Itchy, Red Rash 24-48 Hours After Exposure

[laurajane]

Hi all,

This is my first post here so please bear with me. Before I go into the details of what I'm currently experiencing, I will give a brief history:

I'm 25 years old and have suffered from anxiety and obsessive worrying for as long as I can remember. I've had acne since I was about 14, and although it is mostly under control now my skin still inflames easily if I'm not careful. I have lots of hormonal problems, seemingly estrogen dominance -- I get very severe PMS, have fibrocystic breasts, mood swings, etc. After reading a lot about wheat and gluten and all the conditions it can cause, I decided to try going gluten free for a while. It has been a great experience, as my acne has cleared significantly, my mood and energy have improved, digestion is better, etc etc. When I do intentionally or unintentionally ingest wheat/gluten, I usually wake up the next day feeling like I was out all night drinking.

So this brings me to the present --

Over the weekend we had a friend from out of town staying with us. We showed him around the city which naturally meant going to lots of restaurants. In one day I consumed a cheeseburger, a grilled cheese sandwich, and part of a gyro (white flour pita). That was Saturday. Saturday night, I felt somewhat itchy and noticed I was scratching in my sleep a bit, but there was no rash. Sunday I was itchy and TOTALLY DEPRESSED, I mean really extremely down, and Monday I continued to be itchy and was breaking out in some little blotchy patches, mostly on my abdomen and back. By Tuesday (today) I have what seems to be a light, fine red rash over my abdomen (mostly left sided), and some of my mid and lower back. I feel itchy ALL OVER, but the rash seems to be localized to my torso.

There are no blisters or anything -- just a pinkness that is sort of speckly and fine. It inflames quite a bit if I scratch, which I have been avoiding doing.

I went to the doctor over my lunch break today and he said it looked fungal and prescribed an antifungal cream and antihistamines, so I'll see how that goes. I could not help but wonder, though, if it was related to all the white flour I consumed on Saturday.

Thank you so much for reading through my tale of woe and I really look forward to hearing your opinions about this rash, as it is really scaring me!!

-lj

**EDIT** -- I should add that I have never had this type of rash before, but I have read that reactions to gluten can worsen once one has basically eliminated it from one's diet. Maybe this is what's going on with me?

[Ursa Major]

Hi, and welcome to these boards. You sound like you are definitely gluten intolerant and should stay away from ALL gluten for good. No more cheeseburger, gyros or anything else with gluten!

I highly doubt that your rash is fungal. You might as well stop that antifungal cream right now. Hydrocortisone cream might do some good, though.

I believe you have hives. I used to get extreme hives like that, pretty much like one, huge, red and swollen hive that would cover my whole arms, or abdomen, that felt like pimples. The more I would scratch (because it was intensely itchy) the more it would swell and hurt as well as itch.

You can try soothing it with ice or cold chamomile tea, and then put some hydrocortisone cream on afterwards. Hopefully it will start clearing up soon.

The antihistamines might do some good. If you find they are helping you can take those until the rash improves.

I wished there weren't so many ignorant doctors out there. Apparently you saw one of those useless ones today.

[laurajane]

Hi, and welcome to these boards. You sound like you are definitely gluten intolerant and should stay away from ALL gluten for good. No more cheeseburger, gyros or anything else with gluten!

I highly doubt that your rash is fungal. You might as well stop that antifungal cream right now. Hydrocortisone cream might do some good, though.

I believe you have hives. I used to get extreme hives like that, pretty much like one, huge, red and swollen hive that would cover my whole arms, or abdomen, that felt like pimples. The more I would scratch (because it was intensely itchy) the more it would swell and hurt as well as itch.

You can try soothing it with ice or cold chamomile tea, and then put some hydrocortisone cream on afterwards. Hopefully it will start clearing up soon.

The antihistamines might do some good. If you find they are helping you can take those until the rash improves.

I wished there weren't so many ignorant doctors out there. Apparently you saw one of those useless ones today.

Hi there! Thank you so much for your reply. I took one of my prescribed antihistamines (Atarax) last night and in about an hour, the rash was almost invisible. I still itched, but less intensely. I slept like a baby (the medication knocked me out), and when I woke up this morning the rash is still present but looks less angry than it did throughout the day yesterday.

I have had hives in the past, mostly as a child, and they always appeared as large, distinct welts -- different from the subtle rash I am now dealing with. I am allergic to certain antibiotics and I was also apparently allergic to berries as a child, though I can eat them now with no problem. In highschool I broke out in hives after eating some sushi with crab in it, so I now stay away from shellfish.

