Anyone else had this?

[Mrsmr]

Hi everyone I am due my 10 weekly jab next week. Life has been hectic recently so I accept being really exhausted but I have come out in a very itchy rash on my back and arms plus I have really itchy red eyes. Not a pretty sight!!! Anyone else experienced anything similar? Thank you. Xx

[Mrsmr]

Forgot to say I have joint and muscle pain to add to my woes!!!

[Narwhal10]

Oh Mrsmr,

So sorry to read and sounds awful. I would try and get a GP appointment just because it could be something totally unrelated to PA/B12D. Like a virus or infection.

Hope you feel better soon.

xx

[Mrsmr in reply to Narwhal10]

Thanks Narwhal, I am wondering if I have another autoimmune problem as well as b12 deficiency. A Gp appointment is like gold dust🙄🤣

[Narwhal10 in reply to Mrsmr]

It could be another autoimmune disease but it could be something else. In this case, best to get checked out.

I know that GP appointments are very difficult to get. So, you can ‘by-pass the system’ and ring out of hours tonight. 🤫 I did not tell you that. xx

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

I suggest taking a photo of the rash just in case it disappears before your appointment.

I wondered if it might be an allergic reaction to something.

[Thrones12]

hi Mrsmr. Sorry to say this but my husband had the same thing last week started with terrible itch on his scalp then a redness on forehead, by next day it was all water blisters down the whole side of his face spreading rapidly,we also thought it was an allergy and tried antihistamines but he continued to get worse and by this time it was the weekend,managed to pop into Tesco pharmacy on Saturday morning and it was the dreaded shingles virus. What a weekend it turned out to be it just made me detest this place even more,we got passed from pillar to post and all the time he’s getting worse,sat for 3 blinkin* hours in the walk in centre that pharmacist had told us to go ,eventually got seen and he got confirmed it was shingles and given the antivirals, by Sunday morning his eye was closed and the swelling horrendous and water blisters all down his eye and face on that one side,all through his hair too. Phoned Kettering a and E as told to and was told don’t come here phone 111 ,did that told to go back to walk in centre I said we just told you they said not to go back there to contact a and E because it’s so close to the eye, they said ok duty gp will phone sometime today that’s all we can offer,6 hours later at 10.30pm on Sunday night he phones says send him a photo ,assuming everyone has smart phones or knows how to do this, then says oh no computer says because it’s near eyes I can’t prescribe you’ll just have to go to gp in morning, go to gp in morning and get told no we can’t help we will email hospital as urgent referral so by that time he was in so much pain and discomfort I said right we are not waiting let’s go back to our old hospital, got seen right away no problem,did bloods and bp etc then saw the eye trauma surgeon who did full checks with dyes etc to make sure shingles blisters not inside of eyes , they weren’t and he said give the antivirals till the morning to kick in we have caught it early eneough then come straight back here if no change..thank god they did kick in by then and he could see again as swelling reduced. Apparently shingles is raging again amongst the older generation. It’s was so scary trying to get help from so many reluctant medics quite shocking..

If your still having problems go and see a pharmacist even just to get it checked and confirmed it’s not shingles it happens so quickly. He had flu like symptoms too arms sore headache tired. Hope this helps and doesent scare you. Best wishes. Xx

[Mrsmr in reply to Thrones12]

Your poor husband. Feeling so unwell and being shunted from one place to another. Hope he is starting to feel better. Thanks for your reply. I don't think it's shingles but it's worth getting checked out. Take care,best wishes xx

[Nackapan in reply to Thrones12]

Aful.I've had shingles twice many years ago .It's very painful.

Luckily face and ribs and quite confined .

Had to paint stuff on. No tablets.

Nasty if around eyes.

What an awful rigmarole you had to go through.

Too stressful. Not good fir anyone .

Hope he gets better soon.

