dark skin discolouration like bruise but it isnt a bruise??

Im thinking this probably isnt to do with my ME/CFS but about 6 weeks ago I got a dark skin patch which looked like a bruise... hyperpigmentation. Thing is it cant be a bruise as its still there and now has very dry looking skin in that place but still is dark like a bruise. Its about 1 inch by 1.5 inches in size on a skin crease area (top of my foot).

Could this be some kind of strange eczema? (Ive never heard of eczema looking like bruises.. my daughter used to get eczema). It does occassionally have a slight itch to it now that the skin in that area has also gone dry. What would cause a dark patch of skin? (It went dark before it got the dryness in that area)

It dont look thou like Staph (I once had staph in my leg which went inflammed and gooy and had spreading pitch black colour under my skin).

Another question.. Im trying to research and find out and found the following

"Symptoms that might indicate a serious condition
In some cases, darkened skin may occur with other symptoms that might indicate a serious condition which should be evaluated by a healthcare provider. Seek prompt medical care if you have darkened skin along with other serious symptoms including:

Constipation

Depression or irritability and mood changes

Diarrhea

Excessive urination and thirst

Fatigue

Fluctuations in blood pressure

Joint pain

Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss with increased appetite

Missed menstrual periods and little interest in sex

Pain in the upper right abdomen"

but it dont mention what conditions it is refering to by those symptoms.. what serious condition would go with skin hyperpigmentation patch or patches and blood pressure fluctuations? as mine can fluctuate quite wildly (A ME/CFS specialist once told me he had never seen anyone whos BP fluctuated as badly as mine can).

I don't know if this would help, but you might want to google Addison's disease and check the images that are coming out. Would you say it is the same type of hyperpigmentation?
Can you find a picture on Google that looks like what you have?

I don't know if this would help, but you might want to google Addison's disease and check the images that are coming out. Would you say it is the same type of hyperpigmentation?
Can you find a picture on Google that looks like what you have?

I good dermatologist would be the way to go! =-)

I cant find a pic like what I have but found a artists drawing on addisons disease which does look it.

http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/ui/addisons/plate9.html It has that same kind of skin discolouration and dry look as that drawing pic does under the crease of that guys arm but smaller than that.

I do have low cortisol (out of normal range) and have had out of range low sodium levels and low glucose levels all showing up in the past or currently... and maybe my skin is more tanned then it used to be (someone did comment on it and asked me why Im so tanned when Im always indoors.. even the parts of me which shouldnt be tanned are.. my skin is the same colour as my sisters but they go out tanning at the beach) but i cant get a doctor to actually test me for Addison's.

I believe my cortisol doesnt raise with stress as Ive had my cortisol tested both when very stressed out and also when not at all stressed... and it was low both times and hardly moved at all. (Ive tried to get both my ME/CFS specialist to test me and my doctor but both ignore me there). Hopefully I havent gone and developed that. Im seeing doctor again tomorrow so I'll show him the skin patch.

You might find what I am about to write a bit odd, but bare with me.

What you have look very familiar.
I also had this type of discoloration under my armpit. It did disappear eventually.
I am pretty sure it was due to the aluminum in the deodorant I was using.
If you say that it's like eczema, it might be a reaction to it.
I had been using the same brand of deodorant for years and years and never thought I would become allergic
to it, but CFS brought many surprises. That was one of them.

Maybe this is something you could check (give your armpits a break LOL) + a visit to the dermatologist to make sure it's nothing serious.

Why I'm pretty sure it was the aluminum? The same patches came back when I started using Drysol. It was prescribed by my doctor because I was profusely transpiring (it was suddened - very sickening) and I started reacting strongly to this new product.

Good luck with your appointment, tomorrow.

Check this out!

If you start from the bottom and go up, it is the sixth picture.

They also give the reasons for dark underarms.

http://beautyenhancer.multiply.com/journal?&page_start=20

What was unusual in my case is that I had one spot under each buttock.

