• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Small bumps that itch and turn into bigger "blisters" [Pictures]

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I'm having doubts on them being bedbug or any type of bug bites

Should I see a doctor or a dermatologist?

I think it will depend on what country you are in. In the UK one has to see a GP to get a referral to a specialist unless one is going private (i.e. outside the NHS). In the US I guess you have to pay for every appointment or claim on insurance, so if you need to minimise costs I think it would make sense to go straight to a dermatologist, unless they cost more than GPs! A dermatologist should be familiar with all types of skin problems including bites, I would think.
 

leela

Senior Member
Messages
3,290
Have you gotten new ones since you first posted? Are symptoms abating or changing?
 
Messages
8
Have you gotten new ones since you first posted? Are symptoms abating or changing?

Yes I got 3 new ones, one on my chest, forearm, back

the older ones look the same or maybe slightly improving... could just be me hoping that though lol.

I've tried putting antifungal cream, hydrocortisone, and anti-biotic....
 
Messages
1
yeah I learned not to scratch now to avoid damaging the skin even more, here are the pictures I forgot to embed them

jwUQbzGJqxR3k.JPG

jbox5tmUXHRs5v.JPG

jj1VFLlxcPZxv.JPG

j3ZTTcBYysk9T.JPG
Did this end up being scabies?
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
I had something very similar this summer. Began with single, small, otherwise invisible bumps that itched intensely, then I would notice an oddly square-shaped bruise a few days later. In my case, I assumed they were spider bites because 1) Due to the heat, I've seen a lot of spiders in the house this summer, and 2) They did go away in a week or two.

The square-shape of the bruise seems to be caused by scratching in short repetitive strokes with a fingernail. I've learned to put a band-aid on them before I start scratching.

They all came and went in two or three weeks, again leading me to believe it was some kind of insect.

The only thing that gives me pause is that they all occurred on just one leg.
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I had something very similar this summer. Began with single, small, otherwise invisible bumps that itched intensely, then I would notice an oddly square-shaped bruise a few days later. In my case, I assumed they were spider bites because 1) Due to the heat, I've seen a lot of spiders in the house this summer, and 2) They did go away in a week or two.

The square-shape of the bruise seems to be caused by scratching in short repetitive strokes with a fingernail. I've learned to put a band-aid on them before I start scratching.

They all came and went in two or three weeks, again leading me to believe it was some kind of insect.

The only thing that gives me pause is that they all occurred on just one leg.

From @Min's link:

Flea bites on humans

...The bites are often seen in large groups or in clusters. Some people are very sensitive to these bites, and they risk getting a kind of hives, that looks like a large number of red bumps or bubbles on the affected area.

If I get flea bites they are usually all on the same leg or arm. I presume that the same flea did them all.

Also from @Min's link, here are photos of bed bug bites.
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
Hi, MeSci,

Whatever got me, they didn't appear in clusters. I would get just one "bite" every two to three days. They weren't really raised red bumps like those seen in the bed bug photos. I considered that they might have been mosquito bytes, but those are also usually raised and I've virtually never seen a mosquito around here. This was like an itchy bump under the flat surface of the skin. One other odd thing - no sign of a puncture wound as you might expect with mosquito or spider.
 
Messages
24
I've had a sometimes very itchy raised patch with a red centre on my upper back for some years. No way is it a bite, been around too long. Seems to heal up for while then recur. No answer or much interest from doc. Another ME mystery symptom it seems!
 
Messages
1
Hi Gunz123
I have had the exact same symptoms for 6 weeks. Your photos look the same as mine and the itching is unbearable. I have been to 7 different doctors. Three thought it might be scabies but the others are sure it isn't, but they all have no other ideas what i have. I was tested for staff infection and it's not that. I had a blood test today so i will find out if it's Kidney or Liver but they want to do a biopsy after they get the blood results.
Can you please tell me if you have identified what it is?
 

Groggy Doggy

Guest
Messages
1,130
I've been getting these small pimple looking bumps on my skin that itch and grow as I scratch them.

