Tiny Boils/Blisters on Fingers

[TOBEY32]

You can't see them so much as feel them. Have you experienced this?

David

[elephant]

That is weird, have you been under alot of stress, besides dealing with Wegeners? I could be a sign of a rare flare of WG too? Ask your Rhuemy.

[TOBEY32]

I've mentioned it to my docs. They didn't say anything really. You think Weg's-related, but maybe it's not...

[Sangye]

I've gotten that since being on rtx. Mine feel like bad splinters or like a glass splinter. Every so often they show up as a red lesion but otherwise they're invisible. They're surprisingly painful even when totally invisible. Sometimes the first sign that one is starting is sudden, severe, lancing pain-- as if my fingertip were cut deeply with a knife. I believe them to be Wegs lesions but as long as they don't progress I don't worry about them. Dr Seo has made note of them but doesn't say much.

I've had Wegs skin lesions that turned into ulcers. These fingertip lesions feel the way the skin lesions did before they erupted into ulcers.

[chrisTIn@]

I've had tiny blisters on my fingers for several years.
That was BEFORE I was diagnosed with Wegener's.
Since I've been succesfully treated for Wegener's (I'm in a non-medicated remission now)
the blisters have disappeared.
I sure hope they never come back.

Doctors (dermatologists as well as Wegener's specialists) never knew what to with that symptom, however.

[drz]

I've gotten that since being on rtx. Mine feel like bad splinters or like a glass splinter. Every so often they show up as a red lesion but otherwise they're invisible. They're surprisingly painful even when totally invisible. Sometimes the first sign that one is starting is sudden, severe, lancing pain-- as if my fingertip were cut deeply with a knife. I believe them to be Wegs lesions but as long as they don't progress I don't worry about them. Dr Seo has made note of them but doesn't say much.

I've had Wegs skin lesions that turned into ulcers. These fingertip lesions feel the way the skin lesions did before they erupted into ulcers.

I had that feeling like I had a sliver in my skin but couldn't see anything or find anything so figured it was just new neuropathy starting up but didn't have many lesions. Isn't it amazing the many symptoms we can enjoy from the GPA gift that keeps on giving.

[Psyborg]

I've had this as well at times pre-diagnosis. I'd have never even tied it together if not for this post. I just assumed I'd gotten some fiberglass or something on my fingers.

[Sangye]

Yup, that's exactly what I thought when it began, even though I wasn't aware of handling fiberglass. Then it spread to different fingers. It disappeared for a bit last year but then came back a few weeks after rtx.

[drz]

I've had this as well at times pre-diagnosis. I'd have never even tied it together if not for this post. I just assumed I'd gotten some fiberglass or something on my fingers.

We still don't have any idea of what made our bodies feel like we were handling fiberglass but I guess now we can assume that it is probably another one of those strange mysterious symptoms of GPA that is not well known or talked about. Wonder if it from the GPA itself or the drugs we took for treatment?

[Trudy]

I have had this also on and off for years. It is common with Lupus and they call it "splinter hemorrhage". On me they don't always bleed and sometimes I can't even see them. Another way vasculitis affects your fingers is little red lines under your nails - this is the same thing. Lovely little added bonuses.

[Sangye]

Splinter hemorrhages are the red lines under the fingernails. They occur with a number of different illnesses or conditions, including vasculitis.

[jola57]

It feels exactly like fiberglass, fortunately they go away as quickly as they appear. I get them in between my fingers and go crazy because they itch/sting and nothing I do helps.

[Sangye]

Before getting dx'ed with Wegs I had that with a couple of toes-- felt like chopped glass in there and they'd get insanely itchy. If I touched them to scratch it was very painful. They also got quite red and felt warm. It never came back since starting Wegs treatment, even when the Wegs has flared. Thank goodness--it was awful.

[Psyborg]

I used to get a weird sensation like the tip of my little toe bone was trying to claw its way out of my skin. I wonder how many weird vasculitis semi related things had been around a while. I definitely get the red lines that look like splinters under my fingernails, and have for years.

[Stephanie78]

I haven't read all of the responses...However I will tell you our experience. John had some develope on his toes/feet. He also hit his foot on the bed one night which caused some brusing. His ended up turning black (The toes that blistered) They checked his fingers over because they say it happens to the fingers as well. At first they had no clue what it was, however they later decided that it was due to the vasculitis. Something about lack of blood flow to those vessels. His are turning back to a "flesh" color however he still has the "blisters" on his toes that continue to bleed. When they started bleeding it was a dark purple (from old blood) they belive that the vessels ruptured and the old blood is what turned black. He is seeing a wound specialist/vasculitis surgeon concerning this. The main concern is infection due to blisters becoming an open sore. John now has to put a prescribed ointment on his toes daily and wrap them as well as wear a "boot" like you would after surgery to keep the pressure off of his toes.