Hyperpigmentation is a symptom of B12 deficiency as listed here:

http://b12awareness.org/cobalamin-d...gic-psychiatric-gastrointestinal-hematologic/

Hi Boule, you must of missed my comment in the first post. The rash which looks like that is in my foot crease area at top of my foot so cant be due to deodourant (I dont use it anyway due to MCS). thanks anyway for the comments.

(Aluminum deodourants are bad for you as they stop one sweating which in turn stops one from eliminating toxins in ones body as well which probably is not a good idea esp with ME/CFS).

april. thanks, I didnt know that and I are currently off of my B12 injections thou I would expect that to be okay as I eat an incredible amount of meat (3 times daily due to my insulin issues). It is something to consider still I guess.
........

I asked doctor about it today and he said yes it isnt ezcema nor is it a bruise. He said its strange and he dont know what it is but he's given me a prescription for a topical cortiosteriod cream (Diprosone cream) to try on it for a couple of weeks. So I'll see if that makes it go.

" Statistical analysis indicated that an individual's yellow perception threshold increased by 0.07% each year, but gender had no effect. The results reveal that there is variability in the perception threshold for yellow in the general population and that a subject's ability to perceive yellow in a bruise declines with age."

Wow they study some dumb things....

Hi, both my feet are now brown, looked tanned or bruised, up to over my ankles. Its not Addisons, or so I have been told. I have also been told it is due to rupturing of small blood vessels in my feet, in other words a network of microbrusing. This started about ten years ago, and peripheral neuropathy appeared a few years later. I have no idea what it is. I have no idea how to treat it. Bye, Alex

It does make me wonder... hmmmm.

Ooops! You are right. I did miss this fact. An important one, too.
LOL

I'm glad your doctor looked at it. I wonder if it will work.

I wanted to be tested for Addison's because I do have hyper pigmentation (and a vitiligo spot) on my face. My doctor never did the tests. I was wondering how they figured out it is not Addison in your case.

Hi boule de feu, very early on I had a 24 urinary cortisol test, In addition, Addisons causes even all over browning if you have had it for a while - this is highly localized, even after ten years. Bye, Alex

Hi Guys, I just wanted to mention that since starting Fred's b12 protocol, my dark spots all over my face are fading to the point where you can hardly see them anymore. My skin tone is evening up nicely, with the exception of one spot that turned cancerous recently. We caught it early stage, non-melanoma. I have had this spot since I was in my early 20s, now 46. It was completely flat, just a dark spot, like a liver spot. The other spots, which I thought were similar, came after getting sick 4 years ago. They became quite dark.

I am not sure what is going on or why they are disappearing. My dermatologist doesn't know either. But my family and friends have been complimenting me on nice skin tone a lot lately. I have only been on the protocol for 3 months.

Taniaaust1,
Does your discoloration look like a melasma? See images at http://www.skinsight.com/adult/melasma.htm. Melasma usually occurs on the face, but it can occur elsewhere on the body.

I never remembered I'd done this post. I must of accidently did a couple over the time Ive had this issue on the same thing. (If the mods ever come across the other one on this subject, could you put them together).

No it doesnt look like that.. my sister actually seems to have melasma (on her face).
.........................

I still have a darker area in the place where I have this issue.. Its now been there for over a year (as this thread is now quite old). It darkens when I have a shower so I think it is something to do with capillaries leaking as I suppose the hot water would bring that all more of the surface then. (so I guess its the same kind of thing Alex has going on).

Here's a photo of it http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z458/taniaaust1/hyperpigmentationonmyleg-footcrease.jpg it has faded some since then thou still goes darker with the shower, maybe at times a bit darker then what it was in this photo). By this photo it appears to possibly have spread since I made that first post here about it.. but now it is about half the size (so now a bit smaller in size then this pic)

(I remember when I took the photo thou you cant see it from angle of the photo, it was also going all the way down to my ankle on the side of my leg.. its obviously cleared up a lot since then) . It still would be very interesting to know exactly what causes it.

Hi Tania, this site has all the hyperpigmentation disorders on it and has photos, it will take you a bit of time to look through them all, but you should be able to find a match for your hyperpigmentation see http://dermnetnz.org/colour/

All the best