Shaving bumps, allergic reaction, something else...?

[slipstreamborne.livejournal.com]

When I woke up this morning I was rather surprised to find small, somewhat swollen bumps (kind of like insect bites, but not itchy) all up and down both of my legs, up my hips, and across my lower buttocks.  Some are a flushed red (especially the ones clustered on my left calf, which are the larger and "splotchier" than the rest) while others are just barely darker than my normal skin tone.  Some are barely bumps at all, but share the same changes in pigmentation.

I took a bath and shaved my legs yesterday morning, about an hour after which I applied some lotion.  It's a brand that I've used off and on for a long time and have never had problems with before, and while I also rubbed lotion on my arms and torso only my legs seem affected (also some of the bumps are in areas that I didn't shave).  I've had shaving bumps before but never to this extent (several dozen in relatively uniform coverage rather than the occasional bump).

I've done a little googling into rashes but nothing really seems to match what I'm seeing.  I'm going to call my GP later (I've had a headache and stiff neck for the past two days, so perhaps they're all linked), but I thought I'd see if you lovely ladies and gents had any insight or recommendations on things to be sure and bring up with my GP.

ETA:  Just got off the phone with my GP who says that it sounds like a viral reaction of some kind, but we're going to keep an eye on it for now and see where it goes from here, just in case it is meningococcal.  Thanks for the comments!

Comments

[immortalavalamp.livejournal.com]

You can do searches for meningitis rashes. Some of them are severe, but some of the early ones sound a lot like what you're describing. Again, I'm not trying to scare you, but it'd be awful if it were something serious.

Take care!