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Woke up with stains on my hands?HELP??

I woke up this morning with dark, iodine like stains on my right and left hands.  Primarily on my thumbs and index fingers and palms, but spattered on other areas around those fingers.  I had no pain or swelling, I was just confused.  After realizing I could not wash it off, I went to check if anything had spilt or stained the bed.  NOTHING!! Confused, I went  downstairs, where I found out my cousin had the exact same thing happen to him that same night.  My cousins stains were far more visible, and looked like he had been grabbing at or picking something up. Any help or diagnosis would be great - even a similar story. It's weird that more people have had the same thing and to known how it happened. I'm mot known to sleepwalk, neither is my cousin and the fact that we both had these markings makes no physical sense. Wondering what's up out there... get back to us!!
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Avatar universal
I get these brown, iodine, henna like marks on both hands when I wake up. Can be once a week, or months apart. No allergies, no stains, marks on bedding. Have had it for yrs but been too embarrassed to tell. The oddest thing is the randomness & variety & intensity of colour in some areas. What on earth is it???????
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1 Comments
I woke up one day with three of these stain like markings, kind of look like hair dye spread across my body, ( inner thigh, rib cage both sides, & on my chest ) long streaks! At first I thought they were bruises but it's been two months and i recently spotted another one on my lower back. I'm also so confused to what these markings are.
Avatar universal
wokeup to blood stain on hand
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Avatar universal
It is sihr related. In google type in: Wake up to henna spots? and then click on the link which takes you to this website: soennah-dokter.nl and you will definitely find your answer.
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Avatar universal
Look up lycopenemia.  It’s from eating excessive red color in foods like berries etc.  It’s harmless.  It’ll go away
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It's lycopenemia.   Look it up.  I had the same thing happening.  I made chili the night before.
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Avatar universal
Yup, woke up with curious reddy/brown stains on my hands.  Indeed yesterday evening I ate a satsuma that had a hole in it - I had presumed my infant son had grabbed it and plunged his finger into it, so I peeled it and it looked normal aside from the one squished segment, which I threw away and ate the rest.

Presumably this is from the juice of the squished segment, as it seems from the distribution of the stain to be something external rather than internal.
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Avatar universal
I woke up this morning with the same iodine looking stain on my hands. It wouldn't wash off, so I Googled it.  After some research it turns out to be a reaction to over ripe fruit. Many people have this happen to them, and the common linc is that they have been handling fruit or stepped in something rotten. I was canning yesterday and came in contact with a lot of fruit, so I'm sure that's what it is. Lemon juice took the stain right off.
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Avatar universal
I woke up this morning with the same thing and freaked out. Read the comments below and someone mentioned something about oranges... i did pack my kids lunchbox with a mandarin that i had to swap for a new one coz it smelt funny and had a weird liquid on it. I washed my hands straight away but maybe it could of been this. This is the only different things that has happened to me.
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3 Comments
Did anyone find any answer for this?
I just had the same. I am pretty much sure it's a build up of some chemical inside the skin where the hands were pressed against the bed head.

When you wash hand or scrub you massage the skin and help the build up to spread evenly. It's not going away anyhow.

I looked up porphyria. Could be the case as I had a lot of bad liver tests in past 10 years. But I don't have light sensitivity
I ate a clementine last night and woke up with the same thing this morning!
15252853 tn?1439401944
I got a few spots on my hand and foot out of nowhere. I was normal when I went outside for 20 minutes and when I came back in, they were there. After washing my hands a tom of times, the ones on my hands went away after about a week, but the ones on my foot started to itch, I scratched and now I have cellulitus. WTF is going on? Is there something in the atmosphere?
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1 Comments
Have you checked for porphyria of the skin? This post is 'old', answer found yet?
Avatar universal
I have been waking up with the same henna looking stains in the mornings whilst going to bed with perfectly clean hands. The staining shows up on the palms of the feet sometimes too. The stains aren't easily scrubbed off. Puma stone works well. So I go to sleep every evening now with clear hands and wake up to stain streaks and spots depending on the day. I'm noticing I feel better on days where the staining was more profound. It feels like some weird toxins are leaving my body this way.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi all, I had exactly the same waking up this morning! I was at my desk until 1.30am, and my hands were fine: I was typing on the keyboard until then. Then I wake up at 7am, and even if there was still little light in the room, I could see these brown-reddish stains on my hands, as if iodine or henna had been poured on the fingers, especially on the back of the fingers, and even for the whole length. It smelled a bit like iron, but maybe I was biased by the fact that looked also as a rust stain. It scared me a bit, as I started to wonder if I had suddenly develop sleep-walking. But it's to exclude. The marks came partially off scrubbing it with exfoliating lotion, giving the stain a long friction. Strange. I have been taking iron supplements over the past 4 months...that's the only dietary change I had over the year. I don't think it's related ... regardless that the stains seems to smell like iron.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi all, I had exactly the same waking up this morning! I was at my desk until 1.30am, and my hands were fine: I was typing on the keyboard until then. Then I wake up at 7am, and even if there was still little light in the room, I could see these brown-reddish stains on my hands, as if iodine or henna had been poured on the fingers, especially on the back of the fingers, and even for the whole length. It smelled a bit like iron, but maybe I was biased by the fact that looked also as a rust stain. It scared me a bit, as I started to wonder if I had suddenly develop sleep-walking. But it's to exclude. The marks came partially off scrubbing it with exfoliating lotion, giving the stain a long friction. Strange. I have been taking iron supplements over the past 4 months...that's the only dietary change I had over the year. I don't think it's related ... regardless that the stains seems to smell like iron.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am a 16 year old female who woke up with the same iodine like stains on both of my hands. I have used iodine in biology class and it looks almost indentical to this yet I did not come into contact with iodine for over 2 months. The only thing I touched last night is tangerine oranges. I don't think those would cause this discoloration. I feel no pain, itching, or soreness whatsoever. Anyone who knows what this could be, please help.
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Avatar universal
Wow this is weird..i thought I was the only one with this problem. I have been using this stuff on my face for weeks and I rub it in with my fingers at night. I got the brown marks in the morning and it washes right off. I stopped using the stuff on my face and this problem still occurs monthly. If not weekly. Please help.
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2 Comments
Did you ever find out what was causing your marks/ discoloration? It seems like there are many people (like my daughter) suffering from this condition, but very little information or resolutions. Thanks in advance:)
Hi Elizajane.  We'd be happy to try and help you.  Could you start your own thread with some details about what is going on?
Avatar universal
thanks for getting back to me.  Im still having trouble grasping how this all make sense.  As far as having phytophotodermatitis, I do not think it fits the bill.  I am of arab decent and never had a problem staying in the sun.  I really do  not think Im sensitive to ultraviolet light.  The same thing goes with allergies. Im not allergic to anything I know of, nor did I stray from my usual habits that day.  Im a healthy young man in most regards and so is my cousin.  Like I said the stained appear to be iodine like, maybe a little bit more purple. They eventually washed off in a couple days, but there was never any irritation, bumps, itching. Just these mysterious stains.  What could it possibly be? Thanks you!!
Helpful - 0
563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
From the suddenness of appearance of these spots, it can be either due to an allergic reaction or phytophotodermatitis. Phytophotodermatitis is a chemical reaction which makes skin hypersensitive to ultraviolet light. To confirm the diagnosis I would suggest an evaluation from a dermatologist.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

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