Erythema Multiforme: My 8 Year Diagnosis

For nearly a decade, I have avoided caffeine. After a huge outbreak of canker sores, which left me on a liquid diet for 36 days, it was easy to swear off the product that I thought had caused my agony. The correlation was simple. Drink a cup of coffee and get over a dozen canker sores. Drink a can of pop, and my mouth would start to tingle.

Through the years, I have been very careful to avoid caffeine. But at times, it is difficult to know exactly what is in the food we are eating at restaurants. So, 3 or 4 times a year, I would have an allergic reaction. What I didn't know, is that my reactions had nothing to do with caffeine at all.

After eight years of "allergic" reactions, a dermatologist has finally given a name to a skin condition I've suffered with for far too long. Last week I was diagnosed with Erythema Multiforme, a skin condition that causes blisters, ulcers and lesions on various parts of the body.

My current bout with Erythema Multiforme has attacked my fingers, mouth, tongue and lips. On a Sunday afternoon, I began to feel the familiar tingle of an oncoming allergic reaction. I carefully thought through all the food I had eaten over the past few days. Absolutely none of the items contained caffeine.

On Monday, my mouth was covered in ulcers, my fingers were growing blisters, and my lips were swollen. Then, the blisters formed inside my mouth and on my lips. My previous caffeine allergies had never resulted in clear bubble style blisters. In the past they had always resembled canker sores. I knew something was different, and it was time to start looking into my "allergy" all over again.

In the past I have seen allergy specialists, been prescribed benadryl way too many times, and have been healed with high doses of steriods. This time I wanted an answer. Finally, after a visit to my regular doctor, another doctor in his office and a dermatologist, I had an answer.

In the past my allergic reactions would make me nearly immobile for at least 3 weeks. My mouth gets so sore that eating is impossible, and liquids are difficult to manage. I get weak from lack of nutrition, and feel lethargic. But, this past reaction went one step further.

Day after day, as I watched the blisters form, pop and become ulcers, I watched my tongue slowly errode. The top layer is nearly gone now, and I am left with a sensitive, raw muscle. I have never felt pain like that in my entire life. I just knew this couldn't be from a caffeine allergy.

Today, I am recovering. But, unfortunately, I will have this for the rest of my life. Outbreaks can occur anytime, and may progressively get worse. Medication can help suppress outbreaks, but there is no way to actually be cured, or stop them all together.

If you or someone you know sufferers from severe outbreaks of canker-type sores in their mouth, followed by blisters on other areas of their body, you may want to talk with a dermatologist. Erythema multiforme can progressively get worse, and become life threatening. The most severe cases are known as Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome and TEN. These can be fatal, due to the severity and amount of blisters on the body. These patients are often cared for in a hospital burn unit.

***I am not a doctor. I am merely a person recently diagnosed with Erythema Multiforme. Please ask your physician for more information if you think you or someone you know may also suffer from this disease.***

SOURCES:

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/TOPIC173.HTM

http://www.maxillofacialcenter.com/BondBook/mucosa/em.html