Hi everyone, I'm wondering if my son's skin blotchiness is related to his Lyme or not?
I'm currently awaiting the results of his bloodwork from Igenex and Med Diagnostic Lab. I should have them this week, I'll be calling Dr. J today to see if he has them. (any idea why he chose Med Diag Lab instead of Fry for co-infections???)
However, as a small recap, my son was bitten by a tick and developed the bullseye rash. Treated with Amox. for 24 days at 9 months old. He's now 1 1/2 years old.
However I still think he has Lyme and/or co-infections in his system. Just a mother's instict.
On to my question - his face has been breaking out for quite some months now. The doctors (including Dr. J) say it's just bad luck. The skin under the breakouts seems to get red, and a bit blotchy. It's strange though b/c it's very small patches of blotchiness, not a typical large blotch - if that makes any sense.
I've also noticed his chest and stomach to be very mildly blotchy. It's so mild that my husband doesn't see it, and thinks I'm imagining it. I think it's there a little bit.
Could skin problems be related to Lyme?? He had relatively clear skin before being bit by the tick.
It's SOOO hard for me to know if it is Lyme related, or if it's just normal little boy issues and he would be going through this even without having been bitten.
Any thoughts on the skin breakouts would be appreciated. Thank you in advance, I appreciate your help Posted by webmeg (Member # 13647) on :
Just a non-Lyme thought but maybe he's got a milk allergy?
When I was a baby I could not drink milk - it would cause an eczema reaction - little skin blotches, dry, scaly, sometimes itchy. Anywhere on the body.
To this day, in the winter particularly, I still get little eczema blotches but usually some lotion or cortizone clears it up.
~webmeg
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
I HOPE HE HASNT BEEN ON ANY OF THE CYCILINES? TETRA,DOXY,MINO. Sorry about the caps were on duh me lyme brain
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
Hi Jaimee,
2 of my teenage children with Lyme get blotchy skin.
Their LLMD says the Lyme borreliosis complex can cause diffuse endothelial (blood vessel) damage.
One child gets patchy red blotches on her neck, face, and torso. Both of them get reddish-white skin blotchiness too. It's noticeable in their arms & legs/hands & feet.
One child also has symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome...which may also be due to the same endothelial damage. His skin turns pure white and has no circulation due to spasms of the blood vessels. He soaks his hands/feet in warm water to restore normal blood circulation.
The capillary refill time is very slow when my son's hands get chilly. When you press the skin firmly it should blanch for a second, then return to normal color almost immediately. My son's capillaries take over 4 seconds to refill and return to normal color.
If you rub my daughter's lower legs, they turn a blotchy pink and white. The LLMD says this indicates she has abnormal skin.
I've read these symptoms may be lead to hypercoagulation.
I'm not a physician, but it sounds like your son's skin problems may be related to his infection with Lyme disease.
Posted by JaimeeS (Member # 11983) on :
I never thought about a Milk allergy - thanks!
And no, he hasn't been on any cyclines - but why would that be bad? I thought steroids were the only big "no no" with Lyme? Please advise!
Thanks again Posted by webmeg (Member # 13647) on :
I believe one reason children should not take any of the cylines is it causes discoloration of their teeth (which are still developing). Tetra and Doxy in particular...
~webmeg
Posted by h8lyme (Member # 11765) on :
If your child received any Merck Vaccinations last april-june. I believe that Merck had a recall due to rashes.
What: Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that the Company has initiated a voluntary recall of 11 lots of its Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, PEDVAXHIB [Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine (Meningococcal Protein Conjugate)], and two lots of its combination Haemophilus influenzae type B/ hepatitis B vaccine, COMVAX [Haemophilus b Conjugate (Meningococcal Protein Conjugate)]. The recall is specific to these 13 lots and does not affect any other vaccines manufactured by Merck. The affected doses of PEDVAXHIB and COMVAX were distributed starting in April 2007.
I do get rashes after taking a hot shower, don't know if it is lyme related. I was looking for a post earlier that showed a picture of what these rashes typically look like, but I didn't have any luck in finding it. Hoping the best health for you and your child.
Posted by JaimeeS (Member # 11983) on :
Thank you everyone, I really appreciate your replies.
I don't "think" his rashes are related to any vaccines. They said that any rash would have showed up within a week of receiving the vaccine.
My son's skin isn't really rashy. It's more of a mild blotciness. His cheeks were pretty red for a couple of months, but have since calmed down. I just noticed last night that his stomach looked the slightest bit blotchy. Almost lacy looking - pale red underneath his skin.
I know in my heart he still has Lyme. I don't know what it is, but I just know. And I feel like Dr. J would know, but he keeps reassuring me that my son is ok. Why can't I accept that?
I'm hoping the bloodwork comes back positive today just so I can get him started on antibiotics. Yet at the same time I really want it to be negative, but not a false-negative.
Thanks for letting me vent. I'm really making myself nuts worrying about this.
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
You may want to consider having Dr. J contact my Dr. J and discuss the rashes & endothelial problems he's observed in his Lyme patients.
Two of my boys had odd reactions to poison ivy after contracting Lyme disease.
Poison ivy left scars on these 2 children; it never caused scars before Lyme. I mentioned this to the LLMD and think it is related to endothelial damage.
My youngest son with Lyme used to get patches of a bumpy, acne-like rash. The rash would be red at times, then fade, but you could still feel the rash. One infected daughter also had this bumpy rash, but hers were almost always faded. These rashes have gone away with Lyme treatment.
The bumpy rashes usually formed in places where they skinned their knees or elbows. ...but not always; sometimes they would occur on their upper arm or thigh.
These were always very circumscribed patches...not spread everywhere.
Posted by JaimeeS (Member # 11983) on :
Thank you. Can you PM me and tell me who your Dr. J is?
Also, this may sound CRAZY, but here it goes. Is it possible that these bumps or pimples are the spirochetes trying to get out of my son's body? I mean, wouldn't that mean that his body is ridding itself of the disease? Perhaps wishful thinking on my part...
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)