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

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.

I've found my community!! Hahaha. I'm 29, female from Singapore.

Just like everyone on this thread, I woke up this morning and thought I had stained my hand on something. I can't seem to attach a photo here so I'll just describe it - it was darkest on my left index finger and a bit of my palm. I have a tiny bit of staining on my right palm as well but it's mainly one concentrated dot and other tiny (very faint) dots.

The only change in my routine was taking an Omega 3 fish oil (1000mg) supplement before I went to bed. Thing is, I've taken it before in the past but never had this issue. Another thing I did was touch an old phone battery that had expanded but there was nothing leaking out of it. My dad touched it too, and he even pried it out with his bare hands and he doesn't have these orange stains.

I did feel jittery before bed which happens sometimes when I drink tea, which I did, though it was many hours ago. Also for some background, I had pneumonia 2 months ago and since then I'm more prone to this jitteriness + heaviness on my chest. But I haven't been on any medication in more than a month!

I'm floored that almost no one has found the definite cause of these orange stains!!

Does it have an odor? Is it accompanied by swelling? Has anyone tried 70% isopropyl alcohol? I too have similar looking rashes but I also have lots of slices and cuts and where it looks like my fingers have been paired into with a scalpel or something??? I do notice different odors depending when I break out with these types of rashes but isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar juice, or peroxide all seem to help the best. I too have to scrub as though I am scraping the top layer of skin off of my hands. I experience this on other areas of my body. Also, does anyone feel like it can be spread by touch? I can't help but feel like fungi, bacteria or mico-bacteria is a component. My nails, cuticles, free edge of my nail and finger tips seem to be most effected by this and most sensitive to it. It is v very painful to me though. Does anyone else experience and pain? I try to stay away from fruits and vegetables because of this reason. You never know when you're buying your fruits and vegetables what started molding around your fruits and vegetables to land on that. The other thing is it's not just about the mold or fungus that's growing it is the continuous spores being shot out which I think might be a component here. If anyone knows anything about mold, or fungus it's me. And for some reason some individuals seem to be extremely sensitive to this. I can't help but think that is some kind of new type of fungus or something when you take into account global warming and all the constant changes in our environment. Mainly due to pollution and global warming. I have seen every kind of specialist you can imagine. Everything always comes back normal. I do have some labs that are slightly out of range (usually liver, kidney) but I'm told that that's normal and it doesn't indicate anything?? If anyone gets any answers on the subject please post it!!!! This has been my hell for close to 20 years now. It's also been my kids hell.