PLEASE HELP - Does or did your PR look like this when angry?

mine does not look like that but some google images ive found do look like that.

mine looks like spots... almost like chicken pox... they are definately spot like.. an dnot ringed like yours.

when i wash or scrach they just turn more red...

Hi Tracelle. Had a look at your pic and am not too sure, but when my patches came out, the skin inside the patch was kind of wrinkly and almost looked like plastic. :?

Thank you both so much for your replies. I am really confused the appearance of my rashes varies depending on where it is on my body, and they seem to be changing all the time.

Hi amandag, I have those too - on my stomach and back there are [u:006b590a00]no[/u:006b590a00] rings at all, just spots. Yes if I dare to wash or apply cream they get very red and angry.

IGGY, I wonder if that's what people mean when they say it can look like cigarette paper? I also have the \"plastic coating\" effect on some of the larger splotches, and what I believe to be my herald patch.

So my mystery rash might be PR and it might not be. My gut feeling is that it is.. but I guess when I see the doctor again tonight I will just leave it up to him to try something else

I don't want to live with this any more!!

Hi Tracelle

My raash looks exactly like yours! I had a herald patch on the side of my knee about 6 weeks ago, the Dr told me it was Ezcema. over the weekend it has spread all over my legs so I went to the Dr again (this time a woman) and she immediately said it was PR and that it could last 1 - 3 months was a virus and will go on it's own. I am praying it just stays on my legs! :cry:

Toptotti, thanks so much for the reply - I was really starting to doubt myself.

Thankfully on my last trip to the GP he was much better with me - not that I'm any closer to being diagnosed as yet, but he said he now [i:495cede0f5]didn't[/i:495cede0f5] think it was ringworm and has asked me to see another doctor for a second opinion as he'd never seen something like this before. You can't say fairer than that.

I've still got to use the anti-fungal cream \"just in case it is fungal\" and he's now also given me antihistamines. Even if they don't help the rash, they help the itch.

Up until my second visit to the GP (which was Friday 21st Nov) I had been getting progressively worse, with new rashes appearing every day. [i:495cede0f5]Dare I say it[/i:495cede0f5], this week I have noticed an improvement with the older patches/rashes/splotches/plague.

My herald patch, two splotches on my stomach, the rings on my neck and a splotch on my hip which were once bright red and angry are now noticeably lighter, and less dry.

It could be because the cream the GP gave me (Lamisil) is kinder than the Daktarin I'd got over the counter, or [i:495cede0f5]it could be[/i:495cede0f5] they're getting better. I almost daren't hope. The new rashes are pink and showing no signs of going anywhere of course, but I'm grasping onto that little straw of hope!!

But yes, like you Toptotti, my \"best case scenario\" right now is that when I see this other doctor tomorrow, she will confirm PR and I then I will just have to wait it out. I'll hope and pray that neither of us will have more than a couple more months to wait.

xxx

i have been using this awesome cream... it's expensive and it's been working for me... it's called AVENE, and it's made with french thermal spring water

aveneusa (dot) com (wont let me put in any web addresses unless i register)

i got some samples from my drug store and i have been using the rich hydrating cream at least 2x a day on my neck and all lesions have disappeared!!

the ones of my stomach (not using the cream there) are still there. ... so there must be some link between the cream and the rash's disappearance.

i think to buy a bottle of the cream it's around 40$cad for a small bottle

i use the light hydrating cream on my face daily, which is why i thought to try this. it's for people with sensitive skin with skin problems.

it's worth a shot...

i also found that the facial mist calmed my itching after showering.

I have the same! But mine is getting better. I`m using E45 wash when im taking shower. And using a cream called DiproBase Emolient cream ( you can buy the E45wash by the counter so dont pay £7.10 for it like me(didint know i could get that without a prescription!)

And apply the cream twice a day. It worked for me. Oh Dr. also gave me some alerji pills (cant remmeber its name but i think its ceterizine r something like that ) you can also get Prition.

Get everyone well soon.

Just to reassure you, my daughter's friend has this and from what I have seen it looks very like your picture.

Thanks Alicia. I have been desperate for reassurance. I've known all along (in my gut) that it isn't a fungal infection, but when the doctor is so positive you're wrong, it makes you doubt yourself. I feel bad for your daughter's friend if she looks like me!

The last doctor I saw agrees that it is PR and I should sit tight and wait for it to go away on its own. As I said in my last post, this was my 'best case scenario', so I'm strangely pleased with this!

Thanks for the tips, everyone. If I am stuck with this much longer I will definitely try E45 or Avene.

