Hi from Canada!

[Sarkishy]

Hello everybody, I found this website after searching for autoimmune progesterone dermatitis. I have had a terrible blistery rash on my right hand for about 10 years that cycles through healing and aggravation. I feel like this rash is independent of diet as I have tried many allergy free diets and cleanses over the years and the rash still cycles. I am also studying to become a naturopathic doctor starting next year, so I am really curious about any successes that people have had without conventional treatment. I have heard some very interesting alternative theories about the "causes" of skin disorders and maybe I can find some of those in this forum!

Cheers   

Sarah

[anniemary40]

Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum. I'm afraid i can't help you but i'm sure someone will be along soon who can   take care annmarie

[CazAngel]

Hello, welcome to the forum. I personally don't know much about your condition I'm afraid... I don't know if anyone here has it or not, but considering that there are people here with some very rare conditions, there are probably some people floating around here that has it. Feel free to post about it. If you ever need to talk about anything, feel free to message me. Take care.

[CalamityJane]

Hello fellow Canadian, and welcome to SC.

I don't know anything about your condition either, but it sounds interesting! Tell us more.......

Jane

[Sarkishy]

Thanks for the welcome!

A little history...

When I was a little girl I had asthma, horrible allergies, and eczema. Horrible dry itchy red patches over my whole body. The GP prescribed cortisone cream, which I always felt was more torture than the eczema itself! Whole body eczema seemed like something that I was destined to live with, and it got worse through high school. My neck was covered along with my arms and legs. My torso seemed to be somewhat spared though. Maybe the stress relief of being out of high school and the combination of me starting to eat healthier helped practically eliminate all of my eczema. The funny thing that happened was that when the eczema on my body disappeared, this horrible rash popped up on my hands. I would say it started in the 15-18 years old range...can't quite remember. Anyways it is a rash that is centered on my right hand and is between the middle three fingers. As long as I can remember it has cycled between being completely healed to being completely flared up. The flares usually start with some small blisters that eventually multiply and swell and become raised. The itch is unbearable and irresistable. I scratch it until it bleeds because nothing else will soothe it. Then my hand is swollen and sore and raw and then it heals, only to start its cycle over again a few weeks later. Lately I have been thinking about the fact that this rash cycles and I wondered if it had anything to do with my menstrual cycle. My cycles have been very irregular and that is maybe why I never made the connection. My last healing phase was during my period and my last flare-up was a little past ovulation, which would indicate that I may be sensitive to progesterone ie. autoimmune progesterone dermatitis. It is very puzzling as it is only on my right hand, and nowhere else. I have a minor and not very intrusive rash on my sacrum. I get the occasional small outbreak of hives, but nothing in comparison to when I was younger. My allergies are gone and I have no asthma. It is the oddest thing. I always attributed the rash on my hand to working in the food industry and washing my hands all the time, but now that I am out of that it is still persistent. I have tried everything. I have tried the elimination diet, I have cut out eggs, dairy, soy, gluten. I have tried meditation, guided imagery. I have tried compresses, creams, soaks, the works....I'm sure like many of you.

Anyways I thought I would join this forum to see what other people have found and read some other stories!

Take care,
Sarah

[CazAngel]

Sarah,
You were saying you thought it might have to do with your cycle, it's very likely, I believe I had heard of your condition but couldn't remember much about it, so I looked it up. And it seems it is believed it generally does have to do with that cycle. Here, I'll copy and paste.

Autoimmune Progesterone Dermatitis
definition
Cyclic cutaneous eruptions occurring during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, with some oral contraceptives and exacerbated by pregnancy. Manifestations range from urticaria to erythema multiforme-like lesions to dermatitis to frank anaphylaxis. Intradermal challenge with progesterone produces a wheal and flare and often reproduces the original symptoms.

[totalfolly]

Hiya, Sarah, and welcome to SkinCell!

totalfolly

[nicolehess01]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I came upon this website looking for my own cure. About three years ago I had a miscarriage and a few months afterward I found my hand one night to start itching and burning like crazy. Over the next week I the itchy spots turned into target or ring like spots on my hand and eventually went away with no scars. A year or so later the same thing happened, in the same exact spots, but maybe a few more spots, and this time on both hands. Last June It came back, but this time it was even worse, and I started getting sores on my tongue so sore I couldn't talk or eat. This has happened everymonth until october and everytime it gets worse. I had seen a dermatologist, dr. for immunology and infectios disease, an allergist, and had been tested for herpes, HIV, Staph, Syphillis, Lupus, and probably more I can't remember and everyone said it looked like an allergic reaction and possibly Stevens Johnson Syndrome. So I started thinking maybe it has to do with my menstrual cycle. I started looking online and came across Autoimmune Progesterone Dermamtitis, and it discribed me to a T. I printed out the article and brought it to my gynocologist and he said that this a good possibility. The problem is that this is so rare, no one really wants to diagnose me with this, or even knows what to do for it. As of right now a dermatologist is doing a skin biopsy for pemphigus vulgaris and bullous erythema multiforme. If it is ADP my doctor wanted me to try lupron for 6 months to stop my period, wich will also make feel like I am going through menopause. We're still looking for someone that can do the progesterone patch test, if the patch test is positive than I will know I have ADP but if it's negative doesn't automatically rule it out.

I am just looking for any information I can get. This is  a really hard disease to diagnose. Sometimes it feels like if a doctor doesn't have a solution for you they just don't care. Sometimes I want to just give up but it is getting to aggressive to ignore. I am a deli manager and I can't work if I can't use my hands, and this puts me out for a week and a half every month.

[CalamityJane]

Hi Nicole and a big welcome to SC (Canadian or not )

I don't have any answers to your problem I'm afraid, but will say that you are heading in a positive direction! It's a long and winding road and skin problems seem to be very difficult to diagnose, particularly if they only present on and off. Could it be an allergy to something at work? - the gloves you have to wear, or something in the deli itself?

When you have a diagnosis, I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping you will tell us. This site is so valuable for sharing and support.

Jane