QUOTE (Ya_Big_Tree @ Apr 25 2009, 11:04 PM)At least you dont have something called Purpura. Which is an inflamation of blood vessels because your immune system is workign too well. I have developed this recently and let me tell you it's such a bitch! Been so damn annoying trying to get this under control. It's like red dots on my legs and arms. Making it very hard for me to wear skirts and short sleaves. I really hope this goes away soon. Or I might hit the tanning salon to see if I can go darker to hide it. It's just so embarassing. I hate how people look at me and how I have to wear so much clothing to hide it.
The doctors say there's nothing I can do except wait it out. Stupid auto immune disorder! Has anyone else had this happen? It's more common with younger kids... I guess I not only look like a child but I also have the physiology of one.
So ya... I hate my skin too!
I read your post and I have to tell you my story (I'll try to keep it brief)...
A couple years ago I started noticing those little 'red dots' on my legs ... mostly on my shins/calves ... no itching ... just dots. They would fade, then more would always come. Around this time I also started feeling very sickly, lethargic .. and one day, I experienced this deep, horrible pain in my legs and my ankle/knee joints, sometimes they would swell up really really bad. This went on for weeks ... doctors did all kinds of tests .. for Lyme disease, Lupus, Hepatitis, etc ... nothing showed up. They had me on Prednisone for awhile, and everything cleared up ... but within a week of being off it, all my sympotoms would return. I learned over the course of the years, that these dots were an immune reaction to elastic/latex/plastic (like socks, shoes etc .. ) I know it sounds crazy, but I had to avoid wearing socks and could only wear certain shoes that didn't have any vinyl on them (sneakers were OK, but dress shoes were not). I also found out the hard way that I could not wear eyeglasses (sounds crazy, I know!!) because I would have swelling in my face, even my throat and tongue would swell ...apparently from the little plastic part that rests on your nose. I never had any allergies/sensetivities before, so all this was a nitemare for me.
I've seen all kinds of doctors about this ... but it was my Rheumatologist that helped me figure out what it was (after 2 years!!). He knew this was some type of autoimmune disorder, but what was causing it?
A couple months before all these health problems started, I had started drinking ALOT of coffee. I was drinking like 2 giant Tim Horton's X-large cups a day.
I found out just in the last 2 months, that caffeine acts as a diuretic, and can severly deplete the vitiamin/mineral reserves in your body. My doctor checked my Vit. D and B levels, and the D3 level was EXTREMELY low. So I stopped drinking regualr coffee (drink decaf now) and started taking a real good Multivitamin, plus an extra D supplement. Its been about 2.5 months, and I AM ALMOST COMPLETELY RECOVERED!!
It seems crazy to me that all these problems were caused by a vitamin deficiency, but in fact, that it what it was. So, please, anyone reading this ... INSIST THAT YOUR DOCTORS CHECK YOUR VITAMIN B, D and FOLATE LEVELS!!! These are not part of your regular Complete Blood Count (CBC) test ..it is a different kind of test for the vitamin levels.
I went through 2 years of hell because of this, so if I can save even one person from going through what I did, it would be worth it.
Wishing you the best of health ...
yyzena
