sun allergy?

For five years now I am unable to sunbathe, I get a red rash  and sometimes very small bubbles mostly on my belly and the inside of my arms and upper legs. It gets really itchy, especially at night and water doesn't help calm it, although cortisone creams do but i'd rather not use them, but in any case it goes away after a few days. Throughout my life I had always great resistance to the sun as I have olive skin and dark features. Sunscreen, even suncblock or vitamin d boosts have not helped, could you please tell me how to fight it? I also heard that creams and some medicine (i take mefenamic acid for pain relief) may be the cause of it, what can i do?
Thank you

[Torag]

It's a problem which quite a few women seem to get more than men. It is a heat rash where your body cannot expel the sweat from the glands properly - it is brought on by the sun.  There really isn't anything that can be done quickly, the best advice which I could give is to cover up and take care in the sun - you will find that you are hypersensitive to the sun during this year and you will get heat rash when it gets hot, so stay covered and probably next year if you don't get burnt it will have gone.  I usually advise patients to be cautious at all times in the sun anyway, if it's getting hot cover the areas that you usually get heat rash on - you can get some lovely tunics which are fashionable this year and you don't get hot in these.  A lot of patients get it on their hands and feet as these are very hard areas to cover - try and stay in the shade in the major heat of the day.  Your pain relief would not bring on heat rash.

[Torag]

Sorry, forgot to tell you the name it's called Miliaria - one thing does work for some is to take cold showers before going out, could have something to do with the strep bacterium not mulitplying too much!