LymeNet Flash: Blotchy underskin rash on chest??

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Posted by suki444 (Member # 4261) on :

Hi
I have a patchy underskin red rash on my chest - just blotchy skin and at times it flares getting very noticeable and then other times can also totally disappear. Does anyone know what this is and whht causes it??

My LLMD is not sure what to attribute it to. I also get occasional little tiny pimples dotted on my chest and back but only a few.

Anyone else have this??

thanks, Emma

Posted by NP40 (Member # 6711) on :

Bartonella rashes can often look like stretch marks. However, all kinds of odd rashes can appear. Some may be due to the lyme, herxing, the meds, a million different reasons.

My son had rashes through his whole treatment and only cleared at the end.

Posted by AliG (Member # 9734) on :

Hi Emma,

I think I might have what you're describing except mine never really completely goes away.

I've had it since I was a child so I don't really pay much attention to it anymore.

LLMD asked if it had gotten worse after Babs treatment. I think it may have. I'm not really sure if he was thinking it was related to Babs, Lyme or what?

I'll have to ask what he thinks it's from when I go next week.

[Roll Eyes]

Ali

Posted by JillF (Member # 5553) on :

Hmmmmm

Sounds like what I have on the back of my head - under my hair.

Someone at work noticed it the first time in 1999. No idea how long it had really been there. It's never gone away.

Sometimes it's gets bigger, sometimes redder - usually when my symptoms are worsening. Just recently it started itching/flaking for the first time.

Noone has ever had any idea what it is or how to get rid of it. Not the doctors/dermatologists before I knew I had Lyme and not the LLMD's I've seen since.

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

Suki..

Does this rash feel sort of gritty? Or like you have sandpaper skin when the "pimples" appear? Worse after a hot shower?

