Ibuprofen, skin reaction?

petals

Hello everyone, I'm another newbie here. Hope you are all ok tonight.

Was wondering if anybody has had any skin reactions to long term use of Ibuprofin. I have RA and been taking Ibuprofin for about 18 months. I also take methotrexate and have started to get patches of what looks like eczema on my elbow, knee and now my hip.

Nurse thinks it is nothing to do with Metho so was wondering if it could be the Ibu. I have seen the GP who has given me some Betnovate to put on it but no explaination as to the cause. I have never had exzema before. All ideas greatfully recieved.

Thanks for reading, Petals

minky67

Hi Petals, welcome to the forum.
Ive not heard of anyone having a reaction from Ibuprofen.But were all different.
I do get patches of eczema behind my ears but usually when im stressed. I had it really bad when i had a bad accident & was in hospital for a while.
Stress & Eczema can be linked but again PA jumps into mind.
Best to ask your GP again about it.
Take care now.
debs

speedalong

Hi Petals and welcome to the forum. I'm afraid I don't know ... you might get more joy from the pharmacist. Hopefully it will clear up soon. If you are still worried go back to your GP.

Speedy

dreamdaisy

It's very difficult to diagnose a rash when it cannot be seen! If it's happening on the areas where you put the ibuprophen then yes, it's a possibility. If it isn't, could be anything. I agree with the others, go and show a pharmacist, they have a wealth of knowledge and they will be able to give advice. Good luck. Let us know what it is! DD (who has had eczema and psoriasis in the past).

frogmorton

Hi Petals

Good to meet you.

Not heard of this as a side effect of ibuprofen belly ache and breathing problems with asthma yes, but not eczma.

I got it too at the moment and am convinced it is connected with the arthritis - mine is going really quickly with the hyrdocortizone cream (was on my bum cheeks :oops: )

Hope your clears up quickly and doesnt come back.
Love

Toni xx

petals

Thanks everyone, I expect it could be caused by stress. I have recently had to change my job due to not being able to cope with the old job because of RA. Also I have moved house and am still settling into my new home.

So, new job, new house and RA all at once. It's enough to bring anyone out in a rash lol. If it gets any worse then I will go back to GP or Pharmasist as advised by you good selves.

Thanks again, Petals

hileena111

Hi Pdetals.....just to say welcome.....
I've not had any reaction to ibro. but betnovate that has been prescribed is what is usually given for eczema
Love
Hileena

kevlar

Hi petals,
from where the rash is occuring, the fact that you are stressed (more than normal) and the fact that your Dr prescribed Betnovate all point to Psoriasis.

It can be related to Arthur, as in Psoriatic Athritis, but is not necessarily so.

I'ts quite common, generally not serious, but can be bloody itchy!
I speak from experience!

The good news is it may well go away when you are more settled, I have often been told it is stress related. The bad news is it isn't really curable. It can be "controlled", like arthur, but not really cured.

I (and a friend who has it much worse than me) find that slurping a glug or 2 a day of Aloe Vera Juice helps considerably. You can buy the juice in health food shops, I get mine in Holland & Barret.

I hope this helps, good luck.

kevlar

What I should have summed up with is:

the rash is probably nothing to do with the medication, more to do with the stress you are under at the moment.

all the best, Kevin

petals

Hi Kevin,

Can I ask did you have the itchy rash before you got the arthritis or did it appear after your arthritis occured.

This disease is very confusing with so many different symptoms. Today I have woken up with a sore throat and my voice has gone completely. Now I am wondering if I have caught a bug or is it the mtx causing it. I am tempted to take extra folic acid just in case. I only take one folic acid tablet per week where as other people seem to take it over a few days.

Please can someone stop this roundabout and let me off!

Thanks Petals

kevlar

Hi again Petals, my little flower.

To answer your questions, yes I had psoriasis (itchy patches on my skin but mostly for me on my scalp) for many years before Uncle Arthur appeared, as is usual I believe.

The sore throat/cold symtoms can be brought on by the use of MTX, after all it is suppressing your auto-immune system, thats how it works.

I currently take 7.5mg (3 x 2.5) of MTX weekly and 5mg (1 tablet) of folic acid the day after.

