Help! New vegetarian with weird skin spots!?

[rnbizior]

I just started being a vegetarian about a week, or two weeks ago (but I'm still flexible with milk, eggs and fish for now). Anyway, the other day I noticed that my skin is looking really weird. I have very tiny red spots all over my body, but a lot of them are on my upper legs (and it's not from shaving, cause I don't shave). They're not itchy, but they make my skin look really funny. Some of them are very small and light, and others are a little bigger and a lot darker.

I'm wondering if this is from the change in my diet. Has anyone ever had this happen before? Am I missing some major vitamin that my skin needs? Is my body detoxing? What the heck is happening? What should I do?

Thank you!
~Rachael

[LovelyPerv]

Is there some food that you've started consuming as a vegetarian, that you weren't as an omni? Perhaps, one that you're suddenly consuming in greater quantities that you're used to?

I'm no doc, but my first guesses would be a food allergy, or perhaps a reaction to something environmental (air freshener, fabric softener, new sheets, new clothes, flea meds on the cat, etc...)

Wheat gluten and soy are common allergens, and they're generally both used to make 'meat analogs.' You may have a sensitivity to them. Best to check with your doc to be sure.

(note: a skin reaction doesn't have to be itchy)

[law]

perhaps you have a virus?

[rnbizior]

Well, i don't feel sick, so as far as I know it's not a virus. And no, I'm eating pretty much the same things as before, just more tofu and less meat. I added nuts, but I've eaten nuts before....anyway, thanks for your ideas.

If anyone else has any idea, I'd really like to hear it. I'm sort of waiting it out right now to see what happens.

[rnbizior]

Ok, so....maybe I freaked out. I talked to a friend the other day who is a nurse, and he was like, "a nutrition problem would take a lot longer to show up", and then I realized the spots on my skin were only on the areas that my swimsuit doesn't cover...and then I remembered I just started taking some weird chinese meds for my nose, and so, it probably reacted with the skin that had been exposed to a lot of sun recently, or I picked up something nasty when I was swimming in the Mekong River in Laos, so anyway....

...all that to say, it's a fluke! If any newbies are reading this, DON'T WORRY! Go veg!

[Ocean]

is your skin dry? I know that sometimes my skin reacts that way when it's too dry.

[hoodedclawjen]

i'm thinkin swimmers itch is more likely... apart from the conspicious lack of an itch.

http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/swimmers_itch.html