Are you in the sun a lot?

``````````````````````````````````````

JillF.

The rash on the back of your head could be a chronic Lyme rash. A good number of folks have the same thing you describe... in the exact same place.. and some doctors actually search for that rash when examining their new patients as a tell tale sign Lyme is present.

I've got it too.. so I guess we are twins? Like Arnold Swartznager and Danny Divito?

Hope that helps?

[Big Grin]

Posted by JillF (Member # 5553) on :

Both LLMD's I've seen so far say it isn't a Lyme rash - they have no idea what it is.

But, meh, I figured it is.

Posted by suki444 (Member # 4261) on :

Hi

With me I kind of have two skin things going on on my torso!

One is the underskin blotchy red rash - no unbroken skin or roughness - just faint red patches on my central chest as if I've been a bit too near the fire!

The other is little singular pimples - tiny with a head that can appear on my chest, arms & neck like little spots.

So I'm not sure ...they are related to infection but I don't know what. The red blotchy one may be Bartonella I think...I just wondered had anyone's LLMD cracked what either actually are?

Hi Tincup [Smile]

No neither are worse after a shower and, sun in Northern Ireland?!!!

BW
Emma

Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Tincup:
Suki..

Worse after a hot shower?

For as long as I can remember, I've had red blotchiness, especially on my chest, that only shows up after a hot shower, then goes away.

I was bitten in 2003 and have been very sick since.

But I'm trying to figure out if the chronic fatigue syndrome I had a couple of decades ago, that finally went away, was really a first bout of Lyme (symptoms were very different than my current ones).

So is that red blotchiness that worsens after a hot shower indicative of Lyme?

Currently, I'm positive for Bartonella and have had Bart rashes that first came out on Levaquin, but the red blotchiness after showers hasn't worsened.

Jill E. (not JillF who is posting, too - oh, no, two Jills in the same post!! How confusing!)

Posted by ashleygait (Member # 10398) on :

Funny, Jill, but I have the exact same thing on my chest and haven't a clue what it is.

I also have a pimply rash on both of my thighs which came about a month after being treated for Lymes. i still don't know if it's from the abx or something else.

I'm definitely looking into getting tested again for coinfections. I'm sure i have them but the tests they took in the hospital came back negative... [Roll Eyes]

Posted by klutzo (Member # 5701) on :

My doctor said the red blotches I sometimes got on my chest early in my illness were due to muscle spasms in the chest area, causing the blood to pool. I don't get them anymore.

I still have the tiny bumps rash on my back that you mention. Once I had my DH put Ketaconozole cream on it for a few days and it subsided, so I think it's fungual, but I can't reach that area myself. I use a scrub brush and soap on it, but it is always there, and gets worse if I do something that makes me sweat.

I hope you can figure it out and get some help. I have some painful skin things going on, so I empathize with you....I wrote about them in another thread.
Klutzo

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

"So is that red blotchiness that worsens after a hot shower indicative of Lyme?"...

Don't know.. but have seen it on several Lyme people andwas hoping you'd know.

Viruses often cause pimply stuff. Been tested for them?

[Big Grin]

Posted by AliG (Member # 9734) on :

quote:
Originally posted by suki444:
Hi

With me I kind of have two skin things going on on my torso!

One is the underskin blotchy red rash - no unbroken skin or roughness - just faint red patches on my central chest as if I've been a bit too near the fire!

The other is little singular pimples - tiny with a head that can appear on my chest, arms & neck like little spots.

So I'm not sure ...they are related to infection but I don't know what. The red blotchy one may be Bartonella I think...I just wondered had anyone's LLMD cracked what either actually are?

Hi Tincup
No neither are worse after a shower and, sun in Northern Ireland?!!!

BW
Emma

Good one Emma!
ROFLMAO!

My cousins come to visit to get some sun. I know you guys get at least one or two days a year. I've seen pictures! [lol]

The chest rash is more like petechiae (the smaller of the red spots, the larger ones are purpura)?

www.immunologyclinic.com

here's some other info: petechiae-purpura

Mine is. I also have the little pimple-like bumps. I'm going to as about them Thurs. @ LLMD appt.

My family over there is from County Donegal. I wonder if it's an Irish thing [confused]

. I'll let you know what the doc says.

[hi]

Ali

[ 06. November 2006, 04:48 PM: Message edited by: AliG ]

Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :

Hi again,

When I went on Levaquin for Bartonella, I got red hive-like oval bumps - raised ones all around my neck, then later spread down my back.

It looked a little like a couple of the larger spots in your rash.

But my doctors don't know if it was the Bartonella reacting to the Levaquin or an allergic reaction to Levaquin. I havent' had it since going off Bartonella treatment, although my test is still positive for Bartonella and I have lots of symptoms.

I've had petechia for years, even pre-Lyme so they can be due to other things.

But I keep hearing they are often connected to Babesia, which of course concerns me.

Sorry I don't have any definitive answers, I'm just throwing in what I've gone through lately to see if it sheds light on your situation.

Jill

Posted by chicago_bird (Member # 9301) on :

hi all,

I have a rash in the middle of my chest that looks like tiny pimples and itches uncontrollably. I was wondering if it's a Lyme symptom or a reaction to abx. Now I'm not sure if I should keep taking my antibiotics! I've been off the zithromax for 2 days but I haven't seen any improvement in the rash.

Maybe it's unrelated to the abx, in which case I would like to get back on my treatment....

Has anyone else seen any cause and effect with abx?

thanks! [toilet]

Posted by chicago_bird (Member # 9301) on :

By the way, I also get blotchy patches all over when my skin has been in contact with water or sweat -- but it goes away after half and hour or so. I've had it all my life; I'm assuming I'm allergic to the chlorine in the water, soap, and oddly enough my own sweat! (I don't know if this is what's happening with any of you... I have a lot of other allergies, so it made sense to me.)

[confused]

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

Quick note..

Querectin helps me keep those annoying itchy things and nervousness feeling away when on antibiotics.

Be sure what you have isn't an allergic reaction to antibiotics and your doc wants you to stop them.. but for the general icky rash itches.. the NON-Citrus Querectin works well.

[Big Grin]