Pityriasis Rosea & sunbeds??? Please help me :(

Skin, nail and hair health
1

I've recently had a virus which then turned into tonsilitis, I was on antibiotics for 10days but half way through the course of antibiotics I came out in a rash starting on my tummy I went to the doctors and he said it's Pityriasis Rosea and there's not much he can do. He didn't really gice me much advixe but he said it'll clear up on its own after a few weeks however for me it's all over my tummy, back, thighs, arma, neck ears and inside my ears and it's slowly going onto my forehead which I went back and he again said there's not much he can suggest. It's upsetting me a huge amount as I haven't got much move clothing I can use to hide it as it's all down my arms now. I don't know what to do so I saw on here people recommend and got good results from sunbeds but all the posts I've seen are from about 3 years ago. I was wondering if there was anyone who's had it recently and have any advice.

At the moment I'm having cold or lukewarm showers, moisturizing with an ointment or aveeno cream but I notice after I moisturize the patches go really red again? But if I don't moisturize they're really dry and flaky?

I've also been taking priteze like the doctor said to try and stop the itching. I'm at a dead end and will do anything to try get rid of it purely because I can't hide it anymore it's all up my neck and side of my face and going down the bottom of my arms too. It's just horrible sad

Please help me sad

2

Hi there! Please do not dispair! My daughter has PR since last November and it is going although new ones pop up now and again but much better now! We tried every medicine orally or ointments, strong ones, name it, nothing ever worked! All we do now is cover her skin in aveeno plain moisturiser after her daily shower as it is an endless fight! I really feel for you and honestly believe PR is somehow triggered by a vaccine, antibiotics or a virus. Because it is a “harmless” condition, no investments in research but what they do not understand is that it can scar you psychologically! My daughter is only 16! She had a biopsy done and PR confirmed! All I suggest, go natural, good diet, hydrate, sleep well, and please try not to stress too much! I know it is easier said then done but unfortunately this is all we found that worked! Also, pack up on vitamins and sunshine is really good for you as it worked for my daughter! Just know you are not alone ok? Good luck 😉!

3

Hi Hannah,

I’m on week 9 of having this rash and I can tell you that there are things that work well for some people and things that don’t work well, everybody is different, however I would like to share with you a couple of things which I know have helped me.

1) Head and Shoulders - I use this about 1-2 times a week, but sparingly as it does really dry up the skin. It helped my spots to dry up when it was at its worst, especially the larger patches.

2)Sunshine! - Now I do not reccomend this at all, but in places where I got quite sunburnt, the spots began to peel and flatten out almost immediately - also I now have a nice tan which makes the brown marks less noticeable. The sun is definitely the thing that has helped the most in my experience, although I have heard tanning beds are just as efficient if not more so, but vitamin D is very important for the skin.

3)Drink water! - Your body needs plenty of water to keep hydrated and that includes the skin. I drink around 3-4L of water a day and I believe this has helped greatly.

4)Vitamin C - Not 100% sure this has helped, but in the 9 weeks I have had this rash I haven’t been ill or caught a cold which I usually do. I’ve been taking Vitamin C once a day and drinking plenty of orange juice, eating strawberries, tangerines, peppers, there’s many foods high in vitamin C which will help your immune system to heal your body and skin.

Although it isn’t healthy to allow the skin to dry out, this is exactly what has helped my spots to heal. Especially when my spots were at their worst, any creams, moisturiser etc would make my rash very red once applied. Letting my rash peel, flake and dry up has helped the most for me.

