Gritty Bumps

funny you should mention this WBF

i have been meaning to post about this as I have tiny bumps on my skin in the same places -
strangely it's getting gradually worse as my mainly herbal treatment progresses - as I generally am feeling better

same places - worse affected are
- outside of upper arms
- thighs above the knee and outside upper thighs
- also some on the buttocks and flanks and underside of forearms

Mine are tiny hard bits of white matter - like a blocked pore but are not red or sore - and never really erupt like a whitehead or spot would - but remain for weeks without healing if left alone. i can feel them while washing or stroking my skin.

slightly alarming that they are getting worse as my treatment progresses as I don't know where it will end!
i got this worsening while on ABX also

also, have sores on my scalp and in my ears which i don't know if related - do you have those too?

i am not sure if its debris/by-products due to a pathogen infecting the skin (Borrelia and Bartonella are both documented to do so) - maybe as the combination of herbs and my immune system are killing the bugs?

or maybe just a reaction to my gut being off/leaky gut that is driving it - and all the herbs etc are somehow adding to the leakiness ( generally my digestion seems a little better recently too though) - and my body is trying to get rid of that stuff through my skin

i will try to find and post a photo of mine

my partner who became ill at the same time had it also - but less severely - I would rather hope that it is diagnostic of something as that would help focus treatment - so would be really interested if your is similar

yep - mine are a bit like that - easier to feel than see - easiest to see at an oblique angle into the light
at least they started that way - bit more obvious now

here is a photo of my upper arm on a good day
https://ibb.co/7npTpc5

i also get this regular spaced red dot-like rash on my legs - one tiny red dot at each hair follicle - but it comes and goes
https://ibb.co/r7wM6bC

yep - i have shown the ones on my arms and legs to various PCP's and usually get a shrug and "looks like acne "
really - who gets acne on their flanks and legs but not on their face?
and suddenly in - and their partner gets the same thing at the same time - it's like they are living in an entirely different reality or just not interested

Breezzy said...
My arms and legs look the same. If I had to take a wild guess the legs are showing the effects of small vessel disease-Bartonella(poor circulation) but I really don't know. Most of the hair has fallen out from the bottom half of my shins. Bruising on my shins and feet take much longer to heal than other parts of the body. Spider veins are also present but they have been improving a bit with treatment.

yep i am also missing most of the hair from my lower calves/ shins - had assumed it was just rubbing off from wearing socks for a long time - but i see it is a known sign of Bart - eg from the Burrascano treatment guide

i also notice v slow healing in my feet - i also get blisters easily from any new shoes - and have to wear a pair of thick walking socks with a pair of thinner socks inside those when walking to avoid getting blisters - even in comfy shoes that i have worn for years. very odd.

have a few spider veins also - mainly around my ankles the most visible ones - but a few random ones elsewhere on my legs. my partner has the same.

i am curious do you suspect Lyme and Bart - or are any other co-infections a known or suspected part of your symptom picture?

wow- Cignet - that link was interesting - my partner became ill at the same time as me and with the same symptoms - we always suspected Bartonella - i haven't had any by my partner had these mystery blisters many times

all the same features as in that post:-
-painful deep blisters on the end of the toes
-sometimes one toe - other times 3 or 4 on the same foot
-lasting 5-7days before they start to heal
-little brown flecks in them as they heal

i have read a great deal of stuff on the topic but never come across this as a symptom of bartonella - we thought maybe a reactivated virus of some sort as that sometimes does cause blisters on toes - EBV, CMV, HSV1

hi Rainy - no - i haven't had mold testing done

it keeps coming up in comments here as a possibility - and i know the symptoms can overlap with Lyme/Bart - but - while i cannot conclusively rule it out there are factors that lead me to believe its less likely a big driver for me

- my partner lived in the house for 4 years before I joined her with no issues with health at all
- the home is a new build and bone dry ( under 50% RH all the time - does not exclude but makes it less likely )
- have been through it behind panels - taken out units - looked at all plumbing, loft, etc - no signs

other things
- we both worked in different towns / not the same building ( so unlikely to be work buildings )
- both became ill at the same time
- illness does not worsen after rainfall or in damp conditions -
- have tried binders such as activated charcoal in fairly high doses - made my stools like black cement - no benefit i could detect
- we do not seem to suffer any exacerbation from obvious moldy environments - eg doctors surgery had a roof leak and entire sealing moldy when i visited yesterday for ECG - and I'm fine and on a good day today
- i also seemed to respond positively to antibiotics after an initial herx - my partner also - pointing to more of an infective root cause i think

at least this is my reasoning thus far

curious though - were you tested for mold and found positive ?

