Sorry, this is long, but I could use some help and advice if anyone has it. I am a 24 year old female. I've never really had any health concerns in my life, other than anemia, but it was never a really serious problem. About 5 months ago I got a couple small bumps on one of my legs that were probably 7 inches or so away from each other and they itched. I assumed they were bug bites and tried to ignore them and not scratch. Within a month I had patches of the bumps that itched intensely and I couldn't seem to find anything to make the itching stop. Well, because I have no health insurance I never had it looked at and I've just dealt with it. About a month ago, when the "rash" pretty much covered my entire legs, from ankle to hips, some of my abdomen, and was now also on my arms, my neck and my head, I started having issues with it burning. I once again, because of the no health insurance thing, decided to try to ignore it and hoped it would go away soon. Last Sunday, I got in the shower, and as was pretty usual, as soon as the water hit the "rash" it started burning, but this time it wasn't stopping. 2 hours later it was still burning, so I broke down and went to the emergency room. I was in a lot of pain and it was still intensely itchy, even through the burning. I got to the ER, they did the initial check up and put me right in to see the doctor. I didn't wait at all, so I thought, it must be something more than I've been thinking about. The doctor say it's a very peculiar rash. The nurse says she's never seen anything like it before (and this was an older nurse). My blood pressure is 150/90 - pretty unusual for me. I usually run 110/70ish. I have an increased pulse and a fever that I hadn't noticed. They say I have no flu, H1N1, cold, etc. I knew that. The doctor asks if my family has a history of lupus. I don't know. That's pretty much it. He gives me a few prescriptions - Medrol, Keflex Vistaril - tells me to see a family doctor as soon as possible, and sends me home. The next morning I see a doctor that they recommend me to. He says start taking the prescriptions the ER doctor gave me and change my laundry detergent, it could be contact dermatitis. Honestly, I had used 3 different laundry detergents during the 5 months I had this rash, because I thought of that, and it started and spread for a long time over the least likely place for me to rash as contact dermatitis - my lower legs. I wear flare bottom and wide leg pants. Why would it start there and then never spread to somewhere like my feet where I always have socks on if it were a contact dermatitis from my laundry detergent?