I would love to think that this rash I have right now is like "modified" hives, or at least that it is purely allergic in nature -- that the gluten caused it. It really isn't raised at all, from what I can tell -- or only VERY slightly. It's just an itchy reddening (or "pinkening") that appears more concentrated in a few places. As I mentioned, my whole torso itches even though the rash is only visible in a few places.

One thing that does seem strange to me about the fungal diagnosis is that (and I could be barking up the wrong tree here), it would seem to me that an antihistamine wouldn't make a fungal infection nearly disappear to the naked eye, as mine did last night. I could be wrong about this, but it seems like maybe it's more of a histamine reaction than something happening on the surface of my skin -- ie, an infection.

Also, does it seem unusual that I would have no history of rashes associated with gluten, but that one would crop up AFTER I went mostly gluten-free and then fell off the wagon all at once?

Sorry for being so long-winded, I am trying to get to the bottom of all of this!

[Ursa Major]

You are right that a fungal infection would definitely not respond to an antihistamine. It also wouldn't suddenly appear like that. I hope you didn't bother with that anti-fungal cream.

It could have been that now you get a different reaction to gluten than you used to, or it could be a combination (maybe gluten and casein?), or something else you ate. But it looks like it is an allergic reaction for sure if it responds to antihistamines.

I used to get that type of reaction from the combination of grain and fruit (like apple sauce cake, or pineapple chicken with rice, or blueberry muffin).

Little did I know that I can't tolerate grains or most fruit, and the combination would give me a terrible reaction!

[laurajane]

I'm sorry to hear about your grain/fruit allergy! At least you were able to identify it.

My rash has moved a bit -- it was mostly on the left side of my tummy, and now it's on the right, and seems better today overall. I took a second antihistamine this morning and probably will take one more tonight at bedtime, depending on how I'm doing.

I made an appointment for tomorrow morning with a holistic doctor at a place that treats candida, celiac, hormonal imbalances, etc etc. I've never been there but they look like they're pretty tuned in, judging by their website. I expect I'll be getting a full workup including hormone testing and such, and I am definitely going to talk to them about testing for celiac and other food allergies.

I realized I was using an oatmeal soap for the past few days also -- one that actually has whole rolled oats in the soap. I've used before without problems, but who knows.

One thing that used to happen to me on a regular basis which I stupidly assumed was "normal" was that I would wake up in the morning with puffy eyes and a slightly swollen upper lip. Since going gluten free, my lip never swells anymore, except when I cheat and eat a lot of gluten.

Now I am really curious if it's celiac or just an intolerance or allergy of some sort.

[Jenm4cm]

Hi! I am also new to this forum and wanted to reply to your rash story. I had a similar rash 17 years ago and it has taken my this long ( and several doctors visits ) to finally figure it out! My rash started when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. The first sore was actually on my stomach and was quite itchy. Soon, I had several more and could not stop itching, no matter how hard I tried. After delivery, it only got worse. I insisted on seeing a doctor when my daughter was only 2 days old. This doctor diagnosed me with "scabies" and had me put an insecticide on my entire body!! This caused a severe reaction - my entire body was red like you described. I chose not to take steroids to take care of the rash and waited several months for it to subside. I was left with a rash on my elbows and knees that came and went and is AWFUL when I have it. I had 2 more children and broke out in rashes with both of them at about 8 months. Was told it was pregnancy rash and just had to deal with it. Have had several tests over the years for the weird rashes that I get - still on my elbows, knees, feet, buttocks, under my arms, hands ( strange red blisters on my fingers, does anyone have those?). I have been tested for lupus and rheumatoid arthritus. I finally gave up with doctors until last August when my dermatologist finally did a biopsy and confirmed DH. I was absolutely floored when he asked me if I ever thought about having a wheat intolerance! Wheat intolerance, who ever heard of that? I have had terrible intestinal problems for the last 5 years, been tested for just about everything, and of course nothing was wrong with me!! I also was depressed, thought I had chronic fatigue - I just coulldnt get up in the morning and was crying all day. My doctor prescribed and anti depressant which I luckily decided not to take. I cannot believe how much better I feel without gluten! It is so good to know that I'm not crazy and there is a solution to everything that I was going through! Unfortunately, it took 17 years!!