I have been taking these for 4 weeks (the 5th dose is due Monday) and so far have noticed no difference at all, good or bad. I am also taking (what seems like) huge amounts of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol, I'm hoping to ramp these down soon if/when the MTX kicks in.

I also read elsewhere on this forum (good isn't it) about others taking far greater amounts of folic acid. Don't be swayed, everyone is different, if you have queeries about dosage, of any of your meds, wether to increase/decrease etc etc, speak to your Dr or other professional. You can always say you have been looking at the forum and you notice others are doing ....whatever.

At the end of the day getting the right meds at the correct dosage FOR YOU is a tricky business and will probably take a while. Stick with it kiddo, it could be well worth it!

Best of luck, keep us posted, Kevin

frogmorton

Hi Petals

I got the eczma on me bum cheeks 6 months before I got the arthur....

As for your plea....

I remember taking me little bro on the BIG WHEEl at the fair when he was about 8 and when we got to the top he wailed.....


"stop the world, I wanna get off!!"

sounds like you

Bad news is I think we're on it like it or not

Good news is you have great company

Love

Toni xx

petals

Thanks very much Toni and Kevin,

I was also on 7.5 mg of MTX until last week when my dose went up to 15mg on Wednesdays and 1 FA tablet on Fridays. Maybe the doubling of my dose of MTX has triggered the throat thing.

Funnily enough, for the first few weeks my MTX seemed to have no effect either (first started taking it in March) and I was also taking lots of Ibuprofen, but, I am now able to drop the amount of Ibu especially on days when I don't have to work. Only thing I notice now is that I am extreamly tired for a couple of days after taking MTX but tend to recover by Monday.

Have decided to visit GP on Tuesday as that is my day off.

Take care guys,

Petals

frogmorton

Good idea Petals

let us know how it goes

Love

Toni xx

petals

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on my "eczema rash".

Well went to the GP today as I have been suffering from a cold and a bit of a chest thing just lately, while I was there I showed her my Rash which is not healing at all and the itch is driving me mad.
Bearing in mind this is my 3rd visit to GP and have seen 3 different doctors. Well the 1st doc said rash was probably an insect bite. This I knew was not right but said ok I would just let it get better by its self. Second Doc said eczema and gave me Betnovate which I have used for about a month now and still not better.Today however, third Doc said it looks like ring worm Eeeeeeew and told me to put Canisten on it.
No wonder I was confused, insect bite, eczema and ring worm, not much difference there then lol.
Petals

dreamdaisy

The Husband was diagnosed with ringworm (it wasn't) and was also told to wash and moisturise using aqueous cream, a non-soap emollient. He still does to this day, and the aqueous is very good, better than E45 (expensive rubbish). I recommend it, it might help. DD

hileena111

Oh Petyals...I'm so sorry ...its hard when you get differing diagnosis.
So what are you going to do? Try the 3rd one...if the others havent worked?

Love
Hileena

petals

I am using the canisten cream on my elbow and the Betnovate on my hip and will see which one works best. Funnily enough I googled ringworm and found out that people taking immune suppresant medication are at greater risk of fungal infections such as ringworm or athletes foot so it would make sense that this is what it is. I will let you know which cream wins. :?

petals

Hi all,

Just a quick update on my wiered rash, I showed it to my rhumy consultant on Wednesday and she said it looked like 'Granuloma annulare' which of course I have never heard of. Anyway apparently if that is what it is then i have been wasting my time using cannestan, and betnovate. It is a very difficult condition to treat and is incurable, also it can be miss diagnosed as ringworm, which mine was. No wonder I couldn't get rid of it.

Anyway, she has writtern a letter requesting an appointment with dermatology for a definate diagnosis.

Now I wish it was ringworm, at least you can get rid of that lol

Thanks for listening (or reading rather) Petals

caterina57

Hi
sounds like your rheumie may well be right because I would have thought that after all this time the ringworm would have gone with treatment. Sorry though if there is no cure - cruel twist on top of what other problems you have.
Cath

tillytop

Hello Petals

Hope your dermatology appt comes through soon - there are so many different skin conditions so maybe it won't turn out to be what the rheumy thinks it is!

Love Tilly xxx

petals

Thanks Tilly,

I was advised that they would take a scraping of cells from my crusty scaley knuckle (how nice) and send it off to the lab for a definate diagnosis. I will let you all know what happens.

Petals x