Purging after going gluten free?

[RedFacedJock]

Hello, new to the forums (go easy on me).

I was curious to find out if anybody else who has suffered from chronic skin inflammation before going gluten free had an initial severe breakout soon after going gluten free?

I ask, because about 1 week after switching to a gluten free diet, I woke up with a lot of facial redness and hard nodules on my face. It's as if all of the inflammation hidden under the several layers of skin had suddenly made it's way up to the surface all at once.

It's been just over a week since this happened and my skin is beginning to dry out and heal. I just hope this continues and there isn't more inflammation to come. As it was a real shock when it first happened.

Red

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum!

I had a small patch of DH on my right hand and as I recall the outbreaks could last for a week or two, and could flare up at different levels during that time. Given that you've only been gluten-free for a week, it is certainly possible that you still have gluten in your system that could be causing this.

That said, it is also possible that your diet isn't 100% gluten-free, and this article may be helpful:

 

[RedFacedJock]

Hey Scott,

Thanks for taking the time to respond and to provide this useful information.

My rashes are pretty much all on my face only. Covering my cheek and nose area. The hard bumps appear to be going down and I just started a topical prescription of Metronidazole to hopefully help with the rashes and overall facial redness.

Even although the skin on my face has initially gotten worse since going gluten free, on the up side, my scalp psoriasis which I've suffered from for over 25 years has nearly completely cleared up after just 3 weeks of avoiding gluten. 😀

I suspect I may also be intolerant to Soy. I've been eating a few soy containing products since switching to gluten free and they appear to be causing me similar digestive issue to gluten. After looking into it more, I've come to learn that there is a common connection between Gluten intolerance and Soy intolerance, which makes me wonder why they use soy in these gluten free products? 🤔

[Scott Adams]

Soy is technically gluten-free, but is a common allergen, as are corn and cow's milk. Perhaps keep a food diary and eliminate the main allergens one at a time, then add them back after a couple of weeks to see if you can find a connation to the face rash?

[RedFacedJock]

Admittedly I'm still consuming small amounts of cow's milk for my morning coffee. Although I have switched to Lactose free to see if that will make any kind of difference. I may just have to cut dairy out of my diet altogether. Shame really, as I love my cheddar. 

I just find it odd that they would include soy in gluten-free products when there's such a common connection between Gluten and Soy intolerance.

I just realised that my anti-histamine tablets that I was hoping would help calm down the inflammation, contain Lactose. 😓 Who comes up with these formulations? People who take anti-histamines are more likely to have intolerance's to things like Lactose. Yet the manufacturers go out of there way to include it in their product? That makes no sense to me.

[Anniehall]

On 4/23/2022 at 5:24 PM, RedFacedJock said:

Admittedly I'm still consuming small amounts of cow's milk for my morning coffee. Although I have switched to Lactose free to see if that will make any kind of difference. I may just have to cut dairy out of my diet altogether. Shame really, as I love my cheddar. 

I just find it odd that they would include soy in gluten-free products when there's such a common connection between Gluten and Soy intolerance.

I just realised that my anti-histamine tablets that I was hoping would help calm down the inflammation, contain Lactose. 😓 Who comes up with these formulations? People who take anti-histamines are more likely to have intolerance's to things like Lactose. Yet the manufacturers go out of there way to include it in their product? That makes no sense to me.

Look into gluten cross reactives. About seven months into going gluten free I started rushing and found out I react to gluten cross reactives. Not all of them but many. Also look into elimination diets to test food reactions. Elimination diet was extremely helpful to me.