I have the skin AIDS. PBB Doctors?

[Entropy]

Mark and Andy are down from Cheeseland... and I've been keeping them out in the sun quite a bit.

As a result, of course, I've been out in the sun quite a bit.

I have a pretty dark farmers tan, but my chest and tummy are bright white.

Anyway, yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in the pool and I developed raised white bumps on my stomach and chest. They looked like ant bites, but they did not itch and I didn't feel them... but they were white and red around the outside.

I figured it might be from the chlorine.

Well, today we went to the beach and the same thing happened. Soon as I took my shirt off to go in the ocean, the bumps came back. Couldn't really find anything online - maybe I'm not searching for the right thing.

I did look at a bunch of scary cancer pictures and it didn't look anything like that.

After fifteen minutes or so out of the sun, they completely disappear. I couldn't even tell you where they were now - you can't see any sign of where they popped up.

Bueller?

[Muddin]

Punch yourself in the face for posting about a skin problem and not adding pics.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Muddin

Punch yourself in the face for posting about a skin problem and not adding pics.

I would... but I have to wait til the sun comes out... it just looks like skin right now.

Looks like an ant bite when the sun hits it. It even goes up along a line - like a trail, up my chest and onto my neck.

At first, we thought they were from an ant or insect.

[Big Murph]

allergic reaction to something, probably man-bird-pig flu...

you'll be dead in a day, you should go to the ER

[beartj]

I remember reading about solar urticaria (hives) a few weeks ago in Path. I would expect hives to itch (although i haven't covered skin yet so I don't actually know).

Are you on any medication? I think with solar urticaria it is thought that in some cases sunlight may react with some drugs releasing histamines and other inflammatory mediators.

I think solar urticaria is largely idiopathic (of unknown cause) but it's obvious that the absorption of sunlight is causing a reaction which leads to eventual release of some substance that's causing an allergic response.

See if benadryl helps or even maybe tylenol[which could be the cause] (if nothing else to be my lab rat).

[NoJoke]

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...ntid=100213810

This is the common herpes, I believe it's painful though... 10-14 day duration if it is...

Flares during menstruation too.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by beartj

I remember reading about solar urticaria (hives) a few weeks ago in Path. I would expect hives to itch (although i haven't covered skin yet so I don't actually know).

Are you on any medication? I think with solar urticaria it is thought that in some cases sunlight may react with some drugs releasing histamines and other inflammatory mediators.

I think solar urticaria is largely idiopathic (of unknown cause) but it's obvious that the absorption of sunlight is causing a reaction which leads to eventual release of some substance that's causing an allergic response.

See if benadryl helps or even maybe tylenol[which could be the cause] (if nothing else to be my lab rat).

I don't take any medication, although I've drank a lot more beer than I normally do. I'm about 2 sheets to the windc right now actually.

It doesn't itch at all. I actually only saw one spot... Mark saw the ones closer to my neck and I went and looked at them in the mirror. It looked like an ant got on my belly and bit me all the way up to my neck in a spiral patter.

They are like slightly raised white bumped and surrounded by a reddish discoloration, like I've been itching them, but I haven't. I feel absolutely nothing. When I touch them, they don't feel any differnet, other than I can feel the raised bump. No itch, pain, nothing...

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by NoJoke

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/...ntid=100213810

This is the common herpes, I believe it's painful though... 10-14 day duration if it is...

Flares during menstruation too.

[petro812]

Originally Posted by Entropy

cut it off with a K-BAR, done, and, you're a baddass...
there seems to be a lot of problems today,
that could easily be solved with a k-bar...

[Entropy]

Wait, I just realized something.

The bumps aren't white... my skin is bright white. So, they aren't discolored at all. You can only see the bumps because they are raised slightly (not round) and they are surrounded by red skin that looks irritated, like i've been scratching it... but I haven't.

[beartj]

so, it's been a couple hours and the redness is still there?

What happens when you push on the red area does it turn white (blanching) or does it stay red?

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by beartj

so, it's been a couple hours and the redness is still there?

What happens when you push on the red area does it turn white (blanching) or does it stay red?

No, as long as I'm in the sun, it is there.

After fifteen minutes or so, it fades until it is completely gone. Right now, you can't see any discoloration or even tell where they were.

[trampas]

scabies are out!

no they're in remission

scabies are out!

no they're in remission

repeat

repeat

repeat

[beartj]

What you've described is a wheal (the inflamed red part of the wheal and flare reaction seen/induced in allergy testing). Wheals are caused by allergies (to numerous things including bug bites)/urticaria (hives).

So you're allergic to something formed by a reaction involving sunlight.

I think it may be solar urticaria. Acute inflammation does tend to resolve rapidly in many cases.

Now you've got me curious. I'm going to do some digging but I may just pass out before I find anything. Been a long day of studying.

Or we can just wait til tomorrow when someone with no medical education or training who stayed at holiday inn tonight correctly and positively identifies it and makes me feel real good about myself.

