strep throat with a rash?

[Mellifluous]

Anyone ever had it?

I have felt a bit blah for a week, broke out in a little red welts/rash, went to the doctor and was told that I have strep. Never had a sore throat, just a little scratchy and a slight cough every now and then. I had chalked it up to allergies. :-?

He gave me a prescription penicillin and prednazone. I took one of each as soon as I got them filled...I really feel crappy now and my rash is getting worse - seems that the heat/sweating is not helping it. It does not itch unless I touch it. It is really annoying to have red welts though! :roll:

I went back to work, figure the damage is done - since I have had strep for at least a few days, my co-workers are already exposed to it.

Is there anything else I can do to start feeling better? I can't really lay out of work - at least I have a long weekend to recoup.

*whine, cry, sniffle* :cry:

[DSDECKERT]

Did the rash get worse after the antibiotics? If so, call your doctor.

[ASB.Immortality]

SCARLETT FEVER!!!!!

As the other half said, "frankly my dear...".

Hope it goes away soon hon!

Oh and he wants to know why you have Mcguyver (sp?) as your avatar.

[Minouri]

Yep, strep throat is going through my class right now and some have had rashes.

[ErinC]

Yes it is a strep rash , very normal.

[NikiGA]

If the penicillin does not work(never does on mine), go back to the doctor and request either Augmentin or Zithromax. Did you get injections for either the strep or the rash, or just pills? My FNP usually gives me a loading dose! :lol:But I get strep ALMOST every year.

[appyday]

Where is my post?? I answered this earlier and said CALL THE DR I think scarlet fever as someone else said..

[Tami Pinell]

Welcome to Strept B....
Ceprofloxin works well - along with Pen G gets it gone in a hurry....
Did they culture it for you - just a couple drops of blood and bet that dish grows it well.

[Dianne]

There is different kinds of Strep????? geesh when I read about the rash I was thinking scarlet fever as well..specially as throat wasnt really sore...
only time i ever had strep throat i thought I was gunna die :shock:
My boyfreind and i got it together and we both went to the doc together..he was bragging after...the doc said my throat was worse than yours..neener! :roll:

[ASB.Immortality]

Hey Mel...

I think you should show them.

[Mellifluous]

Sorry ASB, only you get to see my nasty rash pic :lol: Funny too, it is much bigger and worse now. :shock:

And yes, from what I have gathered I have "scarlet fever" and I hope that my meds will kick in soon! They did the quick test to diagnose strep. I still think it is odd that I have never really felt "sick" until this damned rash popped up.

I took a penicillin at 11:00, 5:00pm and 10:00pm - nothing yet. I took a prednazone at 11:00 and another at 10:00 - the rash is still spreading and itching a bit - I hope it is better by morning, if not - back to the Dr. I go! I don't want to be miserable on a long weekend.

I don't want to go to work in the morning. :mad:

[ASB.Immortality]

Just think... they are going to send you right back home. Especially when you start showing it off. I would do that first thing when I got there! ;-)

[motorgypsy]

I've never heard of the rash from scarlett fever itching. I had a student with a really nasty case of it. In fact I drove her to the doctor myself. No itching. Just a red dotted, small dots, rash. It wasn't raised much either. If yours itches you may have hives in addition to strep if you test was positive for strep. Kyle got rhuematic fever when he was 27 years old from a strep infection that caused just a mild discomfort for about a half a day and then the sore throat went away. The only way they knew it was strep was because the bottoms of his feet turned red and hurt when he stepped on them. His heart would skip every other beat or so. It was very weird. Luckily they caught it early and he had no major problems from it other than very minimal and occasional arrythmia. He also had nephritis as a kid from strep so it is truly a nasty bug. Be sure to throw away your toothbrush and wash all your dishes with a clorox rinse or heat dry in the dishwasher because you can give back to your self which you probably already know. I'd do some internet searching if I were you and see if the rash itches sometimes. Good luck, get well soon and please keep us posted on how you are doing!

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/scarletfever_g.htm#symptoms

Only one source says it itched. They all say it feels like sandpaper and may even peel. That you get red streaks and red in the creases of your body and a weird looking tongue.

[baileyholc]

Mel ask the Doc to give you a shot of cortizone for the itching and a shot of penicillion for a fast recovery from the strep. Tina is always going through this. She is getting a Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy on the 14 of June becoase she has it so much. She told the Doc she wanted her Tonsells out. :confused Never hurts to ask. I hope you feel better soon. :hug

[DSDECKERT]

Mel - how are you feeling today?

[Mellifluous]

I think I have a huge *** major case of hives. I have big red itchy welts that will come up and hang around for a day and then pop up somewhere else. Today the back of my thighs, rear end, waist lower arms, hands and ankles are covered.

I am running around the house in a lovely floral moo-moo and staying cool cause sweating/heat makes it pop up.

My Dr., based on a phone conversation thinks that I have fifths disease. He is upping my steroid dose and told me to take 2 benadryl every 4 hours.

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Mellifluous]

Oh and he wants to know why you have Mcguyver (sp?) as your avatar.

Richard Dean Anderson is HOT! That is why he is my avatar...my perfect older man.