Breezzy said...
Garzie - just some ideas for relief before I run out of gas. Do you feel like calluses are preventing your foot from sweating? Like the blister is a result of blocked pores? My feet sweat wildly and I soak them in hydrogen peroxide followed by removing the callus with a foot rasp. This helps my feet breathe. For any open sores on my foot and wounds elsewhere I use pure tea tree oil. For my foot I would soak a cotton ball and stick a bandaid on it or wear a sock to hold in place for as long as I could. This is controversial but I would open up blisters, clean and apply tea tree oil. It has powerful antiseptic and healing properties that I can attest to. If you try it make sure it's pure. I use it on head/scalp sores too. It cuts my healing time in half. Wish you some relief.

thanks, Breezy
bizarrely - my partner and i both have a single small callus on the outer edge of the left foot only - how odd is that ?
otherwise, feet are both easily damaged - eg blisters - but otherwise lesion free - so its an oddity rather than a problem as such

the scabby lesions on my scalp are very long-lasting and hard to treat - many things seem to help a little - but nothing really seems to work for any period of time or cause them to help completely - must have had one on my scalp above my left ear for 3 years now ... still its the least of my worries.

will defo try the tea tree oil for that - thanks for the tip

Rainy - it certainly makes sense to get tested for Mold if your illness started after a known exposure
i hope that gives you some clear and actionable answers - keep us posted on how it goes.

it's still on my list - but a little further down at the moment for the reasons i outlined above.
if i were to test for it i think i would also like to know if i had the susceptible gene marker for biotoxin/mold illness - as otherwise, i could have somewhat high levels of mold toxins - but not be in the at-risk group - and so could spend 6montsh trying to treat it with little or no benefit - at least that's how i read it - based on the limited research i have done in that area.

And here is a close up of my lower arm:

https://ibb.co/4sc3tjy

interesting stuff - thanks for posting the pictures - it is indeed similar to my own - on my arms and legs (i also have flaky itchy type sores coming and going on my scalp and ears – other skin issues too)

i hope this reaction is a sign that its doing something positive for you - and that significant symptom improvements follow in the coming weeks.
I also very much appreciate the thoughts for my own health journey and the encouragement to get mold testing.

i am not quite so sure of the mechanisms involved for the increased rash though.
There is a lot of talk of toxins being "mobilised" and causing symptoms - but as far as i can determine from reading into it - this is a theoretical idea postulated to try to explain the things we patients experience - but i have seen v little scientific study on the matter to support it.
i'm not knocking it - or saying that its not a sign its working – its certainly a sign its doing something and am fully supporting you – just that we don’t really know what the symptom flares mean yet. in fact i would indeed like to try cholestyramine myself as a therapeutic trial - and would do if i could find a source -

I just find i need to question a lot of things that we are told and keep a very open mind to try to fight against confirmation bias - which is a major issue when self-diagnosing and self – treating.
we certainly do not know everything about how these illnesses work yet. long lasting "herxhimer type" flares are another area where there is a kind of accepted theory - but doesn't fully fit with the facts
you mention Cholestyramine was inexpensive - can i ask where you were able to get it ( i am not working with a LLMD - they are generally few and poor in the UK)
I am still considering mold testing – the main barrier I have at the moment is to do with interpretation of results.

Each new test I do I tend to go into with high hopes of clear answers – then the reality of the results is often very grey. So if I ask myself - if a get a test back that is kind a moderately positive - but not dramatically so ( perhaps the most likely outcome) - what does it mean – am I suffering a mold illness? - or is this just what many in the population would have if they are tested and they are doing just fine ….

That’s why I was interested in other ways to corroborate a mold illness diagnosis – but so far these all seem equally grey. My partner also seems to have made a near complete recovery while we continue to live in the same house.

fingers crossed for you over the next few weeks for positive signs

RainyCloud said...
And here is a close up of my lower arm:

https://ibb.co/4sc3tjy

If you lightly scratch them - do they come off?

I had some little red bumps on my legs - worse on my left leg.
They were raised and I could scratch them off but still left marks there.
I assumed it was from work chemicals.

It happened weeks ago and the dots are still there but can’t scratch them off anymore.