Not sure what age vaccine available 🤔

[FancyPants54 in reply to Nackapan]

70. There is a poster in the surgery. I saw it when taking mum in for a nurse visit last week.

[Narwhal10 in reply to Thrones12]

Sorry to read Thrones12,

What a rigmarole. Hope husband is better now. I must admit, my first thought was shingles with Mrsmr. We are more prone to infections and viruses. In January, I had a prolonged bout of sinusitis.

xx

[Rexz]

Hi Mrsmr

Think iron deficiency. Although your bio does not state a diagnosis of Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG) or Pernicious Anemia, you do indicate gastrointestinal problems, B12 def, these may indicate AIG and resulting low or no gastric acid which can lead to iron malabsorption problems. Iron Deficiency with or without anemia causes itchy skin, rash, joint pain, and fatigue all of which you mention. All of these symptoms I also had including heart palpitations and restless leg syndrome, so be watchful of these. You can have iron deficiency with a normal Ferritin. Anyone with AIG/PA should periodically have a FULL iron panel included in their blood tests.

See my post on Iron Deficiency Without Anemia (IDWA)

Best wishes, Rexz

[Rexz in reply to Rexz]

Also, both B12 Def and Iron Def may coincide with high blood sugars, glucose, and high blood pressure. If you've already got high blood pressure then iron def will exacerbate that condition. But if you don't normally have it then correcting iron levels should correct it.The reason is that in both cases you have fewer red blood cells providing much less oxygen/energy to your cells. Hence your cells starving for energy create a craving for anything sugar. In my case I was consuming massive amounts of sugary sodas, energy drinks, bags of candy, anything sugar as my body was screaming for energy. My blood sugar spiked to an A1c of 9.5 and my blood pressure went way high as my heart tried to deliver more blood/energy to my cells. Cells are very demanding and will yell at you in very subtle ways. We've just to listen.

Hope this helps some, Rexz

[brenanddave in reply to Rexz]

Hi Rexz I have the same as you. A terrible craving for sugar and really battling with fatigue. I am diagnosed PA and also hae hemochromatosis which is another chronic blood condition. I have too much iron at times and my iron saturation is quite high at the moment. Because I am craving sugar I have put weight on rather than lose it as is usual with PA and my bloods have recently showed pre diabeties. Its a struggle trying to not eat sugar and I know it is because of the anemia. How are you dealing with it? Thanks in advance for your reply

[Rexz in reply to brenanddave]

How do I deal with it? Well first there's the emotional rollercoaster of just having to deal with it because as you know these are very systemic conditions that present themselves, haha I call them, them!, in so many different ways. I mostly deal with that by my hiking and clearing the clutter from my mind, it is very meditative for me. Oh yes, there's some crying at times when all becomes overwhelming but I've learned that is helpful somehow...crying, something I've never done before.Then there is the "dealing" with the physical part of this and that's hard to describe. There is no scientific way that I've found. In my post above I mention, sort of jokingly, that "your cells will yell at you". Well, in a sense, I wasn't joking. I've learned to listen, feel, and sense my body. Firstly, I meditate for about 45 minutes each morning. That allows me to clear the clutter and focus inward on myself. I think when you clear all the BS goings on from your mind it helps feel the areas of your body that may be causing you problems, a little pain here, or a feeling in your gut, or a tiny nerve pain in your foot that's getting ready to flare. All sensations that your mind might get used to and therefore suppress. I also check in on myself several times a day. Maybe call it short bursts of meditation. From that, I have learned to tell when I need to inject a dose of B12, which very interesting is not scientific but usually is spot on. Now I find myself injecting about every four to seven days. The same with iron. I listen intently to my body, a little momentary heart palpitation, a craving for sugar, or some extra fatigue. Just stay tuned in. When that happens I go to my GP we run the iron panel and usually I was right. Now though we do an iron panel every three months and we're keeping my Ferritin above 130.

I know it may sound silly but you have to get to know yourself very personally.

That most likely did nothing to answer your question but hopefully you can glean something from it that is helpful.

