If a Childrens dermatologist said this to you..

I feel confident in saying that is not itchyosis as suggested to you at the private appointment. My son has had this condition since birth, it looks naff all like your pics and it doesn't come and go

Hi OP, I've had similar to this (sorry for my delayed reply). Allergies are generally a bit tricky and I had issues all my life. A bad year I had that is very to your poor ds, and scratching made it all worse and then I had pustules emerging. My body was reacting over and over again.

I took daily for a month fexafenodine and piriton but the key thing was that I was badly anaemic. Iron infusion solved it after a year of suffering. I suggest getting bloods done. Patch tests are OK but the blood test allergy testing is going to be more appropriate or should be done too. Patch test is for topical allergens (dyes, cream ingredients etc), but those inside your system needs a blood test.

Whatever you put on the skin should be light. Heavy moisturisers and oils retain the heat in the skin and make it worse.

I wonder if you got the same paediatric dermatologist that my son had. We both left wondering if she was a real doctor as she had no process that she followed, had never heard of the standard treatment that the gp prescribed and couldn’t explain what her suggested treatment or tests were actually for. She seemed to search them up on her computer but not really know what they were as we had to tell her that one of the things was the same as his current treatment but a different brand name. I did look her up afterwards and it appears she is qualified but she wasn’t on the hospital website. We are now stuck because we waited a year to see a specialist and don’t quite know what to do now. I hope she is maternity cover or temporary and we get someone else next time.

No idea about your son’s skin condition, but I sympathise with your situation.

Looks like my son’s sun allergy. Did they try fexofenadine

I disagree. My DH had a mystery neurological health condition for over 20 years. He saw MANY specialists and none had a clue what it was. When it became apparent that our DS had the same condition, I asked on Mumsnet for advice and got a diagnosis (later confirmed by doctors) within 2 minutes.

There is a wealth of knowledge on Mumsnet.

I have chronic allergies per a dermatologist. Came out the blue around 30, started with itching blisters, sores and welts which would start on the palms of my hands/wrists and the soles of my feet, then would spread up my body if I didn't take something. Weird thing is I used to get water blisters on my hands as a child, and I think they are likely related. The dermatologist has resigned themself to "theres nothing to do except take antihistimines daily". Does your child take one every day at a set time or only during flare ups? If I do one every single day it works, if I don't, within 6 hours of missing a pill i'll be scratching like I have fleas. Apparently mine isn't even that bad of a case, so there are topical creams for more severe cases, or steriod injections. They mentioned that it was due to autoimmune issues, so maybe look into that. I excercise a lot and i've noticed that when it is hot, if i've exercised, if i'm stressed, or if I have hormone fluctuations they tend to come more. At one point I thought it was alcohol related, but cut that out and it made no difference. The doctor very much said nothing that I was eating/drinking could be causing it, which I didn't believe, but turned out to be true.

My DS had a terrible rash on his forearms and elbows and, occasionally, his back. Normal emollients didn’t help at all. We eventually consulted a dermatologist who pinned it down to an allergy to …. his gaming chair. The arms of the chair were coated in a particular rubbery substance that he is sensitive to.

We put steroids on his arms and he wore socks on his arms as he used the chair until we could replace it. Sometimes it is fabrics and substances that the child is coming into contact with that we don’t even consider.

Sugar does cause inflammation. I get inflammation from a disease and it's always worse when I've had too much sugar.

Do any of his grandparents have psoriasis?

I recommend baths with dead sea salt and keeping soap out of the water as much as possible. I also have a skin condition and that really helps me.

Also that rash/hives can appear red spotty lumpy itchy hot sore etc which is definitely a allergic reaction

That is definitely an allergic reaction to something my son gets these from grass dust dogs cats pollen even tomatoes sometimes he also has asthma and eczema too as frustrating as it is keep on pushing with how it is today you really don’t get anywhere (with kids symptoms) so don’t put up op!! I’m currently going through this with adhd diagnosis

Does the rash actually itch him??

It looks very similar to what my daughter used to have at this time of the year. Combination of heat and hay fever

Your son looks like he has pale skin too, DD was the same

Allergy testing would be good. Might have to go private though. I had this done years ago and I am allergy to over 30 things. Similar rashes to those photos. It’s easier to test than to try and eliminate. For example I am allergic to one chemical that is present in toilet paper production!

This sounds like idiopathic urticaria to me. But I'm not a dermatology expert. Generally they will want to work stepwise through investigations so as not to go down the path of advanced treatments eg immunologics for rarer disorders until you have ruled out the common stuff. But rest assured there are still lots of treatment possibilities in the arsenal. Good luck sounds very difficult for your son.

