What Is Dermatitis Herpetiformis I Need Education Please

[thumper]

Question....Are you absolutely sure that this is chicken pox? Because you are Celiac...it may be Dermatitis Herpetiformus (sp?). I thought that I had poison Ivy last fall, before my diagnosis.....except that it didn't really look or act like poison ivy, wasn't helped with the usual treatments, and lasted a loooooong time. The blisters burned, and I wanted to take my skin off because the itch was so bad. The blisters on my feet (even on the bottoms...which should have been a clue that it wasn't P.I), bled under the skin and eventually scabbed...pretty nasty...esp. since my job had me on my feet 12 hrs a day.

Anyway......you may want to be sure just what it is you have before you treat it. Derm. Hep. is a skin form of Celiac......you may be getting glutened.

No actually I am not for sure it is chicken pox but it sure looks like it but what you just discribed sounds like it too... I know that when my children (all 4) had chicken pox I never got them and they had them really bad in fact I was still nursing my youngest (he was about 9 months) when they had them and I never got them... that was about 19 yrs ago. Then Erik got shingles and I never got them from that either and the doc told me at that time I must have a natural amunity (sp?) to them.

I would go to the doc but right now my husband has just started a new job (YEAH!!!) and his insurance hasn't started yet, not till April.... So I am playing doc myself right now... ugh.

What is dermatitis herpetiformis (sp?) I never heard of that before.

I hate to admit it but you hit it on the head going around one's house scratching your behind isn't very atractive but like you said I itch ALL OVER and the blisters do burn !

So if it is this what is it and how do I get rid of it ?? What did you do ??

I think I know what a dog feels like w/ fleas....lol.... So if not the chicken pox and possibly dermatitis herpetiformis (sp?) can someone educate me ??

Thumper

[missy'smom]

I hope this link will be helpful.

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[flourgirl]

A doctor can take a biopsy of your skin near the lesions to verify dermatitis herpetiformis, but you can find info online (try Mayo clinic or webmd). It's said that it occurs mainly near elbows, knees, but people can and do get it everywhere (and I mean everywhere!) It IS caused by gluten...it is a skin form of Celiac Disease. You may get some relief with bath soaks (I was using oatmeal soak, but I didn't know I was Celiac, and I'm not sure if it hurts to use it), and you may try Calamine...there's a clear one available now so it doesn't look so obvious. It helped ease my itch a little.....but only a little. Without a gluten free diet, it may not go away. A Dr. may perscribe Dapsone, to supress the itch. BUT I understand that some of the side effects are like sick symptoms of Celiac. DO NOT use steroids for relief, because high doses are needed to ease the inflammatory response, and that can aggravate bone loss.....which you already may be dealing with because of Celiac.

I got a lot of this info. in CELIAC DISEASE...A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC by Peter Green, MD (director of Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University).....great book for info, by the way.

Hope this helps a little. DH in anything but fun to deal with. Hope you find relief very quickly. People who've had this, not knowing about Celiac Disease, have had to suffer with this for years (ouch!)