EarthMother Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 As each of us have experienced such horror stories in our medical adventures, I wanted to share what I consider to be the template for a perfect office visit. Truly this is the way we all should be treated.I went to my PCP this morning, because I developed a rash on my torso. I took copious notes on the timing of the symptoms, what came first, what followed, what I tried etc. And read through my paper along side my physician. He asked me a few more questions and then examined the blotches. When he said Pityriasis, I was soooo relieved. I had read about PR on the internet and knew that it was self-limiting and would go away on its own in a couple months. As he told me about the disease, I added tidbits I had read about. My husband commented how I had researched this over the weekend and my Doctor remarked "Good. That's a good thing. The internet is a good source of information." (I just have to pause and breathe deeply for a moment in recognition of how blessed I was in that moment.)Once we finished the rash-chat ... my Doctor poured through my electronic chart on his new high-tech tablet and asked me how my POTS was doing. I told him that it continues to be very rough and he made some suggestions about some things we had tried before that we may want to consider again. Basically he said, "I don't want you to feel like you don't have any options." (Again, deep breath and a moment of silence.)Fact is I may NOT have any options ... but just to know that I have someone on my team who is willing to listen, learn along side me and try ANYTHING that may help .... well that just feels about as good as it gets.On a related note, has anyone else had Pityriasis? I read somewhere that it may be linked to the HHV 6 (or 7) virus which is the one that is getting all of the hoopla about possible links to MS and CFS. I vaguely recall one of us actually being treated for HHV 6 I think, but I couldn't find it off hand in the search engine this morning.So that's my news for the day ... no bikini contests for me this summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yep, I had it about 10 years ago--funky rash, yes? At first I thought maybe I had ringworm... so I went to my dermatologist, and he diagnosed me in about 2 seconds. It took a while, but the rash did go away, and the extra fatigue took a while, but I eventually did return to "my normal".Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted June 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yep, I had it about 10 years ago--funky rash, yes? At first I thought maybe I had ringworm...Exactly! A couple of weeks ago I got the first "herold mark" -- but of course I had no idea that was what it was at the time. My two hairless dogs occasionally get ringworm, and so I thought I must have picked up something from one of them (though none of us ever had before.) Then those blotches came about a week later ... only thing that seemed outside of the "textbook" PR is that I am 46 and it says that it is most common in people under the age of 35.Thanks for the confirmation about the fatigue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMouse Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 That first mark is what caused me to show it to the dermatologist--at the time, I was getting allergy shots from him, so I just happened to ask him to look at the spot on my belly, and he said "Whoa!" He actually stepped across the room, pulled out a light, had me lift my shirt and spin around while he used the light to inspect my torso. He told me he mostly sees it in babies and little kids and was surprised that I'd not had it way back then, but that I'd feel better across a few weeks. He had me leave the office without my shots b/c I was clearly fighting an infection, and he didn't want me around the others there b/c it was early in my infection and I might be infectious (I only had the one huge herold mark at the time).Hopefully you'll get better just as I did!Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewatcher Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 EM, I had it in High School, the doc made me stay out for two weeks, other than fatigue it was the best two weeks of my High School career. I did look funny though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flop Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 I had pityriasis rosea about 11 years ago. I had a classic herald patch on the back of my left shoulder then had the "christmas tree" pattern of small patches all over my back. I thought it was eczema so I went to my GP - she quickly diagnosed it as pityriasis. I didn't notice any illness other than the rash though.Flop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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