diandliam

I was overweight my whole life. Always been an itchy scratchy person, GI and nerve problems got pretty bad before gluten free. In hindsight I think I was lucky that I couldn't afford specialists. I've managed to avoid all the incidents that have upset you so. I am now comfortable with the fact that I'll be undiagnosed for life. It takes a bit of quiet contemplation to get there though.
100% gluten free is easy, cheap and healthy if you do it right. Be strict, lots of fresh food and minimise your gluten free processed foods. My grocery shopping is easier/quicker and grocery bills have actually lowered. No more wandering up and down all the aisles

Avocado is another of our usual ingredients. Yum

I think the definition of "mild" DH is so much up for debate.
I've been watching my 9 year olds DH develop over the past year.
My DH went full blown a year ago.. when I went to work in a bakery. I'd always been gluten lite without a thought. Didn't like breakfast, pasta, pizza etc. Was always itchy/scratchy and had "ingrown hairs" and 'adult pimples' etc etc. I think there is definitely 'mild' DH which in my definition is just itchy. Medium is definitive lesions ("mosquito bites"). This is where my son is at.
The full blown DH though is extreme, ugly, and mentally challenging. Just ask me what I've been through.

DH needs to be scientifically researched as a skin condition with a range of presentations.

It presents differently in different areas of my body. There is no 'normal'.

If you feel like mosquitos are biting (in winter) or acid is being sprayed on your skin then DH is a probability.

Long before my DH (dermatitis herpetiformis) became spectacularly evident one day I had one of those 'oh... wow' moments. I was in a health food shop and the owner/naturapthy asked me ( after inquiring about something to help my severe hayfever) what food I craved. Made me think.. eggs came to mind at the time. Two years later turns out that iodine is a problem for me (in the yolks).
After that day I've thought lots about the foods I've avoided and/or craved and pretty much all of them have been a problem one way or another.

I made a point of 'testing' my dairy reaction regularly. Something in the maze of this journey told me I had to know how much I could tolerate. It has caused some near misses with the reaction in my GI system but now, in hindsight, I'm glad I did it. But I did it very slowly over a long 11 months. I have a feeling I will be watching my dairy and sals intake for life. Iodine I'm not so sure about. I'm not about to tuck into a kilo of prawns (but oh so so so so would love to) for a few years. I'll need to be 100% sure that the gluten reaction is dead and gone before I go there. No way do I want even mild resurrections from iodine+gluten.

I freeze a lot of fruit. Frozen bananas are the BEST icecream you can have in summer. You can semi thaw them to use with cereal/yogurt. Yummmo.
With most fruit you can thaw them fairly well. Put them in the blender if they go too far down the thawing processes. Nearly (or just) as good as fresh.
Here in Oz most of our major (and several smaller) supermarkets have online shopping which is delivered to your door. Have you checked out this option in your area?

I think you're sons case would warrant a request for an immediate appointment. Insist on it.
It looks very much like my case (though I'm 39:) in its early days. I thought I was getting mosquito bites in the middle of a freezing winter. Now almost 12 months later my all over "bites" are finally beginning to heal. Hopefully given your sons age he may respond sooner than my 39 years of gluten-intake skin.

You may want to speak to your good doctor about antihistimine. It doesn't treat or cure or prevent but a good dose seems to take a little bit of the edge off especially during the horrible night time.

The only thing that has (literally) saved my sanity and allowed me patches of sleep are coldpacks (put in fridge as ice/freezer mightn't be so popular with a 2y/o). Buy the soft/material ones as these are much better. Have at least three so you can rotate them. Keep them clean (every use!!!) to prevent infection.
Some other things/advice:
* face clothes (wet and cooling on the skin) - perhaps use a soft cloth as most commercial face cloths tend to be a little abrasive
* soft cloth gloves (I still scratch like crazy but while I'm at home they are helpful. Perhaps you know someone who can sew?)
* keep his finger nails as short as you can and ALWAYS clean
* other people might disagree but you shouldn't have to use any soap everyday - consider giving him a totally chemical free day every other day or two
* don't use clothes washing powder. Buy a gluten free liquid.
* later down the track (post testing etc) you might have to consider making your entire household gluten free - it was only recently that I have done this and I am finally healing (with no change to my own diet or routines) and it has made an enormous difference.

