Some years ago, I wrote about being diagnosed with the incurable skin condition, Pityriasis Rosea.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pityriasis-rosea/
The cause is unknown, though some experts believe it is the legacy of a previous viral condition. It does go away after a while, but then it comes back when you least expect it.
In my case, I am unlucky. It is usually always present somewhere on my body, mostly on the front of my chest, or along the line of the spine in my back. It can become red and raised, and is always terribly itchy. For years now, I have taken an antihistamine tablet at least once a day, sometimes twice. That helps to control the worst of it, as well as liberal application of steroidal creams to the affected areas.
Regular readers will also know of my susceptibility to insect bites, especially mosquitioes and horseflies. I am unusually attractive to any biting insects, and spend the summer months having to use the strongest repellent sprays available, as well as wearing an impregnated wrist band that deters insects.
The sudden rise in temperatures has hit me on both levels this week. The rash has returned on my chest and back, and has also started to appear around my ankles and feet. Walking Ollie has resulted in numerous bites and stings, especially as it has been far too warm to even think about not wearing lightweight shirts and shorts.
So I have woken up this morning with an itch raging across my back and chest. Also on both ankles, and the instep of one foot. Add to that three large itchy mosqito bites on one arm, and I am more than a little agitated. The tablets and creams do not seem to be able to cope with this double-dose of irritation coursing through my body, and I am sitting typing this trying not to rub my back against a wall as I rake my chest with the sharpest fingernail I can find.
I definitely have far too many itches to scratch today.
Oh gosh, Pete. That sounds awful. Hope it is recovering.
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It comes and goes, Abbi. At least the insect bites have stopped itching. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ouch…I have suffered with skin ailments for a long time since my early teens luckily since I have lived here they seem to be under control and virtually non-eqistance…the warmth seems to keep them at bay where the cold in England just made them far worse 🙂
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Glad to hear that, Carol. The heat makes mine worse, but at least it isn’t raining! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh, no! You have every right to be cranky and agitated. I recommend large consumptions of alcohol, cold showers, and ice packs. How many days of heat are you expecting?
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Friday to Monday. this weekend. The fans have been cleaned, and are ready! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Best to you, Pete.
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After Ollie, now ou too, Pete? Hey, i am feeling sorry for this, but maybe you two need a longer vacation far away from the aisles. With enough sun and a great tanning like people in Sicily you will forget all the issues. 😉 Michael
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Thanks, Michael. Ollie and I have a lot in common. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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:-)) For sure, you are “The two from Norfolk!” Maybe BBC will produce a series about.
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DAMN IT PETE! I don’t like thinking of you itching or in pain. If I find any help for you, will email.
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Thanks, Lara. The PR subsided, and i have some new cream for the bites. But I mainly have to keep my mind off of the desire to sctratch!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ok, this may sound crazy but I think it could be a long-standing food allergy you have. I get rashes all the time and they are allergies.
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It doesn’t sound crazy, but my problem was medically diagnosed as Pityriasis Rosea, also called the ‘Christmas Tree Rash. https://www.healthline.com/health/skin-disorders/pityriasis-rosea#symptoms
I had every single symptom of that condition, and it does respond to seroid creams eventually. My main lifetime-allergy is to tree and grass pollen, and that gives me hay fever, with no rash.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I had this same rash last year on my lower back!
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Then it might be PR. Hope not. x
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That is exactly what I had, Pete. Damn!
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Ouch! Sounds awful. Hope it gets better soon
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It comes and goes, Marina. It is more bearable in cooler weather, but I have to cope as best as I can.
I do stuff to take my mind off it, mostly writing. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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If you can find, try Margosa (Neem) oil. Or boil margosa leaves and add to bath water. They are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-scabis and natural pesticide. They smell bad but they are effective package against a lot of skin diseases or try a sulphur bath.
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I always keep this oil handy for my daughter. It doesn’t have a reaction.
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I just looked up that oil, and it says it is used as a pesticide, a cure for intestinal problems, and as a traditional treatment for Leprosy. But it is also widely used as an ingredient in skin care products, and as a treatment for skin irritations. I will investigate further. Thanks, Shaily.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Having worked for 18 months in the Dermatology Department, I’m now aware of the itch-scratch-itch cycle. The more you scratch, the more you itch. It takes an effort of will to stop scratching.
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I can hold it off for a considerable time now. But once I start, that’s it for the day.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I feel for you Pete, I know what it is like whenever I forget to take my antihistamine , at least I know relief is only about an hour away as I remember to take it.
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I have taken them for so many years now, they have less and less effect. I end up taking another one at bedtime so I can sleep.
Cheers, Pete.
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so sorry, Pete! hope it clears soon. feel better! 🙂
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Thanks, Wilma. It might calm down when the weather cools down.
Best wishes, Pete.
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That sounds awful, Pete. I hope you get some relief soon.
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Thanks, Pete. I just have to wait for it to subside, and try to take my mind off it. I cut the second hedge today, and that stopped me thinking about it for a while.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh, what a nightmare….
