"Dyshidrosis" (small blisters on hands and/or feet) anyone?

This is a just another odd condition that I thought I might as well "run up the flagpole," so to speak.

Dyshidrosis is a skin condition in which small, fluid-filled blisters appear on the hands and feet. If the blisters break, the skin can become crusty, cracked and inflamed. It heals slowly.

The exact cause is unknown. It was once thought to be related to excessive sweating, but that notion has been discounted.

I had this (mainly on my hands) for a few years, on and off, when I was a teenager. It cleared up on its own well before I developed CFS/ME symptoms. Still, it was odd enough that I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone else was familiar with it. Thanks!

[Warning: Somewhat graphic image.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishydrosis

so thats what it's called

had it for several years - nowhere near as bad as those pics however - only seems to show up when I am pushing harder than I should and have been for months (ie poor pacing) - always taken it as a sign of immune disfunction - when I clean up my act they pretty much disappear within a few weeks - start pushign again and they come back - so I use them as an indicator of long/medium term immune health - when they stop being localised to a few fingers and patches on my hands then I know it's time to significantly cut back - tho at times this can be tricky - how do you cut back significantly from zilch

afaik there is no correlation in my case with sweating tho

i do get the small blisters on sides of my fingers. they come and go- but definately appear in clusters. makes me wonder if they are related to ebv? when i was on valtrex i noticed i didnt get any blisters.

i got them in my early years of this disease, not near as bad as the pic but they would pop up across my knuckles from time to time.
But it's been years since i've had em. thank god some things go away.

Both my sisters have CFS. One sister has dyshydrosis which appeared before she got CFS and continues. I also have a close friend who had dyshydrosis and then developed CFS. Her dyshydrosis had resolved but her hands always hurt her badly and are prone to be very weak at times and the doctors are stumped.

i get them on hands,feet and legs...used to think they were tiny flea bites....and these blisters leave lifelong scars

These are often associated with coeliac disease so it would be worth getting a blood test.

You can't give up gluten before the test or it will be negative.

Mithriel

Sorry to bring back up this old thread, but I thought it is important to say that these blisters appeared about a week after I developed ME (I've had it for almost 3 years now). They reappear every time I have a crash. Sometimes, I can predict an upcoming crash based on them.

I am not sure if it is truly dyshidrosis because for me they are barely visible, about a milimeter in diameter, on a few places on edges of my palms and fingers, but my skin gets bumpy from them and they look similar to the picture in wikipedia.

I wonder if they can be caused by a virus? What are your thoughts? It would be interesting to find out if it is more common in ME patients than general population.

Very interesting. Celiac disease and gluten issues keeps coming up with the the things Ive had.

I used to get these on my fingers when I was a teen and in my early 20s (before I got ME but after I got mono). Mine looked like the ones on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dyshidrosis.JPG (mine didnt look like the first more severe pic on wiki but this other pic but not so bad as that either). They were mostly just on my fingers (and just rarely appearing on my palm .. a small patch also used to appear on one side ofmy palm )

I have them on my fingers, not bad tho. Also i am not celiac.