Is There a Doctor in the House? (picture heavy; kinda gross)

[vickig]

Jon has a great idea of seeing about Medic Aid. You are entitled to health care too!

 

[FarmGirlNC]

Several of the acid reflux medication (e.g. Zantac) are also powerful antihistamines that are known as H2 blockers or inhibitors- so it may be that your pharmacist is wrong and the doctor was right. If this is an allergy and I were experiencing the symptoms you describe I would certainly try both benadryl (an H1 receptor agonist) and Zantac (an H2 blocker). Both are available over the counter in cheap generic forms. Obviously this is not advice as to what you should do as you may have other medications/conditions I don't know about that would make this a bad plan for you. I might also use a topical cortisone cream.

However the photos look to me like psoriasis. Here is a faq about psoriasis:
http://www.psoriasis.org/about/faq/

Any time you have an open lesion or blister you have to be really sure to keep it very clean to avoid infection. At 19, you also need to start to figure out how to get health care with no insurance- going to the ER and seeing emergency docs about a skin condition is not (as you have seen) the best approach. You need to see a dermatologist. Call the office, ask about billing arrangements, payments etc. After all the ER isn't free either.

Best of luck with this and hope you are soon on the mend.

 

[FarmGirlNC]

Didn't mean to sound harsh about the no insurance thing- I wish that whole issue were resolved for all of us- it is frustrating for sure!

 

[MissPrissy]

Are you in college?

Your parents can keep you on their insurance as long as you are in school.

 

[2manyhats]

Miss Prissy, are the blisters when you are pg an auto immune reaction? With it being on the outside of the joints like it is and not on the moist inside, it looks like an immune response. It could be a systemic reaction to an allergen. I get that with poison ivy only that shows up where ever I'm warm. This reaction is hitting her actual joints.

Did the ER run blood tests. If not, you need to have tests drawn for juvenile rhuematoid arthritis, lupus and such just to rule them out. I am worried about the stiffness in the joints. If it is RA, you can prevent joint damage with proper medication. So it is important to get this checked out. You should see a regular doctor for this first. They'll be cheaper. I am a physical therapist in private practice and I know it's hard to get a doctor who takes payments, but call around until you find one. We do if a person explains the situation and asks ahead of time. They may even have a cash pay rate. Insurance companies pay less than the charged rate so I only ask that amount of my self pay customers. Good luck, but don't ignore this.

Definitely, go for Medicaid. Sometimes they will back up and cover the expenses incurred while waiting to be accepted. You can ask your local office.

 

[MissPrissy]

I can't remember the name and I know somewhere I ran across a blog with a woman who developed the same thing in her pregnancy. It can be set of by your diet too and made worse based on the things you eat - like onions and tomatoes. My cousin had the worst case ever known to man (according to her doctor) and had to be hospitalized for it for a breif period with her last child. I don't know if it is an autoimmune issue but if I remember correctly I was told it lays dormant in your nerve endings until something sets it off. My cousin lives overseas (military DH) if I ever talk to her I'll ask what the name is again. It runs in our family it seems. We inherited it from my Grandmother. No one else has had it but 4 of us grandaughters.

 

[birdnutz]

My Uncle had something very similar. He had the blisters mainly on his hands and feet. It turned out he was allergic to formaldahyde. They put him on predizone during an outbreak. He can only use prell shampoo because all other shampoos have it. It would be a simple try anyway.

 

[camjac]

This may be totally off base here but my sister had something like this when she was about 15. The doctor diagnosed it as hand, foot and mouth disease. I don't remember what they prescribed but I think it was pretty easy to clear up. She got the blisters on her hands and feet only but did not have anything on her mouth. The only thing is I don't think it made it to her elbows. Try and google hand foot and mouth disease and see if you have any of the other symptoms. I think it usually goes away in about 2 weeks by itself.

 

[2manyhats]

Hand Foot and Mouth is a viral infection. If this has been going on for more than a week or so, I would doubt that is what it is.

Miss Prissy, I would be interested if you ever get the answer. I like to keep up on things because these things tend to pop up in my practice. Also, I need to know everything. Can't seem to learn enough.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

The ER is for emergencies. Where you had waited for so long to seek medical advice you should have waited a little longer and gotten in to see a doctor in the clinic. It is usually cheaper too. ER doctors usually are not versed in these kinds of things. You need to see a doctor in the clinic. If you have a regular doctor then that is where I would start.