Burning Skin

[canchzr]

I've always had stomach problems from age 12 due to advil for pain. I was diagnosed with IBS when I was a young adult and have suffered ever since. About 4 yrs ago I was told I have a severe milk allergy and took it all completly out of my diet and noticed a HUGE change. I've dealt with health issues since the birth of my daughter 5 yrs ago. About 2-3 yrs ago I was told gluten was not my friend tho I could tolerate it off and on. I omitted it for a year and then reintroduced with problems so did my best to not eat it.

Last year in august my arms started burning and started turning red at the top and where my shoulder meets the arm as well as my chest area. Then in Sept my entire body started burning it was horrible and I had no clue what to do. I had slipped and started eating dairy and gluten products and have remembered this just recently. I was told many diagnosis and had so many tests by so many different docs it's almost unbelievable. I've gone the western and holistic medicine routes and have reconstructed my teeth to hope that the holistic side of that topic changes the burning. 

Just recently I've noticed everytime I eat the burning seems to worsen. Figured it was my teeth since have a lil more work to be done but it dawned on me tonight that gluten may be the entire problem. 

My questions are:

 

1. can gluten sensitivity and or celiac cause skin to burn all over the body? It is worse some days and not so bad some days.

2. can it also cause chemical sensitivities?

3. cause feet to get hot (bottoms) and turn red and hurt when walking too much?

4. hands also turn red and swell randomly.?

 

This has been a horrible experience and unfortunatley I'm the one to figure this all out. I had a hysterectomy 5 mons prior to the burning starting and a month before a root canal and 10 days on antibiotics. I've thought it's hormones or my teeth with all the toxins involved in the mouth. If anyone can shed any light it's more than greatly appreciated. Living in torture and having many docs say "this is anxiety, take this pill" or some other diagnosis unfounded is beyond upsetting. And I have a child I'd like to appreciate to the fullest instead of being sick all the time. 

Thanks!

[IrishHeart]

One of the worst celiac symptoms I had --beginning 3 years before diagnosis--- was burning sensations in my skin.

 

It was agony. I burned from head to toe, my skin was bright red and I felt as if someone had poured liquid heat into my bloodstream.

No one could explain it to me and I saw dozens of doctors.

 

After diagnosis, the best explanation for it came from my new GI doc who agreed with me that it was a combination of excessive histamine due to mast cell dysregulation, nerve pain from vitamin deficiencies and body-wide inflammation.

 

I have only met 2 other celiacs who had this burning sensation. 

It made me cry, it was so painful.  (if I am accidentally glutened, I know because the burning comes back)

It evolved into terrible neurological complications, nerve pain, parasthesia, etc.....and you do not want that.

 

(and yes, untreated celiac can include chemical sensitivities. I had this to some degree as well)

 

Since you are still actively consuming gluten, I would have a celiac panel done ASAP.

[eers03]

I've always had stomach problems from age 12 due to advil for pain. I was diagnosed with IBS when I was a young adult and have suffered ever since. About 4 yrs ago I was told I have a severe milk allergy and took it all completly out of my diet and noticed a HUGE change. I've dealt with health issues since the birth of my daughter 5 yrs ago. About 2-3 yrs ago I was told gluten was not my friend tho I could tolerate it off and on. I omitted it for a year and then reintroduced with problems so did my best to not eat it.

Last year in august my arms started burning and started turning red at the top and where my shoulder meets the arm as well as my chest area. Then in Sept my entire body started burning it was horrible and I had no clue what to do. I had slipped and started eating dairy and gluten products and have remembered this just recently. I was told many diagnosis and had so many tests by so many different docs it's almost unbelievable. I've gone the western and holistic medicine routes and have reconstructed my teeth to hope that the holistic side of that topic changes the burning. 

Just recently I've noticed everytime I eat the burning seems to worsen. Figured it was my teeth since have a lil more work to be done but it dawned on me tonight that gluten may be the entire problem. 

My questions are:

 

1. can gluten sensitivity and or celiac cause skin to burn all over the body? It is worse some days and not so bad some days.

2. can it also cause chemical sensitivities?

3. cause feet to get hot (bottoms) and turn red and hurt when walking too much?

4. hands also turn red and swell randomly.?

 

This has been a horrible experience and unfortunatley I'm the one to figure this all out. I had a hysterectomy 5 mons prior to the burning starting and a month before a root canal and 10 days on antibiotics. I've thought it's hormones or my teeth with all the toxins involved in the mouth. If anyone can shed any light it's more than greatly appreciated. Living in torture and having many docs say "this is anxiety, take this pill" or some other diagnosis unfounded is beyond upsetting. And I have a child I'd like to appreciate to the fullest instead of being sick all the time. 

Thanks!

Get a Celiac Panel immediately.  I had burning on my face, back, chest, top of arms, and my thighs.  It was early in my diagnosis.  It was scary.  I was anxious as one could possibly be.

