How to diffrentiate vitiligo from Tinea Versicolor

[cmc30]

Please help! I am very confused. My skin discoloration began with a small itchy patch on my lower back that later became scaly and then turned very white. Then I began getting white discoloured skin  on my neck and then it spread all over my body.
Not all the white areas are itchy though, they are just white. I do have a few itchy areas that even look bruised on my body. I went to  a dermatologist who prescribed me with 2 different types of cream, one for the first white patch on my lower back and then one for the rest of my body, and they did not work. I have started the phototherapy treatment 2 weeks ago and I'm going 3 times a week, and I'm up to almost 3 min per session as I’m a little bit on the fair side and my skin burns easily. I saw a naturopath who put me on a gluten free diet and intravenous vitamins weekly for 5 weeks. He told me that I might have skin fungus but the only way to check is to get a biopsy?
I've started using selsun blue as body wash as well just in case.
I also want to add that this has spread throughout my body very quickly, I am about 50% covered with discoloured skin and it all happened in less than 1 year.
Does it sound like I may have both vitiligo and Tinea Versicolor?

[Keitto]

i have white spot on the bra line of my stomach is it vitiligo? it shape is oblong and it spreading a little.  

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From your symptoms it sounds like vitiligo and not pityriasis versicolor. It is a pigmentation disorder in which melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) in the skin are destroyed. As a result, white patches appear on the skin in different parts of the body.

Pityriasis versicolor is confined to the upper trunk mostly and sun exposed areas. Diagnosis can be confirmed by external examination, blood tests to check skin cell count  for melanocytes and biopsy of the skin patches.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.