D.R.E.S.S. Patient Personal Stories

It all started with rashes, high fevers, and several misdiagnoses.

June of 2014 I started taking a 30 day course of Bactrim. My dermatologist thought it would give me a boost in fighting my acne.

I was diagnosed with DRESS on August 22, 2018. My initial symptoms included swollen lymph nodes, severe headaches, edema, prolonged fever (104), rash, nausea and skin sloughing. 

I was in and out of the doctors office and immediate care facilities with hives and extreme pain in my cervical lymph nodes. The hives would go away during the day and come back at night, but the pain in my neck was brutal.

I live in South Africa and was diagnosed with DRESS in 2015. It took 8 months of treatment in and out of the hospital, and three years of healing to finally get whereI am today.

From the time I started on Carbamazepine, it took six weeks for all hell to break loose. 

My name is Ellen Barnes from Melbourne Australia and this is my story of how I am conquering DRESS Syndrome.

I was prescribed Lamotrigine for bipolar disorder. For five weeks, I took the medication daily and had no symptoms or problems. However, on week six I started getting itchy rash on my back and arms.

 I started taking sulfasialazine for joint pain. My rheumatologist really had no answer as to why I was having the pain...I had a fever and a pinpoint rash on my abdomen and thighs. The next day it had spread over most of my body.

In 2019 Gerald contracted toxoplasmosis in his right eye. The optometrist started him on steroids and an antibiotic called Bactrim.

In the twelve days spent in the hospital, I had 91 tests, 4 of them x-rays. On day three they determined I had DRESS.

February 2015, Linda was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and began a program of prednisone and sulfasalazine. On March 26, 2015, she began experiencing glossy eyes and extreme itching on her chest.

I was on vancomycin for approximately two weeks. I felt flu-like symptoms after taking it, but chalked it up to that it is a strong drug. But then I had what looked like hives break out on my right arm.