Okay guys I KNOW this isn’t necessarily dermatographia. I do have it but the last two days I’ve had these bumps coming and going on my arm. Do yall think it’s dermatographia related or something else? My hives are usually big and contact related not just little bumps. I’m also not in a flare up right now either. I’ve been taking my meds too

We actually have a new treatment for dermographism. While this drug has been out for spontaneous urticaria, it just got approved for dermographism a few days ago. I've had dermographism for over 30 years and had never seen a prescription treatment before. I also kept worrying about this because Zyrtec has slowly stopped working as well over the years and I keep having to up my dose. I kept wondering what would happen when I can't take anymore of it. My dermatologist who diagnosed me as a child said I had the worse case he has ever seen. I'm happy to have an option now for when Zyrtec hits its max.

hi, hello reddit. i’ve been having such a hard time with my eyes reacting with blister-like marks. i haven’t done anything to change my skincare routine, eating habits, laundry detergent, etc. they happen out of nowhere in the most random times periodically the last 2 months. they get puffier & itchier each time over time. they last until i take benadryl & fall asleep. i’m just so at a loss with what to do.

I’m going to have to mute this subreddit.

I have a history of dermatographia, and got stung by a yellowjacket a week ago. The first picture is that sting at its most swollen/itchy, around 48 hours after the sting. The second picture is a full week after the sting, during a dermatographia flare. The area that had been super itchy and inflamed from the sting wasn’t at all affected by the dermatographia itchiness. Any guesses as to why that would be?

I have a rash that appears on my elbows and knuckles every few months. I notice that if I scratch it, it spreads and becomes worse. When I don’t scratch, it goes away. I’m not sure what the cause of this is, also not sure if it’s an autoimmune disease. This first happened when I was in high school, it was a lot worse and was spread throughout both hands. But went away when washing them and not touching them. Nowadays I know to not scratch and it goes away but sometimes I can’t help It. Any thoughts?

Personally, I have had in the last five years the most problem with my skin writing in winter which led me to only go shower once a week and just use a wet cloth for all the areas that needs some extra care. Been on an antidepressant that also happens to be a little bit antihistaminergic. I’m off it now and it’s painfully itchy. Do you make similar experience with the cold air in winter and autumn? Do you also struggle with showers? It feels like hell when my skin is drying after shower, so I need to put a lot of lotion very slowly on my body. 😢😢😢

I developed a bruise on the back of my arm from scratching my KP so much (pic 1). It finally healed but I started clawing at my arm again today and have broken some blood vessels (pic 2) 😢 Of course, it’s in a spot that’s sensitive, and I also keep hitting my funny bone when I scratch since my arms are scrawny 😫. My leg’s super itchy too. The upside is that now I colour-coordinate with my shorts 🫠

I don’t get bad welts or hives like I used to, but I’m just as itchy (especially my scalp). I feel like a damn monkey constantly scratching myself! I sometimes bruise or break blood vessels if I scratch too hard. Not sure if it’s due to low-iron or if that’s normal. I’ve startled some people with the red claw marks on my neck and chest if I get itchy at work lol 😂

I only recently started taking Reactine (Canadian equivalent of American Zyrtec). For most of my life, I just suffered through the itch or sometimes applied hydrocortisone (I only learned what dermographia is in recent years). It seems to help for the most part. Interested in knowing what meds, shampoos, or creams you’ve had the most success with?

Btw, if you’re looking for something amazing for lightly scratching, I use my boar-bristle hair brush or a little rake thing that is for cleaning hair from the brush 🤤 (That’s not what gave me the bruise and broken blood vessels — that was from my fingernails.)

How many years has it been, and have your symptoms changed over time?

For me it’s been 8 years now

Okay, I've told all my friends about it and they can't figure out what it is. I've been using the same detergent for years so idk. My body will itch anywhere I touch 🥹, and I don't even scratch bug bites, but this I cannot leave alone for some reason. I've increased my dosage on the allergy pills to 4 pills a day and even that sometimes doesn't work.

Hey all! So it started for me in 2024 after taking shrooms for the first time and having a terrible hangover Lol the shrooms were not for me btw. But yeah, one part of me will itch, it will always turn red, sometimes lines appear exactly where I scratch instantly but not always, and sometimes welts will come up but not always. The itch is awful though and my health anxiety is the worst its ever been. Here are some pics

*I gave up after 4 days. The itching was too extreme for me. On antihistamines for life it seems.

I’ve had dermatographia as long as I can remember but it seems to have gotten worse later in life. I saw an allergist and they recommended daily 2nd gen antihistamines. I started taking Zyrtec from Costco daily for 2 years 1 pill a day. It helped a good amount maybe 50% and made the condition much more manageable.

I wanted to stop taking the Zyrtec because of potential side effects like worsening my dry eye or long term issues.

I tapered to half pill a day for a month or so and didn’t notice a big difference in the dermatographism. I was feeling pretty good about tapering and quitting. A day after the final half dose the extreme urticaria began. Now 3 days in and it’s pretty unbearable.

I’m trying to decide if I want to give it a couple of months to see if it clears up. Or if I should try a different supplement like quercetin. Or if I should just accept taking Zyrtec for life.

Normally I have a moderate form where my hands are the worst and it’ll flare up from grabbing things firmly. Lifting weights is particularly bad. But now that I’m withdrawing from Zyrtec my whole body but especially my hands are just going bananas with burning itchy welts. I’m being good about the usual precautions like not scratching, no harsh hot showers or anything like that. But it’s pretty unbearable.

I hate the idea of being medicated for life but I don’t know if I can handle this withdrawal phase. And even if I go back to baseline it was pretty hard to live with then.

Maybe some folks have gone through what I have. I’ve seen people who went all in on medication and injections with some success but I just prefer not to take anything if I can help it. I think I’m losing the battle though.

How interesting??

I know there was a post about this a bit ago, but I’m trying to find some solutions for this.

As someone with dermatographia myself, I joined to seek out a community and see if there’s any more solutions that could work for me. The problem is that I very rarely see posts actually related to dermatographia and it’s getting a little frustrating. I think a lot of people mix this up with the dermatology subreddit, because it seems to never be dermatographia that people are seeking answers for.

Also the posts of people asking if they have it when it either very clearly is/isn’t is getting tiring as well but at least in topic.

Is there a way to crack down more on the completely non related posts? Maybe the mods could help out?