[Sangye]

The past few days I've actually had the toe symptoms I had when Wegs was first beginning. I haven't had them in 6 years. I'm trying not to go down the road with it though. I could make myself nuts with worry.

[chrisTIn@]

I'm experiencing the fiberglass-feeling little blisters again also.
A few on my toes and quite a lot on the palms of my hands.
My GP prescribed some corticosteroid ointment, but I 'm hesisating to use it, as skin can get very thin by using this.
First I trie a bit of zinc ointment. It takes away the itchy feeling...

[HopeinTN]

I've had similar problems with skin issues on my left hand. For the longest time I thought it was an allergic reaction to a golf clove that I only wear on the left hand. I bought a new one and same thing. It looked like dry skin and peeled. It was very painful and I'm sure was the start to my Wegs. I had surgery on the other hand and due to an unforseen reaction, I had the surgery to remove a bone tumor 3 times within 11 months. I truly thinks this is when it all began.

[Sangye]

I'm experiencing the fiberglass-feeling little blisters again also.
A few on my toes and quite a lot on the palms of my hands.
My GP prescribed some corticosteroid ointment, but I 'm hesisating to use it, as skin can get very thin by using this.
First I trie a bit of zinc ointment. It takes away the itchy feeling...
Are you having any other symptoms of Wegs? That sensation is a red-flag for me.

[jola57]

The splinter hemorrhage is different from these "fibreglass" like feeling. Sometimes its just like an itch that you can't scratch at other times its like little pins were being stiuck into the fingers. I think we have a thread on this somwhere last year.

[chrisTIn@]

Are you having any other symptoms of Wegs? That sensation is a red-flag for me.

Severe pain in one shoulder. It hurts so much sometimes I can't sleep (like now, for instant. It's after four o'clock in the morning here).
I wonder what to take for the pain. No Ibuprofen, I guess...

[Sangye]

That sounds like active Wegs to me. Where are you at in your treatment?

[chrisTIn@]

I took up my old medication (daily high dose of bactrim. No pred.)
Talked it over with my GP.
Haven't spoken to Wegs-specialist yet...

I was in non-medicated remission since may of this year.
On and off I 've had some 'mini-flares', but this time it felt no good at all :ohmy:, so I started taking bactrim again.
The tiny blisters are slowly (very slowly) disappearing. Shoulder pain also seems to diminish a bit. A few weeks ago I started a new program of 'medical fitness'. That is fysiotherapy and cardiotraing under supervision. My fysiotherapist told me, after she heard of my shoulder pain, that we would skip the powerlifting today, but that it was okay to do the cardio- and leg-exercizes.

[Sangye]

I'm glad the bactrim is helping. Be very careful about the exercise program until you know more. If you've got a flare brewing, exertion can put you over the edge.

[chrisTIn@]

Thanks Sangye. I'll keep that in mind.
The exercise-program is put together carefully though... They gave me a heart rate monitor to wear during the training, and I'm not allowed to go above a certain heartbeatlevel (127, I believe..).


Isn't it amazing the many symptoms we can enjoy from the GPA gift that keeps on giving.

Btw... this remark made me laugh out loud. I LOVE that! :lol:

[Dirty Don]

The blisters are WG related. Had them seriously just before summer's flare, along with joint pain, lung interference, sinus...blah blah blah. The blisters occurred between my fingers and, of all places, along my jaw lines. Like being a teen all over again!! Anyway, they were 'stingy' painful. They did clear up since the surgery and influx of drugs (on mtx & pred), but one in particular between my fingers, although healed completely, healed with tightness in the skin that produces that 'stingy' pain anyway even though there's nothing but a small scar left where the blister was.

[chrisTIn@]

The blisters are WG related.

You seem pretty sure, Don, and I think you're right about the blisters.

I followed Sangyes advice, and decided to cancel the exercise-program for a while.
I visisted my GP, he sent me to the polyclinic for an X-ray, and the radiologist there saw a tendinitis calcarea, or an inflammation of the tendon, due to calcification.
I wonder if there's a relation with WG.
It still hurts a lot, in about two weeks I can see an orthopaedic specialist. :unsure:
Next monday I'll talk to the WG-specialist. Hope he can give me some advice about the treatment...