Dear Doctor,
I am a 26 year old white male, with a healthy weight/height, in reasonably good shape. For almost a year now I have had really strange (strange to me) skin issues. I came back home from vacation with a fever of 105. I had been outdoors alot at various times of the day/night over the Thanksgiving holidays in rural Mississippi. My Doctor prescribed a Zithromax antibiotic pack and instantly I reacted with near anaphalctic shock. I returned to the doctor with a full body rash of spots all over; in my eyes, on my face & in my mouth. They didn't itch & were not painful. My internist told me I had an allergic reaction to the Zithromax. I was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia and recovered. 2 weeks later I shave my arms, and torso area, and developed a horrible infection on both forearms elbow to hand. This eventually went away but not until after a shot of DECADRON & a steroid pack. I was diagnosed with eczema on the arms, & given topical treatments that have worked well. Since then a multitude of things that I was never allergic to before, make my skin react. For the past several months I have developed raised, small red spots that do not itch between my eyebrows, on my eyelids, forhead, all around the mouth area, & at the outer corners of my eyes. I am very conscious of not touching my face, & have been diagnosed with contact dermatitis,w/ my dermatologist blaming my 3 year old black lab as the culprit. I'm not concerned about the forarm eczema, be/c that go's away almost instantly with Elidel. I was instructed to apply Elidel 2X daily to my affected facial areas. At 1st this worked, now it hardly works. It is very red & always irritated. I use soapfree cleansers on my scalp & face. In the morning when I get up, it's totally gone. But as soon as I shower in the a.m. its back. I've experimented w/ not washing my hair or face & it still persists. Elidel is the last in a long line of treatments: Bactroban, .05% Cutivate Cream, Desitin, Hydrocortisone etc. To me, this seems more RASHY than it does Eczema. Is there a possibility all of this being a fungal infection? Sometimes it will totally just go away for a few days, before returning almost instantly & fully. I'm using nonallergy detergents, nonallergy pillows, good bedding, not letting my dog on the bed, etc. I feel like I have crossed all my t-'s & dotted my i's with this, and I still keep having the facial rash. My doctor & dermatologist have not done skin scrapings & insist it is contact dermatitis. I have never had skin problems until after having the allergic reaction to the Zithromax antibiotics. One footnote. I have been living in Montana serving in the military until a year ago. My Dr. thinks the change in environments moving back home to Texas have been a factor in my facial rash/eczema. But since I've had so many inccoculations I am worried I might have Stevens Johnson Syndrome. I've been tested for HIV,w/ a neg result. Please advise.