Hope this helps and you’ll get through this. I’ve had mine almost two months and although it’s still there in places it’s 20 times better and I’m healing very fast now, it’s not forever remember :-)

4

Thank you both so much for your advice! It's just horrible I've been ill and taken antibiotics and it's them which have triggered it but I go to the gym near enough everyday and i was meant to be doing a half marathon but it's all had to stop while I'm doing this because I've read everywhere to try not to sweat. It's just a full blown nightmare. I'm not one to worry about skin or appearances, I'm a beauty therapist and tend to stay natural with everything and try not to wear muxh make up but when I'm doing my clients I can see them looking at my arms and neck and it's now on the aide of my face and i see them looking at it all and trying to guess what's wrong and it's making me so self conscious it's unreal. I'm literally bursting into tears when I see myself in the mirror. I was bullied for my acne and eczema in school and it's just bringing it all back it's horrible

5

You poor thing!!!! Did the doctor even suggest doing a biopsy? Usually, PR does not do faces. It is especially weird to get it during another illness. Tonsillitis is a bacterial infection, not a virus. It is believed that PR is a virus. My first guess is a sensitivity to the antibiotics. I have seen that a lot on these forums. How is the antihistamine working for you? Does it seem to calm the itch? If it does, even more reason to suspect an allergy to the antibiotic.

Please keep us informed.

6

Sorry you have to go thru this. I have been having it on and off forever until I started to take probiotics to balance my good bacteria in my body. Antibiotics is bad for you. It kills good bacteria that is healthy for your skin and digestion. My advice is to eat lots of probiotic food and probiotic drinks.

Naturally my body recovered all have been gone for a while now. Good luck!

7

First I went to the walk in center purely they open earlier and because again im a beauty therapist so I'm around and touching people all day I was cautious incase it was contagious. He looked tested my temp and everything and he said because I had a virus just before my tonsilitis that it was from that.

I had worked a 62hour week on my own at work while still training for a half marathon not eating right and then ran 10miles on my only day off. He said I'd ran my body down into the ground causing a virus then because I carried on working Ill- they only told me it was a cold- I then woke up 3 days later with my throat closed up and they said it was tonsilitis then it was 3 or 4 days after that they gave me 10days worth of antibiotics

It's not as bad on my face as it is on my arms or body but behind and inside my ears are all red and dry and itchy, the aide if my face is more spotty and red dots and the patch by the aide of my right eye is all red and Scaly. But my skin is amazingly dry on my face like I never had that bad of dry skin but it's hugely dry and feels rough and my face is itchy.

I had a cold bath last night and kept cool and didn't put any creams on apart from on my face and everywhere seems very dry but they don't look as angry.

I'm about to go gym and do a work out and also go on the sunbed for 6mins as I've seen a lot of people have done that and I'll let you know how it goes

8

It's just horrible and i feel completely for anyone who has to go through it. When it came to a girl with eczema at work she gets it really bad red patches and alsorts all over her arms, I have mine well... I had mine under control. But I always said it's her and she shouldn't be conscious of it and stuff and the worse thing is she's saying the same to me and saying mine will go and she's been so lovely while I'm in tears about it and alsorts and it just shows how little things affect everyone and i realise now how she must feel about having it constantly all over her arms and hands and it puts it into perspective a lot of people don't have it go away they have it constantly and have to live with it.

9

Hello,

I'm posting because I had pityriasis rosea. It popped up about 2 and a half weeks ago and now it's almost completely gone.

Like you mine started quite soon after I finished a course of anti-biotics, and due to that factor I thought it might be connected with an imbalance in my gut.

I can't say what worked for me will work for everybody, but here's what I did:

- Cut sugar from my diet as much as possible

- Stopped eating carb heavy food like bread and pasta

- Drank probiotics like Kefir

- In general ate healthy, greens, meat (sorry vegetarians), nuts, good stuff

- I did use head and shoulders for a few days, it may have helped too (word of advice, do not leave on body for a long time - I did and it actually burned the skin in my more sensitive regions)

- Cut out alcohol obviously

Well, there you have it. 2 weeks and mine is essentially gone (I still have some flaky skin from where it was worst, but it's no longer itchy). 

Btw my body was completely covered, my entire torso, legs, and much of my arms. And it was very itchy (especially after the head and shoulders). 

Good luck with it. No reason to despair!

10

Oh and for me, working out seemed to exacerbate it. Every time I finished a workout or took a shower the rash showed up much more powerfully. You want to keep your body temperature away from extremes. 

