to an infection in my nose piercing. So. Any of those could have triggered enough stress!

I wasn't too worried about the cause since hiv was ruled out early (due to lack of sex...); I was more worried about the cure and how long it would take to get it fixed so I never really pressed my dermatologist for trying to find the exact reason.

Bring your bite up to your dermatologist though and see if that could have been a possibility, as long as HIV comes out negative though, everything's good.