# Skin rashes



## arizonamom (Mar 10, 2010)

I am a hypothyroid patient. Just started treatment a week ago. I have been breaking out in a rash for the past couple of years. This rash appears mainly on my back, back of my legs (which is the newest breakout place), and my torso. It happens basically every day. It lasts about 1/2 hour, longer if I can't control my scratching. I've been tested by my dermotologist for autoimune diseases - of course the day I was in her office I didn't have a breakout!! All tests came back negative (of course they did!).

Have any of you ever experienced what I'm going through as a thyroid patient? This is driving me nuts and my endo says it's not thyroid related. I think it is.

Thanks for your input!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

arizonamom said:


> I am a hypothyroid patient. Just started treatment a week ago. I have been breaking out in a rash for the past couple of years. This rash appears mainly on my back, back of my legs (which is the newest breakout place), and my torso. It happens basically every day. It lasts about 1/2 hour, longer if I can't control my scratching. I've been tested by my dermotologist for autoimune diseases - of course the day I was in her office I didn't have a breakout!! All tests came back negative (of course they did!).
> 
> Have any of you ever experienced what I'm going through as a thyroid patient? This is driving me nuts and my endo says it's not thyroid related. I think it is.
> 
> Thanks for your input!


Sounds like an allergic reaction - have you ever been allergy tested?


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## daisy_ysiad2002 (Aug 17, 2009)

Hmm never had body rashes but have had hives that come and go and some don't last long ....my endo said is the antibodies from hashimoto's thyroid that is causing it. hmm....


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## hillaryedrn (Dec 14, 2009)

:hugs: I'm sorry! That has to be frustrating. I haven't heard of anything like that, but I'll look around and see if I can find anything!


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## GD Women (Mar 5, 2007)

I have been itching for two days.

I believe hives are autoimmune.

other rashes are not.

I have been having all sorts of rashes since age 16 when I was out of school and in bed for two weeks with very very very bad hives all over my body.

I'M allergic to certain dyes/coloring in food, clothes and meds. Among other rash issues.

No fun!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

arizonamom said:


> I am a hypothyroid patient. Just started treatment a week ago. I have been breaking out in a rash for the past couple of years. This rash appears mainly on my back, back of my legs (which is the newest breakout place), and my torso. It happens basically every day. It lasts about 1/2 hour, longer if I can't control my scratching. I've been tested by my dermotologist for autoimune diseases - of course the day I was in her office I didn't have a breakout!! All tests came back negative (of course they did!).
> 
> Have any of you ever experienced what I'm going through as a thyroid patient? This is driving me nuts and my endo says it's not thyroid related. I think it is.
> 
> Thanks for your input!


A form of severe dry skin is called ichthyosis. Ichthyosis can be an inherited disorder or can result from a number of other medical problems, such as an underactive thyroid gland, lymphoma, and AIDS

Read the rest on the left of the page......... http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec18/ch203/ch203b.html

Here is another..........Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Scroll down for skin rashes under hypothyroidism.......
http://www.thyroid.org.au/Information/disorders.html

I could find you tons more; don't know where these doctors went to medical school.

Put thyroid, skin problems,rashes in your search engine. You can busy yourself all day.

http://autoimmune-skin-disorders.suite101.com/article.cfm/dermatitis_herpetiformis


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## arizonamom (Mar 10, 2010)

Lovlkn said:


> Sounds like an allergic reaction - have you ever been allergy tested?


I've never been allergy tested because these rases, actually more like hives, can flare up at any time. I had a flare up the other day when I was at the grocery store; yesterday it happened when I went to bed; it just seems to be indiscriminate, no rhyme or reason.


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## arizonamom (Mar 10, 2010)

Andros said:


> A form of severe dry skin is called ichthyosis. Ichthyosis can be an inherited disorder or can result from a number of other medical problems, such as an underactive thyroid gland, lymphoma, and AIDS
> 
> Read the rest on the left of the page......... http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec18/ch203/ch203b.html
> 
> ...


Sometimes I wonder about doctors too. They seem to think that what they learned in med school is gospel and they're stuck in that mode, afraid to look outside the box.

Thanks for the links. I will read the info and try to find out if anything seems to fit my situation. Then I'll take that info to my doctor and have a little discussion about thyroid and skin rashes/hives.

