His strange blisters wouldn't go away. what was that?

It started with dry, itchy skin. Soon everything hurt. A specialist found a way to find some relief.

The 49-year-old knew as soon as she got out of bed that something was wrong truly not. A quick examination of his body revealed the source: half a dozen blisters were dotted around his belly button. They were small – the largest might have been the size of a pencil eraser – and painful. They looked like the kind of blister you might get on your heel after wearing a new pair of shoes. Except they were on his stomach.

She dressed carefully, choosing pants that were a little loose in the middle. She put on a long T-shirt under her sweater and hoped for the best. It was difficult to concentrate on her work: the fleshy bubbles gave her painful reminders every time she changed position. Once she got home, she immediately changed into a loose dress. One of the blister had ruptured, leaving a raw, menacing red mark. She tried not to worry about it. It was September 2021; It was her first week back at the office after months of working from home, and she already had too much on her mind.

But the next day, there were still a few blisters. And the next day. By the end of the week, his back and stomach were dotted with a dozen of these strange bubbles. A dozen others had burst, leaving wounds leaking clear fluid. At night, the open blisters penetrated the gauze she applied, then into her pajamas and into the sheets. Each movement she made tore the wounds that had dried, marrying flesh to tissue.

After a week of this, she took a sick day and began looking online for a dermatologist; after numerous calls, she found an office where she could be seen the next day. The physician assistant who saw her was immediately concerned. After 40 years of practice, she had mastered routine tasks – and it wasn't routine. The patient told the P.A. that his skin had been extremely dry and itchy for months, but these blisters were new. As the P.A. says, upon examining the woman, she saw a few intact blisters, but much of the woman's torso was dotted with open spots. It could be acne, she says. She would give him cream for that. But it could also be a skin infection, and for that she prescribed an antibiotic. The patient should follow up in a few weeks to make sure things are moving in the right direction.

This was not the case. At the woman's next appointment, her skin had not improved. The P.A. I called in one of the dermatologists. It was clearly some sort of vesicular disease, the doctor said. It may be a type of disseminated infection called eczema herpeticum, caused by the herpes simplex virus. The doctor prescribed a strong steroid cream as well as an antiviral medication to take for a week. That should clear things up, she told the woman confidently.

Blisters everywhere

But over the next week, the blisters and subsequent oozing spots continued to appear. A second antibiotic was prescribed. No more steroid creams.

At this point, everything she did hurt. The blisters were everywhere: on his arms, his legs and all over his back and stomach. They were even in his mouth and on his scalp. Sitting down was impossible. All she could do was perch on the very edge of the chair. When she returned, the determined P.A. brought in another dermatologist. He examined the woman closely and said: “I think it may be what we call bullous pemphigoid. If so, we can treat you.

The P.A. explained that bullous pemphigoid (B.P.) is a rare autoimmune disease in which the body's white blood cells create antibodies that attack the connection between the skin and the tissues underneath, causing these blisters. B.P. is treated with high-dose steroids, and when the disease subsides and the blisters stop appearing, the steroids can be reduced and sometimes stopped altogether. The illness often goes away within a few months but can last for years.

She started taking 60 milligrams of prednisone every day. The drugs were horrible. She couldn't sleep. She was constantly hungry but at the same time she was bloated and full. She was weak. His legs seemed to weigh 100 pounds each. But the results were astonishing. There were fewer new bulbs. And the raw areas that marked the old blisters were starting to heal. She took prednisone for two months...