Need advice for some relief!

[Kayla S]

I have been dealing with dermatitis herpetiformis as long as I can remember, as of the past 6 years I’ve been able to stay on a strict enough diet to have minimal flare ups, but recently I’ve ate gluten on accident and it has caused a horrible flare up, I’m currently on a strong dose of prednisone because I don’t have an official diagnosis and the doctor would only treat it as normal hives, does anyone have any home remedies to help with the intense itching, any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

[Scott Adams]

If you have DH you will likely also want to avoid iodine, which is common in seafoods and dairy products, as it can exacerbate symptoms in some people. This article may also be helpful as it offers various ways to relieve the itch:

 

[JD-FLA]

I am surprised that your doctor would not diagnose based on sight? I was diagnosed with dermatitis herpetiformis but the biopsy came back negative. The dermatologist said that can happen as the disease was not active at the time, but it was classic dermatitis herpetiformis in his opinion especially since I was already diagnosed with celiac several years prior to the dermatitis herpetiformis flare up. Like many on the dermatitis herpetiformis threads I suffered from itchy burning lesions on my elbows. Very painful when I was in the shower. Dermatologist prescribed dapsone gel 7.5%. There is a pill option but I wanted to first try the topical gel and it eased the burning sensation and after a few weeks got rid of the visible signs of dermatitis herpetiformis. I only use it when my dermatitis herpetiformis is active. I recently had a flare up but had the dapsone gel available and it quickly eased the itchy burning skin on both elbows (which is where I usually get dermatitis herpetiformis). I was also told to avoid iodine and of course gluten.