[i:5718a4d103]Some good news for a change[/i:5718a4d103] - I have very suddenly seen a vast improvement in the colour and severity of my herald patch and the older patches on my neck, chest and stomach. I daren't be too hopeful, but any improvement seems a big deal after having this for 2 months.

I hope this will be good news to anyone who has been suffering at the same time as me.

The more I think about it, the more I think the miracle cures people swear by [i:5718a4d103]must [/i:5718a4d103]be coincidental - i.e. the illness has run its course and gone away, which has just happened to coincide with a certain treatment. After all, I was taking antihistamines when I suddenly started to improve.

I know it's very frustrating to someone newly diagnosed when people don't come back and let you know how they got on, so if I ever get over this rotten thing, I promise to come back and let everyone know my 'PR timeline'. Hang in there everyone.

[b:b372e117db]An Update for Anyone Suffering - there IS light at the end of the tunnel.[/b:b372e117db]

To recap: My herald patch appeared on my forearm at the end of September. I mistook it for a bite or burn. On 31st October, angry patches had appeared all over the top half of my body, worst on my neck. I was misdiagnosed with ringworm.

The lesions/splotches continued to get worse and spread further for 4 continuous weeks, until I was finally diagnosed with PR.

Then very suddenly I have seen a huge improvement..

Here is a photo taken last night of what was once [b:b372e117db]the worst affected area[/b:b372e117db] - please note the flash has made the marks more pronounced than they actually are:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/tracee84/PC041776.jpg

Compare these two photos and you will see the difference:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/tracee84/DSC08209crop.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/tracee84/PC041774.jpg

Providing they continue as they are and fade away by - I hope - the end of the year, that would mean my first experience with PR lasted a total of 3 months.

I hope this gives someone hope. Crazy as it sounds and impossible as it may seem, it really does just suddenly get better, and it doesn't matter what you're treating it with.

xxx

my single 'herald' lesion looks exctly like your multiple neck lesions. A pity your GP couldn't put your mind to rest earlier. Argh! what a wicked forum in that the official books are saying no known causes and yet on your own initiative you can lok up in real time what others' experiences and suspicions and feedback are....very cool!

Do you have any out of the norm changes to your lifestyle that you can recall over last 2 months? Diet? Pets? Stress? etc.

Caio.

Hi nciola b I agree this forum is a godsend!

In reply to your questions.. Stress, yes definitely - hasn't everyone been stressed this year, it's been pretty a terrible one. I haven't spoken to anyone with PR who says they aren't stressed.

Pets yes, we rescued kittens with cat flu in July, am [i:28614a2060]pretty [/i:28614a2060]sure they did not contribute though as we had them 3 months before I got my herald patch.

I had a bad cold/sickness bug in the week before the rashes spread, but this was [i:28614a2060]after[/i:28614a2060] the herald patch appeared now I think about it.. Could be coincidence but I think my lowered immune system might've helped the PR take hold.

No changes to lifestyle or diet, just the same old same old, although I have been suffering terribly with tension headaches and migraines, I think that's probably linked back to the stress again. It's shocking when you think of the physical effects stress has on people.

I am not much better, not any worse, than my last update on 5th December. My neck (the worst affected area) is not too bad at all, I have even dared to shun a polo neck once or twice recently

The small patches on the tops of both arms are quite noticeable but it's no trouble keeping them covered in this weather! They were the last place the rashes appeared so I quite expected them to be the last to go.

My stomach and back are completely clear - hopefully this time next month my whole body will be.

All the best for 2009 to everyone reading this.

Take care.

xxx

My daughter also has really bad migrains.

Her immune level is already low as she is on two antirejection drugs as she had a kidney transplant 19 yrs ago when she was 8 yrs old ( she has a rare condtion called \"Cystinosis\".

She did house sit for friends a few weeks ago and they have a cat.

Could there be any connection with the cat ???? We have never owned cats.

sue -australia ( mum to serena 26)

Hi Sue

I really don't suspect our kitties are connected.. I've had cats most of my life and only now (at 24) have I had a problem with PR.

Hope Serena is doing ok. Also a migraine sufferer, I know there are worse things than PR, it just makes you feel ugly As you can see from my posts in this thread, though, her PR will clear up suddenly and quickly when it does, and without treatment (but of course you can try things if you want to). It's many weeks away, but she [b:d90a211666]will [/b:d90a211666]get better.

Take care

x

[quote:074ce0c576=\"amandag\"]mine does not look like that but some google images ive found do look like that.

mine looks like spots... almost like chicken pox... they are definately spot like.. an dnot ringed like yours.

when i wash or scrach they just turn more red...

[/quote:074ce0c576]my 13 yr old daughter has PR it looks just like yours tho she also has a rash all over her body except lower legs and forearms its awful.