[Turquoise January 12, 2020 at 7:29 pm Post count: 20]

#1060993

For the past few weeks I’ve been finding what seem to be insect bites on my hands, arms, legs, and shoulders. They all seemed to appear at once, and while most of the original group (2 to 3 dozen bites scattered all over) are healing,
I’m still getting a few new ones. My first thought was bed bugs, then fleas (I have pets, but they are dosed monthly with preventive medication from the vet). The response to either consists largely of thorough, diligent, frequent vacuuming and lots of laundry, which may be why I’m having fewer problems. We’ve seen a few signs that indicate insect activity, but nothing significant (I’m not saying we have tackled every possible insect hiding place, such as a couple of very cluttered closets). I’m still puzzled about what’s happening AND why I’m the only one in the family who is affected. I often feel itchy all over and sometimes swear there’s something crawling on or biting me, but I can never see anything. I just read an article which said that medical conditions including thyroid disorders can cause perceptions of parasitosis, dermatitis, or hives. If that’s what’s going on, it would explain why only I’m affected. I had RAI 18 months ago and am on levothyroxine with no apparent side effects. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but has anyone ever heard of this?

[KimberlyOnline Facilitator January 13, 2020 at 9:02 am Post count: 4294]

#1185682

Wow, that is frustrating! Hopefully, others here will chime in. I’ve heard of hives with hyperthyroidism or with antithyroid meds, but your situation is obviously different.

One thought is that I’ve heard a few anecdotal stories of patients reacting to fillers/binders or dyes in their thyroid hormone medication. It would be worth reaching out to your doctor. For people who have this issue, there is usually one dose that has no dyes, and you can adjust the number of pills accordingly. There is also a levothyroxine product called Tirosint that is a gel capsule (and also available as a liquid).

[Liz1967 January 13, 2020 at 9:54 am Post count: 305]

#1185683

Could be a contact, food or even inhalant allergy. If the eruptions skip your trunk (areas not covered by clothing) and are only on exposed areas like arms, legs, I would go for contact or even photosensitizer (allergy that appears when exposed to sunlight, basically) or of course insect. Have you changed things like laundry soap, nail polish, cleaning products. A dust contact allergy can hit exposed areas too. It is so hard figuring these things out, good luck.

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