sisterlynr

This is wonderful!

Again ... I feel like I have been given a most wonderful gift. All this information is invaluable.

I just had my husband apply liberal amounts of witch hazel on my back, and while it was still moist to fan it.

A few minutes of relief ... but now I'm off to get an icepack : )

I have to laugh!  I am sitting on an ice pack, as I type.  I have another one on my belly.  I had not looked at the foods that are high in iodine and recently saw the list from Squirmy . . . . I have been eating high iodine foods and new blisters are popping up.  I try to pop them without causing them to bleed.  Once the fluid is released the itch seems to calm a bit and I know that is true when I have the blisters on the soles of my feet.  

Ice does numb the skin. . . just wish I could find a body length ice pack.  I take Dapsone but thinking about asking for the topical to see how it works.  I still want to start a liquid gluten free replacement meal.  I'd rather KNOW I was totally gluten free and iodine free than go through the trial and error process.

Dapsone dampens the 'suicidal itch' and I'm sooooooooo thankful for that.  Just want it gone!      

Sure sounds and looks like you have found your answer, IMHO.  This is a great place to find information about Celiac.  I too was helped and stumbled onto this site by searching the net.  

I take Dapsone which has helped spare my sanity!  There is also a topical form of Dapsone. . . you may consider this in addition to your diet.  Wish you the best!

There is a topical form of Dapsone.  I had a severe breakout on my hands in 2010 but my doctor had no clue what the rash was, at that time.  

The breakout that started Feb of 2012 is still with me.  I take Dapsone and am gluten and iodine free but missed knowing some foods were high in iodine.  

The MD checked my Total iron count.  The results follow:

 

Hemoglobin 12 Range ?  12 is low, but I didn't take down the range

Ferritin           8  (10-232)

Iron levels 184. ref ( 40-160)

 

I have been on supplements for iron for at least 5 years.  My hemoglobin went as high as 17.   I have been following a gluten free diet for one year.  My diet is high in iron containing foods.  Yet, my hemoglobin has dropped.  Has anyone else had their important nutrient levels actually go down after going gluten free?  I am planning to do a Spectra Cell nutrient test soon, to see how my other levels are doing and to fine tune supplements.  Can I expect that it will turn around in the future?  I remember GottaSki saying her villi damage didn't appear to heal the first or second year.  Does it get worse for a while?

 

Meanwhile, I switched to a different supplement.

 

Diana

The usual levels for Hemoglobin is   12.0 - 15.5  some medical offices can vary.   My Hemoglobin was 8 for most of 2012.  In 2008 my Hemoglobin dropped to 7 and I was given a blood transfusion the next day.  I was having chemo for NH Lymphoma then.  The doctor asked for a Ferritin test to show how much Iron my body was storing.  That level was low so I was given Ferritin Iron pills. 

After I started the gluten free diet in October 2012, I continued to take the Iron until January.  My blood results in March showed my Hemoglobin back to 12.0 and my Iron was back to a normal level.  The doctor felt that my body was able to absorb nutrients which resulted in the good lab results.

I haven't heard of counts going down but surely your doctor will run more tests to determine a cause.  And . . . I am not a doctor, just my opinion.  

Excellent job, Squirmy! Maybe we should add this to the newbie thread?

Yes, that would be nice.  I'm trying this out. . . .

TA DA!

The End

Yes . . . Ta Da!  It works.   Thanks!