If it’s scabies, you might end up taking ivermectin. 
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I’m having jaw pain today. Lower right quadrant, doesn’t feel like a tooth issue so far. What kind of doctor/dentist/veterinarian should I call?
Tooth fairy?
Who can you get in with the fastest? Doc or Dent?
I don’t know how much I can swear on this forum, gosh fuckit.
Been battling whatever goshdarn skin condition I have, I have 4 creams and used to have a pill and have been to 2 dermatologists. Today it decided to feel like fire and I have an appointment in 90 minutes with my primary care. 8 dermatologists would not fit me in (and the remainder only work Mon-Thu, wtf?) Ughhhhh.
Scabies are out. Spider bites, fleas, bedbugs, dermatitis are out. My spouse has a minor case of (perhaps?) whatever I have. Laundry detergent has been changed to a hypoallergenic. Animals haven’t changed for years, no new foods, no new scents of any kind. No nothing. I’ve been working in the nude at times to just have nothing touch my friggin’ groin because clothing is a common trigger but even then, I wear the loosest clothes I can.
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I’d love to diagnose that. But wow. That sounds awful.
Have you had your liver function checked? It doesn’t sound like liver disease, but liver disease can cause itching, and what the heck, you are checking everything else.
Good luck, that sounds awful
I hope I’m wrong for your sake, but ATM sticking with my original diagnosis
Hope you get some relief. Even if they can’t clear it up right away, the doc ought to be able to give you something to feel better.
I have had my liver checked although not specifically related to hives, also several overall blood tests and a biopsy punched outta my ass (I could had removed those stitches and am annoyed to pay $40 but it’s not their fault), which the biopsy came back as, “?? Maybe unspecified dermatitis not not folliculitis?” More detail than that but nothing useful. They speculated bug bites but we hardly have a damn bug in the house, I would nuke from orbit an infestation.
The best thing I have right now, which I thank you for as I’m learning but this basically means “random damn hives” and I have been waking up itching myself to bleeding and today was in tears.
I went to a PCP I highly respect and she thinks it was a drug reaction to Naltrexone, which would roughly line up with my symptoms becoming a little concerning and then debilitating. She thought I was in for a little rash-y concern and essentially jaw-dropped seeing it, and went to get a tome of dermatology issues. The issue clearly wasn’t my last Ulcerative Colitis drug that I’ve since stopped, Entyvio, which was initially considered. I’ve only gotten worse since my last infusion 11 months ago. (New one is Stelara, previously Entyvio, Humira, Delzacol, Asacol, and a handful of others. New one seems to be doing work wrt my colon, unrelated I think.)
Plan right now is immediate stop on taking Naltrexone. Massive dose of Prednisone (steroid/Prednolosone) for 4 weeks. However I’m giving some to my partner, a small taper of 20mg/20/20/10/10/10 as they were not diagnosed while I start with 40/going to 10.
Spousal diagnosis is best assumed to be a sympathetic reaction. They aren’t scratching theirselves to blood anyway.
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Just to fucking bitch a moment and thank you, I tried to get my biopsies (from 1 of the dermas I’ve been to) sent over and they wouldn’t release without me being there in person. Other offices have released with a virtual signature, but whatever, went there.
They kept telling me they had no biopsy on file, no biopsy. They gave me everything they had. I came back showing them the records a biopsy happened but there wasn’t a page with any result, merely that one was done. Only references to it happening there.
Finally after they were snippy that it didn’t exist, down to the wire (I had to get to my appointment with these docs) they said “Oh wait I left it on the printer, sorry!” and it was exactly what I was looking for in the 36 pages. For some reason I had to scour the 35 pages to find the singular thing I most cared about wasn’t in the packet.
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Hope the steroids help! I can’t imagine…
So I took matters into my own hands Friday and ordered an actual iron test. I had asked my new dr about this in Feb after my annual slew of labs. I have a tendency to have low iron that doesn’t show up on the CBC.
I’ve had iron issues since I was 2 years old.
Anyway when we were going over my test results I asked him about the iron and he said, “I’m not concerned about your iron.” Because he was too busy being concerned about my cholesterol.
Long story short, my actual iron (as opposed to Hemoglobin in the CBC) is like 1 point into the normal range from low. And my saturation is way low and this could all be related to my thyroid issues but I haven’t checked those yet.
(The iron panel was cheaper.)
I’m not going to supplement without talking to him bc I know there’s such a thing as too much iron.
