Wheezy throat, ringworm, pimples, itchy skin, soft stool, fatigue.

The New-Test Forum - Allergy Testing

FromTo
I've most recently taken a look at symptoms, which I've had for sometime. I've had hayfever for most of my 63 years and food allergies have developed over the years. .... clams nearly did me in once!

Over the course of the last 5 ?? years things have developed.

As I recall, I started taking Triamterene/HCTZ for fluids and high blood pressure. At about the same time my ankles became itchy, I thought because of the diuretic. ?? About a year ago, maybe longer, other things started to occur. I became "more itchy", my stool was always soft, but not quite diarrhea, I started getting ringworm around the groin area, I started getting pimples on the scalp, my throat became tight with wheezing during cold weather and exercise, and I had to have a nap nearly every afternoon.

All of these symptoms never came together in my mind. I blamed the itching on the diuretic, the soft stool on my heavy intake of hot peppers, Tabasco, poor diet, etc., the pimples on my scalp and the ringworm made me wonder about internal fungus, but I blamed it on my toweling procedure after showering and spreading of athletes foot. As far as my "asthmatic throat", I was pondering about home improvements, I had made, the fact that I had quit smoking and a number of other environmental things. At the same time, I seemed to develop more food allergies.

After doing much research, there has emerged one dominate possibility ... "Leaky Gut Syndrome"! LGS can be caused by antibiotics, allowing internal fungus to take over. I took antibiotics for a bad tooth infection/abscess.

Thoughts?		tmajor
5/27/2006
.
Tell me about this "ringworm" spot. How long have you had it and what does it look like?

star queen
5/29/2006
 .
Well, what I was referring to as ringworm, was in the groin area of my inner legs. It would start out looking like a pimple, but then it would get larger, maybe the diameter of a pencil eraser. They would come and go. I haven't had any of those lately. I did treat them with OTC anti-fungal.

There is another area on my right ankle, which is itchy. That is about the size of a dime or larger. It has a ring around it, but that may be from scratching. That seems to have been there the longest, actually it moves around a little .... 5 years or so, since I started on the Triamterene/HCTZ. ... I think. I believe, I used to have them on both ankles, but now mostly the right. I have Triamcinolone Acetonide, which seems to work pretty good at relieving the itch.

tmajor
5/29/2006
 .
Get checked out for Lyme disease. Ringworm doesn't "come and go". It itches and when you scratch the ringworm and then another spot on the body, you get one there, too, until it is just all over the body. If your 'spot" is a pimple or red center with another "ring" around it, that can be lyme disease. Lyme can cause all of the symptoms you list.

star queen
5/29/2006
 .
I'll mention that to the Dr.s.

Even though some of the symptoms parallel some of my own, the more chronic ones don't seem to be there.

My mention of the "ringworm going away", was to mean, after treatment with anti-fungal. I would also guess, I didn't continue long enough with the treatment, thereby allowing them to return.

I applied some Lamisil to the area on my ankle (actually "shin") last evening. It will be interesting to see what becomes of that. Speaking of which, I took a picture of it last night. It looks very much like some of the Internet pix of ringworm. ..red outer ring, with the center looking normal.

tmajor
5/30/2006
 .
Here a few sides to this mystery.

The other night, I started to get some of the "pimples" on my temple. I took a Benadryl and a look at my food intake. The problem here was, I didn't know how far back to look. I have limited my diet, pretty much to a few things that I don't suspect and a few, which I feel are possibilities.

One of the foods, which was within 2 hours, was a piece of cheese with Jalapeño peppers. This makes sense, .. kinda. I know when I eat a lot of hot stuff my head will perspire. This instance didn't seem to progress as far as usual. ..food allergy or blocked pores or fungus? Plus, I've used Selsun Blue and Lamisil on it.

I have, all but quit taking the diuretic. In the last 8 days I've only taken it once, due to a rise in BP. However, my left leg, which was the problem, has been good, ... maybe even better than when on the diuretic. My BP may be higher than the "experts" would like (about 140/85 average), but one thing at a time. Plus, I think, it's getting better. Weight loss and exercise couldn't hurt.

Next welcome observation, I've lost 6 pounds! This doesn't alarm me a bit, as I have been eating less to try and diagnose. ... 30 pounds to go!

tmajor
5/30/2006
 .
Another possibility on the "pimples" may be a sign of shingles.

star queen
5/30/2006
 .
I just took another pic of the area on my shin, after applying Lamisil for one day. The red color is much less intense and is much more "blended in" from yesterday.

I can't imagine that ringworm has been the cause of the irritation for 5 years. I guess, I always felt it was from the diuretic and dry skin and didn't look further.

Can this ringworm (assuming that's what it is) be the "cause" of any of the other symptoms?

tmajor
5/30/2006
 .
Ringworm is a fungus similiar to athletes foot. It is contracted via physical or indirect contact with another ringworm site. Birds and cats carry ringworm and are the most "popular" carriers. Symptoms are restricted to the skin and cause an itchy red ring that when scratched gets worse and more itchy. It is irritating and will drive you crazy and often people scratch off the skin leaving themselves open to infection, but it is not considered a life threatening problem. There is no systemic involvement with ringworm. Your symptoms of stool, throat and other problems are not generally caused by ringworm.

star queen
6/1/2006
 .
At this stage, I'm thinking my throat problem, at least, might be caused by mold in the basement. I spend quite a few hours a week doing work down there.

The ringworm is all but history. Itching and visible signs are gone, through the use of the Lamisil, which I'll apply for another week.

tmajor
6/2/2006
 .
Have recently been suffering similar symptoms, red patchy itching that looks a lot like ringworm around the upper leg and lower torso areas. Have found a few stiff whiskeys dulls the irritation for the short term, but on a visit to the doctor, he said no, not ringworm but a food allergy. Have I eaten things I dont usully eat? no, my diet is the same boring diet as always, no spices, foriegn foods or such, I like the taste of meat on its own, and chips and eggs with it. So after the second visit and second lot of pills and second hundred kiwi bucks, he said go down and get a skin allergy test at the medlab and on doing so, I find I am all of a sudden allergic to Soy, Peanuts and wheat... Whats that about? been eating it since I was born for gods sake... So now my food intake is severely limited as on looking at the ingredients in foods I usually buy, Soy and wheat is in 99% of it. So now I am trawling the net to see if I can find out why I am suddenly allergic to things Ive eaten all my life. Could ringworm cause this? I do not know, more trawling and experience may solve the dilemma...

Bernie65
8/10/2006
 .
Tags: d,ringworm, food, causes, pimple, allergy, diuretic, redness, skin, throat,
[ More ]