HCTZ & rashes - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

famnd · 06-11-2008, 04:49 PM

Finally saw the Derm today. Got a biopsy done on my 2 yr rash. I didn't realize that sometimes the the tissue sample can show a HCTZ reaction. The results will be back in two wks. Has anyone else done this? Fam

Edelweiss · 06-11-2008, 05:48 PM

I was hoping that could have been done on me when I saw the dermatologist. Unfortunately, at the time I had no fresh lesions so it would render a biopsy useless. I have heard that a biopsy can be quite definitive as to what's the trigger of the rash. HCTZ is know to cause many different side effects.

flowergirl2day · 06-11-2008, 10:13 PM

OK, so if the Hctz is found to be the trigger of the rash (which is what's expected), what happens? It would seem that stopping the Hctz should take care of the rash. That sounds too easy somehow!

(and probably would not be an option....!)

Edelweiss,

do you often get rashes? There are many drugs that cause skin lesions or have other dermatological effects. The list is several pages long. Too bad we have to take the meds.

FG

Edelweiss · 06-12-2008, 04:33 PM

FG, I developed chronic hives this past February that lasted for over 4 months. Along with the hives were bouts of intense internal itching at every imaginable place on my body. No cause was ever determined. (Idiopathic)

I've had reactions to bp drugs and antibiotics in the past which have caused a rash or hives, but I was able to determine the trigger right away and stop the medication. It seems the older I get, the more allergic I become! Oh, these "Golden Years"!

flowergirl2day · 06-12-2008, 08:40 PM

Edelweiss, I am sorry about your skin problems. I know how itchy the skin can get. I sometimes get the itchy skin without any visible rash on certain areas of the body - either the face, or arms, or the lower back. I heard that an oatmeal bath relieves the itching. It does not do anything for mine. I have yet to find something that does.

I am not sure which drugs cause my skin to react with a rash. I think they all do. I can see why determining the cause of a rash (if it can be determined) can be helpful. Is it possible that as our bodies change, we develop a higher sensitivity to "foreign" substances in our bodies and in the environment? I find these rashes extremely annoying. I am certain mine are 100% drug-related.

I hope Fam finds out what's triggering hers, and that the causes, once identified, can be avoided. Finding ways to cope with with hypertension and related issues is difficult enough. We should not have to be dealing with these unpleasant consequences of our drug therapies.

FG