Some insight from a madman, 🤗 Rexz

[Mrsmr in reply to Rexz]

Thanks Rexz that is really helpful. I am on BP medication for high blood pressure. I was surprised when I was told it was raised because I had always had low BP. I was told I just had a b12 deficiency and would need regular injections. I'm in for my jab on Wednesday so will ask about my results of last blood tests. I'm assuming they would have contacted me if I was iron deficient.Take care xx

[Rexz in reply to Mrsmr]

If you've got AIG then they will not suspect iron deficiency because they may only be testing ferritin if they are testing at all. Get copies of all your previous blood tests and look how your Ferritin is trending over time. In my post on IDWA you can see how mine consistently trended downward over a two year period before it finally went below normal. But the reality is that was deficient for that entire period. Then when I expressed my concern GP she said "well your RBC and hemoglobin are normal so you don't have anemia.". That's when I researched and found that for those with AIG it is common to have iron deficiency without anemia. There is a report link on my IDWA post that you can take to your GP. It is very likely that they have not heard of it. Ask them to run a full iron panel.

Rexz

[Sleepybunny in reply to Mrsmr]

Link about iron panel tests

(mentions other iron tests besides ferritin)

labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...

See section on what test result means.

If you have time and energy , search online for

"NICE Anaemia - Iron deficiency" document

Article about iron deficiency without anaemia

Aimed at doctors so may have details that could be upsetting.

patient.info/doctor/non-ana...

I found other interesting articles when I searched online for

"nhs iron deficiency without anaemia"

[Kittykat50]

Hi.

This does sound very unusual for you.

I had the same but Dr said I had to go to eye clinic

Now I have to have two cataracts I'm not saying you are going to but please speak to your quack as been on B12 jabs 40yrs never heard anything to do with eyes.

Just know bout 10 days before you need your jab as feel drained tired so that makes your eyes tired watery.

Hope you are ok and ask your nurse about this.

Take good care.

Kitty.

X

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

Two other things I think might be worth trying to get ruled out are

1) Scabies

nhs.uk/conditions/scabies/

2) The skin form of coeliac disease - Dermatitis Hepetiformis

Have you ever been tested for coeliac disease? Coeliac disease can lead to B12 deficiency.

In some people it shows up in the skin without obvious gut symptoms.

Link about diagnosis of coeliac disease

coeliac.org.uk/information-...

Dermatitis Hepetiformis

coeliac.org.uk/information-...

DH can look like hives (urticaria).

I'm not medically trained.

[Mrsmr]

Thanks sleepybunny for the links. I know it's not scabies. I haven't been tested for coeliac.

[Sleepybunny in reply to Mrsmr]

Might be worth asking GP to test for coeliac disease.

The usual blood test for coeliac disease is called tTG IgA test which checks for a particular antibody to gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, rye).

A negative result in tTG IgA test does not rule out coeliac disease, GP should also order a Total IgA test which checks to see if a person has IgA deficiency.

A person with coeliac disease may get a negative result in tTG IgA test if

1) they have IgA deficiency.

IgA is an immunoglobulin.

A person with coeliac disease who has IgA deficiency cannot make the antibodies to gluten that the tTG IgA test looks for so their result will come back negative or normal range.

A person with suspected coeliac disease who has IgA deficiency will probably be given one or more of following tests

IgG anti-tTg antibodies

IgG anti-endomysial antibodies

IgA anti-TTg

2) they were not eating enough gluten in the weeks before blood taken.

UK guidance on coeliac disease suggests that people with suspected coeliac disease should eat plenty of gluten in more than one meal per day for several weeks before blood is tested. This process is to ensure that there are lots of antibodies to gluten circulating in the blood increasing the chance of a positive result in tTG IgA test for people with coeliac disease.

If you think coeliac disease is a possibility, search online for this UK document "NICE guidelines Coeliac disease" and see Coeliac UK articles on diagnosis.

coeliac.org.uk/home/

DH (Dermatitis Herpetiformis) is sometimes diagnosed by a small skin biopsy. The skin sample should be taken from a part of the skin unaffected by DH rash.

As far as I know (I'm not a health professional) DH doesn't usually affect eyes.

[Sleepybunny in reply to Sleepybunny]

youtube.com/watch?v=t9fCTKF...(Not working as expected?)