Skin getting cut easily

[kamalshah20]

Hi,

I have been on dialysis for the last 14 years (2.5 hemo, 6 PD, 5.5 daily nocturnal home hemo).

For the last few months, I have noticed that my skin gets cut very easily. I barely scrape against an edge and the skin gets cut. My right hand is full of such marks and my left hand is soon getting there.

What could be the reason? Is there anything that I can do to treat it? My neph has no clue.

Thanks
Kamal

http://kamaldshah.com
http://dialysis.org.in

[Bill Peckham]

Kamal I have had fragile skin for as long as I can remember. I've been told it was due to Prednisone use pre and post transplant (over 20 years ago). I think it has gotten better lately, at least it seems better since cutting my heparin usage a couple months ago for another reason. Looking at the back of my hands right now I see two small scabs is all, which is pretty good for me.

[rsudock]

Also I heard if you use the numbing cream on your fistula before you get stuck with needles...that the cream can make your skin very fragile and thin.

Hope you figure this out....have you gone to a dermatologist?

xo,
R

[sullidog]

I also have the same issue although haven't discussed it with my neph. Wondering if it could be my heparin?

[kitkatz]

From what I have seen the affects of dialysis cause easy bruising. If you bump something the skin can bruise and cut easily.  It may be due to phosphorous levels, too.   This has happened to a friend of mine, too.

[willowtreewren]

Carl definitely had this problem! The merest bump would cause an ugly cut. And the bruising! 

This has improved post-transplant and he is now ON prednisone (which, BTW, he calls pregnant zone). So Bill, I don't think it the prednisone causing it. More likely the heparin, even though it is "supposed" to have a short half life.

Aleta

[noahvale]

^

[galvo]

I must join in the chorus. My hands are a mass of scars, scabs, and band-aids.

[kamalshah20]

I also get blisters these days. I was asked to see a dermatologist who examined the scars and the blisters and suspected it to be Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT). I am Hepatitis C positive and I read on the internet that HCV positive people are very prone to this.

So, I guess it is combination of the dialysis (heparin?) related stuff plus PCT. They want to do a biopsy to confirm PCT and also some other tests to check for porphyrins in my blood, urine and feces. They will never be able to do the second though, lol!

anyone had PCT and underwent treatment for this? What is it like? How long does it last?