Excessive Bruising? Anemia? Low Vitamin B?

[Trish in Canada]

Hi I'm new here. I am 25 years old.

My story:

From November 05' to the end of May 06' I had a rash that would not go away. I thought it was excema. Went to the doctor 4 or 5 times. I got prescribed steriod creams, antifungal creams, and oral antibiotics, nothing worked. The rash got worse as time went on. Tryed various soaps, thinking it was a contact allergy, rash still got worse. At one point I suspected a gluten allegry so I stopped eating wheat products for two weeks, no obvious effects (the rash did not get any worse at that point though). Of course I was still eating rye bread at the time. Silly me, I didn't realize that rye contained gluten. I found that out two months later when I researched more about gluten. The rash got so bad that I had trouble sleeping, very itchy. I had stomach problems and bowel problems, but I dismissed them as stress from the rash and being itchy.

Then when my rash was at it's worst, my stepdad looked at it and said "hey that looks like hives". So I went down to the pharmacy and tried one antihistamine and it did not work. So then I tried benadryl and the hives started to go down. Then I knew I had an allergy. Every time it was time to take another dose the hives were back. So I looked at what I had been eating and narrowed it down to tea with milk, milk products, and wheat. I ate some yogurt, got a stomach ache. I ate some bread, my mouth was itchy and I felt ill. So I stopped eating wheat products and dairy around the middle of May. I went to the doctor and he agreed it was an allergy, told me to keep taking the benadryl and gave me a stronger steriod cream to help heal the rash, and told me to avoid the foods that gave me the rash. I kept taking the benadryl for another week and used the steriod cream for a month.

I immediately went gluten free + dairy free for a month. I took vitamin B supplements and calcium supplements. At the beggining of July I reintroduced dairy in small amounts. If I drink larger amounts of milk I get stomach cramps. I stopped taking vitamins at the beginning of July. My nephew had a birthday party in mid-July, they had pizza for dinner. I decided I would test to see if I could eat wheat. I ate only the pizza toppings off the pizza, not the crust. Ten minutes later I got mild hives and stomach pains, bloating, gas. So I know I'm allergic. I accidently took a bite of a cookie that I thought was gluten free (mom baked it, thought it was corn flour), then I felt sick and got mild hives.

My rash is gone. Except I still have one small bump on my hip and I still have a mild itchy rash at the back of my neck. I have hyperpigmentation (brown spots) where the rash was. I've visited the dermatitis herpeteformis u.k. site and looked at the pictures of rashes there, some of the lesions I had looked like some of the pictures there.

I have been having problems with excessive bruising. About 4 months ago I was bruising easily and then it stopped. Now in the last 2 weeks I have been bruising easily again. Mostly on my legs and arms. I have 2 bruises on my arms and about 4-5 bruises on each leg. Yesterday I was carrying home groceries and I bumped my thigh with one of the bags. I got a bump that swelled and then bruised. I have never bumped myself lightly and had it swell before. So I'm thinking that this is unusual. I'm also very tired. I have also had menstrual problems lately (unrelated to the allergy) .

Could this bruising be a sign of a vitamin deficiency or anemia? Also I went to the doctor earlier this week for another problem and asked about a referral to an allergist and was told "that if I knew I was allergic to gluten to avoid it. You don't need to be tested if you know you are allergic." This makes sense to me. Even though I know I'm allergic should I be asking for other tests? I'm guessing I should go back to the doctor about the bruising and get a blood test for iron and vitamin b levels, right? What other tests do I need? Do I need a bone density test? I went to my dentist in February and was told by the hygenist that I have unusual wearing down at the back of my top teeth where my overbite bites down. She asked if I drank excessive amounts of soda because of the fact that it keeps you from absorbing calcium, I don't drink soda. She suggested a bone density test. She talked to the dentist and the dentist said that I just needed braces because of my overbite. I got braces. I was told by the ortho-hygenist that I was getting excessive build up on my teeth 2 months after I had my teeth cleaned and some calcium deposits? i think. But I had been brushing my teeth everytime after I ate. I was told to go in for a dental cleaning every 4 months. When I went in for a cleaning at the dentist again the hygenist asked me again if i had been drinking soda, no I haven't. Are dental problems another sign of vitamin defiency? Could I have problems with my intestines and not realize it?

Thanks

Trish in Canada

[Guest Viola]

Excessive bruising can be caused by a vitamin K deficiency. If you are Celiac, you have not been absorbing enough of most vitamins and minerals. A vitamin K deficiency will also cause more bleeding than usual when you cut yourself or have your menstral cycle.

[BRUMI1968]

Hi. Please be aware of an autoimmune disorder called Thrombocytopenia Purpura. It is NOT common, however, you should make sure you don't have it.

Easy bruising

Little tiny red dots where things touch you tightly, think seatbelt, pants waist, shoes (tops of feet)

Heavy periods or more than one period or early or late period - but MORE bleeding is what you're thinking

Bleeding gums, nose, etc.

If you have all of these or any of them, you should have your platelets checked. They are the things that clot your blood. In ITP, your spleen kills your platelets, and then you can bleed to death into your spine. Granted, this is VERY RARE to die from - mostly in older folks that are unable to seek help.

When I got it, I had bruises five inches long on either sides of my elbows, that I hadn't noticed. I guess I had them from resting my elbows on the desk. And I'd had two periods. What made me call the doctor finally was that my gums would not stop bleeding.

