Raynaud's; Skin Changes (Dry, Etc)

[Celiacandme]

I was just curious how many of us have raynaud's with celiac disease? It seems to be fairly common, right? My raynaud's actually starting simultaneously with my celiac diagnosis and going gluten free. Is your raynaud's a result of your celiac diagnosis or do you also have additional autoimmune disorders? (I've been diagnosed with two additional rheumatology autoimmune diseases)

 

Also - skin - I know we all have dry skin, especially in the winter, but did you have any skin changes (that aren't the dh rash) with celiac disease? My skin gets very dry and scaly. The onset also correlated with my celiac diagnosis and cutting out gluten. I sometimes wonder how much of this might be related to celiac disease or if it is just to do with other autoimmune diseases. Curious to hear if others have this and if it improved the longer you were gluten free.

 

I've officially been completely gluten free since November 2013.

 

~Julie

[nvsmom]

I don't have Raynaud's but I did have the very dry, scaly skin (especially on my legs).  The dryness was caused by hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's), and once I was adequately treated (which took close to a year) the dryness disappeared quite suddenly.

 

If you want to check for Hashi's, ask for the TSH (should be near a 1), free T4 and free T3 (should be in the 50-75% range of the lab's normal reference range), and TPO Ab.

 

I'm sure you'll hear from others. There are a few with Raynaud's around here.  Best wishes.

[Gemini]

Hi Julie,

     Reynaud's and Sjogren's and Hashi's, oh my!     My skin is dry but with these 3 issues, I am basically f--ked and just deal with it as best I can. 

 

The only place I have an annoying problem with it is my face.  Not too much scaley going on, but dry.  I sample and use good, and unfortunately expensive, facial creams but I find they work the best.  I tried Cerave and some other drugstore brands that docs like to reference but they did little to nothing, compared to some of the ones I use now.  I also am postmenopausal so that tends to make your skin change and become drier, and I have noticed that the longer I am on the "other side", it really doesn't get any better, but it is manageable.

 

The past 6 months or so I have had an area of rashy red on my face (cheeks) that comes and goes and responds to cortisone cream (OTC).  This arctic air we are having is not helping matters any, either.  But the interesting thing is that when I went on my vacation to England last October, it completely cleared up on its own and did not return until I flew back to the States and was home for about a week.  So......I believe it is allergy related and probably environmental because I actually ate more variety of foods in England than I did here, like dairy, which I normally do not tolerate well in the States, and I had no rash.  I have not gone to any medical people because all they are going to do is give me a steroid cream and I find the OTC stuff works well enough. It will have to get a lot worse before I involve them.  I think that having all 3 disorders combine to make this my reality.  You are younger and still have your hormones so there is more hope for you than for me.  I feel like I am fighting a losing battle, at times, but I refuse to give in.  Others have worse problems so if my maintenance routine increases because of physical problems, I just deal with it because there isn't much more I can do. I have been gluten-free for 10 years in April but I am 10 years older and 10 years into menopause so my skin will become drier. That's why I love cleanser and moisturizer samples!  Gives you an opportunity to find something that will work pretty good for dry skin!

 

I think you should remain optimistic about this as you are still fairly new to gluten free and you need more time for everything to wind down.

And I am sure you are getting tired of hearing that too but it really can take 2-4 years of gluten free before the body really responds with symptom reduction.

[mamaw]

I have  raynauld's , celiac, dry eyes   plus  hypo /hyper  thyroid  after  Rai.... plus  grave's.... I  haven't  seen  much improvement  with  skin   except  rosacea has improved  since  twelve years  of  strictly being gluten-free...

[CajunChic]

I have raynauds, too. I used to have oily skin and scalp and when we believe my celiac was "activated" my skin and scalp became very dry. Neither have changed gluten-free.

[Celiacandme]

Thanks, Nicole. I'll have to see what my thyroid results were. If I remember correctly they were in range but at the higher end of in range. It is probably almost time to check again.

 

Lisa, That is interesting about your skin clearing in England! Not tired of hearing that at all. The fact that it takes so long gives reason to remain hopeful.

 

Thanks for all the responses!