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DH?

Christinafko

By Christinafko
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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Christinafko Newbie
Christinafko
Posted

Hey everyone. I'm kinda new to even knowing about DH but I was wondering if my symptoms sound like DH at all. I don't have health insurance so unless I want to pay everything out of pocket I just can't go to a Dr right now for testing. Anyway, I've had this rash on and off starting a few years ago and for a long time I thought I was just having a reaction to something topical. At first I'd go a long time between outbreaks and it was only on my right middle finger between the lower knuckles. Then about a year or so ago, it started in the exact same spot on my other hand. And now it's starting on the backs of both my elbows. The bilateral/mirroring of this rash is what brought me to DH when I googled. The rash started out as small dots that itched really bad and as it progressed on my hands it turned into all kind of rough/bumpy skin between the knuckles and I get cracks/cuts that sting and bleed too. Right now it's still the small bumps on the elbows bc that just started a few weeks ago. Today, the rash is better and not as itchy (the first day in forever that I noticed it didn't itch!)  I decided to try a gluten free diet to test if this rash is related but have only just started that this week and I've read that it can take a while for gluten-free diets to show improvement on DH. Do these symptoms sound like DH possibly? I have a couple kinda-friends that are nurses and they've just said 'it must be contact dermititis and weird that it's mirrored but eh put cortisone on it.' Cortisone helps alleviate the itching for a short time but does nothing to get rid of the rash and of course does nothing for the stinging/cuts which I've used calendula ointment or neosporin on. Thoughts? TIA!

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squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

It could be, it could not be but it seems like you're starting to get it other places now besides just on your fingers. The only way to know for sure is to get a dh biopsy. You have to make sure they take the sample on a clear area adjacent to an active lesion AND you MUST have been continually eating gluten or else you will get a false negative.

Yes, once going strict gluten-free, the dh rash takes a while to go away & never reappear. Time for this to happen varies from person to person.

Victoria1234 Experienced
Victoria1234
Posted

Welcome.

Sounds a lot like dh to me..... with a gluten-free diet it took mine almost a full year to completely clear up. Every time I had a cc issue it came back! Then every time I had a gluten issue the area would itch some but the rash itself wouldn't appear. It was weird. Anyway go get it biopsied asap and keep eating gluten until you get it done. Make sure they do it the right way! 

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