Whenever I got really cranky, Mom would always ask if I was taking my vitamins (with iron). I quit taking them when I ran out bc I wasn’t bleeding and thought maybe I didn’t need them.
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Oh i hate that. I’ve had to show up in person, too. Both for the sig, and also to give me a disk with scans on it. And getting my mammogram released to the study i joined was like pulling teeth.
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I think, maybe, I finally got it settled. Hard to tell so soon.
It seems like discontinuing Naltrexone and/or doing the Predisone works. I slept recently at least. My thighs look like a disaster but seem to be improving.
Never taking Naltrexone again, it works for others, not me. I know it’s not fully their fault but I’m upset at 2 dermatologists letting this go to when I was in tears from doing nothing.
I was close to going to the ER for what would probably result in just some pain pills and nothing useful. But my PCP maybe figured it out. Thank the gods for her. I’m so happy I requested a female doctor who listens to me and isn’t “suck it up, buttercup” like my last one.
Hopeful final list of prescriptions for this:
- Minocycline
- Permethrin
- Clobetasol Propoionate
- Cortizone (OTC, figured out later this was kind of redundant)
- All of the lotions with minimal scent (OTC)
- Cannabis gummies (off-label I guess? A doc recommended it but not for this.)
- Hydroxyzine up to 8x/day
- Claritin, by recommendation 1x/day but actually 3x
- Sleeping pills (self-prescribed)
- Sometimes alcohol (self-prescribed but have been trying to be totally sober, was made difficult though)
- Montelukast
- Calamine lotion (doctor recommended but OTC)
- 3-4 slightly cold showers or baths each day
- I have forgotten the names of 2 creams that did shit-all.
And more shit that wasn’t actually prescriptions. Slept in the basement because it’s 10 degrees colder, etc.
But, hopefully I’m on the mend now! Annoyed at the doctor who blamed it on spider bites, bedbugs, or fleas. I did see a spider in the house in the previous month. Never a bedbug or a flea.
Those treatments aren’t all active anymore but it’s been a process. I think all I needed was to stop Naltrexone and maybe take Prednisone for a week or two.
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I haven’t followed your overall issues (sorry, was distracted by my own painful BS), what’s the general thread there? I scrolled back up to March and didn’t see it.
Either way, if your doc isn’t listening to you, find another doc. I have found women to be way better caretakers, both anecdotally and supported by data. (Yeah yeah, not all men, not all women either.)
Sounds like you’re getting an adequate amount of iron though - could boost it with greens and lean red meat. Maybe a morning smoothie with a good handful of spinach. Supplements seem safe to take as long as you talk to the doc at your earliest convenience - like you shouldn’t die from 3 weeks of supplements.
had not considered any new meds.
naltrexone can still be effecttive at curbing episodic drinking, so you could maybe try it before “events” instead of daily?
maybe not/ glad you figured something out
The iron thing is old and I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here.
This dr is new to me at our work clinic. I have no out of pocket for anything wellness related at the clinic so I decided to try him. He did spend a ton of time going over my labs and talking through his recommendations, so he has his good points. I’m willing to give him another chance on this one.
I do have a female PCP. When I went to her a few years ago, she ran the iron panel and I was anemic. She ran it one more time after prescribing supplements and then never again. Honestly I didn’t think to ask bc I thought my fatigue was due to my sleep issues. Still, given my complaints about sleep, might she have looked at my history and double checked that?
I don’t know. I only made the connection a few days ago.
Anyway, my PCP is caught in a contract negotiation with my insurance company, so she may not be my PCP much longer. If they don’t come to an agreement soon, a lot of folks will be looking for new PCP’s, and there will be quite a wait. So I’m sticking with the dr at the clinic for now until I know what is going to happen.
I did find an iron supplement with just 18 mg. (The amount typically in a multivitamin, vs the higher dose my dr recommended previously.) So I started in that yesterday and hopefully it will tide me over.
I’m also eating a burger today. And cutting out coffee for a while. (I had already switched to decaf.)
I actually had a smoothie yesterday. And I haven’t had much red meat in the last month and a half. Having a burger today and I have some leaner stuff in the freezer that I need to do something with.
It’s the “red” that matters, not how much fat is in it. At least for getting iron
Yeah, I just worked really hard to get my cholesterol down 30 points, and Triglycerides are an issue for both hubby and me. So I’ve been pretty strict about any red meat around here. Going to have to loosen up and figure out how much is ok.
I eat a LOT of spinach but apparently not enough.
Hope your situation is continuing to improve.