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Itchy and Spreading Rash
by Anonymous
I am a 34 year-old woman in generally good health and living in the Southern United States. I have had allergies all of my life mostly of the sinus variety, for which I take three different allergy medicines on a daily basis. Other than that, I am a healthy individual.
About two weeks ago, I noticed a small bump near my wrist and under the skin. It was a little itchy but I thought nothing of it at the time. A few days later, a subtle red rash has appeared on both of my forearms. It is composed of just some small red dots and really, it does not look like much. However, the affected skin area is extremely itchy. I wake up in the middle of the night scratching myself because it itches so bad. I am assuming this is why it has now spread. It is up and down both sides of both arms and all the way to the shoulder, a bit on the backs of my hands, and has spread across my upper back, up my neck into my hairline, and around the front of my neck down over the top of my chest. I have recently started to notice it itching on the fronts of my calves as well.
The winter weather has just started to set in here, so at first I thought it was because of dry skin and therefore did all of my usual moisturizing routines. I also started taking cooler showers to avoid drying the skin and I am constantly applying lotion, etc.
In the time since, I have tried everything from oatmeal baths to anti-itch lotion, calamine lotion, and antihistamines. All of these have provided some temporary relief, but my skin is still itchy. I have tried some homeopathic remedies as well. I actually found that crushing fresh basil leaves between your fingers and rubbing them on the rash really provides some relief!
However, I would like to know what is this rash, why it is spreading, and what it came from in the first place! I have not changed anything in the shampoos, lotions or detergents I am using. I have not changed anything in my diet. I do have a good deal of stress in my life but that has been true for a while, and the only new thing in my environment is we recently had an exterminator out to put some bug bait down. We live out in the woods and the German cockroaches were trying to move in. So, my best guess is that it is something about that stuff or something my cat has tracked in from the woods. I do not know how to narrow it down any further and I do not know what to do about it. Every doctor I have been to see for any reason previous to this in my area is pretty much an utter moron, so I really do not hold out much hope from the medical professionals in my area in order to diagnose this skin rash problem. Any ideas from visitors to this website would be appreciated!
