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Mysterious Skin Lesions
Sorry this is so long.....I hope nobody has gone through this, but if someone has, I would appreciate any advice.
Symptoms:
In Oct 2007 I noticed bumps on my thighs. Some were red while others were white. They both sort of looked like maybe my pants had rubbed against my thighs and either irritated the skin or the hair follicles. By the end of Nov 07, the “bumps” had turned to painful, itchy, lesions where some appeared deep and un-healing, and some were scabbing somewhat which of course would cause those to stick to whatever I was wearing. By mid Dec numerous lesions were on both of my thighs, stomach, neck, face, and both forearms with my lips fully inflamed. A few lesions were noticed on my ankles, top of feet, top of toes, top of fingers, in the cuticles on both hands, one ear lobe, both shins, both elbows, and the back of my neck.
My medical condition:
In Sept 2003 I had a gastric bypass, went from 310 lbs. to 180 lbs. and things were great. Then in June 2006 I had emergency small bowel resection surgery resulting in 60% of the small intestines being removed due to adhesions and lost more weight to 165 lbs. The remaining small intestines are still configured in the gastric bypass formation. Then in June 2007 I had to have a blood transfusion and then iron by I.V. infusions for 2 months as my hemoglobin count had gotten down to 6 (it should have been between 12.5 and 15.5). In October 2007 the bumps on my thighs showed up, they then spread to various areas of my body and they hurt. I am now down to 140 lbs., can't sleep, can't stay focused, I have no energy and my life has been a living hell since then.
Test done:
Since June 2007, all required monthly blood work has shown normal readings except for two areas: “White Blood Cell Count” which has been the high ranges around 12.9 (s/b 3.80 – 10.80) since the bowel resection, and the “Absolute Neutrophils” has been in the high ranges around 10,965 (s/b 1,500 – 7,800)
What the doctors have said/prescribed:
Oct 07 my main doctor said he had no idea what the bumps were, prescribed a steroid ointment to apply 3 times daily. No improvement. Nov 07 The lesions spread up my body and my lips were raw, inflamed, scabbing, and would bleed if I licked my lips, the doctor thought it was Herpes, prescribed Valtrex pills and some Herpes ointment for lips. No improvement. Dec 07 I went back to my doctor as the lesions seemed worse to me and weren’t healing, labs all looked fine except for elevated white blood cell count and elevated Absolute Neutrophils, he sent me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist took a “punch biopsy” of one lesion which was a new one appearing just that morning. Lab results said “possible insect bite/reaction”. In Feb 2008 Dermatologist prescribed “Cephalexin” 500mg 3 times daily and “Triamcinolone/Sarna 1:2” ointment to apply to all skin areas 3 times daily. I am still on this antibiotic and using the ointment. He ruled out lice, scabies, eczema, psoriasis, Lyme disease, allergies, etc……He said he is not sure what the lesions are being caused by. Mar 08 I was sent to an Infectious Disease Specialist (IDS), labs were negative for HIV, Hepatitis A, B, & C, rheumatoid arthritis, etc…This Doctor felt the skins lesions were due to the small bowel resection causing a mal-absorption of nutrients and vitamins, specifically the “B” vitamins.
Current situation:
I am still taking the Cephalexin 3 time per day, using the Triamcinolone/Sarna ointment 4-5 times each day, and I am taking 5 times the normal recommended daily amounts for all “B” vitamins and take 5 multi-vitamins so my body will at least absorb some of this.
The lesions are slowly healing; however, about ten of them are still not healing. Yesterday I decided I could not take the pain one of the lesions was causing on my wrist. No matter what ointments I used, or alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, it just wouldn’t stop hurting. I used tweezers to dig into the lesion, remove a small partial scab, and all kinds of nasty looking stuff came out, not any puss, but lots of blood, and it hurt like hell, but when I was done, the pain was gone.
