Desperately trying to figure out what’s going on with me...

[Karaph]

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if it could be a side effect or allergic reaction from a medication or maybe Lupus? I just recently realized when I take my blood pressure medicine Losartan that it makes my skin feel like it’s on fire and I broke out in hives. I have been to my GP and he just put me on Bactrim DS, but never said what he thought it could be. I’ve researched and researched trying my best to figure out what could cause this. If you have any idea what this could be from, please let me know. Thanks in advance. Below is one picture of the rash.

[Melba1]

Oh that looks very painful 🙁 Poor you. I’d get an urgent referral to a dermatologist and be careful they don’t get infected as some look quite deep.

Someone on here with discoid lupus may be able to tell you if they look like theirs but you need a specialist. If it only happens after that particular medication can your GP change it to a different one?

X

[Karaph in reply to Melba1]

That is actually an older picture of the rash. I was a lot worse than that. I’m not sure it’s the medicine or not. I’ve stopped taking it and my GP has changed it recently so I guess I’ll have to wait and see. But, a pharmacist mentioned to me that she had a friend that had been misdiagnosed several times and finally was diagnosed with Lupus that had a very similar rash on her neck as well. That’s the reason I started looking into Lupus as a possible cause.

[Melba1 in reply to Karaph]

Do you have other symptoms too? Even if you don’t you really should be referred to a dermatologist for that.

X

[Karaph in reply to Melba1]

I have lots of the symptoms of lupus except for the butterfly rash.

[polymy]

Hi Karaph,

I came out in those sort of blobs when I was on losartin. It is one of the Ramipril family and I came out in large urticaria with that too. Is that a possibility for your hives?

Liz.

[Karaph in reply to polymy]

I’m hoping that’s all it is. I stopped taking it a couple weeks ago now and the rash has healed dramatically. Except for my face and arms, but they don’t look like the picture of my neck. The rash on my face and arms are much smaller. Thank you for your reply. It really gives me hope.

[Karaph in reply to polymy]

The first rash that I experienced happened somewhere around June 2017. It happened after my General Practitioner started prescribing me medications for RA. Before the first rash, I was experiencing a lot of severe pain in my joints, numbness, and tingling in my hands, up my arms, and feet. It would take me over an hour each morning after waking up to be able to get around because of the stiffness, pain, and swelling. I constantly dealt with pain, swelling, inflammation, and numbness in my joints, hands, feet, and all over. Even the tops of my feet would hurt severely. At the time, I was also working 40 to 80 hours a week and living off ibuprofen just to get through the day. That’s when I finally couldn’t take it anymore and went to my GP. He never officially diagnosed me with RA, but starting me on Prednisone. After about 2 to 3 days of taking the Prednisone, I felt like a whole new person! It helped me dramatically.