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Mystery condition

(82 Posts)
GagaJo Mon 05-Dec-22 21:25:34

Seen 2 GPs, 2 A&E doctors, 2 maxillofacial doctors.

It started 2 weeks ago with an inflammed area on my face. Became infected and had to be drained. Given antibiotics and an antibacterial ointment.

Next developed a range of lumps on my face (they look a bit like hives). No heads. Nothing inside to drain.

Have something in my ear. Possibly a boil, or maybe one of the lumps.

Also 2 lumps on my bottom lip and one inside my mouth.

Even the max fax doctors don't know what's wrong. They've said:
Boil
Ulcers (mouth)
Shingles (I've got tingling, itching, nerve pain).

I'm fed up with it. I've got a big scar from the infection draining. Ear ache. A sore mouth.

Anyone got any ideas?

downtoearth Tue 06-Dec-22 07:19:41

Are the bumps scaly and and shiny with a crust on.
Have you had a sore throat lately.
Has your grandson.
The reason for asking.
There is a rise in the number of Strep A,which is a bacterial infection,school age children have been affected.
Strep A can cause skin conditions.
I know this as a fact my daughter had a bacterial throat infection as a mid teen ( strepA) which caused guttate psoriasis.
One main spot on her foot started and got infected,her whole body gradually become covered in the small raised red spots.
Guttate psoriasis is called so because guttate is the latin for drops,and this forms a droplet pattern.
It can change form and turn into plaque psoriasis which is the more common form.

Blondiescot Tue 06-Dec-22 08:26:08

MawtheMerrier

Blondiescot that sounds so like shingles.A/b’s are no use for that, you need anti-virals (Acyclovir) and those within the first couple of days.
Been there done that.
Sympathies Gagajo surely somebody must be better than clueless? Awful for you, not least because of your online teaching. Gute Besserung!

Thanks, Maw. I'm trying to get an appointment with my GP, but it's no easy task at the moment.

Riverwalk Tue 06-Dec-22 08:29:19

Poor you - it all sounds horrendous. It's a pity that six doctors over two weeks can't come to a definite diagnosis.

I think it could be shingles, with consequent complications, particularly as you've got tingling, itching, and nerve pain. Not all shingle spots are blister-like; my sister had red bumps that looked like mosquito bites without a central dot.

I hope you feel better soon!

GagaJo Tue 06-Dec-22 11:58:13

MawtheMerrier

Blondiescot that sounds so like shingles.A/b’s are no use for that, you need anti-virals (Acyclovir) and those within the first couple of days.
Been there done that.
Sympathies Gagajo surely somebody must be better than clueless? Awful for you, not least because of your online teaching. Gute Besserung!

Yes! I usually carefully use make-up to disguise my age on camera but now I can't, plus have a huge scabby area as well as lumps covering 1/4 of my face. So old and rancid!

Blondiescot, that is so odd! I can't take ibuprofen but am taking paracetamol and codeine which helps the pain for 3 or 4 hours. How long have you had it? I'm at 2 weeks now.

Blondiescot Tue 06-Dec-22 12:46:15

GagaJo, I'm also at the two-week stage. I can't take ibuprofen either so I'm also on the codeine and paracetamol, which as you say, helps for a while, but when it starts to wear off, the pain returns. Hope you get some answers - and some relief - soon.

Namsnanny Tue 06-Dec-22 13:25:48

Good grief! That sounds horrendous Gagajo
What ever it is you need to get plenty of rest, which must be difficult.as.you have work and gs.
Try Reishi mushroom and or Echinacea for supporting your immune system.
Silicone gel massaged into the scar tissue regularly seemed to help mine heal quite well.
I do hope you feel better soon
You too Blondiescotsmile

welbeck Tue 06-Dec-22 14:07:52

someone whom i knew had v bad shingles.
she had to take gabapentin for the nerve pain, but even that did not eliminate the pain.
could you try a different, maybe older GP ?
just a thought. i've been reading about the scarlet fever outbreak, not that yours is that, but the fact that so many younger docs have never seen it, so don't think of it.
hope something eases it.
what about a dentist, they often have wide knowledge of anything to do with the head.

GagaJo Tue 06-Dec-22 15:49:42

As Blondiescot says, getting a GP appointment is nigh on impossible. I was lucky to get in to see 2 locums. Was turned away from A&E after calling 111 when I had a raging infection and a swelling almost the size of a golf ball on my face. To their credit, the maxfax dr I saw the next day was horrified that I'd been turned away.

I THINK some of the lumps are reducing a bit. But whatever's going on in my ear is ramping up. Good old codeine, that's all I can say.

Blondiescot Tue 06-Dec-22 16:14:50

Well, I've been doing a bit of reading up on 'shingles of the head', and I have to say, it does seem to fit my symptoms to a T. I'm going to attempt to contact my GP tomorrow - they do a telephone consultation first to see if they actually need to see you, and that's if you can actually manage to get through on the phone first. Wish me luck!