Is it only when it’s hot?
I have spontaneous and cholinergic urticaria and antihistamines don’t work for me
if you’re anywhere near Manchester I can recommend the guy who saw me, he’s excellent

OP he could be allergic to anything, literally. I think you should get him to fill out a food diary. Make it fun, get him to choose a nice notebook and write everything he consumes. Believe it or not I'm allergic to the additives in tap water. That took a lot of working out! Another tip is to get him to have some flaxseed oil each day, either in capsules or a little liquid on his cereal or in his yoghurt.

That is exactly how my legs have been recently, exactly the same place. And in 53 years I have never had eczema there. Salt baths, Sudocrem in a thin layer and the steroid has eased it for me. I hope you can get on top of this soon, OP.

In all honesty that's not always the case. They fobbed off my son's symptoms for years. Tests showed nothing. turned out it was due to a citric acid allergy. We only found this out by doing an extreme exclusion diet. He is fine if he doesn't eat citric acid very itchy and ill if he does. Only found this out by a suggestion on here!

@AmberHiker, it definitely looks like an allergic reaction, like urticaria

Agree that keeping food diary may help pinpoint his triggers.

Do you have pets, at all?

This is quackery. Ignore it.

Looks like an topical allergy rash to me, and I'd be very familiar.

It sounds like he is reacting to something in the environment in Spring/Summer. What trees and shrubs do you have around your house? Or anywhere that your son spends time? I used to get awful eczema and hayfever at the time the rape seed was in bloom (now). There was a field near where we lived. I would try treating it like hayfever sufferers do and shower before bed every night to wash off the pollen or whatever he is reacting to.

I just wanted to add that as a lifelong eczema/dermatitis sufferer (chronic in childhood) I honestly feel that no-one understands these things, not GP's and not dermatologists. You just have to learn how to manage it yourself.

I also sometimes get random rashes. At the moment, at age 53, I have reacted to something and have itchy skin and hives all over my back, legs and arms, no idea what has caused this. I bought some Betnovate online as I cannot be bothered to see the GP about this anymore and I cannot suffer while I wait to see the GP!

My advise would be:

No laundry detergent, laundry balls only

You can be allergic to the emollients the GP's prescribe. They actually set off the worst reactions for me. I tend to use only Vaseline or Sudocrem. On my face, there is a Clinique moisturiser that I can use

Salt in the bath

Vacuum the mattress every time you change his bed

Don't be afraid of steroid use to calm down flare ups. It is painful and better to get on top of things quickly rather than just go on suffering

I take 1 anti-histamine tablet before bed every night

Aveeno is good but I seem to be allergic to that at the moment. This could change as my skin is so unpredictable!

No fragrances in the home

Look at the hair products, especially shampoo and conditioner he uses

Shower before bed every evening.

polymorphic light eruption - we get that DH and I but only on exposed skin - DS got it just on ears in spring and really bad.

I was so bad on a field trip in 20s I sought medical advice and they suggested it was contact with some random plant maybe - it was one of the older organisers who suggested light reaction. They gave me antihistamines and I think hydrocortisone cream which slightly helped - it was really not being out all day when field trip ended that stopped it.

DS sun creams could also cause reactions - so had to be careful what we used.

We also had to stick to certain natural fabrics - not wool as wool DS reacts to that but then so do I - but sweat and suncreams often made him worse.

Some of the eczema creams had thinsg he reacted to in as well - long slow porcess tracking it all down.

Could it be Polymorphic light eruption? Which is basically a sensitivity to the sun. I had a seemingly random rash come out on my face and arms and legs whenever I went outside in my garden. I thought I was allergic to one of the plants or something. Anyway, after a few episodes, and oral steroids being prescribed I was referred to the hospital and the consultant didn't have a definitive answer, but suggested polymorphic light eruption and prescribed sunscreen. After going home and reading up on it, it did seem to fit with my experience and using a high-factor sunscreen on any bit of exposed skin totally stopped the rash.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polymorphic-light-eruption/

I was going to suggest a diary - times etc.

I don't know what that it is.

I'm not stunned GP not helpful - they couldn't recongised Juvenile spring eruption which got pretty bad in DS internet helped us and it was as simple as getting permsion to wear a hat in school breaks.

A dirary help us figure out DS eczema trigger but it happened roughly same month - I was like wtf nothing changed every year - and worked out it was a certain tree pollen - did that with internet and timing. We moved and whether it's the soft water of less trees of that type - it finally cleared up.