What are these orange stains that have appeared on my hands overnight?

Another one who has experienced this strange phononom!

It's happened to me twice. Once over a year ago and again a couple of days ago.

On the recent episode, when I got up in the morning I glanced at my feet and was shocked to see that they looked like they'd been splattered with rust or iodine, just like many of the photos on here. There were several rust coloured splotches and also a scattering of smaller pinprick sized rust coloured spots. It was all at the front of my feet near and on my toes. There were also 2 or 3 minor rust marks on my hands/lower arms. There was nothing on the soles of my feet or my palms. I rubbed the stains with a wet wipe and a fair amount came off, leaving a light yellow/orange staining on the wipe. I then scrubbed my skin in the shower and the majority of the remainder came off, leaving just a few stubborn marks. For the next couple of hours I rubbed the marks intermittently with wet wipes before wiping with nail varnish remover which got rid of the remaining traces completely. Now you'd never know it was there. The day before, I'd been wearing flip flops all day and had been in and out of the garden and sat for a while in the evening next to a new raised flower bed. I'd eaten quite a bit of salad the last few days, including tomatoes, but that's not unusual for me. The only unusual thing I'd eaten was a Solero ice cream but I definitely didn't drop any on my feet. I also take Menopace intermittently and did take one that night. Dr Google & Chatgbt say that because I was able to clean the stain off it couldn't have been from a medical or dietary cause so must've been something external likely from the garden like pollen, soil or the stain on the raised beds. However, it hasn't happened to anyone else in the family.

When it happened last time, it was on my hands, not feet but otherwise looked the same. I put it down to eating a whole pot of pine nut & spinach pasta which I've never done since. On that occasion, it also disappeared very quickly, like less than 24 hours I don't think it washed off, but I'm not actually sure I tried.

I confess I've not read every post in the thread but I'm sure most of you said yours didn't wash off?

I'm flummoxed!

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Both my son and I developed these stains on our hands and feet. He’s 22 and works a lot I hardly see him. My husband did not developed these. I work from home and haven’t left my house in days. We don’t even eat the same foods and my son rarely eats veggies. We have separate bathrooms and separate bath products. I made a doctors appointment what should I be asking for besides a blood test.

I started this thread 6 years ago when I could find no information on the net. I have now trawled the internet to see if there’s anything new. There are now a lot of postings but still the mystery remains. The most interesting thing I read linked the stains to an underactive thyroid. This apparently reduces the amount of carotene the body can absorb. I’ve long felt there was a link with hormones, stress and the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten. However, I don’t have an underactive thyroid so that’s not the answer in my case.

Reassuringly there were plenty of posts that found the orange stains were harmless.

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Same for me here. I started taking vitamin D last week and this morning I woke up with these weird stains on my right hand. Definetely something to do with the vitamin D supplements

That is not what I have. Mine only lasts a couple of days and only affects my hands. Most of us just have it on hands or feet. I do not sweat. I do not have yellow stains on my clothes or in my urine. It only appears occasionally and usually when I have eaten something and/or am suffering stress.

I think i found it
Search pseudochromohidrosis
dermnetnz.org/topics/pseudochromhidrosis

And also
journals.lww.com/idoj/fulltext/2017/08010/yellow_pseudochromhidrosis_in_a_young_female.9.aspx

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Hello everyone. I'm 23, male and from Brazil. I woke up today with this thing and i have no clue as to what it is. My case seems a little different from the majority here.

My orange/yellow patches showed up on my arm and close to my chest, next to my armpit.
I remember waking up in my new apartment (first night sleeping there) in the morning, still half asleep, and feeling this spot itch a little, very lightly. I also remeber feeling a little insect on my hand and trowing it away. This didnt bother me that much and i fell asleep again.
I woke up and just then noticed the marks.

From what i gather from the internet, this might be related to my high cholesterol, (from my latest exams, i miiight have hypercholesterolemia)
Maybe the insect was just a coincidence.
And i also dont recall eating red/orange vegetables. I mean, i always eat my salads, tomatoes and ocasionally a little bit of carrots, but not in a huge ammount.

Just to add to the above, I am experiencing high stress and difficult emotions currently so going to monitor this.

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Hi! Another person here who has woken up looking like they’ve had a self-tanning disaster. I was interested to see the post that mentioned hypothyroidism; I’ve had thyroid illness for many years but never experienced such bad staining as this! It is so weird to wake up like this, I wonder why it doesn’t appear during the day.

