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Anyone else get painful/sensitive areas of skin? Almost feels like sunburn but isn't...

5 replies

MoonshineWashingLine · 18/11/2014 22:03

I often get areas of skin that feel like they've been sunburnt but there is no rash or anything visably wrong. They are always quite painful and very sensitive to cold. Its like there's something wrong with my nerve endings or something! At the moment I have a few areas on my legs and last week I had one near my groin. A general feeling of being unwell and tiredness always accompanies them.
A few weeks ago I had antibiotics for a suspected UTI and they flared up then and have been worse than usual since then. I also have ibs which has been bad today and these sore / sensitive patches have got worse again... anyone got any ideas?
The only other times I've had these sensations is when I've been really ill with a flu like virus or something but then it seems to affect my whole body. They really get me down when I have them as I always tend to feel pretty run down at thr same time so any help or advice would be much appreciated.

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ImperialBlether · 18/11/2014 23:29

I had this and it was shingles, though there were no spots. I'd had shingles with spots years ago and the pain was the same. It felt as though needles were going through my flesh and touching nerves, if that makes sense.

Have a look at this.

I feel for you - it sounds really awful. If it is shingles then yes, you will feel very, very run down.

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PurpleWithRed · 18/11/2014 23:37

I've had sore patches but no visible symptoms since I was a child (50+ years) when I'm stressed or about to come down with something - ie when my immune system is under a bit of stress. No idea what it is. Not wildly painful or widespread so never followed it up withheld a doctor.

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MoonshineWashingLine · 19/11/2014 08:07

Yeah I've mentioned it to a doc before but they seemed a bit non-plussed and just gave me amytriptamine, which i didn't end up taking because it disappeared again after a couple of days.

Sounds very much like shingles without a rash, perhaps a somewhat milder case than what can occur, athough I've had this feeling once before a few years back where its wiped me out for weeks. Always seems to follow on from an uti (I get them fairly often) coupled with stress - I've just moved house.

I have an appointment with my new gp this morning so going to go in to a bit more detail than I did last time!

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LemonChicken · 19/11/2014 15:21

paresthesia, is I believe what this is called. Disclaimer: take everything I say with a massive pinch of salt, I am no doctor.

my husband has a known neurological condition and often get's the "invisible sunburn" (as he calls it) it can be very painful, and I don't think I'd be letting my GP give me the brush-off.

this is only wiki, so not brilliant, but if you skip the first few paragraphs (which refer to this in it's simplest form, pins and needles) then the later bit might help you somewhat.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paresthesia

it can be caused by something as simple as shingles or a cold sore at the "tingling" stage (which you have none of the other symptoms of), but it can point to other more sinister things. Please don't let your GP brush you off. I have seen my husband reduced to tears because of this, and nothing I have tried to ease his pain helps at all (calamine lotion, after sun, menthol talc, ice packs, cold compresses, pain killers etc)

one year on holiday he fell asleep on the beach, legs sticking out under the parasol, he badly burned his shins, they were blistered and peeled for weeks. According to him that level of proper sunburn is exactly as painful as his invisible sunburn, and I really don't think it's fair of a GP to just brush someone off with that level of pain and discomfort. And that is aside from the fact as it could be neurological, it might be very important to find out why you're getting these symptoms.

Google paresthesia on more reputable websites than wiki, and if need be do some print outs and take them with you to your GP.

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MoonshineWashingLine · 19/11/2014 23:47

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. The gp has booked me in for some blood tests tomorrow so will see what happens with those.
I do have a high rheumatoid factor but haven't had a proper diagnosis as to why yet... I'm wondering if its all part of the same thing.

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