Rash on swollen foot and lower leg... doc is clueless

charleeh

Hi everyone.

Just wondering if anyone else has ever had a rash related to arthritis?

I have got a rash come up on my badly swollen right foot and it goes up on to my lower leg. Its the same on the left but not as bad. The rash itself looks like red-purple dots under the skin. Its not sore or itchy at all and I have no other symptoms of anything.

Rang Rheumy nurse, she said go to GP.Went to the GP, he is clueless and sent me to A&E. The doc at A&E said he doesn't know what it is but its not contagious and thinks it could be burst blood vessel's and said to see rheumy doc. Just come back from seeing Rheumy doc who said its nothing to do with the arthritis!! :roll:

They have tested my platelets so its not that.

Just wonder if anyone has had anything like this????

Thanks!
best wishes,
Charleeh

stickywicket

I've not had anything like this but it sounds as if you've asked all the right people. Rashes are strange beasts. That why dermatology departments are always crowded

elainebadknee

Charleeh

This sounds like it could most likely be auto-immune related...I have this and there are two culprits..One is the bright red one which comes in big clumps and is red hot to the touch, steroids take it away, the second one is the one which when you press is then it goes away but then returns and takes ages to go away completely...It is in dot form and looks angry red but is not itchy in any sort of way...
Let us know if you discover what it is?

Elainexx

charleeh wrote:

Hi everyone.

Just wondering if anyone else has ever had a rash related to arthritis?

I have got a rash come up on my badly swollen right foot and it goes up on to my lower leg. Its the same on the left but not as bad. The rash itself looks like red-purple dots under the skin. Its not sore or itchy at all and I have no other symptoms of anything.

Rang Rheumy nurse, she said go to GP.Went to the GP, he is clueless and sent me to A&E. The doc at A&E said he doesn't know what it is but its not contagious and thinks it could be burst blood vessel's and said to see rheumy doc. Just come back from seeing Rheumy doc who said its nothing to do with the arthritis!! :roll:

They have tested my platelets so its not that.

Just wonder if anyone has had anything like this????

Thanks!
best wishes,
Charleeh

dreamdaisy

Having had both eczema and psoriasis this doesn't ring a bell but it does remind me of a meth reaction I had to the tablet form of that drug - it affected my forearms. Are you taking that? I probably should remember but I'm afraid I don't. :oops: I went to a usual rheumatology appointment, showed my consultant the rash and she stopped the meth there and then. DD

charleeh

Hiya,

The rash doesn't disappear when pressed and the colour is deep red spots, almost like blood spots under the skin.

I am not on Methotrexate now I am only on Tocilizumab, the spots came up after having a IV steroid drip.

Best wishes
Charleeh

toady

Hi charleeh

That sounds very like what I had early on at the onset of my arthritis, when it was thought I possibly had lupus - I am only passing on from my experience so this is not a diagnosis of course just something to consider asking your rheumy. From memory I didn't have them specifically diagnosed but just taken as part of my inflammatory clutch of symptoms.

I had a cluster around my ankle on my worst affected leg and farther up, did some research at the time and didn't seem to be an uncommon auto-immune symptom.. tiny leaking blood vessels under the skin seems to be the cause so maybe because your bloods are ok is why the rheumy ruled it out? I just get a very few of them now, and especially the heat can bring them out; they fade to brown and go eventually.

"Petechiae result from tiny areas of superficial bleeding into the skin. They appear as round, pinpoint-sized dots that are not raised. The color varies from red to blue or purple as they age and gradually disappear. Petechiae commonly appear on the lower legs, but may be distributed all over the body.

There are many possible causes of petechiae. Common causes include:
injury or trauma
allergic reactions to medications
autoimmune disorders, which are conditions in which the person's body creates antibodies to its own tissues for unknown reasons
liver disorders, such as cirrhosis
infections, such as mononucleosis and endocarditis
bone marrow disorders, such as leukemia
thrombocytopenia, a deficiency of platelets
nutritional deficiencies, such as a deficiency in vitamins C, K, or B12, or folic acid
medications, such as blood thinners
recent blood transfusions
medical treatment, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy for cancer
birth, due to the pressure changes caused by vaginal delivery
aging skin
sepsis, or blood infection".