They've been appearing on my arms, back, chest, neck so basically my whole upper body.

When ever I apply anti-biotic ointment on them they ooze out yellow fluid. They aren't constantly itchy it comes and goes which is really annoying. Here are some pictures of what they look like at the bigger stage. Any help in diagnosing what this could be is highly appreciated.
------------------
------------------
About 2 months ago I had a rash across the lower part of my face and lips. the bumps turned into blisters and I also got the oozie yellow fluid you describe. my rash would finally disappear and then within a week, it would reappear. each time it came back it was less severe. now i get small red bumps that usually disappear on the same day. my dermatologist thought it was one thing, my rheumatologist something else, and allergist something different. yes, its very itchy.

i never had a rash like this before. I also wondered if it was related to me/cfs. i hope this is my new last symptom, since i seem to have a plethora of them that have cropped up in the past year.
 

alkt

Senior Member
Messages
339
Location
uk
I've been getting these small pimple looking bumps on my skin that itch and grow as I scratch them.

They've been appearing on my arms, back, chest, neck so basically my whole upper body.

When ever I apply anti-biotic ointment on them they ooze out yellow fluid. They aren't constantly itchy it comes and goes which is really annoying. Here are some pictures of what they look like at the bigger stage. Any help in diagnosing what this could be is highly appreciated.
your pictures only show the scratched version but from the look of them it may be midge bites /a small biting fly in england if they are fly bites an anti histamine will speed up the recovery time also greatly reduce swelling and that maddening itch. best of luck.
 
Messages
47
I've been getting these small pimple looking bumps on my skin that itch and grow as I scratch them.

They've been appearing on my arms, back, chest, neck so basically my whole upper body.

When ever I apply anti-biotic ointment on them they ooze out yellow fluid. They aren't constantly itchy it comes and goes which is really annoying. Here are some pictures of what they look like at the bigger stage. Any help in diagnosing what this could be is highly appreciated.


Have a similar situation, as a result of a series of insect bites about 5 days after Halloween, or maybe earlier, if the bites don't show until after the mite/chigger/fleas/ticks fall off.

Timeline:

On Halloween, a friend/neighbor asked me to check something in her hairline. It was a hard red mark, about 1 cm diameter, irregular ovel. Two days ago, I discovered it was an "Eschar", a marker for Bartonella (think Lyme co-infection). She also had about seven unusual (to me) insect bites that looked like miniature volcnoes, with a 1mm crater, on one side of her neck. Her cat sleeps on her head.

I touched the Eschar, not knowing what it was.

Then, I joined her in a dry sauna, in a steamroom, trips of second hand furniture shops, etc.

On around November 6th, I noticed the same micro-volcano bites on my legs, above the ankles. One had a Eschar. One had a "target" two rings - bullsye rash. No sign of any bug. Chigger bites suppossedly look like this.

Itchy and very disturbing at night.

Bought everything known to cure chigger itch.

The 10% sulfur butter was the first thing that really helped. Overnight, the skin returned to non-red, but still blacker and before in both legs, a fairly wide area.

So, I thought I was "cleared" of the "chigger bites", but suddenly, four days ago, two bumps the size of pimples, but with a flat-top, appeared in the middle of the worst of the bites. Then more bumps appeared on my neck! The next day, the number of bumps tripled. I used NIX 5% permethrin cream all over my body, but not my face (per instructions). The bumps stoppoed appearing EXCEPT for the area that wasn't covered by NIX cream, including just below my eyes. Now, I'm thinking that this is another kind of mite, not chiggers. Not as itchy. I also have several single bites on each upper arm, and on my left thigh. My chin and sides of my face have series of the bumps. One bump on my arm has a hole at the top when seen closeup -- looks like a bite. The ones on my chin do no seem to have a hole in the middle.

These bumps are "growing" where I don't have sulfur butter cream.

I am also testing my own coconut-oil-pepper-borax cream versus commercial sulfur cream, with one side of my face, each.