I'll be thinking of you and bub the next few weeks. Keep us all update along the journey. And as suggested by others you MUST get tested. Celiac can come in a "silent" (but still potentially deadly) form also.

I am 10 months in with head to toe DH so I can really understand your dilemma. I've had 2 periods of seeming relief only to go head to toe lesions once again. It is very hard on the sanity.
I have found sals (dried fruit was the first culprit I think, coconut the second) a problem. Recently I discovered a massive problem with corn. Are you eating corn? It seems to be a more temporary effect than glutens but is very severe for me.

I sit here with itching on my hands, legs etc so remember to get on here and rant etc whenever you need. This forum has been my saviour of my sanity so don't be discouraged.. get on an talk it out with us.

I am seemingly alergic and intolerant to gluten. I have a typical allergic reaction to glutens ( asthma, sinus, cough, drippy nose etc etc) and I have DH and GI reactions associated with intolerance/celiac. I'm not officially diagnosed celiac but I have many allaments that have recovered since being gluten free. I think there are probably a lot of people like me.

BTW there are only four products I can tolerate that come in packets: rice, rice noodles, rice crackers and one brand of sweet biscuit that is gluten/corn free and all natural sweetners etc. Taking gluten, egg and corn out off my diet has been a revelation to my system! Months of experimenting but worth it in the end.

Sorry, there are no quick fixes. When I first started out, I quickly found that plain, homemade soups (with meat broth or stock and veggies) were the most soothing thing to eat. For a while I couldn't handle anything fatty, and just stuck to soups, slow cooked plain casseroles, and grilled meat and boiled veggies. Go very easy on gluten free baked goods until you feel better. For me digestive enzymes helped a lot. Probiotics were also a big help. Maybe some multivitamins too if you are deficient in anything, which is likely, but don't add too many supplements to your diet in one go, do it in stages to give your body time to get used to them.

This was the same for me too. Slow and simple is the way to go when you are dealing with a long term sick body like ours.

thanks for the info squirmingitch
I also read somewhere that the soil (and consequently grass/feed) iodine content can influence the iodine content of dairy

So did you do the psych test? I would have been tempted to experiment with a psychologist over this.

Hub and I belong to a club that has an annual Christmas party. Most times (like last year) we go when we can make arrangements ahead of time (a lot of people wanted what we three celiacs were having ). I refuse to go and pay $33 per head and bring my own food. So this year I find out it is all going to be buffet food prepared by culinary students at one of the local universities, and we discussed the merits of getting together versus the difficulties of not eating, bringing own food, getting glutened (and believe me the whole thing is about the food) and decided to give it a pass. I got a call this morning, how come we weren't signed up for the lunch? Did I lie? Die I say we were going out of town that week? No, I just said the chances of our getting sick were just too high End of story.

It took me a while to get to this place, but I'm with you mushroom. Not worth the fuss, not worth the consequences.

Hi jumpingjuniper,
I am not celiac but have crazy DH. I didn't realise what gluten was doing to my head/brain/emotions until I went strictly gluten-free. In hindsight I wonder how it could get so bad without someone inquiring. Anyways...
I went gluten-free in June/July but so many mistakes etc that by early October I realised I had to get really really serious about my diet and habits. My DH had been sorta responding but not enough to get any more than about an hour or two sleep a night. Pretty much messed up mentally from the sleep deprivation.
When I cut out gluten-free products I was pretty amazed how quickly things turned around. I stuck to meat/veg/fruit and started introducing products one at a time. If a brand gets me bad I blacklist it. If a product works I give three goes and if no problems I don't blacklist. I have found xanthan gum (E415) a nightmare. I'm going to somehow test guar gum in the new year just so I might have some baking options in future.

Sorry lots of detail there but I thought you'd like to know that my brain fog and lethargy only became apparent to me after I got into this routine in October.

love2travel,
I think you will be the best - best gluten free cook/chef we've ever had on board our crazy cruise ship / tv chef program or something. We NEED you! All the different cuisines you can help us with (gluten-free), substitute (gluten-free) ingredients for our favourite dishes. I reckon that you will be my "Jamie Oliver".