Diabetes Blog

What can cause full body skin rash that lasts 30 minutes then disappears?

I am a 60 year old male, in relatively good health. I do have type 2 diabetes.
Last night when I went to bed I almost immediately started getting VERY hot. It started at the top of my head and worked its way down my whole head shoulders and arms to the finger tips. My skin turned red and itched to a point of pain. After about 5 minutes it continued down the rest of my body to my toes. My only thought was something had gotten on the sheets that I was reacting to. I pulled the sheets and a blanket up and crawled between that and our comforter falling asleep very quickly. I woke up about 4 hours later, cold and free of the rash/heat/pain. I crawled back between the sheets and slept another three hours, feeling fine when I woke up. My wife had no similar problems.
I have never had this before, nor heard of anything like this. Any ideas would be appreciated.

To answer your question better I would need to know if you take any medications.

Assuming you may, as you have type 2 diabetes, it does sound like you had what is known as a drug eruption. It most commonly happens if I remember correctly in people taking three or more medications (including over the counter). But it could happen from only one.

Sometimes drug eruptions can be very dangerous, however judging by the fact that it appears to be gone and you are feeling well enough to type on the computer to ask this question, I am guessing that your outbreak was minor.

Either way you must call your doctor asap if you are on meds. This rash could be a precursor to something more serious. There are a few drug reactions and rashes in general that are indications of what could very quickly become debilitating or even fatal conditions. You don’t want to find out later when symptoms appear that if only you had acted when the rash first appeared you would have been alright.

There is a website that may help you- it has pictures of various rashes with info as to what it may be. Don’t use it as a substitute for a doctor though! http://www.visualdxhealth.com/diseaseGroups/itchyNewAdultSkinRashes.htm

Good luck, i hope this helps.

Clearing Up Acne & Scarring with Raw Food Diet, Ep31