Anyway, like I said, this is RARE...well, it is certainly not common. And I don't mean to freak you out...but it's best to be on the safe side.

Good luck.

P.S. I bruise easily all the time -- in part due to genetics -- all the women in my family do. But also think Vitamin K, iron, Vitamin C, and, I think, zinc.

[rinne]

Welcome Trish, I'm from Manitoba.

Ursula says green tea has Vitamin K in it.

I bruise easily too.

[CarlaB]

I bruise easily, too. My doc says that fair skin people tend to bruise easily, so it might not be completely because of the celiac. I don't bruise as badly as I did since going gluten-free. I remember pre-gluten-free counting 11 bruises on my arms! I didn't know where any of them came from. I use vitamin K cream. Haven't decided whether it helps or not, but I at least feel like I'm doing something to get rid of them faster!

[Nancym]

I've always been a bruiser. Some of it was food intolerances I'm sure. I think I'm better now and I have been taking supplements, especially B supplements.

One thing though, if you're allergic or sensitivie to something in dairy you shouldn't continue to consume it. You'll be keeping your body in a state of producing autoimmune stuff and it might lead to other autoimmune diseases down the line.

[Trish in Canada]

Viola:

Excessive bruising can be caused by a vitamin K deficiency. If you are Celiac, you have not been absorbing enough of most vitamins and minerals. A vitamin K deficiency will also cause more bleeding than usual when you cut yourself or have your menstral cycle.

Vitamin K, o.k. I didn't think of that. I'll have to figure out what foods have it. I think kale has vitamin K. I know kale has iron.

Hi. Please be aware of an autoimmune disorder called Thrombocytopenia Purpura. It is NOT common, however, you should make sure you don't have it.

Easy bruising

Little tiny red dots where things touch you tightly, think seatbelt, pants waist, shoes (tops of feet)

Heavy periods or more than one period or early or late period - but MORE bleeding is what you're thinking

Bleeding gums, nose, etc.

If you have all of these or any of them, you should have your platelets checked. They are the things that clot your blood. In ITP, your spleen kills your platelets, and then you can bleed to death into your spine. Granted, this is VERY RARE to die from - mostly in older folks that are unable to seek help.

When I got it, I had bruises five inches long on either sides of my elbows, that I hadn't noticed. I guess I had them from resting my elbows on the desk. And I'd had two periods. What made me call the doctor finally was that my gums would not stop bleeding.

Anyway, like I said, this is RARE...well, it is certainly not common. And I don't mean to freak you out...but it's best to be on the safe side.

Good luck.

P.S. I bruise easily all the time -- in part due to genetics -- all the women in my family do. But also think Vitamin K, iron, Vitamin C, and, I think, zinc.

hmmm... my bruises are not large. I don't have any unusual bleeding from my nose or gums. If my gums were bleeding I would notice because of my braces, I brush my teeth, like 20 times a day.

I probably should have said this before, the menstrual problems are definately not related to celiac disease. I started taking alesse (low dose bcp) 3 menstrual cycles ago. I've been spotting and having longer periods. When I went to the doctor on Monday he changed the pill to a higher dose one (tricyclen). It's very common for people to have spotting on low dose bcp pills. That was one of the reasons I thought it could be iron causing the bruising. I also stopped taking vitamin B supplements last month, so i thought that maybe I was having trouble because of that.

Now that I think about it I'm probably being overly paranoid. I've always bruised pretty easily. The thing that freaked me out was the bruise that swelled. I'm probably deficenent in something. I got a liquid iron supplement that has vitamin b in it from the health food store yesterday. I think I will take 1/2 doses everyday for awhile.

Rinne:

Welcome Trish, I'm from Manitoba.

Ursula says green tea has Vitamin K in it.

I bruise easily too.

I'm off to the store today to find vitamin k rich foods. I think I have kale in my fridge. I think I will cook that for dinner today.

CarlaB:

I bruise easily, too. My doc says that fair skin people tend to bruise easily, so it might not be completely because of the celiac. I don't bruise as badly as I did since going gluten-free. I remember pre-gluten-free counting 11 bruises on my arms! I didn't know where any of them came from. I use vitamin K cream. Haven't decided whether it helps or not, but I at least feel like I'm doing something to get rid of them faster!

I'm very fair skinned. Before I went off of gluten I bumped my arm and got a bruise that was 2-3 inches long and a bruise on my leg about 2 inches long. Had a bunch of other bruises too. I looked like I had been beaten-up, lol.

NancyM:

I've always been a bruiser. Some of it was food intolerances I'm sure. I think I'm better now and I have been taking supplements, especially B supplements.

One thing though, if you're allergic or sensitivie to something in dairy you shouldn't continue to consume it. You'll be keeping your body in a state of producing autoimmune stuff and it might lead to other autoimmune diseases down the line.

I'm going to start taking vitamin B, vitamin C, and 1/2 dose of iron daily.

When I eliminated dairy from my diet I was eating a soy cheese and that had casien in it. I had no problems digesting it. So I think it's lactose that I have a problem with. I was o.k. when I started back on dairy a month ago. But I recently started drinking skim milk and getting stomach aches and bloating. I also have been getting ear aches, a sign of milk allergies. So I think I'm going to go off milk and drink soy milk again. Hopefully my ears will improve. I've been having problems with them for years and now I figure out that it's allergies, arghhhh....

Thanks everyone!! This helped alot! Now I don't have to get icky blood tests, yuk

Trish in Canada