Fungal skin Problem - Skin Problems Message Board

Monkeyboots · 08-25-2006, 03:01 AM

Hi there!

Would be great to get feed back from any of you suffering with fungal disorders, what works for you, what doesn't, tips etc.

A few years back I started developing tiny circles of non pigmented skin on my forehead, in the last year or so, I eventually saw a doctor as it was concerning me and she said it looked like Tinea Versicolor or pityriasis versicolor. However when I saw my own doctor another time he didn't think it was but tried me on the tablets for fungal disorders to see. I have now had two courses and they didn't seem to do anything. When I went back to my own doctor he said he didn't think it was pityriasis versicolor just pigmentation. I mentioned I had a few small patches of stubborn eczema on my skin on my legs and arms but he didn't pay much attention.
Recently I returned to the surgery but decided to see a different doctor, my "eczema" had spread !. The doctor said straight away she didn't think it was eczema but a fungal skin condition, I think she is right.

On my forehead and slightly on my chin I have the tinea versicolor, and now on my arms, legs and stomach I have tinea corporis (ringworm). The doctor I saw last has put me on the canesten cream.

It has really upset me, I was hoping my doctor was right and that the latest rashes were eczema. I feel a bit like I have the plague. I have not wanted to show much of my skin this summer as I feel self conscious.

After a bath, it always looks very red and that is when I can really see the large circular and oval etc shapes, and some are definitely paler in the middle which I think is typical of tinea corporis.

I am now using separate towel to my husband which I will make sure is changed regularly. It is awful though as I feel like I should keep from skin to skin contact with him as I don't want to spread it, this makes me feel down. I have obviously had the versicolor a while now and now I have another type of fungal infection aswell, the versicolor was bad enough but the ringworm on my body is more upsetting as it is larger areas, large circles, rather than little dots of no pigment.

What about alternatives? Has anyone taken different approaches to treatment? If so, any use? Any one tried Manuka honey? How about probiotics etc?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Sorry to go on!

Lenin · 08-25-2006, 07:43 AM

Monkeyboots,
I know a LITTLE and have personally experiencesd a couple conditions and experimented a LOT.

Tinea Versicolor USUALLY appears mid chest as areas that don't tan...thus it becomes noticeable in the summer with large patches of light skin amonst the golden tan. Many antifungals don't touch it but two of them work quickly and well...SELSUN lotion (2%) and TINVER (getting hard to find...basically a solution of sodium thiosulfate.) If these agents dont work quickly, then your condition isn't versicolor.

I know very little about eczema other than the diagnosis must be RIGHT. Treat it like a fungus, or a fungus like eczema and you will go round in circles. Little can be done curatively except to contro eczema.

If you have a lot of tinea corporis that is responding poorly to the azoles (clotrimazole, ketoconazole, itraconazole) then maybe an oral like ketoconazole tablets or lamisil (terbinafine) is worth a trial. These drugs are hard on the liver so minimal effective doseage is wise with liver monitoring for dosing for over a month.

I have gotten fed up with keeping seborrheic dermatitis under "control" for more than a decade with topical fungicides and steroid creams and am doing two months of oral ketoconazole (Nizoral) 200 mg. So far so good...fingers crossed: no side effects (well maybe a GOOD one) aand no outbreaks of dermatitis.

I'll get specific...buy a tube of Lamisil at the drugstore (OTC) and spread it on the ringwormy areas. If it seems to help a lot ask your doctor for an oral preparation. Warning: the stuff costs a FORTUNE!
You can do the alternative with a bottle of Nizoral shampoo...if that works, then ask your doctor for oral ketoconazole which is FAR cheaper than Lamisil.

I understand how frustrated you are...these dreary guesstimate diagnoses from doctors are INFURIATING!

Monkeyboots · 08-27-2006, 12:19 PM

Hi Lenin

Thankyou for your advice. I'm hoping the cream is going to work but my skin is looking very dried up on the patches tight and slightly sore and the skin looks all lined and pink different to the rest of my skin, hopefully that will return to normal.

I have taken the tablets before when I was worried about the Tinea Versicolor the doctor tried me on them, but I don't know that they worked for me, as I have now got this more widespread Tinea Corporis infection! I might give them another go if the cream doesn't work, but there is the slight worry about risk of liver failure!! Even with the topical creams they thin the skin which worries me.

Do you know of an anti-fungal cream without hydro-cortisone in? It is the hydro-cortisone that thins the skin isn't it?

Thanks for your response, I appreciated it.

Monkeyboots.

Lenin · 08-30-2006, 03:35 PM

Most of the common creams are WITHOUT cortisone...you're right, cortisone can "thin" the skin but worse, on the face after long term usage it can cause, oy the spelling, telangiectasias (fat chance I spelled that right!

) which are tiny ugly red spidery arterioles that appear permanently rosy red.

So look for either clotrimazole, or Lamisil for the fungal infections and Nizoral or miiconazole for the more yeasty types. I'd say get a tube of Lamisil over the counter...about $15 and give it a try. It should work for T. corporis and it has a long-lasting effect because the skin absorbs and holds it.

Doctor made a mistake trying to cure your versicolor with an oral...NONE of them work against versicolor. THE treatment is nightly 2% Selsun cream or a Tinver like preparation for about 10 days. It works very fast and safely.

Monkeyboots · 09-01-2006, 03:52 AM

I think the doctor put me on the hydrocortisone/clotrimizole cream as she thought it would reduce some of the irritation and dryness. I have now managed to find just the plain clotrimizole. I certainly don't want any more problems caused by trying to remedy the others!

The skin seems to be peeling slightly now, rather than tight and wrinkly looking, so I hope it will return to normal. I have been getting itchy but have tried not to scratch!! I wash my hands everytime I accidentally touch a patch. It seems a bit obsessional but anything to get rid of it.

I posted a message just a moment ago but it didn't seem to show up, so forgive me if I have repeated myself.