When I was cleaning up from this “home surgery” on my wrist, I noticed what looked like some of the spots of blood “jump”. I used the tweezers to poke at the stuff that came out of the lesion and anything that wasn’t stuck to the napkins would “jump” across the napkin. I used a magnifying glass to look closer but I couldn’t determine if the “jumping” things were bugs or not. There aren’t any legs or antennae visible. What could this be
Symptoms:
In Oct 2007 I noticed bumps on my thighs. Some were red while others were white. They both sort of looked like maybe my pants had rubbed against my thighs and either irritated the skin or the hair follicles. By the end of Nov 07, the “bumps” had turned to painful, itchy, lesions where some appeared deep and un-healing, and some were scabbing somewhat which of course would cause those to stick to whatever I was wearing. By mid Dec numerous lesions were on both of my thighs, stomach, neck, face, and both forearms with my lips fully inflamed. A few lesions were noticed on my ankles, top of feet, top of toes, top of fingers, in the cuticles on both hands, one ear lobe, both shins, both elbows, and the back of my neck.
My medical condition:
In Sept 2003 I had a gastric bypass, went from 310 lbs. to 180 lbs. and things were great. Then in June 2006 I had emergency small bowel resection surgery resulting in 60% of the small intestines being removed due to adhesions and lost more weight to 165 lbs. The remaining small intestines are still configured in the gastric bypass formation. Then in June 2007 I had to have a blood transfusion and then iron by I.V. infusions for 2 months as my hemoglobin count had gotten down to 6 (it should have been between 12.5 and 15.5). In October 2007 the bumps on my thighs showed up, they then spread to various areas of my body and they hurt. I am now down to 140 lbs., can't sleep, can't stay focused, I have no energy and my life has been a living hell since then.
Test done:
Since June 2007, all required monthly blood work has shown normal readings except for two areas: “White Blood Cell Count” which has been the high ranges around 12.9 (s/b 3.80 – 10.80) since the bowel resection, and the “Absolute Neutrophils” has been in the high ranges around 10,965 (s/b 1,500 – 7,800)
What the doctors have said/prescribed:
Oct 07 my main doctor said he had no idea what the bumps were, prescribed a steroid ointment to apply 3 times daily. No improvement. Nov 07 The lesions spread up my body and my lips were raw, inflamed, scabbing, and would bleed if I licked my lips, the doctor thought it was Herpes, prescribed Valtrex pills and some Herpes ointment for lips. No improvement. Dec 07 I went back to my doctor as the lesions seemed worse to me and weren’t healing, labs all looked fine except for elevated white blood cell count and elevated Absolute Neutrophils, he sent me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist took a “punch biopsy” of one lesion which was a new one appearing just that morning. Lab results said “possible insect bite/reaction”. In Feb 2008 Dermatologist prescribed “Cephalexin” 500mg 3 times daily and “Triamcinolone/Sarna 1:2” ointment to apply to all skin areas 3 times daily. I am still on this antibiotic and using the ointment. He ruled out lice, scabies, eczema, psoriasis, Lyme disease, allergies, etc……He said he is not sure what the lesions are being caused by. Mar 08 I was sent to an Infectious Disease Specialist (IDS), labs were negative for HIV, Hepatitis A, B, & C, rheumatoid arthritis, etc…This Doctor felt the skins lesions were due to the small bowel resection causing a mal-absorption of nutrients and vitamins, specifically the “B” vitamins.
Current situation:
I am still taking the Cephalexin 3 time per day, using the Triamcinolone/Sarna ointment 4-5 times each day, and I am taking 5 times the normal recommended daily amounts for all “B” vitamins and take 5 multi-vitamins so my body will at least absorb some of this.
The lesions are slowly healing; however, about ten of them are still not healing. Yesterday I decided I could not take the pain one of the lesions was causing on my wrist. No matter what ointments I used, or alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, it just wouldn’t stop hurting. I used tweezers to dig into the lesion, remove a small partial scab, and all kinds of nasty looking stuff came out, not any puss, but lots of blood, and it hurt like hell, but when I was done, the pain was gone.
When I was cleaning up from this “home surgery” on my wrist, I noticed what looked like some of the spots of blood “jump”. I used the tweezers to poke at the stuff that came out of the lesion and anything that wasn’t stuck to the napkins would “jump” across the napkin. I used a magnifying glass to look closer but I couldn’t determine if the “jumping” things were bugs or not. There aren’t any legs or antennae visible. What could this be
Blood transfusion! and the bite. I would be concerned about Lyme! Find a LYME Doctor and tell him about the bite and the blood transfusion.
Sorry your having so much trouble!
Good Luck
Sorry your having so much trouble!
Good Luck
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