how do I know when pityriasis rosea is healing?

I first noticed a red scaly, bumpy rash on the right side of my body, and on the side of my right breast. I thought it was some allergic reaction and thought nothing of it. After about a week it was not going away, and noticed more spots pop up on my left side, back, arms and thighs! I quickly realized something was horribly wrong, especially because the original rash on my right side had not gone away. Right before the rash appeared I was prescribed Valtrex for the god awful cold sores I have been plagued with since childhood. I called my doctor and she said she didn't think there was a link between the Valtrex and rash. Well doctor, I believe you are very wrong. About two weeks ago I started researching skin conditions to figure out what was going on, and what do you know, it was PR. I then found a few articles linking herpes 7 and herpes 8 to PR, which led me to the conclusion that the Valtrex activated a latent herpes virus which caused my PR! Now, I am not a doctor and I could be wrong, but it seemed highly likely that Valtrex was the culprit. I have a girlfriend who has been on Valtrex for a while now and asked her if she experienced the same thing, and she said she also had PR after being prescribed Valtrex. WTF!!!
Armed with this information and reading about people's PR stories on message boards, I bought Medicated Selsen Blue immediately and began washing with it everyday AND leaving it on my skin. I know that it is drying and not good for your skin, but it truly helped within a few days. I also went tanning for 6 minute sessions at my gym, 5 times back to back. It's been two weeks and the PR has not spread at all and the spots are drying in the order of which they appeared. I believe that I had a very mild case, with approximately 20 spots, but am sure that the Selsen Blue and tanning helped stop more spots in their tracks (I saw a few forming that never made it to the surface. TAKE THAT!). Be patient and be diligent with whatever course of remedy you choose to pursue.

Good luck!

I am a dark skinned African American woman. I've always had smooth skin, occasionally hormone related acne. I started itching towards the end of September and itched the whole month of October. I was miserable! I went to the doctor mid October and was told I had PR. I Rubbed my body down in head and shoulders and let it sit on my skin for 10 minutes(it will sting) and rinse(cold/cool water was my best friend). I would then rub down in coconut oil. I also did 5 tanning sessions at a local tanning salon. The combo of tanning and head and shoulders dried my rash out and I'm more than pleased. This was a difficult phase as I had extremely dry skin and my skin began to peel. I also itched from my skin being so dry. I have some skin discoloration buts it's darkening up gradually. My skin us VERY soft and smooth, smoother than it's ever felt! Not sure what caused it but in mid September I had a few days where I was very nausea , tired, and felt like I was getting sick. I even threw up once. I also had this annoying wrist pain that hasn't occurred since the initial rash. It's now been about three weeks since I've begun to feel normal. Patience is key. It'll get better. Avoid heat, hot water, and drink plenty of water.

Hi guys, I went to the ER and urgent care cause I wasn't sure what was going on with my body. They couldn't even diagnose me or tell me what was wrong with me. So I'm currently waitin to see a dermatologist. Meanwhile I was reading about PR and I'm pretty sure that is what I have. All my symptoms match and even images look exactly like what I have. I've been using some cortisone cream to relieve the itchiness. I'm really considering trying the head and shoulders thing though that all you guys keep referring to. So basically all you do is use it like a body wash right? And do you still think it's necessary for me to see a dermatologist? Cause either way I was reading there isn't really much of a cure for it.

Hello everyone .. So about 6 weeks ago i diagnosed with PR i was very scared i came to this page i read all the comments and i knew that there are people have the same problem so i relief .. I went to several DR they said the same answer there is nothing to do .. But the last DR gave me a cream i think halped me alot it call ( ALCINA) its like a pink color .. I put it after the shawor on the spots .. Now iam in my healing stage there are 2 3 sopt leaft in my skin .. I hope i helped u and dont worry it will heal just be patient and pray ... God be with all of u .. My advice just dont think alot about it leave it and God is the best DR he will he al u ...

I was going out of my mind with itchiness! I was looking up treatments and came across this website. I couldn't get to my local pharmacy quick enough. I purchased head and shoulders, came home and immediately put it to use. The itchiness subsided within a few minutes of me applying it. I let it sit for 10 minutes and rinsed. I then rubbed down in coconut oil!I'm so relieved!! Thanks for the advice!!

Hello everyone-
Maybe a few years ago, I started to noticed small red patches show up on my breast. Very periodically, there would be one or maybe two that showed up but would disappear in a day or so. I initially thought that maybe they came from the hot water from the showers I took so I didn't really pay no mind. Fast forward to about a month ago...I noticed that about six or so of them started to show up on my breast, I tried not to pay them no mind so for the next few days I tried not to pay attention...but then they started to spread, they spread all over my breast and onto my sides and back...then started to spread a little on my arms and a few on my legs. After about a eek or so after the initial breakout, it was everywhere.

Now of course at this point, like many here, I was freaking out and made an appt to see my Doctor. My mind was going all over the place as to what this might be...I was researching every rash on the internet, cancer, everything. I was wondering if it was a possible allergic reaction to something I ate? A new perfume?? It was weird because I usually never have allergic reactions to anything, so this freaked me out. When I finally went into my Doctors she looked and knew what it was right away. She pointed out the herald patch at which was off to my side and another on my back. The one on my side was big and had a ring around it. She basically said the same things I've read online, that there really isn't a cure because they don't know what causes it and it could last from six to eight weeks. She prescribed me some hydrocortisone cream and wanted me to take that and Benadryl for two weeks and if it didn't start to clear up to contact her and she would send the pictures to dermo.

Now although, I was already using the hydrocortisone cream and Benadryl a week prior, I decided to follow the Doctors orders. After about four or five days I wasn't really seeing a difference. So I came back to this site and read a lot of these stories and decided to try some of the things I read. I started washing with Head and Shoulders shampoo, I would rub steroid cream on the rash (I only did this for like five days or so, be careful because it can thin out your skin and create stretch marks if you use it too much), I would also use the coconut oil to moisturize. And after doing this for about a week, I noticed a vast improvement...I have started taking Zinc, Vitamin C and a multi-vitamin for my skin and to help boost my metabolism. Now I am in a healing stage where the rash is completely gone and my scars are starting to disappear, everything is almost gone.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave tips on what could possibly help, obviously everyone is different so not everything will work the same on everybody. This is what worked for ME, but it took some experimenting here and there to get to this place. I wanted to share my story to let people know that it will get better, its a scary thing and can create anxiety that could go thru the roof, but hang in there...IT WILL GET BETTER. It is very important that you go to your Doctor and get diagnosed to make sure Pityriasis Rosea is what you have and that its not something else. I am happy that when I update my Doctor I will have positive news :)