Me too baffled as it's highly unlikely that anything that she contracted five months ago from any sort of a bite would still be a problem. If everybody you've been to is saying that it's dermatitis, have they suggested remedies? Have you consulted with an allergist? I would think that would be the next step. Sorry not to have been of more help!

Hi mricco,

Years ago I developed some sort of rash from my skin brushing against coral...yes I know this was bad for the coral:-o
At the time it was unavoidable.
Anyway, my knee had a terrible itchy rash for weeks and weeks. Perhaps it is something
like that?
Just a thought...

Hope it clears soon.

Kathy

Did she by any chance touch Christmas Bush ?? as this causes a nasty, nasty rash if not treated. The only problem with this is in 6 months it would have spread like wild fire all over so I don't think it is that but thought it was worth mentioning.

Pia

ps: I'll find my pictures of Christmas Bush and post the link - it is found on (I know) on the Ram Head Trail as well as other places.

http://www.seestjohn.com/flora_christmas_bush.html

Living out at Maho for a while when I first came down people always complained of being bitten by a "Brown Recluse" type spider. It would leave a really nasty area around the bite spot. Another spider that got a few people was what was thought to be an acid spider. The area bitten would bubble up and when they burst the skin in contact with the puss would rash.

-Josh

mricco,
A friend of mine had a similar experience a few years ago. It turned out to be a staph infection. Ask the doctors to check for this.
-Ruth

I have a question. Does the rash come and go or is it constant??

Jeniffer

I've a friend and a sister that had dermatitis that did not respond to treatments. They both ended having diabetes. Just because the rash started during/after a particular trip does not mean that it was caused by something encountered on the trip!

Cheers, RickG

Good point, RickG! Many people have offered suggestions but the OP hasn't come back on the issue and I still maintain that something contracted here wouldn't still be an issue five months down the line. Spider bites in general show very short-lived effects while a bite from a recluse which is more severe will become very readily apparent in short shrift and with effects that can't be ignored. Coral rashes, manchineel tree rashes, bush rashes - all come and go very quickly along with general heat rashes. I find it very hard to believe that anything related to the stay here could still be causative 5 months later. mricco, will you get back to this thread to let us kniow what's happening? Cheers!

Thanks to all of you, we now have soemthing to go on. She has had blood samples taken, pills prescribed, ointments applied and biopsies taken. Nothing is helping but maybe we need to take another route, and rule out anything from the island. Will be in contact as the nature of this beast continues.
Mricco

Mr. Ricco....I really hope she gets tested for staph. There is an article in the newspaper about staph and I was thinking about your daughter.

Ok - I am the daughter she is writing about. The rash started out as 3 bug bite type things which I got while we were on St. John. I tried all of the anti-itch bug bite sprays and stuff I could find on the island. The bites were about the size of a quarter, now that rash/bites are the size of a softball. The rash/bites have itched like crazy. As my mom said, I have made many visits to the doctors, with no luck. My husband did some research on the Internet and he found some information which made him think it might be some form of ringworm. I also spoke to a nurse where I work and she looked at it and thought the same thing. My husband proceeded to bring me out his bottle of Tinactin foot spray. I have been using the spray (which says it will kill forms of ringworm) for the last week or so, the rash is clearing up. I still to this day believe that I contracted something while I was on the island. I have never felt sick the whole time since I contracted this, only itching. This has been my 4th trip down there, but the first time this has happened.

If anyone knows of a parasite on the islands which is like ringworm, please let me know.

Well there you have it! Any thoughts now?
The mom
Mricco

Hey there mom...:D...did your kiddo let you know this info first? ...or did you find out along with the rest of us:@)?

cdk677...Thank goodness it seems as if you might have pinned it down! Please keep us ALL (sorry...couldn't help it;) )updated as to whether this is really what it could be. My son got ringworm years ago and our local doctor mis-diagnosed it as just a bug bite! Thanks to a nurse-friend of a friend's, we got the relatively easy treatment before it got nasty.

Yep, fungus happens in warm wet places. General anti-fungals help. Keep an eye on it!

Cheers, RickG

CDK:

Mrs. F.I. contracted something like what you have.......last season (January - March). The bugs seem to like her on STT. However, her bites never became the size that you mention although she had many more bites than you. Her arm has been irritated for the last 6 months and she claimed that it felt like something had burrowed under her skin....the area was very dry and very itchy. It's much better now....she has been using anti fungal, cortisone's and moisturizing cremes. We're going back in January.....and hope that it won't happen again.....vitamins B6/B12 might be the answer....we'll try it and let everyone know.

Sorry...can't help much beyond that......

F.I.

Yes, I did know most of the details. The girl that cuts her hair was even consulting someone about her problem. You know sometimes mom's fail to give all the details but you know most of them.
Mricco

My brain is old and fails me, but I had either Athlete's Foot or Ringworm in college (they are both fungus, and I can't remember which one it was). Anyhow, I got it from standing water in the dorm showers, and I had it for several months. So, I know it's a condition that can stick with you for several months if it's untreated. Once I got some anti-fungal cream and tinactin, I was fine myself. You can get it from showers and swimming pools, so maybe that was the case. I also just read on the internet that sometimes the fungus can be in the soil, but I don't know if it would live in sand or not.

My son is a wrestler for his high school team and wrestlers get all sorts of skin rashes including ringworm. The doctor actually diagnosises it by shutting off the light and using a "black light" on the irritated spot. If it's ringworm it glows. I am not making this up. There are prescriptions for ringworm and he had one particularly bad case one time and only a prescription would work, and remember he cannot participate in the school wrestling matches while he has an active rash so speed of healing is important too. For milder cases he has used the Tinactin, pure tea tree oil and another home remedy is a Q-tip dipped in bleach and dabbed on the spot. Given you've had this going on for a long time (it will go on for a VERY long time if it's ringworm and not treated properly) and the fungus has had the chance to get a good hold on you may want to get a prescription.