Sudden Itchy Rash

I am a 55-year-old woman.  Earlier this week, I had a day of very severe fatigue.  That night, I woke up at 3 am with a severe itchy rash covering most of my body, especially my legs, buttocks, and trunk, as well as my upper chest.  I took a Claritin which eased the itching but didn't diminish the rash.  I saw my primary care doctor that day because I was feeling very under the weather.  I had a tick bite about ten days prior to this malaise and rash, but the rash was not centered on the tick bite and doesn't look like pictures I have seen of Lyme disease rashes.  The doctor did general blood work and no abnormalities were found.  I have not had any fever.  He gave me a steroid shot, which relieved the rash and made me feel better.  My concern is whether there is any possible connection to the tick bite, and if not, what could possibly have caused such a very severe and widespread rash that came on so suddenly.  I have no history of similar episodes.  The rash was red and slightly raised.  When I was in the doctor's office, it covered my legs with flat red spots (small).  It was worst on my back.  The tick bite was located on the back of my waist.

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi.

It is possible that the tick bite could have caused the rash and the incidence of the tick bite and the rash seems to have occurred closely together. Your blood tests however showed normal results so this may be excluded at the moment. If fever, joint pains, headaches and malaise still occur then this may have to be evaluated further. A referral to an infectious specialist is necessary for further evaluation.

Another differential here will be a viral exanthem and an allergic reaction.

[Webster913]

Thank you so much for your prompt response.  I still have no fever, and the steroid shot helped me to feel much better and to reduce the rash.  I still have some rash on my chest and my lower back, but it does not itch.  I will follow up as you suggest if the rash does not go away or if I start to feel worse.  Thanks again.

[jlee4520]

Hello,

I got a bite on my back about 2 weeks ago.  At first, it looked like a small spider bite but is now bigger than a quarter.  It was itchy so I scratched it to death.  After a week, I got 3-4 other red bumps on my back (close to the bite).  3 days ago, I started getting a severe rash on my stomach, shoulders, chest and legs.  It looks exactly like a heat rash.  I saw my doctor 2 days ago and first thought it was "shingles".  I told him that I do not have any pain so he concluded that it must be a bite.  The rash is most likely caused from the toxins trying to exit the body.  It takes 1-3 weeks for this to occur and your body reacts to the toxins exiting the body.  I am taking medication prescribed by my doctor.  I will see in a week how it works.  As of now, I still have my rash and it's still itchy!

JimmyZ

[jlee4520]

My bite is now disappearing.  I been taking the medication my dr prescribed to me (I forgot the name of it).  My issue was a toxic bite that resulted in a rash.  The rash occurred 2 weeks after the bite and took 5 days to disappear.  If you get a bite that does not go away or gets bigger as days go by, go see a doctor ASAP.  

JimmyZ

[help215]

i got bitten 3 weeks ago now in kazakhstan , i did not feel the bite , i woke one night with blood on my face after having a nose beleed there was alot of blood and i got a fright. when i woke i had 2 bites on my arm , i have had trouble with mosquito bites before so i  thought i had been bitten again ! ...then for about 4 days i had an extremely stiff neck and felt only comfort when i sat forward ......i then woke up one monring with a feeling of fatness on teh left side of my face like i had been to a dentist. i was on holidays in kazakhstan .....a white ring followed by a red ring , developed at the scene of the bite  i hd 2 bites on my arm so now had 2 bites each with a white and red ring......


feeling quite scared i literally googled bite with red ring ..and couldnt believe my eyes when i saw a picture of what looked to be the same on my arm ....immediately when i landed i went to the doctor and he said it was lyme. my bloods weer taken but nothing showed up.......i was put on antibitotics for 10 days which gave me bad headaches, toilet trouble..and made me quite aggresive (aggressive).

i have now come off the antibiotics...and developed a rash all over my stomach , arms, chest and part of my neck...whe i went back to my doctor he seemed to think they werent connected..i feel beyond frustrated as i think it is. i have done my own research on lyme and it seems to be quite a strange disease

can anyone explain why i have the rash or might it be a result of sun exposure as where i live is in the heat about 37 degrees...

thanks hope someone can answer