I would like to share my story about PR as I have now come to learn that there doesn't seem to be any text book cases. A couple of years ago I started out with an itchy spot above my right breast, I thought I'd been bitten. It started to get bigger. Then I noticed other spots appearing which were just as itchy, over a period of about 4 or 5 weeks, I was covered from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet in these red, very itchy spots.
Initially, I thought I had had an allergic reaction to something and tried all the usual remedies to no avail. I then went to the doctor and was treated for an allergy, nothing touched it.
It was only when I visited the hospital with my husband in accident & emergency that I took drastic action and whilst he was being seen, got myself seen to at the same time. The A&E Consultant could not believe that I'd had this rash for so long with no respite. He gave me an adrenalin shot which caused the itch to subside for a short while. He gave me some Eumovate. I returned in a couple of days as he requested, it hadn't work, he gave me Betnovate. I went back in a few days, it hadn't worked so he sent me to see the skin specialist.
I hadn't even sat in the chair and he said that it was PR and as fast as it had come, there was no cure for it and it would never occur again. He was right, it disappeared after about 8-10 weeks.
I found that nothing at all helped with the itching other than constant cold showers (of which I had several a day as it was in the height of summer), however, this caused my skin to dry and crack so had to smother myself with moisturiser.
I've not had a re-occurence although I did get an itchy patch on the inside of my arm, which when from a small red patch to a big one - it was the only spot to come up. I was treated for a fungal infection, nothing worked, it went within about 8 weeks - who knows what it was.
A spooky thing then occurred. My daughter (age 14) said she had been bitten on the thigh and the spot was itching like made, went through the usual anti-histimine treatments - nothing. After about a week and a half, she had more red spots appearing on her legs, I took her to the doctors who said it was eczema, prescribed Eumovate - pah!! The rash continued and literally covered her legs and behind. Took her back to the doctor, still eczema - Betnovate - zippo. I mentioned to the GP that I had had PR and this looked similar - he said it definitely wasn't PR because the spots were not oval and it only affected the trunk and arms.
She went away for a week to her grandmothers and the rash did not settle, so she was taken to a local GP who immediately ordered blood tests - testing for infectious vasculitis, something which needs to be treated quickly, although she did not have all the symptoms. The tests came back negative. On her return, I took her back to our GP saw another doctor who said it was fungal - tablets and cream - another blank. At the same time he said he would send her to see a specialist - at this stage, the rash was spreading slightly up her abdomen and arms. I jumped the queue and broke my cardinal rule and went private as she was going back to school and wanted it cleared as quickly as possible. All the time I was looking at this rash I thought - "I've seen that before, I bet it is PR" but it was not "text book" but hey, neither was my episode. During the week before she was due to see the specialist, the rash wasn't as angry looking and stopped itching. I was still convinced it was PR. Saw the specialist today and he was not absolutely sure what it was, he was the same consultant I saw and when I said about PR, he said "well that is what I'm thinking but it usually affects the trunk and arms, the distribution of the spots does not fit but the length of time she has had it (7 weeks) and its subsidence does". So I paid £100 to be told what I had already diagnosed myself.
It is obviou