Itchy palms, body. Rash appears even after slight skin irritation

[Sochu]

Hello all,

Just a little background info: I am a 23 yr-old American exchange student in Taiwan. I have been here for 2 months now, and and up until 3 days ago, did not have this condition. I don't have any allergies to my knowledge, but my mother is severely allergic to mushrooms (vomiting, bed ridden for a few days). Generally, they do not cause me problems but sometimes I get a stomach ache if I eat too many, so I do try to avoid them.

I was working on my computer, at my desk, in the apartment I've been living in for two months, and then backs of my legs itched, so I lightly scratched them, not thinking anything of it. Then my stomach, again, lightly scratched not thinking anything of it, and continued working. I looked down only to realize that my legs and stomach were now covered with a strange, red, bumpy, poisen-ivy-like rash. I took a warm (probably too hot, after reading some of the other posts) shower, and that seemed to help a bit. I had gone to the beach that weekend, but that was a few days before and had not gotten symptoms before. I went to bed, not thinking anything more of it.

Now, my palms and backs of my hands, arms, legs, stomach, shoulders, back, and scalp are itchy. The thing is, the rash seems to come and go as it pleases. I'm doing my very best not to itch anything, which seems to help, but even when I rest my forearms or elbows on the table I will get a break out. If I gently scratch or bump a previously non-irritated area, it too will puff up and become red and itchy.

I went to the doctor, he said I have Weil's, but I don't have a high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting, jaundice, red eyes, abdominal pain, or diarrhea (thank you Wikipedia), but I do have this REALLY REALLY annoying itchy rash. He gave me a shot, which made it go away for the evening (I then went home and slept for 10 hours...), two types of pills, and a lotion to apply. It's been just over 24 hours since started treatment, but it doesn't seem to be subsiding; if anything, it is getting worse.

Ideas? Thoughts? Questions? Tips on how not to go crazy?

Thanks! 謝謝你!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Hives are of two types: acute and chronic(when hives persist for more than 6 weeks). The most likely triggers for acute urticaria are allergies to pets, horses, latex and foods, such as shellfish and nuts, bee or wasp stings, allergies to medicines, Viral infections, such as glandular fever and herpes, dental and sinus infections, fungal infections, blood transfusions and vaccines.

The cause of chronic urticaria is often more difficult to identify. Most cases are called chronic idiopathic urticaria, which means they're caused by the body's unexplainable development of antibodies to itself.

I hope it helps. 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.

[Sochu]

They do look a lot like hives, but why they come and go, I have no idea. They're usually gone within 20 minutes, but then randomly start up again a couple times throughout the day. I've been here for almost 3 months now, and have never had any allergies previously. Is it possible to build up enough toxins/something that doesn't agree with me until finally my body just can't take it anymore?

I plan on going to the dermatologist again on Monday if it does start getting better over the weekend (which looks grim), and will have to see where it goes from there...

Thank you for your response! I'll keep you posted.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It looks like hives which come and go. Do not use any cosmetic products at the sites. You can apply some calamine lotion at the rash as it will help in soothing the skin. You can take some OTC oral antihistamine medications like Benadryl or Claritin and see if it helps.

For mild-moderate symptoms a weak steroid may be used (e.g. hydrocortisone as dermacort), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide).But they are available under prescription and should be taken only after consulting a dermatologist.

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.