Hey all hope your doing well.

I have a question about poison ivy/oak/sumac. I have had a rash for three weeks it started on leg and moved everywhere. Its on my genitals legs arms and chest. I went to the er cus it was getting worse. They put me on 60 of pred I was already on 20. It hasn't done a thing, I feel the same, I've got horribly dry nose and nose bleeds alot.

Any help would b appreciated. Back to the er? My breathing has been worse in the last couple days maybe because of infection? Thanks.

The short answer: Go back in. It may not be poison ivy or oak or sumac. Did they discuss any topic things to use? Washing?

When you have an "allergic" response, you also have a buildup of histamine. Steroids may not be a complete answer to what is going on. Can you take liquid Benadryl? Benadryl does the opposite of Mestinon and can make MG worse. Don't over do it on Benadryl! More is not always better. There are other drugs such as Atarax/Hydroxyzine which can help. You need a doctor to look at your overall health and what drugs you are taking, including supplements, before you know what you can or can't do!!!

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/000027.htm

Anything that gets worse after seeing a doctor means going back to see them again (to see if they can get it right or better).

Annie

Thanks Annie, I'm sitting in the er now waiting. My nose is horribly stuffy and it's hard to breathe out of it, yet maybe a different infection. Oh well. I hope this time they can do something about it

Tyson, Have you ever had an allergic reaction? I have. Lots. When histamine builds up, you can have symptoms like a stuffed up nose. It's kind of the same when people drink wine, which has histamines in it - their nose can get stuffy.

So while they are addressing the underlying immune reaction, they didn't really address a possible histamine reaction too.

I'm glad you've gone back in, Tyson! When you said three weeks, I thought, Wow, are they sure that's poison ivy/oak/sumac? It's good that you're having them take another look. I hope they can figure it out this time.

Abby

Thanks!

They now believe it's folliculitis. More antibiotics. They have me on keflex. Hopefully it works. Would this make me more tired? I've been excersixing alot and I think I was ok from that yet I'm tired maybe from the infection?

Annie, I'm unsure If I've had a reaction. I'm in California for the summer. But they are very knowledgeable.

Well, giving you more Pred would make an infection worse.

Yeah, any infection will make MG worse. So will an increase in Pred!!! What did they say to do about that? Go back down?

Be on the lookout for a secondary infection like clostridium difficile. I'm going to be gross . . . if your stools become runny or look yellow or "puffy," go back in. That little infection is life-threatening. If you do get it, ask for the Vancomycin instead of the Flagyl (if you want to).

I got folliculitis while on Pred too. They gave me an antibiotic and then I got C-Diff. It may not happen to you but just in case it does, you have the info.

Keep a close eye on yourself and your MG. Good thing you aren't on the East coast, given how hot it is.

Annie

Tyson,

After I got MG I also got a minor skin infection. I had lots of testing done to figure out what it was (blood and skin tests) and the conclusion was that it may have something to do with allergies, but that I definitely have folliculitis. The doctors were really no help, they gave me topical antibiotics which made it go away and then return worse than ever after the treatment was over.

I finally found a solution that doesn't make my MG symptoms worse and it seems to be clearing up my problem...tea tree oil...it makes the itchiness go away immediately and the infection hasn't returned to the treated areas. I was applying it 2 to 4 times a day for 2 weeks to the itchy spots as recommended. I am feeling much better.

I hope you get this figured out, skin problems are no fun and seem to be hard to treat.