Yellow Hands And Feet

[parla]

I've got a strange question:

The bottom of my feet, my palms and my armpits all have a distinctive yellow tinge to them. Has anyone else noticed something similar? Any guesses what it could be?

My feet have been like this for a few years, my hands for a few months and this is the first time that I'm noticing the skin around my armpits.

[veggienft]

I've got a strange question:

The bottom of my feet, my palms and my armpits all have a distinctive yellow tinge to them. Has anyone else noticed something similar? Any guesses what it could be?

My feet have been like this for a few years, my hands for a few months and this is the first time that I'm noticing the skin around my armpits.

Open Original Shared Link

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Jaundice is not an illness, but a medical condition in which too much bilirubin

[parla]

This is scary! I was at the doctor a bunch of times and no one has noticed this. My blood work always came back as normal. Would it be something that they would only notice if I asked for a specific test?

[veggienft]

This is scary! I was at the doctor a bunch of times and no one has noticed this. My blood work always came back as normal. Would it be something that they would only notice if I asked for a specific test?

I didn't mean to scare anybody. I'm certainly no expert. As the link says, jaundice is not a disease, but can be a symptom of disease. I think doctors would use the observation of jaundice on a patient who came to them with health complaints which a jaundice observation would help diagnose.

If you had a related complaint when you saw a doctor, and he failed to notice the jaundice, that might be a little wierd.

If your jaundice was unrelated to a diagnosis which the doctor made through other means, jaundice would be easy to miss. It would be irrelevant to your complaint.

Why don't you call a GP and talk. He/she would probably want you to come in. If nothing else, telling him your skin is yellow could bite him later if it turns out to be a symptom of something bad.

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[spunky]

It wouldn't seem to be jaundice if you've had it for years, doesn't seem like, anyway.

Look at your eyeballs...open up your eyes and compare them with your teeth... your whites of your eyes should be whiter than your teeth... if they are, then it's probably not jaundice.

AGain, as the other poster said... we're not doctors or anything... but let me say that I had yellow palms and foot soles and around my mouth for years, because of eating carrots, pumpkin, etc. I thought this was normal... but a while after I was gluten free, that stopped happening... now if I eat carrots, or pumpkins or whatever I don't get yellow in my skin like that... so??? What's it mean? I have no idea, just relating my experience in case it helps you.

Also... don't know how long you've been gluten free, but for a few weeks during my first 3 or 4 months gluten free, I turned bronzish-colored (am normally on the pinkish side)... it was in the middle of winter, and it sure was not a tan... but I kept getting compliments on that "tan," which kinda scared me a little bit because it seemed to me my liver was doing something different (still had white eyeballs) after just going gluten free and I just didn't like it... I bought Milk Thistle tablets and took them for a while to protect my liver in case it was repairing itself or something. I mean... I didn't know what it was for sure, but I just felt better to at least take the Milk Thistle.

Now it's been over 2 years and I seem to be ordinary-colors... so... as I said, I don't know how long you've been gluten free... but things could be adjusting or something. I think it's so weird that now I can eat something full of carrots, or pumpkin muffins or something and not have orange palms afterward.

But I'm pretty sure that if you feel decent, don't have dark, dark pee (almost brown for jaundice is what I hear), don't have yellow eyeballs... and it's been that way for years... and you've had bloodwork along the way and nobody's ever said anything... it's probably nothing to worry about.

[tarnalberry]

if it's palms, feet, and armpits - not mucous membranes - chances are less likely it's jaundice. too much vit A can cause the problem as well, and many other things. has your doctor completely dismissed the symptom, or did you not specifically mention the worry of that symptom itself? have you gone to another doctor about it? what has been looked into? are you on any medications that might cause this sort of side effect? exposed to anything on the job or at home that might do it?

[RiceGuy]

AGain, as the other poster said... we're not doctors or anything... but let me say that I had yellow palms and foot soles and around my mouth for years, because of eating carrots, pumpkin, etc. I thought this was normal... but a while after I was gluten free, that stopped happening... now if I eat carrots, or pumpkins or whatever I don't get yellow in my skin like that... so??? What's it mean? I have no idea, just relating my experience in case it helps you.

I noticed the same, but I knew what it was since I had stepped up my consumption of carrots. It does seem to be lessened now too, thankfully. I believe the reason is that as the gut heals, the leaky gut issue is being resolved, thus less undigested beta-carotene enters the bloodstream.

As an aside, some people have reddish urine after eating beets, which is called Open Original Shared Link.

[parla]

As an aside, some people have reddish urine after eating beets, which is called Open Original Shared Link.

I am cooking red beets for dinner tonight, so I will be pretty colorful! Thanks everyone for answering. I had a really tough day.

