It started as an irregular area covered with reddish pinpricks and then gradually worsened into what you see in the photo. My chiropractor was kind of stunned when she saw it about a week in, and diagnosed it as psoriasis. I tried creams and essential oils, but it just kept getting worse. Acupuncture by the lovely Miss Kate didn't help. Anti-itch cream at least prevented it from itching.
I finally got a clue when I saw that trail of new dots leading to the upper right. These were living things inside my skin -- parasites! I also noticed a few pinpricks on the inner side of my left leg, at the same elevation, so perhaps they were migrating where the legs touched during sleep.
Fortunately I still have some of that evil horse paste (ivermectin, in other words). I spread the tiniest amount on the rash, including the trail heading north. (This is when I sent an earlier message, on another thread, about topical use of ivermectin.)
Three days later, the rash has calmed down to being pink, and appears to be healing rapidly. The AZLiberty Medical Research Group declares another victory for ivermectin. (I plan to take an oral dose to make sure. I have been using niacin instead of ivermectin for Coof prevention, apparently leaving me vulnerable to parasites.)
I’m guessing that I got them from sleeping on a bed that our six-month old kittens played on. This would mean that the kittens have parasites, and that might explain the soft stools and perhaps even the nasal symptoms that they have had since we got them at the end of October.
Wow, that is wild! Despite the (aforementioned to TC) flea problem we have here, the worst I’ve ever gotten is a fleabite in my sleep once in a great while. It’s funny how the little bastages like some of our cats more than they do others. Must be something in the blood. But we do try to keep the cats from getting the often-resultant tapeworms by giving large doses of food-grade diatomaceous earth mixed in their food at every meal. So far it seems to work - no telltale white squigglies by their butts. LOL We take the DE as well in juice. (We don’t have white squigglies either!)
I would absolutely LOVE to find a safe and effective natural flea killing treatment for pets, though. I’ve followed up various claims that all have fallen short.
As to Ivermectin... have you ever wondered about the way Dr Dimitry is so adamantly against the stuff, posting his ominous-sounding studies, and there are people on his chat that have suffered bad side effects from it? Everything we read elsewhere is that it’s perfectly safe, etc., and we read all the testimonials right here on FR about how well it worked for so many people, and even far beyond just for the coof. Such conflicting information. So what is the real deal here? One result of it all is that it’s made me completely wary, averse even, about taking IVM, horse paste or otherwise, because I feel that if someone were to get an adverse effect, it would most likely be me, since I tend that way to begin with when it comes to drug medicines.
I should probably post this last musing over on the Nia-flavorofthemonth thread...