Glorianny Tue 06-Dec-22 20:39:49

I had shingles on my face when I had it. My then DIL, a dentist, was very interested because the nerves showed up clearly. There are three main ones in the face They come down the side of the face and have three branches, one to chin, one to mouth and one to nose. If the spots are following those lines it probably is shingles.
Here's a diagram

Callistemon21 Tue 06-Dec-22 20:49:35

Shingles isn't always diagnosed at first. DH spent a night in hospital years ago, hooked up to machines with a suspected heart attack. Next day we went to the GP, she didn't know what it was either. I did mutter that it was following a nerve path, could it be shingles?
She looked at me and said "I was thinking along those lines too".
Then rash came out later that day..

GagaJo Tue 06-Dec-22 20:58:37

Glorianny

I had shingles on my face when I had it. My then DIL, a dentist, was very interested because the nerves showed up clearly. There are three main ones in the face They come down the side of the face and have three branches, one to chin, one to mouth and one to nose. If the spots are following those lines it probably is shingles.
Here's a diagram

Yup Glorianny, aka Sherlock!

V3 area. Chin, bottom lip, up to my right ear. I think they were thrown because I had a cluster on my chin and they got infected and had to be drained.

Do your lymph nodes inflame with shingles? Because there is one under my chin that is swollen.

Callistemon21 Tue 06-Dec-22 22:06:27

Do your lymph nodes inflame with shingles? Because there is one under my chin that is swollen.

Your lymph nodes will swell when fighting the infection.

Blondiescot Wed 07-Dec-22 20:37:20

Well, after being on hold for what seemed like forever and a day, I did actually manage to get through to the doctors and got a phone consultation. The GP didn't think it sounded like shingles but agreed it sounded like some kind of neuralgia, so she's sending a prescription for amitriptyline to the chemist for me to collect tomorrow. Hopefully that will help with the pain. I've also to go for a blood test tomorrow.

Glorianny Wed 07-Dec-22 21:27:50

GagaJo

Glorianny

I had shingles on my face when I had it. My then DIL, a dentist, was very interested because the nerves showed up clearly. There are three main ones in the face They come down the side of the face and have three branches, one to chin, one to mouth and one to nose. If the spots are following those lines it probably is shingles.
Here's a diagram

Yup Glorianny, aka Sherlock!

V3 area. Chin, bottom lip, up to my right ear. I think they were thrown because I had a cluster on my chin and they got infected and had to be drained.

Do your lymph nodes inflame with shingles? Because there is one under my chin that is swollen.

Oh I'm so pleased if this helped. I'd never heard of shingles on the face until I got it. DIL was absolutely certain about it (and delighted it was so clear!). I was lucky I got treatment really quickly. It was absolutely horrible, and I thought everyone was looking at my face.
You need to take good care of yourself. Lots of rest, lots of fluids eat well. Hope you feel better soon.

icanhandthemback Wed 07-Dec-22 21:46:55

My sister had shingles of the face and her GP gave her anti-virals even though it had been a while since the symptoms had first started. It took a while but did actually get better which is good because my Uncle was plagued with it for a long, long time. It might be worth asking your GP to give you the anti-virals.

It is worth noting that you can vaccinate against shingle.

mokryna Wed 07-Dec-22 22:19:10

I have asked my doctor twice and she has refused. Is it bad to have it if you have asthma or thyroid problems? I must ask next time as to why.

mokryna Wed 07-Dec-22 22:22:18

I do hope you are both feeling better soon GagaJo and Luckygirl23.

Daisymae Wed 07-Dec-22 22:52:38

My husband had shingles recently and from what I understand it's usually confined to one side of the body. His rash did blister and scab. It was very painful and still visible weeks later. Is it possibly related to a booster?

harrigran Thu 08-Dec-22 11:15:28

DD had something similar a few years ago, with a bit of detective work she traced it back to a facial at a beauty salon. She was left with pock marks after the infection, needless to say she never visited the salon again.

LuckyDuck Thu 08-Dec-22 11:24:38

My brother in law had shingles on his face, down his throat, up his nose and in one eye. It was an horrendous time for him. The nurse said you can get it again so he and my sister have now had the shingles jab.

Katy03 Thu 08-Dec-22 11:28:23

Hi just listening to your symptoms not had these exactly but thinking of shingles. I fell a few years ago and broke my hip round about this time of the year! Anyway off to hospital a new hip next day home in a week then. I began to feel very unwell but couldn’t specifically say what was wrong a few days later pain in head took me to doctor. Diagnosis migraine. I told them it wasn’t migraine but four doctor visits later ran into three weeks pain quite horrendous Hubby phoned ambulance once in hospital found was shingles had attacked my optic nerve. No signs of anything on skin Now have some sight loss never fully recovered that was 9 years ago now have post herpatic neuralgia Also few years after still pain Had MRI scan had taken a stroke in head somewhere behind same eye! Had shingles vaccination. A bit too late but just to warn us oldies. I’m now 77 please insist on anti shingles jag as soon as you can will save a lot of distress hope you find an answer soon xx

icanhandthemback Thu 08-Dec-22 11:28:28

mokryna my sister has asthma and other chronic conditions. Anti-virals were no problem to her.

sweetcakes Thu 08-Dec-22 11:38:14

Sounds like a autoimmune problem to me, trouble is when it's rare nobody has a clue!

cc Thu 08-Dec-22 11:40:36

GagaJo

Shingles turn to blisters though don't they? And then scabs? I don't have that.

Yes, I had shingles years ago and it was more like cold sores than boils