[beartj]

Think we *may* possibly have a winner.

Solar Urticaria. From e-medicine (a legit source) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1050485-overview:

"Upon cessation of sun exposure, the rash begins to disappear within several minutes to a few hours and rarely lasts beyond 24 hours. Rapid disappearance of the rash upon cessation of further sun exposure is essential to the diagnosis of solar urticaria."

"The reaction leaves no residual skin changes. Consequently, examination of the skin after the acute eruption reveals no evidence of the condition."

"Other symptoms, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, bronchospasm, and syncope, have been reported but are considered rare."

Bronchospasm would = wheezing and is listed as a rare symptom so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that you didn't mention it.

I'm going to assume (not based on anything but intuition) that since the allergic substance is formed locally in the skin due to the photoreaction and is broken down there that this explains why solar urticaria is different than the more widespread hives, problematic hives in terms of systemic effects (wheezing, itching, etc.) which are more commonly seen in hives that's induced by some other more systemically involved allergy (whih probably isn't a correct way of describing it but fawk i'm tired). Could be way wrong though.

The average age of onset is 35 (but the range is 10-70 so it could happen to anyone).

and looking at the differential dx, it looks like solar urticaria is the most likely.

Other Problems to Be Considered

* (it's probably not PLE b/c it takes hours usually to start and quite a while to subside and seems to be more painful) Polymorphous light eruption is much more common than solar urticaria and may affect the same sites, but the lesions do not subside as quickly upon cessation of sun exposure.
* Erythropoietic protoporphyria usually manifests earlier in life.
*(you don't have lupus...do you?) Lupus erythematosus is more common in women, and signs and symptoms, other than dermatologic ones, accompany the acute systemic form. Localized cutaneous forms have different morphologies (eg, discoid, papulosquamous, annular); however, lupus erythematosus should be excluded through laboratory test findings.
* Photocontact dermatitis manifests in a pattern suggestive of the contactant or allergen and does not totally disappear upon discontinuation of sun exposure.
* Miliaria rubra (heat rash) can be mistaken for solaria urticaria.
* Churg Strauss syndrome may manifest solar urticaria.

did it look like this (doesn't need to be exact):

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by beartj

Think we *may* possibly have a winner.

Solar Urticaria. From e-medicine (a legit source) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1050485-overview:

"Upon cessation of sun exposure, the rash begins to disappear within several minutes to a few hours and rarely lasts beyond 24 hours. Rapid disappearance of the rash upon cessation of further sun exposure is essential to the diagnosis of solar urticaria."

"The reaction leaves no residual skin changes. Consequently, examination of the skin after the acute eruption reveals no evidence of the condition."

"Other symptoms, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, bronchospasm, and syncope, have been reported but are considered rare."

Bronchospasm would = wheezing and is listed as a rare symptom so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that you didn't mention it.

I'm going to assume (not based on anything but intuition) that since the allergic substance is formed locally in the skin due to the photoreaction and is broken down there that this explains why solar urticaria is different than the more widespread hives, problematic hives in terms of systemic effects (wheezing, itching, etc.) which are more commonly seen in hives that's induced by some other more systemically involved allergy (whih probably isn't a correct way of describing it but fawk i'm tired). Could be way wrong though.

The average age of onset is 35 (but the range is 10-70 so it could happen to anyone).

and looking at the differential dx, it looks like solar urticaria is the most likely.

Other Problems to Be Considered

* (it's probably not PLE b/c it takes hours usually to start and quite a while to subside and seems to be more painful) Polymorphous light eruption is much more common than solar urticaria and may affect the same sites, but the lesions do not subside as quickly upon cessation of sun exposure.
* Erythropoietic protoporphyria usually manifests earlier in life.
*(you don't have lupus...do you?) Lupus erythematosus is more common in women, and signs and symptoms, other than dermatologic ones, accompany the acute systemic form. Localized cutaneous forms have different morphologies (eg, discoid, papulosquamous, annular); however, lupus erythematosus should be excluded through laboratory test findings.
* Photocontact dermatitis manifests in a pattern suggestive of the contactant or allergen and does not totally disappear upon discontinuation of sun exposure.
* Miliaria rubra (heat rash) can be mistaken for solaria urticaria.
* Churg Strauss syndrome may manifest solar urticaria.

did it look like this (doesn't need to be exact):

It looked similar to that, except I don't see the raised bumps. The reddness was about right and patchy like that.

Unfortunately, we tried to get a picture today and I was in the pool again, but I didn't have any spots today. Nothing.

I do have a little bit of color though, so maybe it was just extreme cause I was so white?

That might be it though... it sounds the closest, that is for sure.

[Joe_W]

The native southeners are pointing and laughing at the obvious snowbird

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Joe_W

The native southeners are pointing and laughing at the obvious snowbird

I was born here!!!

[beartj]

That picture isn't an exact example. Post up if it happens again. I'm curious to know.