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Poison Oak?

placentamom

By placentamom
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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placentamom Newbie
placentamom
Posted

Last summer I had this terrible rash. I went to numerous docs who said it was poison oak (although I didn't go anywhere near any!--but maybe my dog did?) or a drug allergy, or just a general "I dunno--here have some drugs". I got to thinking that since my mother and my sister have celiac, that maybe I have it, too. Looked up "celiac rash" on google and found DH. Okay, so I've been gluten-free for a few months (and rather than taking anti-biotics, since I'm allergic to pretty much all of them, I went the Chinese herbs way) and I have been pretty rashless up until now.

I started to have a rash a couple of weeks ago, and now it's just gone hog-wild. I realized that I had eaten bacon with wheat-containing soy sauce as a flavoring. Who puts soy sauce in bacon? Are they trying to make health-food bacon? Sheesh...

Anyway, the rash IS NOT mirroring. It is crusty and blistery and oozy. Again, there's a possibility that it's poison oak, just because, well, I have a dog, and he sometimes goes in the hills with a friend of mine. I'm going to a Western doc today to see about, at bare minimum, getting some testing done for DH.

Anyone have DH misdiagnosed as poison oak?

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Canadian Karen Community Regular
Canadian Karen
Posted

Hi!

I don't have the DH problem (many, many others, but thank God, not DH). I just wanted to post to warn other posters that if they are visiting your website with the speakers on, don't have children around. I had my twin 4 yr old boys here at the desk with me when I visited, had to hit the "X" button pretty quick!!! ;)

Karen

placentamom Newbie
placentamom
Posted
  • Author

Sorry about that--I'm not the webmaster for the site, that's a new "feature".

Canadian Karen Community Regular
Canadian Karen
Posted

That's okay, no problem! When you mentioned AC/DC, I just had to check it out (12 yr old daughter is a HUGE AC/DC fan!!)

Karen

VydorScope Proficient
VydorScope
Posted
Anyway, the rash IS NOT mirroring. It is crusty and blistery and oozy. Again, there's a possibility that it's poison oak, just because, well, I have a dog, and he sometimes goes in the hills with a friend of mine. I'm going to a Western doc today to see about, at bare minimum, getting some testing done for DH.

Anyone have DH misdiagnosed as poison oak?

Where do you live? Is posion oak even in bloom right now?

frenchiemama Collaborator
frenchiemama
Posted

What color is the "crust"? Is it kind of a golden/honey yellow color? If so, you may have impetigo. That is something that I have gotten from time to time due to my other skin conditions. It spreads like crazy, itches, and has a yellowish oozy crust on the sores.

  • 4 weeks later...
ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
Last summer I had this terrible rash. I went to numerous docs who said it was poison oak (although I didn't go anywhere near any!--but maybe my dog did?) or a drug allergy, or just a general "I dunno--here have some drugs". I got to thinking that since my mother and my sister have celiac, that maybe I have it, too. Looked up "celiac rash" on google and found DH. Okay, so I've been gluten-free for a few months (and rather than taking anti-biotics, since I'm allergic to pretty much all of them, I went the Chinese herbs way) and I have been pretty rashless up until now.

I started to have a rash a couple of weeks ago, and now it's just gone hog-wild. I realized that I had eaten bacon with wheat-containing soy sauce as a flavoring. Who puts soy sauce in bacon? Are they trying to make health-food bacon? Sheesh...

Anyway, the rash IS NOT mirroring. It is crusty and blistery and oozy. Again, there's a possibility that it's poison oak, just because, well, I have a dog, and he sometimes goes in the hills with a friend of mine. I'm going to a Western doc today to see about, at bare minimum, getting some testing done for DH.

Anyone have DH misdiagnosed as poison oak?

Yep, only it was poison ivy - for 45 years off and on. I would be broken out for most of year. Had to take incrediblly painful shots for it as a child 'cause they said it was 'in my bloodstream' yea right. The one time we figure I really did get poison ivy it was on top of the DH sores. I was a real oozy mess for a long time. My rashes only mirrored in the beginning, now I get very isolated spots. You should ask them to biopsy the area adjecent to the rash to look for DH so you know for sure.

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