Jenny

Hi there! Thank you so much for your reply. I took one of my prescribed antihistamines (Atarax) last night and in about an hour, the rash was almost invisible. I still itched, but less intensely. I slept like a baby (the medication knocked me out), and when I woke up this morning the rash is still present but looks less angry than it did throughout the day yesterday.

I have had hives in the past, mostly as a child, and they always appeared as large, distinct welts -- different from the subtle rash I am now dealing with. I am allergic to certain antibiotics and I was also apparently allergic to berries as a child, though I can eat them now with no problem. In highschool I broke out in hives after eating some sushi with crab in it, so I now stay away from shellfish.

I would love to think that this rash I have right now is like "modified" hives, or at least that it is purely allergic in nature -- that the gluten caused it. It really isn't raised at all, from what I can tell -- or only VERY slightly. It's just an itchy reddening (or "pinkening") that appears more concentrated in a few places. As I mentioned, my whole torso itches even though the rash is only visible in a few places.

One thing that does seem strange to me about the fungal diagnosis is that (and I could be barking up the wrong tree here), it would seem to me that an antihistamine wouldn't make a fungal infection nearly disappear to the naked eye, as mine did last night. I could be wrong about this, but it seems like maybe it's more of a histamine reaction than something happening on the surface of my skin -- ie, an infection.

Also, does it seem unusual that I would have no history of rashes associated with gluten, but that one would crop up AFTER I went mostly gluten-free and then fell off the wagon all at once?

Sorry for being so long-winded, I am trying to get to the bottom of all of this!

[Amanda078]

Hi, and welcome to these boards. You sound like you are definitely gluten intolerant and should stay away from ALL gluten for good. No more cheeseburger, gyros or anything else with gluten!

I highly doubt that your rash is fungal. You might as well stop that antifungal cream right now. Hydrocortisone cream might do some good, though.

I believe you have hives. I used to get extreme hives like that, pretty much like one, huge, red and swollen hive that would cover my whole arms, or abdomen, that felt like pimples. The more I would scratch (because it was intensely itchy) the more it would swell and hurt as well as itch.

You can try soothing it with ice or cold chamomile tea, and then put some hydrocortisone cream on afterwards. Hopefully it will start clearing up soon.

The antihistamines might do some good. If you find they are helping you can take those until the rash improves.

I wished there weren't so many ignorant doctors out there. Apparently you saw one of those useless ones today.

It took me a year to find out what the rash was from with many differant diagnoses. I was completly misrable it iched like mad I thought I was going to go insane! Finally one of the PA's at my docs office suggested I see a naturopath and she put me on diet elimination and wala no gluten no rash. right now the rash is back and i have to figure out what I ate but much much better

[conniebky]

I have this patchy stuff on my left elbow. It's new, well, it's been there since February when all these other symptoms started.

Mine is really more painful than itchy. It burns like the dickens. I can't really look at it, it's in a weird spot, but it responds to NOTHING. It will heal up just with lotion but it comes back madder than ever.

I'm wondering if it's related. Does yours burn? I've never had a rash like this one.

[Deb H]

I have this patchy stuff on my left elbow. It's new, well, it's been there since February when all these other symptoms started.

Mine is really more painful than itchy. It burns like the dickens. I can't really look at it, it's in a weird spot, but it responds to NOTHING. It will heal up just with lotion but it comes back madder than ever.

I'm wondering if it's related. Does yours burn? I've never had a rash like this one.

I have the same thing on my left elbow.. It covers the whole tip.. It gets really sore, especially in a flare up..

I am really new to this with no cinfirmed diagnoses but I am positive that this is DH..

[sprawl]

I believe I have the same type of rash originally described here. It is definitely not bumpy welts or hives but just like dry and extremely itchy skin. Right now my elbows and the top of my hands are the worst but it seems to move all over. My forearms, ankles and legs get it badly as well.

Unfortunately I haven't found anything that helps get rid of it. Sticks around after taking a shower or using lotion the only thing I can do is take antihistamines and calm the itching while I'm sleeping.

It has been with me for about 3 days now, after onset being delayed a day or so from the last time I was glutened.

Also, it is not unusual at all to have a heightened sensitivity to gluten after eliminating it from your diet. I seem to get an extreme 10x version of the headaches and gut/body aches I used to get all the time before diagnosis. Other allergies or intolerances can cause the body to respond in similar ways after eliminating the irritant and being exposed to it in the future