Why do I get a rash whenever I have a virus?

[SixImpossible]

Makes no difference what virus: cold, flu, unidentifiable headachey misery, I always break out in the same rash. No-one else in the family has this, even when we generously pass the virus around.

I'd be interested to see replies. DS gets this, too. Doctors have always said it's just the body responding to a virus, just not sure how a rash helps!

I'm off on holiday tomorrow. It's been a relatively mild virus, like a cold without the nose. I've only felt a bit poorly, but the rash is spectacular and i know from experience that it will take several days to fade.

I'm going to get some looks in the pool.

Oh no :( poor you. I recently had a horrible allergic reaction to amoxicillin, you can still see the rash when I'm cold!

As I understand it post viral rashes are very common. It is essentially what measles etc are but only some of them have actual names.

I had an impressive rash with amoxycillin, too - it turned out I had glandular fever, not an ear infection, and apparently it's a common reaction. Have you been tested for it?

It is exactly the same as the rash I get with some antibiotics.

I doubt that I have GF - I don't feel ill enough. Anyway, I get it every time I have a cold, too.

I didn't use to get this rash. It's only been happening since my mid-20s.

Oooh. Exciting!! I get this too!

I thought i was the only one! Let's start a quiche!!!

Back to your op....I always get it when I'm run down or have been poorly. It's mostly on my trunk, and in nooks of arms, groin, behind knees. It's a red, blotchy rash, under my skin. Never raised.

I have never seen about it. I just self diagnosed a post viral thing.

I am now really interested to know what function this has in your body. Or is it the skin being irritated? Off to google!

I get it, a Dr told me it was a heat rash, my body's way of responding to a high temperature.

I don't necessarily get a high temp with the rash, and I have never had it when I had a high temp due to a bacterial infection.

Same...not usually with a temperature. It's much bigger and more blotchy than a heat rash for me.

Hi there, I know this is an old thread but I’m just interested to hear if any of you have ever found any answers as to why this strange rash happens? I’ve been having the same thing happen for a while. No matter what type of illness, even just a cold, I end up with a blotchy rash as I’m starting to feel better ?

My son has been dealing with this recently. He's 11. It started with a 2 week rash/hives. And now it's kinda 24-48 hours rash when he gets sick. I don't understand.

And I guess you’ve been looking for answers the same as me. I did go to the doctors about it and all he said was it could be an autoimmune thing. Have you spoke to a doctor about it? I don’t know anyone else that this happens to which is why I’ve been searching on here to spk to someone who’s going through something similar. It’s very strange isn’t it.

I got sick a few years ago. It felt like a really bad flu. I got a measles-like rash on my torso and the insides of my arms. Since then, every cold, every bee sting, is accompanied by the same rash. It lasts two days, then disappears. I get this at least 3-4 times a year. Doctor said it was a response to a viral infection but it is odd it happens so frequently. My theory is that I have an overactive immune response.

Interested in responses - my husband gets this. He generally feels rough for a day or so and then the spots appear and he gets a cold. He has been to the doctors whilst spotty and was just told it was viral. The spots are mostly on his torso but seem to move up to his neck and head and he can get bad headaches with it. This happens every time he gets or is getting a cold. Started in his 40's.

Hey Loves, I know this is from 5 years ago. However, EBV can be reactivated when you get other colds. I was told that that’s why I get that ugly rash no matter how sick I am. Since most people on earth have had Epstein-Barr it’s a good chance that is what’s causing it. I am 36 and have had this issue since I was 12. That’s what the Doc said to me. I get it from my throat to belly button, I will be white in my underarms and under my breasts but red on my entire trunk.

I also get a rash every time I get a virus and this has been going on for years. The rash is raised red and on my neck and torso every time. It doesnt itch. I get the rash 3 times a year when I get a cold or virus. It sounds like what people are describing here. This time I received a flu shot and Covid booster at the same time yesterday and today I notice I have the rash again. I haven't been to the doctor for this other than mentioning it to him in the past (that this happens but I haven't been in to his office when it actually is occurring). When I tell him this happens he looks at me perplexed. This time I may pay him a visit while it is active. Thank you for the post above on Eptein-Barr. I wonder if that is what is happening.

