Acne breakout

[Jimmy2014]

My son was diagnosed in January with Celiac disease. he has come along way since then as he is also autistic. My question is since he had a very low iron level he was put on a iron pill to take daily and since then he has broke out all over his back and neck with red acne pimples. He always had clean clear skin up till now. Any one else encounter this? Thanks,,Jim

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @Jimmy2014!

May we presume your son is also now observing a gluten-free diet? How old is he? Did the iron supplementation begin about the same time as going gluten free?

[Jimmy2014]

He is 28. Started eating gluten free as soon as he got home from the hospital and was put on Feramax 150,, he was also taking B12 and calcium pills for about 2 months after he got home in January from the hospital, but only now taking the iron pill once a day for the last month or so.

[trents]

The reason I'm asking about this is the thought that the introduction of the iron supplement is not the only nutrient change his body is undergoing. The healing of the villous lining of the small bowel since going gluten free is allowing his digestive track to absorb all kinds of nutrients more efficiently than it was before. Have you had his iron levels checked more recently? Is the Feramax working? I have been participating for many years on this forum and have not run across this issue with acne and iron supplementation before.

[Jimmy2014]

Thanks,,, yes his level was 6.5 when he went in the hospital, it has gone up but they gave him a transfusion. The damage  was done so it wont heal i assume. Hes good with the gluten free food, as a matter of fact he put on 20 well needed pounds. Every 3 months he goes for blood work.  He is a real trooper with this situation, he handles it better than i would. I faint at the sight of needles.

[trents]

If you refer to the damage done to the villous lining of the small bowel, yes, it should heal with time and consistent gluten free eating. The damage done to the villous lining is caused by the inflammatory response to gluten caused by the immune system mistakenly interpreting it as an invader. Once you remove the gluten, the inflammation subsides and the villous lining begins to rebuild. This villous lining is where essentially all of our nutrition is absorbed so the damage to it done by celiac disease inflammation can reduce significantly the efficiency of nutrient absorption. The inflammation wears down the millions of tiny finger-like projections that make up the lining and greatly reduces the surface area. But, as I said, this should undergo repair in response to a gluten free diet. Vitamin B12 is necessary for the absorption of iron from our diet so there is a double whammy there of both B12 and iron absorption being compromised by celiac disease before going gluten free. Some people have a type of anemia called pernicious anemia in which the parietal cells of the stomach die off and they can't absorb B12 but that is another issue.

Does your son live at home with you and is there consistency in his gluten free diet? How profoundly does his autism affect his ability to function normally in life? Recently, my 38 year old daughter has diagnosed herself with autism but she is high functioning and has "masked" well until recent times. Now, she has begun to develop many mental health issues in connection with all that.

[Jimmy2014]

Yes he lives at home, he is high functioning as well. He is very strict about eating only gluten free. Has 2 jobs, a atv and a snowmachine. And is musically gifted on the keyboard. Your daughter has autism, does she have Celiac dease as well? Thanks for the great input above which i will show my wife as she is a nurse and can understand your words better than me. 

[trents]

No, my daughter does not have celiac disease. I am the one in the family with celiac disease. My daughter is adopted so I didn't pass those genes onto her.

The fact that your son has packed on 20 lbs. since his diagnosis and going gluten free is a good indicator that his gut is healing. It can take a couple of years or more for full rebound of the villous lining of the small bowel.

[Jimmy2014]

Oh,, I didnt know it was a hereditary thing? How old were you when you found out you had it? How do you know you did? My son never said anything was wrong, but was always having naps. He is very active so we never thought anything about it. Before he went to the hospital he was having diareha lots so thats when we found out after blood work was done on him. 

[trents]

Celiac disease does have a hereditary component but it is not as strong as with many other health conditions. There are two primary genes associated with celiac disease: HLDQ2 and HLDQ8. Having either of these genes or both presents the potential for developing celiac disease. About 40% of the population has one or both of these genes but only 1-1.5% of the population ever develops active celiac disease. In addition to having the genetic potential, it also takes some kind of triggering biological stress event to "turn on" the genes and that's why most who have the genes don't develop celiac disease. The genes remain inactive because they haven't been triggered yet. The stress event can be many things but often it is some kind of viral infection.

Older studies found that about 10% of the first degree relatives (siblings, parents, offspring) of those with celiac disease develop celiac disease themselves. A couple of more recent and large studies (one done by the Mayo Clinic) found that over 40% of the first degree relatives of those with celiac disease had celiac disease themselves when tested by biopsy, though most of them were asymptomatic. So, there is a significant disparity in what the studies tell us about the likelihood of those closely related to a celiac of having celiac disease themselves. The thing that muddies the waters in all this is that many celiacs are of the "silent" type. That is, they are asymptomatic, relatively so, until the damage to the small bowel lining becomes advanced and that can take years. So, by the time they realize they have a problem and begin to get it looked into there is already a lot of damage done and likely a number of associated health problems have set in already. The big idea here then is that first degree relatives of those with celiac disease need to be on the alert and seek testing at the first signs of problems that could indicate active celiac disease.

Edited July 21, 2024 by trents

[Jimmy2014]

Wow, thank you very much for all the information you have shared. It has been a pleasure chatting with you and hope we can talk again. Cant wait until my wife reads your information, have to sign off now, thanks and enjoy your weekend,,Jim.

[trents]

Until later, Jim. You have a great weekend as well.

[Scott Adams]

I'm not sure if this was covered already, but be sure that his iron pill is gluten-free, as well as any other meds or supplements.

You can search this site for prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication:

To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area.

• https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/ 

 

[Jimmy2014]

Wifes checking right now.. Thanks Scott,,

[trents]

It might be a good time to throw this article in as it covers a lot of unexpected sources of gluten exposure: 

 

[knitty kitty]

@Jimmy2014,

I looked up the ingredients in the iron formulation your son is taking.  It contains carrageenan, derived from seaweed. 

I have had a problem with carrageenan in iron supplements and processed gluten free foods to enhance texture.  Due to the high iodine content, carrageenan causes Dermatitis Herpetiformis outbreaks.  Dermatitis Herpetiformis is the skin manifestation of Celiac Disease.  

Dermatitis Herpetiformis can resemble acne.  Dermatitis Herpetiformis is diagnosed with a biopsy near but not on a lesion.  Or, more simply, see if the outbreak clears without that particular iron supplement.  

Hope this helps!

Keep us posted on your progress!

Edited July 22, 2024 by knitty kitty
Typo correction

[Jimmy2014]

His iron was 5 when diagnosed, it was 8 after his iron transfusions, a few months later it went down to 5 again and thats when he started on FeraMax. The acne started after he was put on B12 and Calcium, that was in January. Since then his levels are now good so the B12 and Calcium was stopped. Probably has been about 1month since they were stopped. From what I researched, B12 and Calcium supplements can cause acne as well.