On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:32:00 -0700, "Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD"
<heartdoc9@emorycardiology.com> wrote:
>Jupiter wrote:
>> In March of this year I stopped taking 20mg daily Simvastatin because
>> of muscular pain and eczemateous problems in my ears and nose.
>>
>> I continued to take the following prescribed for hypertension :-
>> 5mg Amlodipine
>> 160/25mg CoDiovan (160mg Valsartan combined with 25mg
>> Hydrochlorothiazide)
>>
>> And for Type II Diabetes:-
>> 3 x 850mg Metformin
>>
>> Approx 2 weeks ago severe eczema developed on both hands and this has
>> progressed to 'Exfoliative Dermatitis' with almost complete skin loss
>> on both hands now spreading up my forearms.
>>
>> Doctor tells me this looks very much like an adverse drug reaction and
>> told me to stop all meds other than the Metformin. So I now have
>> exfoliative dermatitis and untreated hypertension and await an
>> appointment with a Consultant Dermatologist.
>>
>> Treatment for the dermatitis consists of a twice daily application of
>> Betnovate RD ointment (medium strength corticosteroid), supplemented
>> by me with various emollients, salves and moisturisers.
>>
>> Apparently ALL of my hypertension meds have been implicated in causing
>> skin problems with the thiazide diuretic as the number one suspect. A
>> miserable state of affairs!
>>
>> Anyone else ever suffered this or have any knowledge of such problems?
>
>Skin problems have been reported for metformin:
>
>http://tinyurl.com/ytw2eo
>
>Be hungry... be healthy... be blessed:
>
>http://HeartMDPhD.com/PressRelease
>
>Prayerfully in Jesus' awesome love,
>
>Andrew <><
Thanks for that. I've been taking Metformin for about 9 years now
with no problems at all, but I don't suppose that will exonerate it
completely with all the potential for interactions between multiple
drugs.
The problem areas are those exposed to light, i.e. face, hands and
forearms (and an area of dry skin now developing in the 'V' of my
neck). The thiazide theory seems to be that traces of the drug in the
skin may form a allergenic compound after UV radiation resulting in
antigen formation and an eventual immune system wild attack on the
presumed invader which can result in this very rapid skin turnover.
The exposed layer after the flaking is very tender and feels thin. I
suppose this is because the normal process of keratization of the
outer layer has been missed out.
I'm planning on wearing cotton gloves outside and minimizing exposure
to sunlight until this hopefully clears up.
Bill
Re: A Cornucopia of Pills (2) - Exfoliative Dermatitis 
Linear Mode