Here's an example pic to save you googling (there are some pretty horrid images once you do because other vaguely related things come up as well, ugh! thought I'd save you looking at too many nasties!), just in case yours look like this - although this is an example with a large amount of them it was the best I could find that was very similar to the ones i had. https://gmep.org/media/11214

Hope you get to the bottom of them.

charleeh

toady wrote:

Hi charleeh

That sounds very like what I had early on at the onset of my arthritis, when it was thought I possibly had lupus - I am only passing on from my experience so this is not a diagnosis of course just something to consider asking your rheumy. From memory I didn't have them specifically diagnosed but just taken as part of my inflammatory clutch of symptoms.

I had a cluster around my ankle on my worst affected leg and farther up, did some research at the time and didn't seem to be an uncommon auto-immune symptom.. tiny leaking blood vessels under the skin seems to be the cause so maybe because your bloods are ok is why the rheumy ruled it out? I just get a very few of them now, and especially the heat can bring them out; they fade to brown and go eventually.

"Petechiae result from tiny areas of superficial bleeding into the skin. They appear as round, pinpoint-sized dots that are not raised. The color varies from red to blue or purple as they age and gradually disappear. Petechiae commonly appear on the lower legs, but may be distributed all over the body.

There are many possible causes of petechiae. Common causes include:
injury or trauma
allergic reactions to medications
autoimmune disorders, which are conditions in which the person's body creates antibodies to its own tissues for unknown reasons
liver disorders, such as cirrhosis
infections, such as mononucleosis and endocarditis
bone marrow disorders, such as leukemia
thrombocytopenia, a deficiency of platelets
nutritional deficiencies, such as a deficiency in vitamins C, K, or B12, or folic acid
medications, such as blood thinners
recent blood transfusions
medical treatment, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy for cancer
birth, due to the pressure changes caused by vaginal delivery
aging skin
sepsis, or blood infection".

Here's an example pic to save you googling (there are some pretty horrid images once you do because other vaguely related things come up as well, ugh! thought I'd save you looking at too many nasties!), just in case yours look like this - although this is an example with a large amount of them it was the best I could find that was very similar to the ones i had. https://gmep.org/media/11214

Hope you get to the bottom of them.

Thanks so much, I will mention this to my Doc on Monday when I am back at the hospital. That pic looks just like what I have!!!

Failing that I will get my GP to refer me to a skin specialist. Its never a good thing to ignore something like this when you have other stuff wrong with you is it? That list you wrote back to me showed lots of stuff so it could be nothing or may be an underlying problem.

Thanks again!

Best wishes,
Charleeh

I'll keep everyone posted!

villier

Hope you get your rash sorted out soon Charleeh xx

toady

Failing that I will get my GP to refer me to a skin specialist. Its never a good thing to ignore something like this when you have other stuff wrong with you is it? That list you wrote back to me showed lots of stuff so it could be nothing or may be an underlying problem.

Just to add, I know there are other causes there but as it can go with autoimmune that's quite likely a good enough reason without anything else being involved (although yes you'll want to check that too) - it was years ago that I had this, & it wasn't anything at all sinister with me so don't worry.

Hope the information turns out to be helpful. toady x

maryow

Hi

I get this, mine is rheumatoid vascullitis, you should ring your rheumy nurse again see if you can get an appointment to see her or your rheumatologist.

Hope this helps and you get it sorted.

Mary

charleeh

Hi everyone,

an update as promised:

Ok, went in today for a half dose of Tocilizumab (I can only have half due to my bloods having adverse side effects) and just in the nick of time my doc stopped the nurse tourniquet around my arm ready for the jab to have another look at my foot.....

Some swelling has gone down and my rash is fading rapidly, but it looks like a scold mark on the left hand side. He said he thinks I have a skin infection and I am not to have treatment today, instead sends me home with a prescription of x2 lots of strong doses of anti biotics!!!! If I were to have had treatment I could get very ill if I had TOC!!!!! :shock:

I honestly cannot believe it.

I am back up there tomorrow at 2.30pm to see if these mega strong dose of anti's does the trick. :roll:

So, I guess we shall see what tomorrow brings???

I can't help but wonder though, that rash was obviously a sign that something else was happening in my body?... maybe this infection? If thats what it is!!! :?

Best wishes
Charleeh

toady

Hi charleeh, glad to hear the doctor was on the ball and stopped your infusion! and hope your antibiotics do the trick, at least you will soon see. Hope they go into this thoroughly and get it sorted, best of luck

toady

trepolpen

you can get cellulitis & sound like that , skin infection that travels up the leg & can be painful ,

I also get rheumatoid vascullitis but dont sound like that , the tabs should sort it soon