Bumps very much like insect bites

[jontul]

I've been positive for 1 1/2 years now, but the treatment provider says my CD4 count is high enough that I don't qualify for the meds yet.

However, at least once or twice each month, out-of-nowhere, a small red and itchy bump may appear on my skin. It looks and behaves much like an mosquito bite, but I've never found the source. These single bumps have at different times appeared on my ankle, my hip, my thigh or my torso, but not on my neck or face. Hydrocortisone relieves the itch, but the redness persists for a couple of weeks before the bump becomes more of a brown, flat scar.

The doctor yesterday said such a bump is likely related to the virus, but failed to explain how or what I can do to prevent or treat this condition. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? It's not technically life-threatening, but is annoying and somewhat unsightly.

[GSOgymrat]

Interesting, I developed a similar problem about six weeks ago. I woke with several bumps that look like bites on my thighs, hips, one on my penis and one on my foot but no where else. I went to my PCP and he sent me straight to a dermatologist. She didn't think they were insect bite but said that sometimes when you are bitten by an insect your immune system can overreact and produce other itchy bumps. She did not seem very concerned and said she suspected it would clear on it's own. She gave me Fluocinonide cream, oral prednisone and cultured a couple of spots. I received a call from her office a couple of days later saying I tested positive for staph infection. The dermatologist prescribed an antibiotic. I have completed treatment and thought the bumps were gone but I just got another on my hip yesterday. I'm going to monitor the situation and if I get any more I'm going back to the dermatologist. I had my six month lab work one week before the bumps started and my CD4 is 1179, CD4% 33.

[leatherman]

I've been positive for 1 1/2 years now, but the treatment provider says my CD4 count is high enough that I don't qualify for the meds yet.

I don't know anything about your bump issue; but I am curious where you live. The standard of treatment in America now is to prescribe medications as soon as someone is diagnosed HIV positive. The long-term benefits outweigh waiting until your immune system deteriorates any further.