Unsure If This Is Dh

[honeypond]

My son Noah has often in the past scratched himself to the point of leaving bloody spots. I did not think it was a rash, I thought it was a nervous habit. Well now we are finding out that he is probably Celiac/ and lactose intolerant. So He has been Gluten Free/dairy free for about 2 months. With awesome results. I have not been extremely careful with cross contamination stuff, but all of his major symptoms (the stuff that led us to this point) are gone.

He occasionally starts scratching himself up again. And the more I look at it the more I think it might be DH and not just a nervous habit. So what do you guys think. Is he getting glutened somehow.... Is this DH or just a nervous habit???? I just keep thinking that if it was DH then it should have gone away with the diet right.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o308/ho...nd/100_7346.webp

This is the most apparent spot, and below this he has been furiously scratching at his lower back. which doesn't have any noticeable rash. He does have one bumps that look like bug bites elsewhere. One on his knee, and one on his ankle.

[Guest digmom1014]

I had something similar, and I'm not sure it is DH-I've only been gluten-free a couple of months but, I did the tried and true Neosporine (sp?) on the spot. After a week I saw a noticeable difference. It's worth a try!

[Alona]

So He has been Gluten Free/dairy free for about 2 months

From what I have read it can take 6 months to a year for the Immunoglobulin A to go away from the skin... so just because he's been gluten free, to your best of ability, for 2 months doesn't mean that the rash will be gone yet. Also, I have read posts from a lot of people with DH who say even the most minute amount of wheat during this time will break them out all over again. So he could still be getting cross contamination if you aren't really care.

My mom and Celiac and she has to have her own toaster and even own butter as to not cross contaminate with my dad's breakfast... she said you need your own section of the kitchen.

[honeypond]

Thanks Alona, I guess I am gonna have to work on my kitchen a little bit. The other problem he is having lately is mouth Ulcers, this is something he didn't have before... so I am just at a loss. I am wondering if his sensitivity is increasing as he is healing??? Anybody else experienced this.

[missy'smom]

It could be eczema caused by an allergy to food or other things. My son had it for years and I finally asked the Dr. for allergy testing. He tested positive to almost everything(around 40 things)-food and environmental. We'll be doing an elimination diet in the summer to find out exactly which one is causing it. Ds's got a lot better(but didn't go away) when I went gluten-free and started making many of his meals gluten-free. With eczema the skin is itchy but the sores don't appear until you scratch the area.

Here's a link and pictures of DH.

Open Original Shared Link

[flourgirl]

Is he getting much in the way of iodized salt? This is one of the things that makes my DH flair up. The longer I'm gluten free, the bumps and rash areas are smaller than before. We now use kosher salt, because it has no iodine added. Just a thought.

[ellen123]

I have been gluten-free for about 2 months now and all my symptoms, including DH, are much better, but not completely gone. No matter how careful I've been against accidental glutening and cross-contamination, I still seem to get one or two new itchy spots each week or so, but as Flourgirl said, they are smaller and less bothersome the longer I'm gluten-free. Mine are not all blistery, and sometimes the ones I get on my legs are really tiny -- the little scabs may just be because I scratched them before I realized what I was doing. This week, I seem to have 2 new bumps -- they look and feel like mosquito bites or spider bites, but whereas I used to get 6 or more of these at one time, now it's one on my leg and one on my arm. I find that Calamine lotion works really well to control the itching, so that's all I use. I wish I understood what triggers the new outbreaks, but still, since I'm feeling SO much better overall than before I went gluten-free, I just figure it'll take a while and maybe eventually I'll stop getting them.

[RiceGuy]

As others have stated, DH can take some time to subside. However, from what I've read, it never actually goes away completely. That is, occasional flareups can still occur.

[RoseTapper]

I feel that since I've gone gluten-free, I am more sensitive to even the smallest amounts of gluten (and iodine). I have found that if you can control the iodine (through non-iodized salt and not eating seafood), even if you have a bit of gluten contamination, there will be no DH since it takes both iodine and gluten to be present for a reaction. That's how my son controls his DH--he is extremely careful about cutting out the iodine. He can even occasionally cheat (which I don't like for him to do, but he's 21), and he won't have a DH breakout as long as he's been careful about the iodine.

[ellen123]

I feel that since I've gone gluten-free, I am more sensitive to even the smallest amounts of gluten (and iodine). I have found that if you can control the iodine (through non-iodized salt and not eating seafood), even if you have a bit of gluten contamination, there will be no DH since it takes both iodine and gluten to be present for a reaction.

Hmmm.... thanks for mentioning that. I'll have to pay closer attention to that possibility. I don't use iodized salt at home, but who knows what I'm getting elsewhere? And I haven't really thought about seafood at all. I started keeping a basic food and symptoms diary but sometimes I go for a few days without remembering to write in it. I'll have to get back to writing everything down and see if I can find any pattern related to iodine. Right now though, I have to go and find the Calamine lotion! Two new bumps and they itch like crazy!!

Ellen