What could this be? Welt-like rash on arms/legs..

[AnnShh]

I'm at a loss.... 3 days ago I noticed that my arms and legs were incredibly itchy and when I looked there was a slight rash on them. I had just gotten the meningitis vaccine the night before so I thought maybe a reaction to that. Took some benedryl and let it go. It continued on and last night/today I noticed that it's more of a welt-like rash, on both arms (upper and lower) and the outside of my thighs. Went to the doctor and he said it's not hives and he really doesn't think it's a vaccine reaction as those are usually localized. He is unsure of what it could be...

He put me on some singular (said that while it is used for asthma it is also used as an antihistamine). He didn't want to put me on steroids because he said it would lessen the effect of the vaccine.


Any ideas? They are too small to be hives but bigger than a normal rash. It's not poison ivy and I haven't changed any of my soaps/lotions etc. What I did notice is that it's similar to the reaction that I had a reaction to the new scrub that my ortho. used to prep me for surgery. But I haven't been near any of that and that reaction was only one leg. This is both legs/arms (but nowhere else).

Anyone ever had something similar?

 

[addictedtochins]

Maybe a food allergy? Maybe a bad batch of soap, lotion, medicine, pharmacy error, a new piece of clothing, new bedding, new animal, animal product, stress can do it to me also. Are you applying a topical medicine, maybe calamine lotion?

 

[searchand_dstry]

A few years ago I had mono & was given amoxicillin a few days prior for a mistaken sinus infection. I was told I had a reaction to the amoxicillin due to my immune system being low. I had patches of itches rash/welts all down my arms and legs and splotched on my body. I was told to stop my meds (obviously lol) and I was given steroids for it.

Have you maybe taken anything new or could ya have been exposed to something?

I was thinking at first it could have been the vaccine because I had meningitis in the springtime & along with a severe headache and ridiculously high fever, I had a rash that started at my legs and eventually spread to the rest of my body that looked like a bunch of broken blood vessels and sunburn.

Depending on what it actually looks like, I would watch out for any other symptoms that could signal an illness. Hopefully it goes away soon though!

 

[beanjelly]

What animals have you been around? My hedgehog allergy came on pretty quickly and strong--and this was after I'd had hedgehogs for months. Can you correlate any animal exposure with your allergic reactions?

 

[Chinniechantel]

I had a horrible reaction to the menigitis vaccine. I passed out about an hour later, had a rash like you describe and a swollen face. It was not good, they said they have never seen anything like it before, but I was most likely allergic to something in the vaccine. Who knows though, it was a college campus clinic. It did go away after about 2 days, with lots of benadryl. Scary though!

 

[AnnShh]

What animals have you been around? My hedgehog allergy came on pretty quickly and strong--and this was after I'd had hedgehogs for months. Can you correlate any animal exposure with your allergic reactions?

Dogs, horses, chinchillas, hedgehogs, rabbits, and a hamster. Have had them for years without any problems.... I will occasionally break out from the chinchilla but it's very localized and goes away after a couple of hours.

I'll continue to take the benedryl and the singular that my doc gave me, and I'll call him on Monday if it still hasn't gone away (by that time it will have been 6 days that I've had it...). I have calamine lotion that I can put on it too so I guess I'll go dig that out!

I had googled reactions to the meningitis vaccine and I found places that said hives and/or rashes were rare but did occur, but I couldn't find if it said it was localized or wide spread.

 

[Parka]

It could very well be a reaction to the vaccine. If you were wearing clothes that covered all the areas with a rash, it could be the detergent/fabric softener. I know a kid that had a reaction like you describe to hotel soap, but obviously that's not the case here.

Steroids would also reduce the inflammation and can make it look like the rash is getting better when it's really not, so that's not a good idea. I made the mistake of using Pandel when I had a majocchis granuloma (subctaneous ringworm) a year or two ago because I didn't know what it was.

 

[Parka]

Sorry for the double post.. this is for you and anyone who searches and finds this thread in the future. This is what a majocchis granuloma looks like:

This is RINGWORM and anyone thinking "my rash looks like that" needs to go to the dermatologist immediately and be careful around your critters!

 

[AnnShh]

Sorry for the double post.. this is for you and anyone who searches and finds this thread in the future. This is what a majocchis granuloma looks like:

This is RINGWORM and anyone thinking "my rash looks like that" needs to go to the dermatologist immediately and be careful around your critters!

Mine doesn't look like that, thankfully. It crossed my mind that it might possibly be ringworm as my hedgehog had it, but it's been a few months since she cleared up and the doc agreed no ringworm. It's good that you posted the pics though so people can know what it looks like. It is hard as heck to clear up, esp. in small animals!

 

[Nancy]

My youngest daughter reacted to both the meningitis and the Hep vaccines. She had a rash that came and went on different areas of her body for 2-3 weeks after the vaccine.

 

[Chinniechantel]

My youngest daughter reacted to both the meningitis and the Hep vaccines. She had a rash that came and went on different areas of her body for 2-3 weeks after the vaccine.

Wow Nancy, those are the 2 I reacted to as well. They never could figure out what it was in them that I was allergic to, but I was not allowed to go back to get the 2nd and 3rd hep shots.

 

[Nancy]

Wow Nancy, those are the 2 I reacted to as well. They never could figure out what it was in them that I was allergic to, but I was not allowed to go back to get the 2nd and 3rd hep shots.

My daughter didn't get her 3rd hep shot but the others she did because we didn't connect the rash to the vaccination. In all cases the rash started almost a week later and twice was her first swim in our pool for the year so the doctor assumed it was the chlorine.

 

[AnnShh]

Oh wow, I'm slated to get the Herpies vaccine next.... hopefully I don't react to that one.

Still have the rash, same on the legs, a bit less on the arms. Hopefully that's a sign that it's going away!