 

In the interim, don't take baths.  Only take showers when you need to and make sure the water is luke warm at most.  Make them quick.  When you are drying off, pat your skin lightly with a soft towel.  Do not wipe/rub yourself dry.  Only shave if you have to.  When you do shave, either after or during your shower, apply shaving oil to the area you are shaving first and then apply your shaving cream/foam on top of that.  Gels have more chemicals so I would go cream or foam.  Use a sharp blade and shave in a way that you only have to run it over any strip no more than once.  Don't shave the same area twice in a row if you don't have to.  These steps kept my skin from getting more irritated than it already was.  My skin stayed irritated for several months and these steps helped me drastically.

 

Also, I stopped drinking alcohol and soda during this time.  Your body is stressed and is probably putting off a stress hormone-which doesn't help matters.  And from what I can gather, when the liver is breaking down alcohol it can put off a byproduct in trying to break it down that can be somewhat inflammatory as well--another stress for the body.  

 

Between immune responses, stress related cortisol release, unhealthy effects of breaking down alcohol, or dairy in some instances it can really irritate nerves in our skin.

 

Mine was scary but it did finally go away.  Took months.  I had to be patient.  It was hard.  Kept me up at night, consumed my thoughts all day, and scared me in general.  If the burn makes it hard to fall asleep initially, maybe some over the counter melatonin will help you to at least fall asleep initially.

 

Drink plenty of water and go lighter on the more acidic drinks like coffee, soda, etc...

 

Someone else may have better recommendations but thats what I tried to do and it eventually went away on its own and has not flared back up since.

[IrishHeart]

EERS03

I did not know you also shared this peculiar and horrid symptom with me. Sorry you had to suffer with it also.

 

I think your thoughts about the shower are very wise. I dreaded the "rubbing" of the towel and frankly, even being touched was painful.

(and I was doing PT and massages to help my painful muscles)

 

Clothing was "prickly" and abrasive and the whole thing was a nightmare. 

Why wouldn't we all be anxious and on "high alert". Our bodies were so messed up. Adrenals pumping like mad. 

I shudder to think sometimes what we all lived with before DX.

 

 

I barely slept for 3 years. Now, I sleep through the night (actually for the first time in my life!).

 

Healing takes time, but it happens. And our bodies respond.

[mendylou]

This burning sensation is very familiar to me but I break out with DH.  Do any of you get skin breakouts after the burning sensation?  The worst places for me for the burning feeling are from elbow to elbow across the backs of my arms and across my upper back.  The other area is from the backs of my knees across my buttocks to the other knee.  Very symmetrical and very itchy, especially when I get warm.  I cannot tolerate being too warm, I immediately get the red hot burning sensation.

[IrishHeart]

This burning sensation is very familiar to me but I break out with DH.  Do any of you get skin breakouts after the burning sensation?  The worst places for me for the burning feeling are from elbow to elbow across the backs of my arms and across my upper back.  The other area is from the backs of my knees across my buttocks to the other knee.  Very symmetrical and very itchy, especially when I get warm.  I cannot tolerate being too warm, I immediately get the red hot burning sensation.

 

I asked my Doc about this once and he said it could be a "precursor" to the skin manifestation of celiac (DH)

And that the sores I got on my face, lip and scalp were not DH exactly, but "gluten sores" as he called them.

I did have red skin, itchiness and pain. Hot to the touch, but not the blisters indicative of DH.

I could not tolerate the sun or heat and that was weird because I was always out in the sun and never had a problem before I became seriously ill.

 

3 years after DX and I am in the sun all the time without any problem. (good thing--we moved to FL)

[squirmingitch]

For years before finding out he had celiac, my hubs had burning feet. The soles would burn to the extent it would keep him awake at night but they burned all the time, not just at night. He would describe it as feeling like he had walked across hot coals. Try telling a doctor that. "Here's a prescription for antidepressants". Yeh, they'll cure all the ills of the body for all people. Snort.

 

Since about 3 months after going gluten-free he has not had burning feet --- not once.

[eers03]

EERS03

I did not know you also shared this peculiar and horrid symptom with me. Sorry you had to suffer with it also.

 

I think your thoughts about the shower are very wise. I dreaded the "rubbing" of the towel and frankly, even being touched was painful.

(and I was doing PT and massages to help my painful muscles)

 

Clothing was "prickly" and abrasive and the whole thing was a nightmare. 

Why wouldn't we all be anxious and on "high alert". Our bodies were so messed up. Adrenals pumping like mad. 

I shudder to think sometimes what we all lived with before DX.

 

 

I barely slept for 3 years. Now, I sleep through the night (actually for the first time in my life!).

 

Healing takes time, but it happens. And our bodies respond.

I know, right?  Who knew?  Your follow up on this topic is appreciated.  I've recently had some spots come up that really are not noticeable at all unless I get in the shower.  Then, they become red-splotchy.  If I put NIVEA all over me before hopping in the shower it helps drastically.  Otherwise, I come out looking pretty splotchy.  It's very new to me.  We shall see how it goes this summer.  The good news is, the wind chill is below zero here.  Did I really just say that???

[kareng]

My son has this issue. He found that soaps without sulfites help a lot. He uses Open Original Shared Link. As shampoo and soap. He gets a sulfite free toothpaste as he was getting sores in his mouth, too.