It's so frustrating right now - I'm sick and tired of all this thyroid crap. I know I need to be patient and see how my Levoxyl affects my free t4 levels and maybe if and when it does, my rash/hive situation will subside and I'll have back some of that energy I so desperately want/need! I'm just tired of feeling like I've been feeling for almost 5 years now and having doctors look at me like I'm nuts. For a while, I thought I was. Then I realized, after I was told I have thyroid issues, that maybe this was the bane of all my issues. Still, I had to push for more thyroid tests to prove that there was more going on than my endo assumed. ARGH!!:anim_08:


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## Garth (Jun 1, 2011)

Interesting topic. Just ran acrossed this.

I have "super-hives" blooms related to Hashimotos - I think . . .

These don't just happen on my calves. They can happen everywhere.

Can't get my Endocrinologist to commit to these being related but I know they are. Never had them before the hypothyroid/Hashimotos started.

See if others are talking about this?



















And normal views


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## MrGraves (Nov 6, 2009)

I used to get this on my chins and I would scratch so much I would bleed and scab up, I know it was my thyroid becuase I dont have this problem anymore. When it would happen it was a sign to me that a thyroid storm was coming, along with feeling and hearing my heart beat in my left ear, when those 2 things happened, I knew to brace for a bad day or 2. It would also happen to my ear lobes, when I stopped taking the PTU, the rash stopped, funny thing was , the itchy thing was going on before I ever took PTU , I quit taking that and started taking gypsy wort and 5htp and the rash / itchyness stopped.


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## Garth (Jun 1, 2011)

Though mine do itch, I have had them start bleeding not from iching. Just sometimes they get so big and severe that they will bleed on their own. I have journaled until I am blue in the face and have NEVER found a dietary connection. I know these are related to my thyroid and more likely the Hashimotos. Just can't seem to get an Endo-doc to commit to it.

I also tend to have mild flulike symptoms when they flare. More general body aches than the chronic joint pain we all tend to have. Headache, chills, and sometimes sore throat.

Just thought I would share because information is power and though I wouldn't wish this on anyone it would be nice to know others are experiencing this along with hypo-thyroid / Hashimotos to share with the doc.


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## Atreya (Jan 30, 2011)

Hi, i have sth similar or looks similar or maybe it's related... i began having like this rashes, but it began with itching and then this small red spots appear. it tends to dissapear. i post soem pics, it is in my leg. i have no idea what it is, as it tends to dissapear later of the scratching. maybe of the thyroid? i have no idea really. 
Bye.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Garth said:


> Interesting topic. Just ran acrossed this.
> 
> I have "super-hives" blooms related to Hashimotos - I think . . .
> 
> ...


Hi there and thank you for sharing. It looks exactly like folliculitis to me.

There could be a staph infection involved and there is no question but what these things are more prone to beset upon individuals whose immune systems are compromised.

Get doc to Rx Chlorhexedine antibacterial soap.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC169858/pdf/aem00005-0149.pdf

If you need photos of folliculitis, you can Google plenty.

Let me know what you think of my input.


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## desrtbloom (May 23, 2010)

Since my diagnosis I have had all sorts of skin rashes and irritations. I have rashes on both of my upper arms that come and go. I have terribly dry skin which causes itching. I feel your pain.


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## Jackiev610 (Sep 13, 2011)

I was diagnosed with hypo in Feb. 2011, in March after meds change I started to break out in a rash all over my body. i went back and forth with meds, allergic reactions etc. Between my endo and dermo they didn't understand. I googled around and found that slenium helped others with skin issued. i take 50 levoxly and one 200 mcg of selinium a day and today is one full month on selinium. I have not have another break out and my skin is healing nicely!

I hope you try it too. 
Good luck


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Jackiev610 said:


> I was diagnosed with hypo in Feb. 2011, in March after meds change I started to break out in a rash all over my body. i went back and forth with meds, allergic reactions etc. Between my endo and dermo they didn't understand. I googled around and found that slenium helped others with skin issued. i take 50 levoxly and one 200 mcg of selinium a day and today is one full month on selinium. I have not have another break out and my skin is healing nicely!
> 
> I hope you try it too.
> Good luck


I am a huge proponent of Selenium! Thanks for the heads up on this one!


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

arizonamom said:


> Have any of you ever experienced what I'm going through as a thyroid patient? This is driving me nuts and my endo says it's not thyroid related. I think it is.


Wouldn't be surprised in the least if it's tied into your thyroid / immune system. Before it was discovered that I had a thyroid problem last year, my arms got these strange rashes that no doc could figure out. Upon beginning Levothyroxine for treatment, the rashes were gone and have not returned since. However, in the meantime my nose will get raw and very dry, and no doc has been able to explain that, either. As they have increased the Levothyroxine dosage, it has gotten more and more infrequent.

I am starting to realize that the docs just don't know everything about the endocrine system and how it affects everything else.


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