Bumps

[lynn]

DS has had this thing where he gets little bumps on his fingers and knuckles for a while. The bumps are sometimes red and always itchy/painful. I always thought it was associated with yeast, but in any case it is associated with exacerbations for him. Now, on Augmentin, he is getting them again, along with really bad OCD/ADHD. Yesterday I decided to go ahead and give him Candidase and Grapfruit Seed Extract, my last ditch yeast intervention, which, I think, resulted in pretty bad die off because yesterday was an all time bad day. Waiting to see if things improve. I always feel that I am trying to assemble a complicated machine in a dark room with gloves on with this disease. Nothing but guessing!

[dut]

Hi - you may want to look up herpetic whitlows and dishydrotic eczema.. both of which can manifest as little bumps on the fingers. Herpetic whitlows in particular can show as small bumps on (usually) the first or second joints.

 

I've been told if they itch then it's eczema but if they hurt then it's herpetic whitlows.... of course it could be somthing else altogether but worth a look...

[lynn]

Thanks for the information. (That's what I like about this board--no matter how esoteric, somebody always knows about the problem!) I looked both up and it looks a lot more like eczema. Wonder what's causing that and why it's associated with exacerbations?

 

Hi - you may want to look up herpetic whitlows and dishydrotic eczema.. both of which can manifest as little bumps on the fingers. Herpetic whitlows in particular can show as small bumps on (usually) the first or second joints.

 

I've been told if they itch then it's eczema but if they hurt then it's herpetic whitlows.... of course it could be somthing else altogether but worth a look...

[dut]

If you want to be sure you're not dealing with the herpetic whitlows, you can have a scraping done. I was convinced that mine was h. whitlows despite looking like eczema (cos it came on in adult life and after I had used a rubber finger at work for counting and spread from that 1 finger to others) and having an allergist tell me it was def. eczema. But mine can hurt and Dr Bouboulis told me if it hurts, its whitlows and I think he's right. Unless of course, you have a secondary infection going on 'cos of bad eczema...

 

My ds2 had it for about 3 weeks and if it comes back I think we'll get it scraped to find out if it is vira,l as we suspect.

 

If it's the whitlows, I believe stress will bring it on or other illness bringing the immune system down allowing it to flare. Supposedly if it's the dishydrotic eczema then it is contact allergy, often nickel which is found in many coins and jewellry amongst others. However, I have seen other triggers listed for this type of eczema including sunshine....

[Kayanne]

If it is herpetic whitlow, it can be treated with valtrex or acyclovir--it might help lessen the severity or length of time.

 

Last September, I had a sore on my finger, that seemed herpetic (the doctor did not culture it though). It started as a burning, itchy feeling....then the white bumps...then they started to go purple/red...it hurt...after a couple of weeks the skin in that whole area broke off and new skin grew without any scarring.

 

My doctor prescribed valtrex, and I swear I had another itchy, burny spot on the finger next to it...an hour past taking the medication the sensation would stop, and I knew when it was time to take it again, because I would feel the pain...that finger never broke out in a sore.

 

Oddly enough, I was relaxing in the noon sun on the day it started.

 

However, I also had the other symptoms of an intial herpes infection...tingling, and sensitive skin on one side of the body, slight fever & chills...for only a few hours.

 

The antibody tests were negative...and I haven't had another one..I'm hoping it was a one time thing.