Pharmacist thought small group of bumps might be due to sweating and sold me cortisone

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Hello all.

I have a strange burning feeling when my clothes rub against the area in and around my armpit. I also have a line/cluster of 4 small bump/boils under my armpit and on my back immediately adjacent my armpit. A part of the strange feeling may be coming from inside my shoulder (possibly indicating it's not just a skin condition), but I'm not entirely sure. I showed a picture to a pharmacist and she thought they were pimples from sweating while sleeping so sold me hydrocortisone. However, I had unprotected sex with someone promiscuous in October and am unsure whether this could be an early symptom of syphilis ('the great imitator'). After coming home I read in a medical journal about a case study in which patient's use of hydrocortisone made it more difficult to recognise symptoms of syphilis, so I haven't taken the hydrocortisone yet. If I can rule out that this can be an early symptom of Syphilis I will take a sexual health check-up after returning home in 3 weeks (I missed my bi-annual checkup in November). If I can't rule it out I will make the two-hour round trip to the nearest KVB Bereitschaftsdienst Klinik (the only option here in Bavaria which will accept my European Health Insurance Card). Please let me know if you think it's normal/nothing to worry about and I can just go for my checkup in 3 weeks, if I should discuss it again with the pharmacist, or if I should go to the Doctor (=after-hours drop-in 'readyness clinic', which will accept my EHIC card).

NB: I am not usually prone to skin conditions or rashes, unless they have something to do with my physical activities/where I've been (eg I've had a case of scabies and once pulled out loads of ticks after sitting in a tick nest). I attached two images of my armpit (pharmacist saw the more zoomed out one) and one of my back. Medications: PrEP until October and Dexamfetamine for ADHD. imageimageimage

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2 Replies

  • Posted

    NB2: this strange feeling on my shoulder started about a week ago.

  • Posted

    NB3: the strange feeling seems most intense around the bumps/boils.

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