My experience with Pityriasis Rosea:
It all started after I spent the summer up in the mountains for about 2.5 months… about a week after coming back to the city, I noticed a red spot on my stomach. I wasn’t too worried, since I did get dry skin here and there, and it also kind of looked like a bug bite. When I got a few more spots in the same area, I thought maybe I had scabies (which I’ve had before) so my doc wrote me a perscription for the cream. That weekend, I was at my friends house and the spots had spread up my chest and neck and I became alarmed so I went to an urgent care where I saw an FNP. She was really dumbfounded by the whole situation and prescribed me some hydroxyzine 25mg (kinda like benedryl) and gave me some hydrocortisone 2.5% and sent me on my way. By monday, the spots were really red and all over, so I went to see my normal doctor. He thought I was bit by some type of bug out in the mountains and prescribed me a steroid to take over the next week. By friday, it was still about the same, so I called him and he said I had Pityriasis, which was so crazy because I had originally asked if that’s what I had (since I had been doing my internet research) and both doctors said no!! But I felt pretty confident with this diagnosis based on my lack of symptoms (I really wasn’t even itchy), and how the spots were mainly on the trunk of my body. I was definitely a little sad to find out that it lasts about 4-6 weeks on average… because I am a 21 year old college student and it was the summer! I was also worried when I read that some people had this disease for up to 3 months or more!! My advice would be to try not to let those numbers effect you. Try to stay positive about the whole experience. I used coconut oil every day, took oatmeal baths every couple days, washed with head and shoulders shampoo, and tried to get sun exposure. The spots on my neck and chest went away within a few days because I didn’t cover them up and I constantly exposed them to the sun!! Around week 3 (from the first day of the spot), I was definitely noticing it fade and by the start of week 4 (today), I would say I could wear a bikini if I had to!! A few spots remain around my thighs and hips, but they are relatively dark. It also got a little more itchy before it started to fade and I was never itchy before. For me, I found the my PR started to go away very quickly once I lost INTEREST in it. Once I stopped worrying about it, or counting the days, it was like I just woke up and it was gone one day!! If you have PR, it can definitely be scary, and I felt at times I was going to have it for the rest of my life, but it is just a temporary disease and it makes for an interesting story!!