Granuloma annulare

[unregistered]

Mine started as just a red place on my leg and it kind of had a dimple and then it got more and more inflamed and dome shaped and the center started getting less red and the outer edge is still red. It made my ankle swell at first and it hurt pretty bad but now Im using a cortisteroid and it feels a little better. It looks horrible but is feeling a little better.
I have pictures of the progression if anyone wants to see.

Please respond!!

Lisa

[Sam]

Hi Lisa
I was just diagnosed (early). I'd love to see the pics to know what the future will bring. I am on steriods now but I'm told they only make it a bit easier.
Sam

[Unregistered]

My name is Theresa, I'm 39 years old, I've had this condition since I was 32. It has gotten progressivly worse, leigions all over my trunk , inner elbows,hips, neck, shoulders. I'd heard it would go away after a few years but it is only getting worse. I've been to 3 doctors, one said there was no treatment, one wanted me to take Tetracycline for 2 months and one thought it was caused by excessive antibiotic use. I have never met anyone else with it. I am currently doing nothing to treat it since I have gotten so many mixed opinions.

[Unregistered]

My name is Cherie I started off with two spots one on each shin now I have 3 on one leg and one on the other. I have had them about 5 years now. I was told by another woman that I met at a yard-sale I was having that had the same thing on her legs that she has been on steriods and creams etc. and nothing had worked to get rid of it. She said the best thing she found to lighten them was salt water and the sun. I am 43 and will not wear shorts in public because they look so bad. I wish I could make them go away.

[Unregistered]

Has anyone recieved any insight as to where this is coming from? I am in good health other than this and I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why this is happening. The info I've read says it's most common in children, then why are we getting it? I have an extremly good diet, I excersise, get outdoors alot and am not a high stress person. Now that it's warm, I'm dreading wearing shorts and tank tops, I don't want to deal with the looks and questions. I have it pretty bad on the insides of my elbows and I see people look at it, I think they think I'm a drug addict. The only thing I can trace back to is I had a kidney infection years ago. I was misdiagnosed and by the time it was caught it was very bad and I had to take a lot of antibiotics for a long time. The first lesion appeared about a month later.
Theresa

[Unregistered]

To Everyone:

I have had Generalized GA for several years.

Like the other posters here, I have a very good diet (the picture of health except for the lesions), work out on a regular basis; cardio and lifting weights, ride dressage, etc. and still I am plague with GA lesions.

At first there were just a few lesions and I had them treated with steroid injections; cortisone injected direclty into the lesion. They went away and stayed gone for about one year, only to pop up in other places. The onset was slow, but now, 6 years later they are appearing too frequently, and don't go away as certain studies indicate. Just the other day I noticed 6 new lesions starting on my left thorasic side in line with the left armpit.

I fought them for about 5 years (stopped with the steroidial injections about 4 years ago), with all kinds of creams. Recently, I have lesions appearing more on the legs (back of knees, buttocks, back of calves, thighs and armpits.

I have one lesion on the back side of my right armpit and it is now larger than a 50 cent piece. I have watch it grow from a tiny dot. The steroid creams seem to prevent them from getting larger. I stopped using them only because of the inconvenience of dotting myself up after a shower, then the cream has to dry before dressing etc.

As most people have indicated I don't wear shorts or bathing suits in public, and now since the lesions have started appearing on my lower legs and ankles my capris and crop pants will be sold at the next garage sale. As for dresses and skirts, I stopped wearing them a long time ago.

My dermatologist has informed me that there is nothing more we can do or try; they will go away or get worse; for me they are getting worse.

The research I have done indicates that GA could be a symtom of a larger issue. Since I have splitting fingernails, diminishing thickness of hair over the last 3 to 4 years and this skin aliment, I'm thinking that my thyroid is causing this symtom. Although recent blood tests indicate that my thyroid is within normal ranges, as is my CBC count, don't have diabetes, etc.

I suppose that if these lesions were life threatening there would be more research on them like cancer and diabetes.

Good Luck to everyone; if I find out any information I will certainly share.

[caga]

I'm a 63-year-old female and was diagnosed (after biopsy) with GA just this past year; however, I believe the first spots, which were not that noticable and which appeared on my lower legs, have actually been around for a couple of years. About 8 months ago, the GA spread to the inside and back of my thighs. The patches were dark red and quite unsightly. It seems that about the same time the GA began spreading, I noticed thinning of my hair and arthritis type of pain in my feet and (sometimes) in my hands.

I did receive a cortisone injection a few months ago, and the GA has since "morphed" into a lighter-colored, less "active" type of rash, but it's still there!

I have had all the blood tests, which were all normal. I am basically healthy except for this nasty development, which really hampers summer activities.

I would like to know if anyone else has experienced thinning hair and arthritis type of pain along with the rash? I will be watching for anyone's success with treatment options.

[joanne]

I've just been diagnosed with Granuloma Annulare. It started about 3 years ago on my shin with what I thought was an insect bite. I now have 5patches of it on my legs and 2 on my ankles all of which are growing. I have been discharged by my dermatologist who just said it is untreatable and will eventually disappear some time in my lifetime, unless I get knocked down by a bus in the next few days or weeks (her words not mine), but may in the meantime appear on any part of my body, though probably not on my face. Not a great deal of help really. Thought I might have had a few tests for diabetis or a few blood tests but not so. Felt like I'd been dismissed by the headmistress for wasting time.

I dread summer and although I still wear shorts at home and on holiday (where I convince myself I don't know anybody so what does it matter if my legs look unsightly) I feel very self-consious about it. Other than this I am very healthy for my age, eat well and exercise a lot. Swimming is my sport (I'm a competative masters swimmer) but I am getting more and more self-consious about the marks on my legs and wonder how long I will keep making excuses and keep on competing.

Yes I accept that this is not a life threatening problem. but hey! It's life disruptive and worth some money put into research.

Joanne

[jackie2]

Since 1999, I began developing these on the back of my hand, elows, and knee. Just this year, I started developing one on my finger. They're totally disgusting so I know how you feel!

I also have chronic sinusitis, for which I recently had surgery... and here's where it gets interesting. Before my sinus surgery my doctor gave me 6 medrol dosepacks over the course of 8 months. Medrol is a strong corticosteroid, and it is very safe when taken as directed (6 days, quickly tapers you off to prevent side effects). My grannulomas completely disappeared after 7 years of persistance - even through dermatologist prescibed Cordran tape and Clobetasol (very potent topical steroids.) I didn't even pay that much attention but one day I was like - whoa no more granulomas!! I think it took about 4 months really.

ALSO - this is key - you will always want to put 100% zinc sunblock on them if you are in the sun. If you go tanning, I really think you are at greater risk... so cover them up if tanning with 100% zinc (uva/uvb proof). Lastly, have your blood sugar thyroid checked because there is a correlation in some people to thyroid disease and diabetes.

I hope you can get a doc who will prescribe medrol for you. Docs get all kinds of insane scary messages about steroids but they are miracle drugs and very safe if used properly. With patience and the right meds, u can get through it. Topical steroids are not really effective IMHO but cordran tape is much easier to deal with than clobetasol gel.

[jackie2]

oh and here's my theory for where they come from...

Any disease that can be treated with a steroid, in my opinion, is due to something wrong with your own adrenals. I'd be really curious to survey you all and figure out if you have any hypoadrenal symptoms or hypothyroid symptoms. Also, I am curious how much (and what kind) of sun exposure you had.

I used to go tanning regularly - and these developed shortly after. my theory was that my skin was trying to destroy the unhealthy precancerous skin cells that I created by tanning...and all the granulocytes got glued together in the process.

It turns out i have severe hypothyoidism (TSH of 11... but by the way, if your TSH is over 3, that is hypothyroid - not over 5...the american academy of endocrinologists changed this in 2003 but most labs still havent cought up) but i couldnt treat it because my adrenal glands were also not functioning right. when i went on thyroid hormone, my granulomas actually got red and scaly...but since being on all of the medrol, most are very flat and/or gone. On one elbow, I had kenalog injected and then 2 months later, it was 80% gone. the other elbow lesion was too close to the joint so he couldnt inject and i just used the clobetasol (didnt do much)

anyway... i wish u all luck with this... let me know if you have anything in common with me. we're more likely to find the answers than the docs! they're just not looking at the problem.