Katep2 we have not found out exactly what this is yet. All I can say by way of assurance is that it usually disappears in a couple of days and doesn’t seem to be harmful. Several have been to doctors and still we don’t know. IMO it is a combination of eating certain foods and stress. They seem to be the common denominators. I suspect this does something to our hormones but Idk but it comes out through the hands or feet. Please do not worry.

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Hello, did you ever find out what this was please? I have woken up this morning to the exact same thing and found this forum thread while searching google. But worried about it, I have in the last 2 days had a work stressful event & subsequently upset stomach but don’t know if that’s related?

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I woke up recently with some orange, rust-colored stains on my left hand — both on the palm and the back — and I was going to just ignore it. Later that day during my regular massage therapy, my therapist noticed that my skin was extremely sensitive and turning very red, so she stopped and asked if I was feeling okay or if I’d been unwell.

That combination — the strange discoloration and the sudden hypersensitivity — made me think something might be off. When I looked it up, I found that an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) can sometimes cause skin sensitivity, and I also read that iron deposits from liver issues can create rusty discoloration.

I also came across an article about hypothyroidism and rust-colored stains on the skin, which really caught my attention — I can share the link here in case it helps anyone else who’s noticed something similar. www.getlabtest.com/news/post/hypothyroidism-rust-colored-stains

I’ve decided to get some blood tests done and will update here once I know more. Honestly, if my therapist hadn’t pointed it out, I probably would have brushed off those orange spots completely.

I just hope I can push my doctor to take this seriously and really help me find an answer — not just send me away like what I’ve read some others have experienced.

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Me again, again stressful times. After only two months.

This has been going on for years now.

I’ve been pointing at stress as a catalyst and this bears it out but we still don’t know exactly how it works.

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Hello, fellow freaks!
I think my last post was a year or two ago - and it happened again. During stressful times. So I guess it probably correlates with that. Nothing unusual with the food lately, so that's out.

It started as a tiny spot, but today, when it got more stressful due to a book deadline, now it's hello-orangeness-my-old-friend.

Those conditions produce global skin discoloration, not discreet, well defined patches. I dont think that is the answer personally. I believe these are vascular and may occur after prolonged swelling or immobility but hopefully people will keep adding data to the group.

Hi fellow freaks. I had this happen to me aroind 10 years ago. Never found an answer and eventually forgot about it.

I have it again today! Woke up with it. This weekend has been very unusual for me and a few things feel like they might be related.

Firstly I have consumed an excessive amount of guinness in the last 48 hours. We're talking 15 pints plus. Could this be related to iron?

Secondly, I was at the black sabbath gig in Birmingham and stood for many hours without a break and ate terrible greasy food all day. By the end of the day My feet were swollen and back was killing me. Could this be circulation related?

Anyway, just adding more data to the pile and will continue to follow this page.

By the way I am 38 year old male, good health, no medication.

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This sounds like carotenemia or lycopenemia, a harmless condition where excess carotenoids (from fruits/vegetables like satsumas, carrots, or tomatoes) deposit in the skin, causing orange or yellowish stains. It’s more noticeable on palms and soles and can persist if you’ve consumed a lot of these foods. Another possibility is bromhidrosis (sweat-related pigment changes) or contact with certain metals/chemicals. If it’s persistent or concerning, consult a doctor to rule out liver or metabolic issues, but it’s likely benign.

That's an interesting thought chillingwiththegrans. I think there are several factors but this could be one of them. If it's certain foods why don't we get it all the time? Which is why I included stress as a possible catalyst. I see a poster further back did some research that tbis phenomenon is fairly recent - at least in reporting on social media which is also more recent.
It puzzles me that several have been to the doctor who doesn't seem particularly interested in finding the exact cause. Are medics not curious or do they know something we don't?

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Do you all take vitamin D supplements? Or are exposed to the sun alot? Someone online said it was a vitamin D overdose. I was taking a high dose because of seasonal depression and I woke up with the marks on my hands. They disappeared in about 3 days. I'm trying to find a commonality because I don't spray tan or eat many carrots...

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Is there anybody out there? 4 days later woke up with them again.

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I woke up with the same type of stains this morning. Also happened a few days ago. I don't understand what this could be. So glad I found this forum. Doc said it was external and gave requisition for blood work.

It's a real honour to join your illustrious club.

36F, woke up this morning thinking I must have cut myself, but the stains are rust-coloured and don't wash off. It's on both palms and also deeply staining my nailbeds on one hand. I went to a doctor because...I was weirded out, and he didn't have any real suggestions apart from maybe somebody played a prank with the spray bottle at my gym. I'm perplexed, to say the least.

Good luck out there, everyone.