#dermatograph

[ghostwise]

Itch updates for the final day of itch:

Kept waking up last night because of how itchy everything felt. Slept poorly and got up much, much later than normal for me.

Actually managed to feel ok in the morning, just had to keep very still so there was no pressure or friction setting off my itchy spots.

My tongue is less itchy today! It comes and goes. In fact, right now my mouth and tongue aren't itchy at all.

Just managed a shower with lukewarm water and a super soft towel to carefully pat myself dry with.

Overall pretty successful morning though I'm still drained. I'm thinking that the itching is a withdrawal symptom from my allergy meds... though the dermatographism is still going on.

[sixbucks]

Dermatographic writing as an art form.

[rinshairandthoughts]

I'm going to rant because I'm just so frustrated about all those things they make for flavoring your water...and how I can not use them.

Because I have this interesting thing called Dermatographism - Meaning "write on skin" which is a histamine reaction in my skin cell walls. I'm part of the 5% of people or so that have it. When it is in a flare up it makes my skin itchy, and makes it so if I get any kind of scratch/pressure on my skin it will cause a welt for a few to several minutes where it is very itchy and red.

What is one of the things that causes flare ups of this? Sucralose. That fake sugar that every sugar free/zero sugar/less sugar item seems to have. I just want some flavor in my water. I can have the sugar and calories, but no one seems to make any without sucralose. Sucrose, glucos, etc are all fine. I can have sugar and even most other sweetners are fine..but sucralose, the most common for like every low calorie drink ever...makes me itch. Stevia/Truvia also makes me itch, but that is less important.

I have not been able to find something to flavor my water since I have a hard time drinking plain water about 70% of the time....I hydrate via tea, gatorade, milk, juice, broth, etc. Water is something I can only comfortably drink in small quantities or feel water logged/bloated for some reason. I need some flavor, but I can not find anything I can safely add. I just need to add some lemon juice or like....something to make it easier to drink. I wanted to use Mio or one of those...but no. They do not make those sucralose free. So I get to be here sad.

[agreenroad]

Ammi Visnaga (Khella) Herb Versus Cromolyn, Nalcrom, Gastrocrom For Mastocytosis, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Histamine Intolerance,  Dermatographic Urticaria, Ulcerative Colitis

HERB KHELLA BENEFITS Latin name : Ammi visnaga Distilled part: seeds Origin : Morocco Properties: antiallergic, anticoagulant, preventive antihistamine (prevents the degranulation of mast cells), antispasmodic, bronchodilator and coronary dilator Indications: allergies, allergic rhinitis, hay fever, asthma, hepatic and renal colic, inflammatory colitis…

[trinket-o-pawsum]

Went to the doctor and got diagnosed as allergic

[octarinespill]

Iness Rychlik - Turning a skin condition into art

[diabolikfangirl]

[humanplaypretend]

Gotham characters in my style ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧

「Close ups + my hcs below the cut ↓」

Fish Mooney

African American. Haitian descent. Can speak Haitian, but mainly uses it with her mum only

Bisexual (canon), preference for girls. Aromantic spectrum

AsPD, NPD

Grew up Christian, and although she no longer believes in god, she wouldn’t necessarily call herself agnostic nor atheist. Religion played a big part in her childhood and she holds those memories near and dear to her heart

She’s pretty good at chess, although she doesn’t play much if any

Ed Nygma

Iranian descent (Iranian mum, white American dad). Learnt Irani later on his adult life as a way to reconnect with his roots

Bisexual (+ comphet) pref for girls

Autistic (canon), OCD, OSDD, C-PTSD, NPD

Atheist, doesn’t understand the concept of religion as something other than a cool thing to psychoanalyse

He developed his own language as a kid and still to this day writes his diary and most personal stuff in it

Oswald Cobblepot

Jewish-Hungarian American. Speaks Hebrew, as a kid his accent was much more noticeable

Gay (canon) & transman. His mother was his first supporter

Autistic, NPD, HPD, C-PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Used to struggle with social anxiety as a kid/teen

Jewish

Dogs are his favourite animal because of their unconditional loyalty

Is actually very good at cooking

Johnathan Crane

White American

Aromantic asexual, transmasc

Autistic, OCD, C-PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, dermatographic urticaria. Born with schizophrenia (inherited from his mum) which was worsened by his father’s experiments