Hi all, this is an old thread but wondering if any of you saw a dermatologist? I am currently on a wait list after showing my GP photos of the rash I get. Started when I was a kid everytime I got tonsillitis, would be on tops of thighs and pelvic area, that’s it. Start out blotchy when I was starting to recover then join together a bit like sunburn. Never sore itchy or raised. Tonsils out at 22, then got the rash everytime I was sick with any other cold virus. But it got progressively worse and spread everytime I got it. By the time I was in my late 20’s when I had a cold it would be my full trunk, underarms, thighs and neck. It started appearing whenever I was sick with bacterial infections too. I had my first son naturally and the rash came out the day after! Then my second son was a section, rash came out literally everywhere the midwife thought I had sepsis!! 😂 Fast forward to covid jags…second booster my rash came out the day after and was really aggressive. I then had cold symptoms a week later and it came out again, and since then (oct 2022) everytime I get it it comes out the day I get sick, blotchy and raised, then within a few hours has covered my whole body like sunburn, apart from patches on my tummy and sides, but spreads down my arms now, round my whole neck and sometimes on my face as well as legs and back. It’s also painful, itchy and raised, like my skin in swollen. Tried antihistamines (various kinds), brufen, calamine lotion. Nothing works. I actually dread being sick more because I know the rash will appear. It also comes out faintly if I’m run down or super tired. Waiting to see a dermatologist (since June) but I’m starting to worry somethings wrong. Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post!!

I find the Epstein-Barr theory plausible, as the rash never happened before my mid-20s, so I could have had a mild case of glandular fever at university and not realised.

Your rash sounds different, Diane82, and more severe. Mine begins flat, spotty and non-irritating. Gradually the flat spots join together in slightly raised blotches. It's only if the blotches join together that they become sensitive and itchy. Except on my neck - it's always sensitive and itchy on my neck. I see a dermatologist for allergies, and they've never been at all concerned about that particular rash. Not that it's ever been active when I've had an appointment. So take plenty of photos showing its progression.

Curiously, I did not develop the rash with any of the times I had Covid.

Thanks @SixImpossible It's definitely progressed the older I've gotten, and since the 2nd covid booster it's gotten a lot more aggressive. I'll keep waiting to see the dermatologist and I have a lot of photos of it! Interesting you didn't get your rash with covid...wonder why. Nothing as strange as the human body!

I know this is a 10-year-old post, but it's given me a lot of hope. I have the same thing happening. A rash that appears whenever I'm sick, even if it's just a scratchy throat or a mild cold. Rash lasts 48 hours, then it fully disappears. I don't know anyone else who experiences this. The rash doesn't itch or hurt. It doesn't leave a mark once it disappears. Had a biopsy at the dermatologist's office when the rash was active, and results came back as completely unknown. Negative for autoimmune, negative for cancer, negative for immune dysfunction, and negative for any known skin conditions. It's just a medical mystery. But every time the rash appears, I can't help but feel that something in my body is malfunctioning. Especially when doctors seem so mystified by it, and no one else I have ever met in person has ever seen anything like it. My rash is exactly as Ria82 and Siximpossible described theirs. If anyone sees this thread and has any answers, please do comment!

Yes I’m still following this post! I originally posted as Ria82. I’m a few years down the line and I’m still no closer to finding out why I get this rash every time I’m ill. I’ve never met anyone else with the same thing other than on here. Interestingly, when I had a cold a little while ago I was waiting for the rash to start a few days later and it never came. The only thing I’ve done different leading up to it was starting antidepressants, so I don’t, know maybe they’ve done something to my immune system🤷‍♀️. Anyway, that’s the first time in years that I’ve not had a rash following illness. It’s really interesting reading others responses on here.

I know this post is old but can see that responses have been posted over the years. I too get a rash, in fact came down with one in the night. Starts on my stomach, spreads to my chest and neck. On my neck it can be quite sensitive. I used to think I was allergic to paracetamol as it used to appear after taking it. I even told my Doctor that I thought I was. More often than not if starts with sinus pain that turns into an headache, maybe a funny taste in the mouth too, whenever I get this I wait for the rash to appear. It caught me out last year when I got it with a tummy bug. I have rang 111 in the past but they just said it was a viral rash and would go on its own but said I could take antihistamine. I take antihistamine when I think the rash will appear but it doesn’t stop it.

Had anyone found any answers to this?

still no answers, although I’ve never really investigated it I’ve just accepted that this is how my body reacts now. I could have the mildest of sniffles and then a couple of days later the rash will appear and always in exactly the same pattern. Starts on torso then spreads up towards face and neck,down my back and towards groin area. I look like I’m sun burnt when it’s at its worse. Then it gradually fades away in a couple of days 🤷‍♀️. I did say in my previous post about how I’d started antidepressants and didn’t get a rash following an illness for the first time in years. Well that was a one off,very strange🧐