Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has experienced what I have. My recovery from this surgery has been altogether abysmal and disappointing. One of the worst things has been this rash I have had to tolerate. This rash manifested about 7 days post-op, I got my surgery April 27th. My surgeon didn't know, he suspected from the betadine used to wash me when I was asleep (I have never had surgery), I went to my GP after a couple more days passed and it spread more, he suspected allergic reaction as well, and prescribed me a 6 day steroid pack that started with 6 pills a day and went down from there, it worked! I was so relieved, however, it would be short-lived.... on day 4 when I only had 3 pills to take, the rash changed in texture, appearance, and got worse, spreading more and actually becoming more than just ugly, but painful and increasingly itchier. My GP phoned in another 6 day steroid pack and it was a horrible failure this time. Over memorial day weekend I went to Patient First (an open, revolving-door doctor's place) because my GP was closed, and received a steroid cream, I used all of the tube in days because of the sheer amount of space the rash now covers. I've been popping Benadryl like it is going out of style, and nothing is working. The rash began just on my abdomen, small red dots, now it's welted red dots and splotches, extending to my back between my love handles (lol), lower back, and up my sides to the sides of my breasts, and on the outside of my armpits, up my triceps. It's horrible. Have anyone, anyone AT ALL experienced this, ever? From any surgery? My surgeon seems nonchalant and not worried, I'm not worried either aside from being pestered by the pain and itchiness. I've searched all over the internet for any advice or other experiences regarding this, and come up with nothing.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the rash was never around my incisions, until a few days ago. My doctor didn't use staples, but steritape and glue.

Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Edited June 2, 201511 yr by LadyRouge

I am going to vote for purrigo pigmentosa. It seems this rash is common when looking at other places where people are in ketosis. The treatment is with one of two antibiotics- minocycline or doxycycline. Your case seems to be persistent and severe. I would take the info on the prurigo pigmentosa to your surgeon or pcp. They should be able to give you a script and get you feeling better. The ketones in the blood stream effect the blood vessels and make your skin erupt in this rash.

I am a pain service nurse and am on schedule to have surgery the end of August.

Best of luck to you!!

I think that's what I'm going to do! Thank you Laura. And I wish you much luck with your procedure

Let me know how you do. It looks like you would be so miserable from your pictures ????.

Wishing you a speedy recovery so you can enjoy your weight loss without being in an antihistamine coma or on steroids!!

Hahaha that is such a good way of putting it! So lethargic from antihistamines and steroids make me even more acidic. It appears to be receding today. It's not red anymore but only in a few spots, mostly a slightly darker brown than my skin like it's healing. We'll see!

I got a similar rash. It started above the belly button incision and I was scratching like crazy. It spread to the lower belly and my chest. I have a history of heat rashes so I figured that maybe my increase in exercise outdoors triggered it. It was itching so bad and the OTC hydrocortisone cream was not cutting it so I went to my primary care doctor for that and because I actually got bronchitis about 2 weeks after my surgery so I needed antibiotics of that. She agreed that it looked like a heat rash and gave me prescription strength cortisone cream. After a couple of weeks of using that it has cleared up. Right now it's not itchy at all but kind of looks like Patches of dry skin so I'm putting lots of lotion on after I shower.

My doctor was watching for shingles although I didn't get the rash, I had the burning nerve pain. It tends to break out when the body is under stress. Go to WebMD .com and look at the pics to see if yours is like that. There are a few creams that help with the rash, an a drug called Gabapentin that can help with discomfort but it may take several weeks to clear. When you have the rash be careful because the fluid from the sores carries the shingles ( chicken pox) virus. I hope you don't have it because it is painful with a burning sensation- ????that can make your sleeve recovery unpleasant.

Skinnyrita, no it isn't shingles. No blistering or sores. It's just red bumps and welts.

How's all your rashes doing?? Mine has finally finished! I guess it was a part of this process

It's finally going away! You can barely see it now. I started putting Bio Oil on it about two weeks ago when I started applying it to my incisions. One day I was like, hmm... maybe if I just rub this all over.... and it worked! I'm so relieved. It was so ugly and took confidence I'd gained from weight loss away. Thank you for checking in on me Dyros

Nice! I was thinking of purchasing some Bio Oil for my incisions too! And I have a small rash across my stomach, perhaps it'll help with that too. Hope your rash is totally cleared soon @!

