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[Jillyboo]

Anyone else suffer from this annoying condition?

Having my first flare up of the year at the moment though I can't for the life of me think when it was that I spent that few seconds too long out in the sun and I had my factor 50 plastered on anyway!

I only recently found out it's an autoimmune condition (which makes sense as I have other autoimmune conditions).  It's a complete pain in the proverbial and ruins the summer if it gets out of control.

[CLKD]

R U taking any medications as some can react when in sunshine.  The months that I had radiation treatment I was told to wear a hat and keep well out of the ☀️

[Ana21]

Hi Jillyboo!

I haven't been on the forum for a while and missed your post.  I also suffer from polymorphic light eruption, aka sun allergy or sun poisoning.  I was diagnosed in my 20s.  I wear sunscreen everyday and stay covered up.  I have a hat collection.  I have to be careful in the early spring as the light intensifies.  I'm very good at avoiding flareups and haven't had one in 25+ years.  I may get some itching on sun-exposed areas in the early spring, usually on my hands because I've forgotten to reapply sunscreen after washing.  Some people only get the skin reaction, I also get the nausea and feel terribly unwell. 

I tend to acclimatize as the summer wears on, but I dread spring and always look forward to the end of summer.

[VioletAquarius]

Hi Jillyboo

I've never heard of this condition before so can't comment on it,but just wanted to pop on to say that I've heard a few times that factor 50 isn't any good (can't remember exactly why, would need to do a Google search), but factor 30 is the best option for protection.

[Ana21]

Sunscreens containing ectoin may be helpful.  I'm seeing it more frequently on lists of ingredients, although I've never seen the percentage stated.

Prevention of Polymorphic Light Eruption Afforded by a Very High Broad-Spectrum Protection Sunscreen Containing Ectoin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35716331/

What is ectoin?
https://incidecoder.com/ingredients/ectoin

[lilbebel]

Hello, and yes I developed this condition during perimenopause. I absolutely cannot get my face in the Sun. It develops very painful cysts and blisters and a raised rash. i wear giant floppy hats and sometimes a UPF gaitor to cover my skin. I also have a UPF +50 parasol that blocks the sun and it’s great. I’ve also been diagnosed with rosacea and my doctor prescribed me an ivermectin cream (Rosiver) that is very helpful. On the plus side, my dermatologist said I have very little sun damage because my skin is so protected. It’s a painful difficult condition, but I just cover up as needed.

[Jillyboo]

Hi all. I haven't been to the forum for a while so have only just picked up on your helpful replies.

My PLE (which has never been properly diagnosed except by me) takes the form of a very red sunburned appearance on my face and neck with itching. Other exposed areas are unaffected in the same way but I break out in all over body urticaria at the same time which can get out of control very quickly unless I act straight away and take high doses of antihistamine. I generally stay in the house for a few days until it's all settled. After that the red face and neck never re-appears again over summer. The urticaria is variable and can flare up again periodically but never as bad as in April!

Because of the urticaria I was mis-diagnosed for years and was told I had food allergies, tree pollen allergy etc etc which completely muddied the waters.

I also have Rosacea lilebel!  In fact I've just fallen foul of believing a spot to be rosacea when in fact it's turned out to be a rodent ulcer which I've now got to have surgery on. What a pain. I had to smile when the dermatologist asked me if I'd done a lot of sunbathing!!

Thanks for the link re ectoin Ana - I will read up on that.

[CLKD]

How limiting R these conditions Jillyboo?

The skin on the face/neck are different to those on the rest of the body i.e. less thick. 

[Jillyboo]

It's not really all that limiting but if someone invites me to a function in April I always tell them there's a chance I may not turn up!