Itchy, Crawling Skin, No Rash

[Oneloved]

My daughter is 7 and has been complaining of itchy skin, especially at night, for several months.   Occasionally she says it feels like something is crawling on her.  She is extremely sensitive to cross contamination, but up until now her symptoms have been mostly IBS.  

We've tried everything we can think of.   We rewashed all of her clothes and sheets in dye-free, fragrance free detergent.  We switched shampoos and conditioners.  We cleaned the air ducts and checked for mold.   We've slathered her with coconut oil in case of dry skin.   

We had her checked for more food intolerances, and her IGg test came back positive for dairy and almonds, so we've eliminated those in addition to gluten and oats, but it hasn't helped the itching.  

We're giving her calcium & magnesium at night, along with some Benadryl to help relieve the symptoms, but it only seems to make her drowsy, not truly give relief.   

Her pediatrician ordered blood tests to check her liver, kidneys, and thyroid, but it all came back normal, apart from a slightly low white blood cell count.   We're supplementing her with folate and gluten-free food-based iron because she frequently complains of fatigue.   A blood panel on common food and environmental allergens (IGe) came up with no allergies.  

This is so frustrating.   Every night she cries that she's itchy and can't get comfortable, and we're no closer to finding answers and getting her relief than we were at the beginning.   

[marren27]

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's skin causing her pain. If you haven't yet, take her to a dermatologist, it could be something like eczema. I get itchy skin from gluten but no rash, and my sister, who does not have Celiac does have eczema and it causes her skin to hurt very badly and itch when she doesn't treat it with special ointment and cream. It could be a type of dermatitis too. Her's would flare up really bad when she was a baby and had an egg allergy. 

[cyclinglady]

How long has she been gluten free?  It can take time for nerves to heal from celiac disease damage.  When was the last time her antibodies were tested?  Often they are tested at 3 to 6 months and then annually to help check for dietary compliance (and to look for a downward trend).   And let's face it, the gluten-free diet has a steep learning curve.  

Open Original Shared Link

i hope she finds relief soon.