Nice! I was thinking of purchasing some Bio Oil for my incisions too! And I have a small rash across my stomach, perhaps it'll help with that too. Hope your rash is totally cleared soon @!

I recommend it! The redness has paled some since I started using it. And it smells good I got the big bottle on Amazon. I hope your rash doesn't blow up like mine did; I wouldn't wish that misery on anyone.

I am so sorry this happened to you. Did your PCP talk to your surgeon at all before prescribing steroids? The reason I ask is that my surgeon emphasized that steroid use right after surgery is the biggest cause of leaks.

One month after my surgery I also broke out in a mysterious rash. Mine was on my entire body, I also swelled up really bad, and it appeared overnight. The only thing the doctors knew for certain was that it was something I ingested because of how it was laid out over my whole body (eyelids, palms of my hands, back, legs, you get the picture). I hadn't started any new food because my diet post op was the same as my pre op diet. They never could figure out exactly what it was but a couple doctors told me it was most likely Serum Sickness in response to an antibiotic I was given during the surgery. Here's what it looked like

It eventually just went away after about 2 weeks but I was crazy miserable the whole time. The doctor had me take a combo of otc meds that seemed odd but appeared to help, I believe it was Zyrtec and Prevacid. They did initially give me a 3 or 5 day course of steroids (with approval from my surgeon) which initially seemed to help but overall didn't seem to make much of an impact.

Anyways might be totally unrelated to what you had but just wanted to let you that you're not alone

Edited July 16, 201511 yr by sunflowerchild

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I did get a yeast infection on my abdominal hysterectomy incision. Had to put Nystatin on it. Also, I tend to get a rash just like this under my breasts due to heat and rubbing from my bra. I use a RX of Nystatin and Triamcinolone Acetonide cream. You can ask your doctor if it could be a type of yeast infection. I hope it goes away for you. Me, I'll be glad when the hot summer is over!

I am so sorry this happened to you. Did your PCP talk to your surgeon at all before prescribing steroids? The reason I ask is that my surgeon emphasized that steroid use right after surgery is the biggest cause of leaks.

No, they did not communicate but they already had an established work relationship with referrals and surgery recipients. I had a post-op appointment with my surgeon when I started taking the steroids and he was not concerned. This was a while ago now and I never leaked

One month after my surgery I also broke out in a mysterious rash. Mine was on my entire body, I also swelled up really bad, and it appeared overnight. The only thing the doctors knew for certain was that it was something I ingested because of how it was laid out over my whole body (eyelids, palms of my hands, back, legs, you get the picture). I hadn't started any new food because my diet post op was the same as my pre op diet. They never could figure out exactly what it was but a couple doctors told me it was most likely Serum Sickness in response to an antibiotic I was given during the surgery. Here's what it looked like ImageUploadedByBariatricPal1437021378.508022.jpg

It eventually just went away after about 2 weeks but I was crazy miserable the whole time. The doctor had me take a combo of otc meds that seemed odd but appeared to help, I believe it was Zyrtec and Prevacid. They did initially give me a 3 or 5 day course of steroids (with approval from my surgeon) which initially seemed to help but overall didn't seem to make much of an impact.

Anyways might be totally unrelated to what you had but just wanted to let you that you're not alone

Omigosh I'm so sorry that happened to you! That looks so miserable. I'm so glad it ended up going away. It looks similar - who knows with this surgery what it was lol nobody seemed to be sure for me either.

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I did get a yeast infection on my abdominal hysterectomy incision. Had to put Nystatin on it. Also, I tend to get a rash just like this under my breasts due to heat and rubbing from my bra. I use a RX of Nystatin and Triamcinolone Acetonide cream. You can ask your doctor if it could be a type of yeast infection. I hope it goes away for you. Me, I'll be glad when the hot summer is over!

It wasn't a yeast infection, they ruled that out... they never found out what it was specifically. My surgeon and GP presumed an allergic reaction from the betadine and that was all. Their resolutions didn't work effectively 100%, but they never found out what it truly was. I'll never know but the steroid pills and creams helped a ton toward relief.