Riba rash without Riba?

[scubadiver30]

Hi guys
I'm experiencing a rash in my arms but I haven't started TX yet. It is pretty itchy,(not unbearable) but I haven't taken anything unusual. Just chicken and rice..No pills nor alcohol...Just waiting for the november appointment with the doctor
Could this be porfiria cut

[lilmoma]

It would not hurt to have it checked out. If you are concerned about something, you really need to "go" with that.
also, everybody here is always talking up the Gold Bond creme. I bought my first tube yesterday, and rash or no rash, this stuff is great on the skin!!!
Jyst a hint, you start tx in Nov........read everything, educate yourself on everything, everybody is different and everybody responds differently. My hubby and me are good examples of that! He was nauseated every single day, I have not (crossed fingers) had one moment of nausea.

[scubadiver30]

Thanks for responding. The rash has subsided and from what I read in your previuos posts it it not PCT. Not big like dimes , nor purple blistards... more like heat or diaper rash ;-9...But shoot, we can never know what HCV does to our bodies or is the paranoia itself?. In fact, I have coexisted with it for 26 years without knwoing, drinking, eating red meat, junk food and smoking. I was diagnosed last year. F0-F1 stage and now that I started doing everything by the book I get an acute hep bout due to vaccines, ALT elevations, F3 inflammation, skin rashes & mild fatigue.

I'm worried that when I start TX i'm gonna get worse...but then again you hear stories about letting it go unchecked..
it is a dilemma...I wish I could really be gung ho on TX.

salu2

[lilmoma]

History: Several disorders and precipitating factors are associated with PCT.

Alcoholism
Beta-thalassemia
Diabetes mellitus
Dialysis
Estrogen
Hepatitis C virus (HCV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and HIV infection
Hematologic malignancy
Hemochromatosis
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Lupus erythematosus
Renal failure

Just a portion of one of the many article on PCT

[lilmoma]

My hubby has porphyria cutanea tarda. It is awful, and it aint no rash. It starts out looking like a water blister, real tiny, then turns to what appears to be a blood blister. sometime they are small, but more often they become about the size of a dime. Extemely painful, and slow in healing, leaving a permanent scar. His hands look like he survived a fire. BTW this (PCT) is closely associated with hepc, it is what is known as "extrahepatic manifestation" He is currently seeing dermatologist to see if there is any "help", there is no cure, but maybe some relief. You can google this, and find pictures for the different kinds, most common is found on the hands.
I haved visited all the sites (I think) on this terrible condition.
BTW it was when I orginally took him to the doc about the skin problem when we found out we both had hepc. With PCT they automatically check for hepc since the two "can" go hand in hand.

[Dale_Ray]

I've had Hepc for probably 29 years and never had a rash other than poison ivy. I'd look at heat, shell fish or other allergies as the source. IMHO Dale

[cuteus]

is there any relation to liver damage? scuba has mild damage according to his dr. I know extrahepatic conditions can happen at any stage of liver damage, so I believe is mostly related to the virus itself and our body's reaction to it, not the liver damage only.

[lilmoma]

I have not read anything that suggests this disorder "causes" liver damage. There is quite a debate out there about this subject, and they actually have a study preparing in Texas for PCT/HCV patients.
It can be very intimidating (to me) to read some of these articles, they are not intended for the layman.
I do know some claim exposure to Agent Orange is a variable, others dispute this. I also know that Heme production is altered which causes some of these problems. (An important step get skipped)
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I do know that in some cases tx for hepc can minimize the symptoms, they have calmed down quite a bit since he started tx (done now)
They have also discussed "cleaning his blood" to minimize the outbreaks. This is NOT contagious btw. There are more questions than there are answers right now.

[GrandOak]

As sfbaygirl indicated, HCV can produce various changes in the skin.  If yours is alergy related, you can try Benadryl to see if it clears up.  Calamine lotion is also a good topical ointment used up here in the north woods quite often for poison ivy and poison oak rashes.

I was also advised by NP to take Benadryl for allergic like sx due to tx, including insatiable itch and swelling.

[sfbaygirl]

I had a rash on my arms and legs before tx. It was itchy and ugly. The bumps were irregular shaped and kind of purple. Not small, but not big. It was Lichen Plantus. This is a skin disorder associated with Hep C. My Dematologist gave me cream that cleared it up pretty well.

What is interesting is that the skin stuff (I also had OTHER skin lessions that were horrible) all seemed to go away when I started tx. At least that is one thing that could possibly happen that is good!

Good luck