Photos never do us much justice
But I have these new patches on backs of hands that developed during a flare last week.
Starts as a small round patch of skin which then turns red in the middle and starts to grow .
Dermatologist yesterday found these interesting and I need to go back for biopsy.
Funny I went to bed Tuesday night with just the big one and woke up with the start of fresh ones on both hands before dermatologist appointments.
Glad you’re taking photos & am glad your dermy is onto these 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Am in the thick of rheumatology & dermatology figuring out my collection of various types of recurring marks & lesions...so far the suspicion is several underlying causes: inflammatory process (eg my small vessel vasculitis progressing), calcinosis, sun-damage (this is a big kettle of fish, as you know), and also perforating dermatoses + whatever else.
Until my GP helped me hook up recently with this clever AID/CTD- expert dermy, my rheumy was paying all these various skin manifestations as much attention as she could...but when i let her know this dermy is on my case she sounded delighted & relieved + asked me to get my dermy’s reports copied to her...which my dermy enthusiastically agreed to do. At the mo we’re waiting for a report re recent punch biopsy. I always cope ‘better’ when i’ve got consultants willing to communicate!
If these continue to increase at this rate, probably wise to ring your dermy’s secretary & let them know + tell your GP...sooner rather than later...and meanwhile try to figure out if these coincide with any other multisystem signs & symptoms
Please let us know how things go 🍀❤️🍀❤️ Coco
Thank you Barnclown.
I often wonder if my rheumatologist pays attention to my skin at times.
To me my skin is the biggest part in my play. It’s always trying to tell me something.
These new patches definitely become inflamed when other symptoms are out in force. They started as just tiny raised dry bits of skin on the hands and now they are growing.
I sent my rheumatologist the photos as well this morning 😬. I reckon when the department receives an email notification from me their emergency warning sirens go off 😂😂😂.
Still I’m hell bent on getting better treatment 😉
Do you know how long you need to wait for your biopsy report? Please keep me undated.
Hope you are feeling well 🤗🤗🤗xx
🤩 you’ve got me chuckling‼️💐
Glad you’re being proactive 👍👍👍👍
Hell bent is the way to stay 👌💪✊✌️
& SPOT ON: the skin is our biggest major organ...during the biopsy i asked my dermy & her nurses why other specialists make out the only major organs are internal (heart, lungs, kidneys) and skin involvement is less significant than internal organ involvement. She said it’s cause student doctors get close to no instruction re dermatology: so they are pretty much ignorant re the significance of skin manifestations. Then she said: just by looking at a patient’s skin i learn a great deal about their systemic issues. Of course this made me like her even more than i did already.
Lucky for me, my rheumy is good on skin too, partly cause my stuff tends to be emphatically vascular and our dept is a world-leader in vasculitis. from our first appt 8+ years ago, my skin stuff has helped us determine the elements in my combined therapy treatment plan....but, this being NHS, we have to prioritise, and at the mo, top of our list are: the AID/CTD/PID- related intestinal failure + rethinking immunosuppression due to the persistent shingles + doing what we can re the musculoskeletal issues at play in lumbosacral/pelvic region. So boy am i glad to get in with this particular dermy, who seems to be as much of a team player as my rheumy. She said the biopsy report would take 4 weeks to surface...i’m hoping to have something by early Sept (after all, it is holiday time 😉)
Thanks for asking: on our 1-10/10 wellness scale, guess am 5-6/10...cause myco is paused due to this persistent shingles activity so lupus is slightly flaring...and spine surgery us only 2 months into min 12 month recovery so am relatively disabled...but, after 65 years of these illnesses, 6/10 is pretty good going 🤗
😍🦄🌈💫🍀
Your doing amazing .
I can sense your positivity and that is so important In your healing process and your general well being. Your a super star 🌟
I said to dermatologist yesterday I will be more than happy to be sent to a health study and they can take my skin. He gently replied “I think just a punch biopsy from this site (big one) will be sufficient to get you some more specific answers 😂
I do try and be upbeat but I reckon they think I’m barmy .
Ive gained so much knowledge from being here that I’m actually starting to learn how to make these appointments more rewarding for myself.
Xx
It is interesting, BC and LisaLou, that your experience is that rheumatologists do not prioritize the skin symptoms. In the US my experience is very different. We don’t have as tight a referral system. Doctors have a lot more leeway about when to refer. My rheumatologist has relied on dermatology for diagnosis many times over the years. He has even sent me to dermatologist who specializes in allergy based on a phone conversation. Very different system, right?
I agree, BC, that Lisalou’s persistence and patience is paying off. These skin issues are sure hard to sort out, but they can be so important on many levels.
Xk
Oh Yes, for decades i’ve been wondering at the seemingly V diff attitudes to dermatology btw the nhs & the usa + Aussie + NZ health systems...my family & friends in those countries get full-on skin scrutiny from dermy clinics...and regular monitoring, even with only a family history of skin issues ...
But 🤦🏼♀️OMG, MY BAD: i hadn’t meant to generalise... sorry Kay, in my replies here i was trying be clear that although my rheumy has always paid close attention to my skin manifestations, right from our 1st appts, and always takes them into account, i haven’t pressed her for biopsies or referral to dermatology mainly cause we’ve both been prioritising these other rheumatology/vasculitis-related issues ...meanwhile she has been following my skin stuff closely & even given me tele advice re how to manage the perforating lesions & extravasation & various sized heamatoma marks....and she even brought our next appt forward to this autumn from february due mainly to concern re my skin stuff.
BUT although she is my total hero, my rheumy has never even touched on referral to dermatology, which i could put up with while i had these tertiary MDT abdomen investigations going on + the neurosurgery (that was enough for me at one time)...but in the meantime I finally did have to be referred to dermatology because my GP felt the perforating & volcano like lesions needed biopsy. Fortunately this time i got an AID/CTD-expert dermy who is interested in all my skin stuff (the last nhs dermy i saw a few years ago was hopeless) and both she & my rheumy are keen to liaise
🍀❤️🍀❤️🍀
BC — I didn’t have that impression. But your sense of us having regular monitoring with the dermatologist is accurate. We are told to see a dermatologist yearly for a cancer check. Your GPs seem to have a greater role and authority.
We do agree that the rheumatologist and dermatologist duo can be very helpful with these systemic autoimmune diseases. Lisalou’s photos can go under every section text book section — hands, feet, head, face 😅
Xk
Yes it’s lupus lesions I have had a flare for a few months now and lupus for almost 20 years you get the red spots on the skin they grow and meet together as one sore and itchy I have mometesone cream and steroids after using for a spell the middle of the lesions go leaving a red ring and eventually in time clears up I’ve had many biopsies results always the same cutaneous lupus but it’s worth having the biopsy to determine/confirm this
Swollen hands and feet - mtx side effect?
Itching hand...Lupus related?
One continuous flare?
