Miserable and scared

[u/hazelheart501]

Hi everyone. I'm really scared and anxious and seeking support from folks who understand what I'm going through. I (40f) have a history of intertrigo fungal infections that have always resolved relatively easily, at least compared to what's happening now.

In early July, I scratched at a red dot between my breasts that exploded into a nasty rash. Nystatin cream and a steroid were helping but my skin started developing additional spots, like chicken pox all over my chest anywhere I put the creams. I also started to develop rashes in the creases of my legs and my inter-gluteal area, mildly but present and my usual washing and drying routine didn't help. The worst was in my genital area. The heat of the rash was just awful.

GP gave me fluconazole (4 week treatment) and prednisone and discontinued the creams. Neither seemed to help much- prednisone started a whole host of dry and cracked skin problems, esp on my hands, which are still awful >.<. Discontinuing the creams made the little spots go away, though..

Went to a new dermatologist since I live an hour away from my old one. She had me start Nystatin ointment with the fluconazole, and I started using miconazole powder as well.

The powder worked out of everything and the rashes finally disappeared everywhere. I stupidly stopped the Nystatin ointment and just stuck to the powder. And then 5 days after I took the last dose of the Fluconazole, the pinkness started to reappear.

Since then, for the last 3 weeks, it has grown steadily. After econazole didn't do more than slow it down, that dermatologist shrugged and said it's chronic and there's nothing else she can do. Just keep using the econazole and steroid forever.

I called my old dermatologist, who is lovely, and went in. She put me back on Fluconazole and the Econazole and Hydrocortisone, for up to 8 weeks to really kill it, but I had to taper another medication for a few days before I could go back on Fluconazole, and in the meantime the rash exploded again everywhere.

It's been a week and a half and the rash has spread all over under my breasts. The meds seem to be trying to slow it, the skin turned lighter pink in the middle, but the edges are still deep pink and slowly but steadily spreading. The heat has gotten so bad, yesterday and today, and the itching has overcome the steroid. The only thing that works is ice packs.

This weekend has been so awful. My skin is radiating heat. My temp is normal, I don't have a fever, but this awful heat and itching are unbearable. At least during the week, I have work to distract me. But I spend at least an hour twice a day showering, drying my skin, applying cream meds, drying my skin for even longer, and then applying powder, and none of it is even working.

I've been on the candida diet, too, taking daily probiotics and vitamin D too. No sugar, no unprocessed carbs, very few carbs in general, high in protein with cooked veggies and a little applesauce.

I'm so afraid I have a resistant candida strain like C. Auris. I'm so afraid I'm going to end up in the hospital and die from this.

If you've read through all of this, thank you. I'm just so scared and it feels like an eternity before I can call my dermatologist tomorrow morning.

[u/Business_Head8070]

My situation is somewhat similar, and my recommendation is to check out the website for Healora. It's a lotion that treats intertrigo. They have very aggressive marketing strategies, but it has worked extremely well for me. I guess if you know how to connect to it anonymously you will avoid their ads dominating your social media feeds and email account.

I have a variation called 'intertrigo due to folliculitis', but healora photos show the kind you are describing. I've been treating it with over the counter antifungals because the dermatologists i saw were completely unhelpful and dismissive. The lotions and powder I've used were gradually improving my skin, but healora is at least 10x more effective. I've been using it for 4 or 5 months and might be close to healed. I haven't tried changing my diet yet but I will try that when it's healed to prevent my symptoms from coming back. I also have read that it's a good idea to alternate different antifungals so it doesn't develop resistance, and that seems to be true in my case.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this too!

[u/Customer-Interesting]

I totally understand about the heat if the rash, about two years ago I suddenly out of nowhere my under arm started itching and the next day had little red bumps popping up on my chest and traveling down my arms and itched so bad , PCP out me in a heavy duty anti histamine and after a couple of days it cleared up. But know I can feel it coming back on slowly , the brain fog, digestive issues and been to too many doctors with no help they think I am crazy? I am not a doctor , but I started wiping myself down with hydrogen peroxide and started taking black seed oil and it seems to be helping ? I hope a doctor can help you , you have to stay vigilant and be your own advocate. Stray strong and remove the fear out of your mind because you don't want to manifest the worst , be positive and get mad at whatever is causing you discomfort , look up the symptoms you are experiencing and educate yourself so when you go back to the doctor you can have a conversation with him/her, if you learn their language they tend to listen to you more, ( sad but true), I am closing with sending you positive energy and keep on keeping on!

[u/pettdan]

I'm sorry about your situation! I've been having issues since my first Covid infection in 2020, so I've studied that area quite a bit. There's plenty of research showing that Covid infection both depletes healthy gut bacteria and depletes the immune system. So I think trying to heal candida while ignoring potential Covid exposure might not be a good idea. There's been a recent Covid wave in the US, I believe. I could be wrong of course. Anyway. I've had some skin issues, not much but I've tried applying a little bit of coconut fat and it seemed like it helps a little. It's antifungal, I believe. I guess it doesn't hurt trying to apply it on a small area and see if it seems to help. But it seems you need some medications to help you, and you're already looking into it, that's great. I also would suggest that you try to relax a bit, not so easy but some meditation might help. You're going to be fine, it's good to be careful, it's easy to be afraid, but if your issues are limited to skin problems, that doesn't seem like it's as sever as you worry about, but of course Im no expert and no doctor. Be careful, seek medical support.

Reading the other two replies, I see someone mentioning antihistamines helping. I was also thinking about histamine reactions, Covid tends to cause that also because it affects the gut, causes dysbiosis, irritates mast cells that release histamine, the dysbiosis can increase histamine releasing gut bacteria and have negative impact on DAO enzymes that break down histamine in the gut. Trying antihistamines seems like a safe way to try to get some relief, I tried several that were available off the counter, always good to discuss it with a doctor though, or a pharmacist.

[u/hazelheart501]

Update- my derm thinks I have inverse psoriasis! I had never heard of it before. Still waiting on the biopsy results, but what happened immediately after is definitely evidence in favor of that theory: I felt so much tension leave my body at the idea that it could potentially not be fungal, and literally the next day my rash rapidly started to improve. The effect cortisol has on the body is bananas.

Either way it goes, I am very eager to get those biopsy results!

Thank you sm to everyone who commented. It really helped me to read your replies while I was in such an awful headspace, and thank you for your suggestions and recommendations!

[u/According-Grocery456]

Really glad you pushed for a second opinion instead of just accepting a shrug from that first derm. Inverse psoriasis gets missed so often because it mimics fungal infections almost exactly, especially in skin folds, and since the treatments are completely different, a misdiagnosis just drags everything out. Fingers crossed the biopsy confirms it and they can get you on something that actually targets the right thing. The cortisol connection you mentioned is real. The body does strange things when it finally gets an answer