New and Freaking Out - Petechiae

[x371322]

Hi everyone. I'm new here but not new to health anxiety by any stretch. For the last several months I've been experiencing flare ups of a petechial rash on my right hand and to a lesser extent my arm. Usually it appears pretty much overnight and fades after a few days. But it seems this round is being particularly stubborn. It'll fade a little throughout the day but it's back the next morning. Of course my mind is screaming leukemia and I'm freaking out. It always takes about a month to get into to see my doctor and I was hoping someone could shed some light on whether I'm overthinking it.

Please and thank you

[nicole97]

I'm not sure if this helps at all, but I know that I get that on my stomach if I'm scratching at all (or there is any kind of "trauma" to the area) and it just lasts a few days and goes away. Are you itching or hand at all or does it rub up on anything?

[x371322]

No it doesn't itch. The only thing I could think of would be my tendency to sleep on that arm. But I'm not sure if that would cause this. I can say that my blood seems to clot just fine. I cut myself the other day (not intentionally so no worries) and it seemed to stop bleeding in normal timing.

---------- Post added at 11:38 ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 ----------

Also I have high blood pressure. It should be under control but then again I haven't been the best at checking it. I wonder if that might be a factor? Also Considering how long I've seen these crop up I feel like Leukemia can ruled out right? I'm 27 so it would be rare anyway at my age. Autoimmune maybe? I'm grasping at straws here...

[nicole97]

Sleeping on that side could probably do it too, like I said, I get it if it's just some kind of 'trauma' to my stomach. If it goes away, I probably wouldn't worry about it. I don't think anything sinister would just go away. Could be a medication you take, even certain pain relievers, like naproxen (aleve) or a vitamin K deficiency too.

[x371322]

After a couple of days of little or no petechiae I woke up today and they're back with a vengeance. Same pattern as always. Back of my hand is covered, and to some extent my forearm and fingers. I don't understand why it's always the same arm. I never get these on my left arm. Is that fact alone somehow significant?

[TheGroundhog]

If it really is extensive and occurring every night then I think a doctor's visit is in order. My friend had similar also affecting just one arm and she did having a clotting problem that required treatment, (she is completely fine now). It could be something or nothing, you can't be diagnosed over the internet :)

[x371322]

Good advice. It always takes about a month for me to be able to see my doctor though. I'm just trying to keep myself sane until then.