Now I'm Wondering About My Son's "eczema"

[horsesjapan]

"Another thing you may want to do is to do a image search for DH photos. DH leaves a very distinctive purplish scar that usually doesn't fade real quick, well until gluten-free anyway. Perhaps if he sees pictures that look like his rash that will encourage him to either get a skin biopsy or just go gluten-free. While the skin will hold the deposits for a long time most folks see a decrease in outbreaks within a couple of weeks gluten-free. "

Ok, so my ds has had eczema practically since he was born. Was off dairy and soy (both of us cause we were nursing) for about 18 mo, then he seemed to have eczema regardless of how careful I was with the diet, so we went off being dairy/soy free and ate whatever we wanted (nursed till he was just over 2 yrs). Fast forward to 6 years of age, I finally get a doc to IgG test him (IgE tests had come up negative the couple times they were done), and he is positive to not only dairy and soy, but also egg white, malt, and wheat. I ask if the wheat allergy could possibly be celiac, having known a celiac and understanding the gluten issue, but am assured that it is "just" a wheat allergy, no need to avoid all gluten. So we clean up his diet, and his skin is beautiful, just like a newborn babe's is supposed to be (only he's 6 lol). I decide to try spelt bread since the reading I had done seemed to lean towards it being ok for those allergic to wheat despite spelt having an even higher amt of gluten than wheat. He got a rash, not sure if it was eczema, but it blistered and took what seemed like forever to heal. He still has some scars, and it's been at leat 4 months since he had the spelt bread (probably longer, ds says 8 months). The scars are purple and I'm not sure when they might go away, they still look as bad as they did once the actual lesion healed. The lesion itself was deep, unlike his eczema that is usually very much on the surface and is itchy and flaky. He's got an outbreak of eczema right now (we let him try gelato, he hasn't had any dairy for over a year, so thought we'd try cause I can't imagine living in Italy and not being able to have gelato). Anyway, it is not the same rash as he got with the spelt. I'm not sure thought that he is 100% gluten free, we avoid wheat but I am not real good about avoiding possible cc at restaraunts. And when we moved here he did eat Taco Bell tacos because we didn't really have options and it seemed possibly the least problematic of our choices (the others being Popeye's chicken and Buger King, gotta love AAFES). Is there a way to know or would it involve glutening him bad enough to get a rxn and then hoping for a good visit with the ped? I myself am in the middle of testing for celiac, so far inconclusive, waiting on the GI referral, but my uncle has celiac and my dad, brother, sister, and I all have assorted symptoms that *could* be celiac related (I'm the only one pursuing testing though).

Nancy

IgG anti-gliadin positive

IgA anti-gliading negative

IgA anti endomysial negative

other blood tests not run

[dhd2000]

If he gets another breakout like the one with the spelt bread, you could get a skin biopsy. If that's positive for DH, he has celiac in addition to his allergies. Is it important enough to get a diagnosis that you would have him eat something with gluten? If he's already allergic to wheat and malt, the only additional things to avoid to be gluten-free are rye and regular oats. It might not be that difficult to go gluten-free anyway. My bloodwork for celiac was inconclusive, but I did get a positive skin biopsy for DH. It took a long time for my scars to heal. I've been gluten-free for nearly one year and still have a couple of scars on my knees and ankles. I"m not sure if they'll ever fade entirely.

Good luck getting answers for both you and your son!

Dee

"Another thing you may want to do is to do a image search for DH photos. DH leaves a very distinctive purplish scar that usually doesn't fade real quick, well until gluten-free anyway. Perhaps if he sees pictures that look like his rash that will encourage him to either get a skin biopsy or just go gluten-free. While the skin will hold the deposits for a long time most folks see a decrease in outbreaks within a couple of weeks gluten-free. "

Ok, so my ds has had eczema practically since he was born. Was off dairy and soy (both of us cause we were nursing) for about 18 mo, then he seemed to have eczema regardless of how careful I was with the diet, so we went off being dairy/soy free and ate whatever we wanted (nursed till he was just over 2 yrs). Fast forward to 6 years of age, I finally get a doc to IgG test him (IgE tests had come up negative the couple times they were done), and he is positive to not only dairy and soy, but also egg white, malt, and wheat. I ask if the wheat allergy could possibly be celiac, having known a celiac and understanding the gluten issue, but am assured that it is "just" a wheat allergy, no need to avoid all gluten. So we clean up his diet, and his skin is beautiful, just like a newborn babe's is supposed to be (only he's 6 lol). I decide to try spelt bread since the reading I had done seemed to lean towards it being ok for those allergic to wheat despite spelt having an even higher amt of gluten than wheat. He got a rash, not sure if it was eczema, but it blistered and took what seemed like forever to heal. He still has some scars, and it's been at leat 4 months since he had the spelt bread (probably longer, ds says 8 months). The scars are purple and I'm not sure when they might go away, they still look as bad as they did once the actual lesion healed. The lesion itself was deep, unlike his eczema that is usually very much on the surface and is itchy and flaky. He's got an outbreak of eczema right now (we let him try gelato, he hasn't had any dairy for over a year, so thought we'd try cause I can't imagine living in Italy and not being able to have gelato). Anyway, it is not the same rash as he got with the spelt. I'm not sure thought that he is 100% gluten free, we avoid wheat but I am not real good about avoiding possible cc at restaraunts. And when we moved here he did eat Taco Bell tacos because we didn't really have options and it seemed possibly the least problematic of our choices (the others being Popeye's chicken and Buger King, gotta love AAFES). Is there a way to know or would it involve glutening him bad enough to get a rxn and then hoping for a good visit with the ped? I myself am in the middle of testing for celiac, so far inconclusive, waiting on the GI referral, but my uncle has celiac and my dad, brother, sister, and I all have assorted symptoms that *could* be celiac related (I'm the only one pursuing testing though).

Nancy

IgG anti-gliadin positive

IgA anti-gliading negative

IgA anti endomysial negative

other blood tests not run

[KimmyJ]

I have DH - have for several years now, but was misdiagnosed with eczema (I had no idea about DH or Celiac). The rash you're describing sounds EXACTLY like DH. I still have my scars from the DH, but the rash itself has cleared up. I fully expect that those scars will never completely heal, although they are not quite as scary as before. Like the PP said, I guess it just is a matter of how important it is for you to get that firm diagnosis. If you really want it done, it shouldn't take much gluten to get that rash to come back and get the biopsy done. It's completely up to you, but it does sound like DH to me. GL!

[horsesjapan]

Well, he was accidentally glutened/soyed last night. I grabbed a can of enchilada sauce to put on dinner last night, forgetting that I usually dump salsa over the enchiladas and thought AFTER he'd eated that I didn't check the label (not sure why it was in my pantry, unless I"ve had it there since pre-diagnosis lol). I'll keep a watchful eye on him and see what kind of reaction he has. I don't want to intentionally feed him a huge amount of wheat or gluten. I'm thinking with the positive wheat test/rxn, malt test/rxn, barley rxn, and spelt rxn that we are looking at a gluten problem and not "just" a wheat problem. Never did try rye, and I think the rye bread they have here also has wheat flour in it. He seems ok with oats though, but I haven't ever taken them out to see if anything changes.

Thanks for the opinions. The only reason a diagnosis would be helpful is that it would make my ILs not think I'm an overprotective nut. Plus it would force me to more vigilant with cc and those scary ingredients like "natural flavors".