Hi All,
Been away from the forums for a long time, now down to 2 tanks from 5.
Had a hellish fall and many health problems not the least of which is a weird skin condition that cropped up concurrently(but maybe coincidentally) with a massive loss of fish: loaches and my large angel.
I've gotten this skin condition related to hives(urticaria) that's called dermographism - red itchy welts that appear whenever the skin is pressed, scratched, or at it's worst just brushed.
I first noticed it over the last year whenever I cleaned tanks/h2o-changed, as a red line where my arm would rest on the tank edge, and just ignored it. Then this fall it started happening everywhere and not just when I touched a tank/equipment. Whole body like a boiled lobster, up all night, unbearable, trips to dematologist, the works. I was given expensive mentholated proprietary skin lotions that temporarily helped and was put on prednisone(massive doses) which have slowd it down to a mild reaction, but haven't erradicated it in the entire. The docs have given it a name, but not a cause.
So much happened that it's hard to separate out what goes with what; I've had other health problems as well and the round table of medical pros are still doing tests, so it could totally be related to other conditions. We've ruled out heart, diabetes, thyroid, cancer (and believe me, so much attention by the medical field is NOT comforting - you want them to NOT be so interested in you!) but since my fish died after flashing themselves and literally leaping out of the tank, I wondered if there may be some connection.
Anybody ever hear of something like this??
My fish had NO: white spots(Ich) pepper grains(velvet), gray film(fungus) bulgy eyes/bloat(dropsy) red fins(bacterial prob). (Me neither
)
All looked normal, water params were all zero. I feed them flakes, algae disks, and dr bloodworms.
What really makes it interesting is that, if I think back, I have gotten the same reaction from the solution used for contact lenses.
Does this ring any bells out there?
Thanks, Lori
Been away from the forums for a long time, now down to 2 tanks from 5.
Had a hellish fall and many health problems not the least of which is a weird skin condition that cropped up concurrently(but maybe coincidentally) with a massive loss of fish: loaches and my large angel.
I've gotten this skin condition related to hives(urticaria) that's called dermographism - red itchy welts that appear whenever the skin is pressed, scratched, or at it's worst just brushed.
I first noticed it over the last year whenever I cleaned tanks/h2o-changed, as a red line where my arm would rest on the tank edge, and just ignored it. Then this fall it started happening everywhere and not just when I touched a tank/equipment. Whole body like a boiled lobster, up all night, unbearable, trips to dematologist, the works. I was given expensive mentholated proprietary skin lotions that temporarily helped and was put on prednisone(massive doses) which have slowd it down to a mild reaction, but haven't erradicated it in the entire. The docs have given it a name, but not a cause.
So much happened that it's hard to separate out what goes with what; I've had other health problems as well and the round table of medical pros are still doing tests, so it could totally be related to other conditions. We've ruled out heart, diabetes, thyroid, cancer (and believe me, so much attention by the medical field is NOT comforting - you want them to NOT be so interested in you!) but since my fish died after flashing themselves and literally leaping out of the tank, I wondered if there may be some connection.
Anybody ever hear of something like this??
My fish had NO: white spots(Ich) pepper grains(velvet), gray film(fungus) bulgy eyes/bloat(dropsy) red fins(bacterial prob). (Me neither
) All looked normal, water params were all zero. I feed them flakes, algae disks, and dr bloodworms.
What really makes it interesting is that, if I think back, I have gotten the same reaction from the solution used for contact lenses.
Does this ring any bells out there?
Thanks, Lori