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It’s something I have learned to live with, but when it gets over 30 C it seems to flare up badly.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well, ditto here with my situation……26+ and I’m in worse trouble
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Sounds like you need a good soaking in seawater. Hang in there. Warmest regards, Theo
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Seawater used to help, but only as long as I was actually in it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m so sorry Pete. As part of my autoimmune issues I get occasional flare ups of hives, but nothing like you’re experiencing.
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I have had this for a good few years now, but the recent hot spell made it twice as bad as usual.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sorry to hear it Pete. I think you and Ollie can really sympathize with one another in this regard! May you find relief soon!
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Yes, it is another thing that Ollie and I have in common, as well as wrinkles. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I suspect he has you beat in the wrinkles category! 😉
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Growing up in Missouri, the price I had to pay every summer for spending much of my day out in the fields and woods was “super itchy” poison ivy. I had poison ivy in the usual spots on my body, but also around my eye and in a very private place. Additionally, I lived in mosquito heaven (heaven for them; hell for me). I have no such problems out here in Southern Nevada. Poison ivy is rare (maybe nonexistent) in this part of the state, and the only mosquitoes to be found around Las Vegas are at Clark County Wetlands Park on the other side of town. Anyway, I certainly sympathize with you, Pete. It must be especially frustrating to know that your skin condition is not something you can avoid or ever hope to see go away.
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Thanks, David. I suppose I should be grateful that I only got this once I retired. I would hate to have to be at work when it has flared up.
Best wishes, Pete.
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So sorry to hear Pete…and it seems that all of the treatments can only do so much…hope it clears soon!
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It never goes away, John. Just that some days are better than others. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Not good. 😰 Hope you find some relieve soon!
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*relief of course!
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Thanks, Jude. A bit better now the tablets have kicked in and it is considerably cooler.
Best wishes, Pete.
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That should make for a couple of uncomfortable for a few days….sorry…….hope it gets better chuq
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Thanks, chuq. I am used to it always being there, but the recent heat made it much worse.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete I know you have written about this tragedy before….thought you might like to see this piece……https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/01/gren-a01.html
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Thanks for the link, chuq.
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My pleasure. chuq
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Still no criminal charges, and most witnesses granted immunity for testifying. It’s a shocking scandal.
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Sounds like some of the antics here as well chuq
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Nupercainal ointment, Pete–if you haven’t tried it already. I highly recommend it for insect bites and rashes. Sorry for your suffering.
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Thanks, Pam. That doesn’t seem to be for sale here. See my answer to Maggie, below. I will try her recommendation for now.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Itching is the worst! I recently stumbled on something that takes the itch out of mosquito bites for me. I have no idea why it works, but it does. I apply a thin coating of an antibiotic cream Neosporin.
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That is sold here under another name, Brulidine. I have just bought some from Amazon.
Thanks, maggie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Unbearable itchiness is awful, hope it subsides soon.
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I have to do stuff to stop me thinking about it, or I end up scratching until I bleed. Will probably go and cut the smaller hedge soon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I can empathise about the insect bites. There are things in my garden which bites me even when I’m covered up in long-sleeved tops and jeans. I never feel it when I’m being bitten but two days later these huge, maddeningly itchy lumps appear. They ignore Jon. Sorry about the Pityriasis Rosea which would be enough to contend with without adding insect bites to the mix.
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Thanks, Mary. I have been in a large family or social group in the past, and been the only person bitten. There is definitely something about me they like.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I wrote a lengthy comment earlier but for some reason it would not post.
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I can see it. 🙂
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Keep safe Pete. I hope you’ll find an effective cure for it. Some years ago, I used to have elevated skin rashes, they were small raised bumps. I was hospitalized because of it. Then the dermatologist tested me with different scents and smells, mostly food to know where it was coming from. I took steroids for a month which made me a little bloated. Now that I am getting old, I also get itchy at times but not always. My doctor prescribed Elica lotion which you have to apply thinly to the affected area. It’s from Canada. They say that when you have those skin itch when you’re getting older, it is pretty normal.
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I had a definite diagnosis of my problem, Arlene, and there is no cure. The best I can do is to reduce the effect of the symptoms.
Best wishes, Pete.
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☺ Good to know that.
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Take care and hope you feel better soon!
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Thanks, Richa. It comes and goes in intensity, so will subside a little soon I hope.
Best wishes, Pete.
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🙏
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I can only empathise with you, Pete: it’s such a downer when you can’t enjoy the warm weather. I always seemed to attract the mozzies when we went on holiday to Fuerteventura as a family: on one occasion, we had to seek out a pharmacy for some relief. Oh, and I also suffered from heat rashes the only time I went to Africa with my then wife, so I didn’t feel much like socialising! I don’t think I’ll be going there again. Cheers, Jon.
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I didn’t have a problem in hot countries overseas, except in Greece and Crete, where I was bitten so badly I almost had to come home a week early when the bites became infected and gave me a fever. I used to sit in the sea for most of the day, as the salt seawater seemed to help.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hope the (slightly) cooler weather today helps cut down the itching, Pete 🙁
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I can still get it in the depths of winter, but body heat and insect bites combined creates its own special Hell.
Thanks, Chris.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh dear 😱
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