Vehemently atheist. In his thoughts, even if there was a god, he wouldn’t worship anyone that sat and watched people like him go through such hells without helping

Whenever he’s stressed, he picks, nicks and scratches his skin, sometimes until blood. His body is filled with tiny scars and scabs all over

[milksockets]

'two striking images of dermatographic urticaria - an inflamed + itchy skin rash caused by scratching the skin. the large circular hives above + the disseminated blotches opposite are more typical expressions of urticaria; the cross-hatching + writing on the body were most likely produced with a needle or pencil.' in the sick rose: disease + the art of medical illustration - richard barnett (2014)

[neondownpourzine]

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT – RAIN

Next is Rain, another amazing artist! Their vibrant colors and superb, angular lineart makes for some super appealing artwork! Their forte, Dermatographism, allows them to make anything come to life by drawing it on their arm. We’re very happy to have them!

[seritanaka]

seri tanaka / honest efforts, 2024

acrylic, dermatograph and pen on paper 340 x 273mm

[wilsonpussyindulgence]

a couple of years ago, i started having an allergic reaction. i broke out in hives on my legs, and i could not stop scratching. i would wake up in the middle of the night because i had drawn blood. i would sit on my couch and itch and itch and itch. now, i’ve never had this kind of reaction before; as far as i knew i wasn’t allergic to anything other than nickel, which i obviously didn’t have on or around me in any way. i knew whatever it was was in my apartment, because i didn’t itch at work or anywhere else, but i couldn’t figure it out. i hadn’t changed any soaps or fabrics or anything recently.

so i went to my GP, who shrugged and immediately sent me to a dermatologist. this was great to me, because i wanted an allergy test. from onset of itching to seeing this dermatologist, it was probably about four weeks, and while the itching waxed and waned, i was still covered in scabs when i finally saw someone who could help.

so i get my appointment, and i explain to the dermatologist what the problem is. less than a minute into the appointment, she interrupts me. that’s not a real thing i’m describing, she says. it’s not possible.

she takes my arm, and she runs a wooden…i don’t know, tongue depressor? down my arm. it immediately raises in an angry red line.

“you overproduce histamine. take a claritin”

i’ve never had a problem like this before, i say. i would like to get a general allergy test.

“it would be a waste of time. if you are still itching after the claritin, then maybe in another eight weeks.” and she leaves. i waited four weeks and she saw me for about five minutes.

i’m angry, but i take the claritin. it’s incredibly dehydrating on top of the other meds i take, so i take it for a few days and quit.

the itching…recedes. it’s on and off. it doesn’t get as bad as it was in those first few weeks again. i look up what she’s written in my chart. urticaria, common name hives. she diagnosed me with hives. no explanation for why i had a spontaneous outbreak of hives. i simply had hives.

there’s another thing, listed at the bottom, “dermatographic component.” i look up dermatographia. “dermatographia is harmless,” the mayo clinic says, “most people who have this condition do not need treatment. It tends to be more common in teens and young adults.” I am thirty, and I do need treatment. There’s one more thing in my chart: “Urticaria education provided and all questions answered.” Really. News to me.

I am SO frustrated, but the itching isn’t bad enough anymore to keep pursuing it. i am defeated. i still think about it, occasionally, on and off. She is right, about the dermatographia. It’s the cause of what they call “skin writing.” But if I redo that test, making a red line along my arm or even on my leg where the hives were, it doesn’t itch enough for me to scratch it to bloodiness. But I still don’t have any good answers about why, for about two months, I broke out in hives so bad I had to be fully clothed every second of my day.

unrelated to that, i just read about an autoimmune condition that causes you to have random allergic reactions apropos of nothing. it’s fine. no big deal!

[singlethread]

Having dermatographism is so silly goofy

[theredofoctober]

Having dermatographism while being neurodivergent is sensory hell, I hate it here bro! Being itchy all over for no reason... time to load up on antihistamines

[k00291776]

Artist research, Ariana page Russel

Through my interest in developing my idea more on the physical flesh side rather than the emotional side, I looked into the artist Ariana page Russel who uses her dermatographic urticaria as one of her mediums for her art, Drawing into her skin with knitting needles to create these designs and then documenting through film as they fade away.

[thatguywhocandrawig]

“Bonaparte before the Sphinx (1886) study” Newsprint and Black Dermatograph and White Oil Pastel