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What are these orange stains that have appeared on my hands overnight?

(471 Posts)
25Avalon Thu 13-Feb-20 11:00:12

This happened first about 3 weeks ago and I thought it was because I had handled a Satsuma. It wouldn't wash off but disappeared over 24 hours. Then I woke up this morning to find dark iodine coloured stains down my index finger and light orange blotches on both palms and on the back of my thumb. I have googled this and nobody seems to know what it is so I am wondering if anyone on gn has come across this?

Engi00 Mon 13-Feb-23 16:28:25

I did see a dermatologist but it was a state clinic so he just brushed me off said it was nothing, some other were suggesting candida but its not that because it doesn’t itch or anything. What i do know is that it happens lver night and disappears in few days, gets more dry and fades, but i did notice that when i get stressed a lot it showes up or if my imune system drops?!? I did some biochemistry and when I took my blood out while my hands were “clean” it said my bilirubin levels were 11 qmol/l (range is 5-22) but when they got slightly orange (and now im opsesed and i see the smallest change) it was 20.5mmol/l. So it jupmped. These two analyses were a month apart. Im helthy the only problem i do have are polycystic ovaries (not a syndrome tho), and insuline resistence (witch i also thestet for last time when i saw the bilirubin jumped) i did read that insulin can cause dark spots wich are called Acantosis Nigricans, tho i dont think this is it. But i am wondering if anyone else here has insulin resistance cuz it may have something to do with orange (rust like) spots. Here is a picture!

Engi00 Mon 13-Feb-23 16:12:56

It happened to me several times over the past 6 months i don’t know what it is and no doctor seemed to care or worry about it so now I’m wondering if u ever got the answer to this question??

25Avalon Sun 12-Feb-23 10:16:15

Exactly. It’s reassuring to know you are not the only one to have this and that it does not seem too serious. We have had to try and work it out.

LyndseyR Sun 12-Feb-23 09:52:10

This thread seems to be the only place on the Internet with images that see to match mine!
I'm 38 female from UK. I do eat alot of tomatoes/carrots/bell peppers/kidney beans but recently I hadn't ate much. I've had covid and was pretty much surviving off water and bread, couldn't stomach much else.
I would definitely say I have been stressed. I was pretty poorly with covid (second time I've had it, fully vaccinated too) but before that I'd been quite stressed with work/family life.
My patches appeared randomly in the afternoon. They could of been there earlier but it wasnt until the afternoon i noticed. By the next morning they had gone from my palm. Then the following morning the orange staining was around my fingertips/nails. It was gone by the next day. Hasn't reappeared. So random.

Delila Thu 19-Jan-23 15:34:49

Darker stains on the side of your index finger remind me of staining I get after peeling carrots, but you’ve ruled that out…

DrTippie Thu 19-Jan-23 15:03:01

Alright, so, new addition to the theories here.
So, I go to college in Iowa, and I started getting this every so often during the fall semester, but it eventually went away and I forgot about it. The semester ended, and I went back home, about two hours away, and it didn’t happen again. Now the spring semester has begun, so I’m now back at college. This is my third day back, and all of the sudden, the orange spots are back now. I didn’t have any spots appear when I was back home, but almost as soon as I got back to college, it came back again.
Just something to add to the lore I guess😅

25Avalon Tue 17-Jan-23 10:42:47

Hi Kate thanks for posting. I did consider that and trawled the internet when I had my first encounter. I ruled it out as it was on my hands and nowhere else. Also we’ve discovered on here it’s hands and feet and younger posters have experienced it which is not usual with hemosiderin staining which mainly occurs in the legs and is connected with vein function. Plus it does not always disappear as these orange stains do and they only last a few days. The mystery continues.

Katek Mon 16-Jan-23 22:33:56

Must admit I haven't read entire thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned. Have you considered/investigated hemosiderin staining?

25Avalon Mon 16-Jan-23 21:39:31

Well done leanyblom on reading all the posts and endorsing what we’ve said. I wish those who’ve actually seen a doctor would report back on what the doctor said. We are a mystery of modern medicine! Carotenemia does come out through the soles of the feet and palms of the hands. We wake up with it and it’s gone in a few days is the good news.

leahnyblom Mon 16-Jan-23 20:57:12

this is what mine looks like

leahnyblom Mon 16-Jan-23 20:55:06

Hey guys! Woke up this morning with one of these rustic looking marks in the middle of my palm. I’ve read all 12 pages of responses and loved everyone’s theories! It’s definitely internal (doesn’t wash off). Im 19, female, don’t have any health conditions, i take spironolactone for my acne, which I just started a week ago. Haven’t had any peppers, but ate a veggie casserole yesterday and a tangerine that was slightly getting bad I think. Don’t use baby wipes, took a shower before bed, doesn’t hurt or itch. I’m fully vaccinated (P), thinking it’s food related, maybe from some sort of pesticides, or the stink bug theory. I have been very stressed out the past couple days, which leads be to believe what 24Avalon said on how stress can affect the bodies ability to break down beto carotene from the food we eat, but most photos online of carotenemia show the color of someone’s skin changing not just spots. I also have 2 cats, nothing on my feet, live in IL and workout regularly. I understand this isn’t dangerous but still interested in what is it! Hope this helps.

