Seemingly mosquito bites on my abdomen, but suspect it is a rash

[MizSparrow]

At the beginning of the year, I sent to bed one night and woke up with a trail of what looked like mosquito bites across my ribcage. There were about 7-10 of them, all the same size and color as mosquito bites are when I first get them: pink and flat, up to 1/2" in diameter. They're mottled on the edges, but some were roughly circular and some oval shaped.

Weirdly, the bites were on the side of my body that I usually sleep on, and had been clothed and under two layers of covers. Also, they itched but when I scratched them they stung, so I assumed they were spider bites -- especially because there were a few in a general clump, then several that kind of went in a line, and then another "clump" (loosely speaking -- they were all at least 1/2 an inch apart, most of them significantly farther apart than that). I figured I had been laying on a spider who was getting revenge on me.

When I scratched them, they never raised up like a mosquito bite tends to do, but they became redder towards the centers and the overall diameters increased SLIGHTLY in size depending on how much they were scratched (largest got to maybe 3/4 of an inch on the long diameter of the oval shape, 1/2 inch on the short diameter).

Eventually, they went away... the color faded from outside to in, so that after about 10-14 days, each "bite" had shrunk to a small (2-3mm diam) scar-looking spot [shiny, pink fading to white/silver], and disappeared entirely within a day or two after that. Just like I would expect a bug bite to do if I left it alone and didn't scratch it.

THEN.....

Two weeks ago, while staying in a motel in another state, I had another breakout. On the same side of my body, generally ranging from a handful on my ribcage down to a couple by my waist, with no real pattern to the distribution. About ten of them.  Again, while clothed (different clothes) and under covers. Again, itchy like you'd expect a set of mosquito bites to be, but they stung/pricked if I touched them.

Now, if this had happened at home again, I would have probably had the exterminators come in and see if we could clear out any bugs in the house. But the idea that the same kind of spider got stuck in my bed the same way, 450 miles away, 3 months later, doesn't really make sense. Plus, talking to some friends I realized that the stinging/prickling response almost sounded like a reaction of nerve irritation or hives, rather than just plain allergic itch that feels good to scratch.

Unfortunately I cannot recall all the circumstances surrounding what was going on when I first got these spots, because I assumed they were spider bites and didn't focus on other possible causes. So,I don't know whether I'd been eating something that may have irritated me, or gone without sleep for several days, or whatever.

However, I can tell you that
1) I'm pregnant and was newly pregnant when this first happened
2) the second time, it happened when I was traveling and had gotten an average of only about 5 hours of sleep per night for the previous week, and then only about 4 hours of sleep the night in question, which was split up into about an hour at a time between taking turns driving.
3) I have a VERY minor onion/garlic intolerance; I tend to get unreasonably thirsty after eating those foods. during the trip in question, i had been eating a ton of summer sausage which probably contained both of those things. [i have had more extreme indulgences in garlic in the meantime without any reaction, but i thought it should be mentioned]


I have looked up shingles, psoriasis, and several rashes of pregnancy and none of the pictures I've found have looked like what I've got going on. They are all much more RASH looking - ie, more thickly distributed, covering more area, etc., except that the shingles do seem to be contained in about the same area. But I haven't seen any pictures of shingles where the spots were so BIG nor so far apart. All the rashes and conditions seem to be much more serious looking than what I've going on here.


Incidentally, I have had bedbug bites when traveling in the past, and they are smaller in diameter, have somewhat raised centers, and itch much more intensely than these did. Plus, unless there was only a single bedbug in each case, I would expect them to be more evenly distributed across the parts of my body that were in that area (ie, across more of my abdomen, back, arms that were in that part of the bed). Definitely NOT bedbug bites.

So..... any ideas?!

(PS, sorry I don't have any photos. Hopefully my descriptions are clear enough)

[j4105]

I have had a rash on my right ribcage that sounds exactly like this. I am not pregnant, however. I too assumed it was spider bites, and the reaction is similar to other bites I have had in the past. These welts have appeared and disappeared several times, always on my right ribcage, but in different locations. I usually only notice they are there when I catch myself scratching. Suggestions?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!

There are some rashes associated with pregnancy like Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), Prurigo of pregnancy, Pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy, and Pemphigoid gestationis. PUPPP is the most common, however it is seen more on stretch marks and during the third trimester. If you have gained a lot of weight during your pregnancy then this is a possibility. Prurigo of pregnancy is due to abnormal hormone levels, will disappear on delivery and reappear on subsequent pregnancy.
Simple moisturizing creams, wet soaks, calamine lotions etc are generally enough to soothe the symptoms.
Hope this helps. Do consult your gynecologist regarding this. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!