What are the symtoms of Erythrodermic Flare?

[surfnomore]

The past few days I have turned red all over my whole body. It's very sore and painful. I am also retaining a lot of water and am VERY bloated. I saw my dermatologst, and he thought it may be an alergic reaction. He gave me some anti-histamine and a trimicilone ointment. the ointment worked wonders on my plaques, they are almost all gone, but I still look like a lobster. The most painful parts are my thighs where I wear pants, and my palms, which never had P before. I am taking prednisolone eye drops to relieve my psoriatic Iritis, I am also on enbrel 50 mg twice a week. My question is when do I know if it is serious? I have had similar symptoms in the past, and people told me iot may be Erythrodermic.

[RichJ]

hi surfnomore,
sorry i can't help much. more will come through and help you. i hope it's nothing bad. i wish you the best

try and have a good night all

richard

[PJ Leary]

Hi nosurf,

Ouchyk just called me to let me know about your post, fortunately I was home a bit early today.

I am a little confused about exactly what to say to you, and perhaps a bit more information would be helpful here. You say the the TAC cream has all but cleared your plaques, but that you are still red and in pain, and I believe retaining fluids? Are you experiencing any sloughing of the skin at all, or are you just red? Are you running a fever, feeling sick? Can you describe in a it more detail exactly how you got this way, and what this way is? Also, how long have you been on the enbrel, and can you tell us if it has helped and over what period of time?

I am sorry not to be more helpful out the door, but if you can provide some more information, I am sure that I ( and the others ) can be helpful here.

I'll hng around and wait for an answer. I do need to go out a little later for a couple of hours, but will email the others to come and watch as well.

Regards,

[SamanthaW]

I had an e-dermic flare Thanksgiving. I had no idea what was happening, but thankfully this great group of folks here helped me out and urged me to call my doctor immediately! My symptoms were burning red skin - felt like a horrible sunburn (shiny on my chest) so painful I could barely get dressed, I was extremely cold and had difficulty getting warm, sloughing of the skin that was exteme (large pieces of skin literally falling off me). I felt really sick. On Thanksgiving Day, I called into my doctor, who immediately put me on methotrexate. I had been off Raptiva for about 4 weeks, and had this flare due to going off it. In the 25 years of p, I had never experienced this and it was very scary. I'm not saying this is what you have. I know PJ asked for more info from you to see if she can help you out. I am not as familiar as most who have dealt with it and know more about it. Please keep us posted and take care of yourself!

[surfnomore]

I just have been through the most odd form of p ever. I literally shed an entire skin from head to foot like a snake. It started last week when I posted that my healthy shin (without patches) was turning red. Then the skin began to peel in sheets like as in a bad burn. then as I picked and peeled off the sheets, the skin underneath seems to be very smooth and healthy. I have a few stubborn patches of skin left on the back of my thighs, and my feet and hands. Even my hands appear to be peeling off very easily and without too much pain. I feel like I'm wearing liquid latex gloves or something. this of course is all very odd to shed a skin like a snake does. has anyone else ever experienced this? I feel as though when I am done removing the old skin my P is cured. I see no signs of pink or red spots on my new soft beautiful skin! This is all very odd. Please let me know if this has ever happened before. :confused:

[Kimbercat]

Hi Surf,

I have never experienced it, but what you describe certainly sounds like erythrodermic. The peeling sheets of skin in the main symptom that matches. Are you also having problems controlling your body temperature (feeling very hot or cold)? You may have gotten through this already, but if you aren't seeing major improvement, or get any worse, get to your derm or the ER immediately. I don't mean to alarm you, but e-dermic can potentially be very serious, and even life threatening. I'm going to pm this message to several members who are very experienced in this type of p, and I hope you'll talk to them as soon as possible. Good luck.

[Alarbman]

This is how I was diagnosed at 8 years old. My whole skin peeled off, and yes, I felt like a snake! As a kid, it was kind of cool-peeling all that skin off. It later turned to severe Guatte P, then at 18 years old, Plaque P.

[suzmiata]

;) I experienced a major flare like that around Dec., 15th. I spent two days in the hospital. I had gone off Raptiva due to an infection and wow, look out. I was lobster woman. I've been erythodermic before but nothing like this. My body turned purple. I was in so much pain. And my skin came off in sheets. I was so embarrased in the hospital. My bed looked like a skin refuge. It was awful. Thank God, I encountered a good derm. I'm now taking Raptiva and MTX shots once a week. My skin is slowly returning to normal. I swear. I hate this stuff so much. I can't wear good clothes to teach in because I have to smear vaseline all over me.
Sue

[PJ Leary]

HI Jeff,

I am wondering how you are doing today? It certainly sounds like you are having an edermic flare, and there are a few of us here who would like to be helpful to you if that is the case. The peeling in large sheets is a certain indication of edermic p, so, how is your skin looking and feeling now? I really think you should make an emergency visit to your derm. Are you still seeing Dr. Koo? Please do let us know.

Regards,

[hypr004]

I just started enbrel and i 'm kinda nervous about the side effects. Are the side effects your talking about only from raptiva? thanks

[MikeK]

I just started enbrel and i 'm kinda nervous about the side effects. Are the side effects your talking about only from raptiva? thanksHi Hypr004,

First -- good luck with the Enbrel.

Second -- there's good news and bad news about erythrodermic (e-dermic) psoriasis. First the good news: e-dermic psoriasis is very rare. Most of us will never have to deal with it. Now the bad news. An e-dermic flare can happen to just about anyone. Some of the most common causes of e-dermic psoriasis are sudden withdrawal of certain medications (i.e., prednisone, Raptiva, etc.) and severe sunburn. A severe burn from UVB light treatments can also cause it. That being said, most people who become e-dermic can never really point to a specific trigger. Fortunately -- as I mentioned -- it's very rare. Here's a link to some additional information: http://www.psoriasis.org/about/psoriasis/erythrodermic.php.

I hope this helps.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Mike