Please include one of preferably more of the pictures in your post as an imgur.com link. It makes it easier to help with something when it can be examined visually. Additionally, share the values of your ANA, ENA, CK, aldolase
Does This Really Sound Like Dermatomyositis?BackgroundAge, sex: 31Mheight: 5 11race: whiteprimary complaint: purplish skin along with tachycardia and extreme fatigue/tirednessduration: I have experienced skin discoloration since I was a kid, but this progressively got worse once I was an adult. The tachycardia started when I was about 24 and has progressively gotten worse.Medications: My rheumatologist has me on hydroxychloroquine (200 mg), prednisone (started at 50 mg, but now taking only 5 mg), and pantoprozole (40 mg). An ER doctor started me on meclizine (25 mg) as needed for dizziness that started about a month ago. I have also been on Adderall XR since 2019. I currently take 25 mg, up to two in the morning. I do not drink, smoke, or use any recreational drugs.Other medical conditions: ADHD. Morphea (I developed this when I was 8, and it has never gotten any bigger). Splenomegaly. In July 2021, I had encephalitis due to reactivation of varicella-zoster virus.I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I just want to be sure I include anything that might be relevant.Starting in 2014, my heart rate would randomly jump up to 120-140 bpm, and I would experience tingling in my extremities. The purplish skin started when I was a child, but it has gotten worse over the last few years. Between 2014 and 2021, I had multiple echocardiograms done to check for any abnormalities of the heart, but doctors never found any. I also wore a holster for a month, and that came back mostly normal.A couple of months after I had encephalitis, a rheumatologist diagnosed me with dermatomyositis based on the redness and scaliness on my knuckles and redness around my fingernails. Lab tests showed that my muscle enzymes (CK, aldolase), liver enzymes, and IgM all were elevated, but additional diagnostic testing has not shown anything to confirm dermatomyositis. Ive had an MRI of my legs, hands, abdomen, lungs, and heart. The abdominal ultrasound showed that I have a slightly enlarged spleen. Everything else looked normal. I have never experienced muscle weakness or the characteristic rash that DM patients usually have. I did see a dermatologist after I started treatment. She said it looked like it could be DM, but there wasnt anything on my skin for her to biopsy.Since my rheumatologist started treating me for DM, my heart rate tends to stay around 80-90 bpm, and the palpitations are much less severe when I do experience them. My most recent blood tests came back normal except for my IgM. However, my skin still turns purplish, and it sometimes feels like there is a rubber band around my arms.I dont know if there is any connection between the encephalitis, tachycardia, and DM, but it makes me wonder if there is something more serious than DM going on. My doctor does not think its necessary to explore other possible causes. She says that the treatment she has me on will treat any rheumatological disease. I really like and respect her. Shes the first one Ive seen who acts like she cares about my health. I just want some kind of confirmation that shes right.I appreciate any feedback, insight, suggestions, etc. Also, I can submit my full CBC report if that would help at all.