[PasoVicki]

I think I have a huge tailfeathers major case of hives. I have big red itchy welts that will come up and hang around for a day and then pop up somewhere else. Today the back of my thighs, rear end, waist lower arms, hands and ankles are covered.


Has the doctor actually SEEN this rash. I'm not a doctor, but fifth disease isn't very common among people over the age of twelve -- and the rash tends to be in a lacy pattern, not big red welts. If you're having a reaction to the prednisone, it probably won't help you much to increase the dosage. You might want to check with the doctor again -- just a thought. Hope you feel better soon.

[Mellifluous]

The doc saw the precursor to this rash and diagnosed it as Erythema Multiforme. It got itchy yesterday afternoon and really started spreading when I went out in the field. I have looked at lots of rash pics online and mine looks like Urticaria. I am like you I really don't think that it is fifths disease. It was really lovely of him to tell me that over the phone. They won't let me come back in, no reason to he says. He asked if the prednisone was working, I told him no, the rash is worse to that is when he said he would up the dosage. I can't go see another doc or have them order me prescriptions because I am part of an HMO. It is really frustrating since it looks like I am in for a miserable long weekend.

I am debating about even getting the new steroids filled. I don't like taking steroids and I don't know that it will help since the lower dosage didn't even touch the rash.

[motorgypsy]

I had this totally weird rash as a child when I ate about 20 tomatoes. My face was very red but it looked like a white worm had crawled all over it. It went away in a day or two and didn't itch but was very freaky looking.

I would bet the benedryl will help more than anything. I HATE HMO's. They can drive you crazy! Have you eaten a lot of anything like strawberries lately or come in contact with a new detergent, perfume, fly spray??? I hate to tell you this but I have a good friend who does this any time she gets around a horse???? How about a new cat or dog or different hay?? Different fabric?

I hope you get well soon!!!

[Barbwire]

How are ya feeling, Mel?

[Mellifluous]

Hey Barb, thanks for the thought - I am functioning, this weekend sucked. Thought I would go crazy Sat am when I woke up and was covered, head to toe, swollen and miserable.

Doc put me on Dex and told me to take OTC 24 hour Claritin if I felt that I needed it. I continued with the Penicillin for strep and added 150 mg of Zantac 3 times a day. The Zantac has made all of the difference with the rash. I ran out Sat nite and rash was coming back on Sun. It went away as soon as I got the Zantac back in my system. Thanks for the tip ASB.

Went back to the Doc today for some bloodwork (poked me 4 times :cry: ). He decided that I was having a reaction to penicillin and told me to stop taking it, if I feel streppy again call him by Fri for a different antibiotic since he will be out of town next week. He also told me to stop the Dex unless I needed it, but to continue with the Claritin and Zantac.

I am feeling a bit high but am back at work. My vision is a little blurry which is odd to me, but the Claritin and Zantac minus penicillin has kept the rash away. Now, I wonder if the strep will come back?

BTW- I am going to be switching docs with my HMO ASAP. I don't feel that this guy has treated me right through this. I mean, Fri I call him and tell him that I am suffering with a big bad itchy body rash and he tells me I have fifths disease and he will give me more steroids...without seeing me. Am I over-reacting?

[appyday]

I sure hope it was eventually treated right...It is horrible when you feel so bad..I was worried about you when you said you had strep and a rash...glad you are at least on the mend...huggs.

[motorgypsy]

Mel that is really terrible. Definitely get yourself to a different doctor. Did you try benedryl? I can't take it during the day but at night it's not a problem??

[appyday]

Mel that is really terrible. Definitely get yourself to a different doctor. Did you try benedryl? I can't take it during the day but at night it's not a problem??

Make you sleepy night night??

[NikiGA]

Zantac? The same stuff you use for acid reflux?!

Or is it Zyrtec? I keep Zyrtec around here AT ALL TIMES! I hope you are on the road to a full recovery. I feel your pain, man! ;-)

[motorgypsy]

Why would zantac, a stomach acid reducer work on a rash???

[NikiGA]

Why would zantac, a stomach acid reducer work on a rash???

Exactly my thoughts! Has to be Zyrtec...... Mel, have you been hitting the homemade Georgia pain medicine? :twisted:

[ASB.Immortality]

The zantac was a secret that came from aunt that works in the er at the hospital over here. She said one of the interesting side effects of zantac was that it was a histimin (sp ?) blocker. She said that when benadryl & steriods don't work, they just give the extra kick of zantac. It seems to work really well.

So, nope, you didn't read it wrong. It is definately zantac.

She also said that it and bendaryl together work wonders, to only add the steriods if you have to. That way if you have a big itchy rash, just try bendryl & zantac. Both are over the counter, and you just take 150 mg of the zantac. :D

[motorgypsy]

Ahhhh - I remember now. Long ago my mother who was plagued with stomach ulcers (H pylori bacteria) told me that they had discoered that an antihistamine had acid reducing properties. The antihistamine was tagamet (cimetidine). So I would suspect that the entire group of acid reducers are also antihistimines. How about that!!! Well kept secret!

[NikiGA]

Yeah, I actually learned something useful today! :lol: