Rashes and blotches on body, itchy. Prescribed plaquenil and prednisone. Done chest X Ray. What is going on?
Patient: I have recently (about 2 weeks ago) been prescribed placquinil (two 200 mg. tablets per day). Since then, I have broken out in an all over the body rash with huge blotches.  It has spread until there is no part of my body untouched - from toes to scalp.  It is itching like CRAZY!  My entire torso looks like one "port wine birthmark", for lack of a better way to picture it.  My primary has done bloodwork, chest x-ray, given me prednisone (two 5 mg. tablets per day to begin; now, 5 days of 30 mg., 5 days of 20 mg. and finally then, back to my usual  10 mg per day.  This concurs with my rheumatologist who prescribed the placquenil and also prednisone.  Diagnosis: inflamatory arthritis. I will be seeing a dematologist this weeke.  Could the ithe plaquenil be the culprit of this horrific body rash? General opinion seems to be that I'm having some sort of drug interaction, but so far no one's mentioned this drug.  Thank you! Doctor: Hi, As you are mentioning, you have started plaquenil 2 weeks ago and simultaneously, you have noticed a "huge" body rash?So, according to your saying, your body rash has started with plaquenil (new) use. Did you mention this to your primary?Therefore, it is obvious that you have an allergic reaction to such drug. Then intake of prednisone has stopped other problems. So, stop taking plaquenil, and tell your doctor (rheumatologist/dermatologist) how your rash started and change medication. You can take some anti-itching creams to alleviate the itching and take some warm-to-cold bath or applying cold clothes to itching area.Hope it helped!