A little background about why I asked about this today: I've been slowly trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and at first I thought I was only allergic to wheat. For me this wasn't so bad, because I never liked pizza and am not a big fan of pasta or bread. I felt better but not great. But then after realizing the symptoms weren't completely gone I started looking for more information about celiacs. I figured it wasn't such a long shot that I could have it. Bad skin, anemia, bloated, ALWAYS hungry, brain fog, cracking joints, and when I wasn't constipated it was the other extreme ... all the symptoms were seemingly unrelated before I could attribute them to celiacs. And I was thinking I was just making it up because except for the low iron, my blood work always comes back really good.

So, my Uncle has celiac and he's been pushing me to push for tests. I'm lucky in one sense because the country I live in has free health care, but on the other hand I have to talk to the doctors and try to convince them to keep testing in a language that I am far from mastering. In 2 weeks I have an endoscopy appointment and I decided to gluten myself everyday, usually in the form of pudding, to get a diagnosis if I can.

I feel worse this week than ever before. I can't concentrate at work. BIG stomach problems, like I'm on the verge of embarassing myself And in the past 2 days my hands got much more yellow, I noticed the armpit thing and I thought my feet were almost not yellow anymore but now I look at them and I got all scared.

I am really not enjoying the pudding at all anymore, btw!

[Gerri]

Just a thought

1) liver problems - many people with celiac disease have liver problems - jaundice usually shows up yellow in whites of eyes.

I have just been diagnosed with NASH (non alcohol fatty liver disease with inflamation) - liver enzymes above average - my skin not yellow - not diagnosed yet with celiac yet - but have many symptoms

2) eating too much carrots - this has known to happen - just as beet turns urine red - too many carrots turns skin -yellow orange

Gerri

[gfpaperdoll]

You need to get tested for Hemochromatosis right away - it will kill you if you do not get treated. It is a genetic condition that causes you to have too much iron in your blood. & can make your skin yellow. The only treatment is to watch your diet & to give blood under a doctors supervision.

here is a site for info Open Original Shared Link

please take this seriously & get it checked out.

IMO, It goes along with the celiac genes. At least the only people I know that have it also have celiac in the family.

[veggienft]

First you asked if your physician should have noticed your yellow skin. Then you said you're in a country where they speak another language. It finally occurred to me that you could be in a place, or seeing a doctor where yellow skin is seldom an issue .......or at least not a standard diagnostic tool.

I checked out gfpaperdoll's Hemachromatosis. That's fascinating stuff, and it looks deadly if not treated.

I found this Hemachromatosis study of celiac patients: Open Original Shared Link

It says roughly half of celiac patients have hemachromatosis. Apparently both genetic diseases mutated in the same place, Ireland, and among the same clan, celts. Both mutations reside on the same genome. And one of the diseases, hemachromatosis, was tested through mutation rates back to the last interglacial, 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. The authors theorize the two diseases go hand in hand, the lack of iron in the grain-free Irish diet required people to retain more iron from the low-iron foods they ate.

So I second gfpaperdoll's urging to see a doctor. Seriously.

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[GravStars]

hi, i am undiagnosed and am just starting a gluten-free trial diet again even though i've suspected this for years (never went gluten-free longer than a week) but i have noticed the same yellowness to my skin. it's not drastic but there is a definite yellowish tinge around my armpits, hands and face. i first noticed this 8 years ago. my eyes are not yellow nor is my urine dark, so i don't think it's jaundice. i guess that doesn't help you but it makes me wonder again too.

[parla]

Hi again, I went to the doctor this morning and there was a sign on the door saying the office was closed cause they are on holiday. I went to a doctor down the street that was named as their substitute. I told him how I was feeling and I showed him my hands nd he said "oh that's nothing. That doesn't point to anything"

But he did take my blood. SO I'll go back tomorrow to him and go again to the normal doctor when they get back

I guess this celtic iron disease is possible, but i always have really low iron. Thanks for sending me that link, I'll read up on it tonight!

[nora-n]

I guess this celtic iron disease is possible, but i always have really low iron. Thanks for sending me that link, I'll read up on it tonight!

I am yellow too, and did ask my doctor but he dosmissed it too.

I was thinking it could be under-dosed with thyroxine (hypothyroidism causes betacarotene not being changed into vitamin A) and I had heard of hemachromatosis.

You can be somehat anemic and still have hemachromatosis.

This was discussed here in the other food intolerances folder, and someone listed the proper tests.

Of course there is the gene test for hemachromatosis too.

Open Original Shared Link but there is a lot more out there on the internet that explains how to test for it even though alightly anemic.

Sounds like one needs the transferrin and transferrin saturation tests.

(=TIBC says thehemochromatosis website) and the gene test. Thie gene test because it takes time for the disease to show up.

See also wiki Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

nora

[mommida]

There are other medical reasons for the skin to start to discolor. See your/a doctor and have a complete list of your symptoms ready. Would it be possible to find a picture of yourself before the skin color change? Are you craving any types of foods? Weight loss or gain?

[nora-n]

I keep reading.

No, TIBC is not transferrin saturation.

The latter is TS and the first is total iron bindig capacity.

Open Original Shared Link