Katel5736 Mon 16-Jan-23 17:21:34

Happened to my boyfriend who has not take the vaccine, very unlikely it’s related.
www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/35938228/Carotenoderma_due_to_lycopenemia:_A_case_report_and_evaluation_of_lycopene_deposition_in_the_skin.

Elegran Sun 15-Jan-23 18:53:10

I shall do,*Avalon*, once I have made three rooms ready for the decorator. Not that they will all be completely painted - it is the ceiling in one room, a hole in a wall of another to be plastered over and painted, two strips of wallpaper replaced in a third, plus the front door is to be done, so things to move in three rooms. He was to do it in September but at last a message came this weekend that he could be here Monday and Tuesday - and was that OK? I didn't dare say no, heaven knows when the next slot could have been. I'm just glad I don't have to move anything for the front door.

25Avalon Sun 15-Jan-23 17:13:44

You will have to read it all Elegran. We have our suspicions of cause.

Elegran Sun 15-Jan-23 16:16:11

I came across this while searching the net for something on red palms, and remembered this thread. I've not been following it, has this cause been sugggested already?https://www.cmaj.ca/content/180/8/895

boay Sun 08-Jan-23 11:07:23

So, Ive woken with these strange marks too on my right hand… My theory is that irritation from cleaning product has caused them since I sponged with this hand and sprayed with my left. My first reaction was “I’ve had a secret nosebleed” because it looked uncannily similar to dried blood which I’m used to from frequent nose bleeds…

25Avalon Sat 31-Dec-22 08:48:36

Do keep us up to date OrangeHandz. Maybe the Paediatrician might know a bit more but unlikely. I suppose since it goes in a few days they’re not bothered but we would like to know.I don’t think we’ve had a youngster on here before so that’s interesting.

OrangeHandz Sat 31-Dec-22 07:37:14

All day searching online and still no answer. My child is 14 and woke up with the rust colored stained hands today. No pain or swelling. Since no one has ever posted an answer they got from their doctor, I'm not getting my hopes up that the pediatrician will know.

25Avalon Mon 26-Dec-22 16:14:28

No Elegran we still haven’t found a conclusive answer although we have our suspicions. People turn to this thread because there is nothing else out there.

Elegran Mon 26-Dec-22 16:08:32

Are these orange stains still being talked about nearly three years on? They are very persistent. Surely the answer and the remedy must have been found by now? Is it caused by little green men from Mars in UFOs?

Lja72 Mon 26-Dec-22 15:45:14

25Avalon

Carrots will do it as well, but the big question is why now. Was Christmas stressful as that combined with carrots could be the answer.

Nope not stressful for me

Lja72 Mon 26-Dec-22 15:44:30

Lja72

I woke up this morning with it, this will be my third time, read a few comments, and I haven’t eaten peppers, I had just a couple of carrots yesterday but last night had a very soft tangerines, from what I’ve read online, tangerine oranges have come up a lot

I also have hypothyroidism, just read that on a couple of comments

25Avalon Mon 26-Dec-22 13:37:22

Carrots will do it as well, but the big question is why now. Was Christmas stressful as that combined with carrots could be the answer.

Lja72 Mon 26-Dec-22 12:52:36

I woke up this morning with it, this will be my third time, read a few comments, and I haven’t eaten peppers, I had just a couple of carrots yesterday but last night had a very soft tangerines, from what I’ve read online, tangerine oranges have come up a lot

Startedaftermoving Thu 22-Dec-22 19:16:33

Any chance we all moved into recently flipped houses? Bonus points if your new-to-you house has had plumbing blockages, odors, missing p-traps, or nonsensical configuration.

I got the orange fingers and then it turned purple then brown. This happened about 3 months after moving into a flipped house that I believe *might" have been used by a previous owner as a clandestine drug lab.

A couple weeks after moving in I started the heat and closed windows....my eyes burned intermittently and my entire body itches upon entering certain rooms. I also think there may be wall and ceiling staining that aligns with these labs.

I also had and a couple weeks of euphoria followed by crippling depression. No appetite. Little sleep.