I should have mentioned that. I also just didn't shower for a week (which sounds worse that it actually was), but if you must shower (and it's probably best if you don't), then use lukewarm water.

Don't take hot/cold showers. 

You can get through it!

11

Oh my word don't shower? 🤦 I shower twice a day everyday lol

Oh god I'm on my way to the shops to do my weeks shopping so looks like I need loads of greens, meat, probiotics drinks, head and shoulders shampoo lol

I won't exercise anymore now until it's gone I did wonder if that would make it worse. The sunbeds massively dried them out and they're not as angry looking.

I'm so happy I came on here you guys are so much more informative than my doctors.

12

I'm going to give the diet change a shot. Have you just added more probiotics or still following an organic diet?

I've had it for 22years after my sons birth. My daughter is 15 and now has it. DR. said its genetic.

Thanks for the help. She want us to try uvb therapy now and my daughter doesn't want any tanning. I hope a diet change will clear us up.

I have sugar issues.

13

Can you tell me how long after the tonsillitis this started? Seems to me to be very close to the time you started the antibiotics. Antibiotics sometimes cause a low grade allergic reaction rash- never gets to the point of stopped up throat (not the same as your tonsillitis), but can produce a rash that keeps spreading all over. PR usually does not do faces, although it can. Try Benedryl as directed, if that helps, it is an allergy, not PR or something like it. It can take a few weeks to work an allergen out of your system, and this is a common side effect of antibiotics.

14

Hi,

Yes, they did a biopsy (2). I have read it's a rare genetic disorder.

I'll have to look up Lichen planus.

15

If you are reading this, I’m sorry, your life is about to be difficult. The good news is that all of it is temporary and just uncomfortable. The bad news is- DESPITE what you might have read- this is definitely communicable. I caught it. 25 other girls did too. Community showers are gross. Please be honest with people, too, it’s not an STD.

Backstory: I have had this condition since 2002. I caught it in the dorm bathrooms. It seems to spread in the shower and heat. I’d be careful about swimming. I’d wear long clothes to the gym. It also reoccurs. For me, every 5 years or so.

The best thing you can do is go see your doctor and tell your partner that things are about to get gross. Because this starts out looking like an STD. But there’s no mass, just pimple looking spots and the weird herald mark. I was put on an anti inflammatory and an anti viral regimen that provided a lot of relief, then a lotion used for herpes.

Somebody out there needs to study this virus because it interacts with skin very oddly. It also behaves like a bacteria more than a virus but it spreads like a virus. The rash proceeds bilaterally and basically expands from your nether regions to your torso to the lower part of your upper limbs then to your lower limbs (like behind your knees and under your elbows). Then your hands and feet.

Then it’s over. The problem is that it takes forever. I like doing the tanning bed when it happens because it helps inflammation and helps the spots not stand out so much but go ahead and take your hot showers because nothing changes the pace of this thing. It gets worse or better depending on your medications but it’ll take a few months to progress. So, get some strategically placed clothing and for your sake, I hope it’s winter. I can answer questions if you have any. Not a doctor, just a patient with a lot of experience.

16

That is really weird… I have been researching PR (I am not a doctor, just really interested in this since I had it). I have never on any of the forums heard of any one getting it from someone else, although, obviously, it has to come from somewhere. Have you had a biopsy done when it was active? I ask because 1) PR only recurs in about 1 percent of cases. 2) PR does not do hands, feet nor face. as far as any study, anyone who was biopsied and confirmed reporting. My PR was “abnormal”, it lasted over a year. I was covered from neck to ankles to wrists. Also had it in my mouth. BUT it never went on my hands, face nor feet. I was so covered there were rings on top of rings on top of rings. I continued to live with my family and cook for them. We shared a bathroom and a bar of soap. Laundry went into the same washer. I slept with my husband. Neither husband nor kids got it. Mine started at my underarms not nether region. It spread across the torso, then arms, then legs. I found Prreze and that took the entire rash away in less than a week. It has not been back since, and I hope to NEVER see it again. It has been about 4 years now.