What is this mystery bite/rash that started with chigger/Lyme/Bartonella?

My mental-fog, overall fatigue, anxiety, and other "Lyme" symtoms are gone.

Any comments are very much appreciated!

P.S. An MD said yesterday that it wasn't a mite bite. However, a woman waiting in this clinic said that 4 separate doctors made a mistake with her problem, which turned out to be just bites. Yesterday's MD treated my weeping skin rash (scratched too much, then poured Ionic Colloidal Silver into the rach, and five pockets of skin started weeping. )

Good news today is that I have not scratched for the 2nd day.
 
Last edited:
Messages
47
Had those a few years ago, went to the doc and he didn't have a clue (pre-diagnosis). Put black seed oil on it started taking black seed capsules everyday and haven't had one since. I use this brand of both oil and capsules. I also had the clusters (shingles maybe?) at one point, this stopped both. http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Herbs-Cold-Pressed-Black-Softgels/dp/B0001CNL1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410719648&sr=8-1&keywords=black seed oil cumin


Thanks for this tip!

I'm going to get that oil -- good reviews about this black seed oil.
 
Messages
47
Hi Gunz123
I have had the exact same symptoms for 6 weeks. Your photos look the same as mine and the itching is unbearable. I have been to 7 different doctors. Three thought it might be scabies but the others are sure it isn't, but they all have no other ideas what i have. I was tested for staff infection and it's not that. I had a blood test today so i will find out if it's Kidney or Liver but they want to do a biopsy after they get the blood results.
Can you please tell me if you have identified what it is?

Went to a doctor too for something like this.

The MD said not a bug bite, but a woman in the waiting room told me that it's a bite, and she was mis-diagnosed by 4 MD's, in 9 months.

There are many kinds of mites.

If one of them gives you Bartonella, then it's really bad, like my friend here.

Bartonella causes moles to grow fast, like cancer. Ref: Will Wiegmann PhD

I have an idea: Why not apply 35% Hydrogen Peroxide, by yourself, on these suspected bugs/eggs?

The eggs keep on popping up, even after the parent bugs are killed by sulfur cream or Permetherin.

Your thoughts?
 
Messages
47
No I dont think its staph (thou a bite could become infected with staph).

I dont think just washing covers is enough to usually get rid of bedbugs. Ive heard that can be hard to get rid of. They hide in nooks and cranies.



Marks appearing on skin which react to being touched eg welt up and blister can be mastocytosis. There are quite a few different forms of it. Mastocytosis often goes undiagnosed and can be actually mistaken for ME/CFS if systemic.


I am using Diatomaceous Earth for bugs .. just in case.
 
Messages
47
------------------
------------------
About 2 months ago I had a rash across the lower part of my face and lips. the bumps turned into blisters and I also got the oozie yellow fluid you describe. my rash would finally disappear and then within a week, it would reappear. each time it came back it was less severe. now i get small red bumps that usually disappear on the same day. my dermatologist thought it was one thing, my rheumatologist something else, and allergist something different. yes, its very itchy.

i never had a rash like this before. I also wondered if it was related to me/cfs. i hope this is my new last symptom, since i seem to have a plethora of them that have cropped up in the past year.

Did you get a diagnosis?

Cured? How??
 

Runner5

Senior Member
Messages
323
Location
PNW
The pictures wouldn't open for me, alas. The weeping nature of the bumps you describe makes me think of poison oak or poison ivy, but could be parasites causing a bad reaction in the body or even a reaction to prescription meds.

It's a strange place for insect activity, if scabbies (mites) tends to be on arms, chiggers on ankles, fleas on ankles - but for the torso...hmm, one time a mass breakout of body lice parasites broke out in a nursing home my Mom worked at because of a shirt brought in from a thrift store. So if you've tried on anything dodgy you might suspect it.

I hope you feel better soon, those mystery itches can go on and on and cost thousands, had a good friend have hives for months and couldn't get rid of them, was a reaction to prescription med.