Finally A Good Doctor!

[Mother of Jibril]

I've been seeing a new dermatologist since August. I called her office yesterday because I have a rash (which pops up when I get CC) and taking a shower makes it really ITCHY. She prescribed a couple of shampoos for yeast overgrowth on my scalp... which seems to be fine... but my painfully dry skin just can't handle daily showers. I thought she might come up with a different plan.

To my surprise, she got me in right away for an appointment. After scraping my rash and checking it out under a microscope she said it's not an infection or insects. It's some kind of allergic reaction... maybe DH. And... she asked if she could do a biopsy. Yes! I should have the results within the next two weeks. I can't believe I finally found someone in this town who will take gluten issues seriously!

Incidentally, the biopsy was no big deal. They give you lidocaine to numb the area and it only takes a couple of minutes to extract the samples and put in the sutures. I didn't feel a thing.

[ravenwoodglass]

I am glad she was so prompt to see you and biopsy. I do hope she didn't do the rash itself but the skin next to it. If she biopsied the rash it will be negative even if it is DH.

[Mother of Jibril]

Yeah... I watched what she was doing She took two samples... one from a lesion (from a cluster of bumps on my arm) and one from a clear patch of skin right beside it. She even mentioned that the pathologist would be looking for "fluorescence."

I've been glutened three times in the last month. Not by eating gluten foods... by not being paranoid enough! The first time was over Thanksgiving. My husband got a turkey that turned out to be self-basting. I called the company to ask about gluten and corn and I had a sense that the person who answered the phone didn't really understand what I was asking. He was more interested in telling me how I could make gravy with the tips of the wings. The resulting constipation and rash told me I should have trusted my instincts.

Hopefully, some good will come from this.

[jerseyangel]

Hopefully, some good will come from this.

Yes! Keep us posted

[Mother of Jibril]

Well... I got my biopsy results today. The dermatologist says it's not DH, it's "acute dermatitis." Here's one definition I found when I googled it...

"An itchy rash that occurs in response to an intense inflammatory process somewhere else on the body, especially fungal infections."

I want to get a copy of the pathologist's report, but this does seem like a reasonable explanation. I hope the SCD/anti-candida diet prevents the rash from coming back

[wildwood]

Well... I got my biopsy results today. The dermatologist says it's not DH, it's "acute dermatitis." Here's one definition I found when I googled it...

"An itchy rash that occurs in response to an intense inflammatory process somewhere else on the body, especially fungal infections."

I want to get a copy of the pathologist's report, but this does seem like a reasonable explanation. I hope the SCD/anti-candida diet prevents the rash from coming back

The same thing happened to my daughter recently. She has been told for years she has psoriasis. She was dx'd celiac in August and is now following gluten free diet. Her rash became much better after a month or so on the diet. She then started taking a vitamin supplement in early November and the rash came back with a venegance. I called the manufacturer, but was told the supplement was gluten free. I took her to the dermatologist feeling this is definately celiac related. A biopsy was done and it came back as "eczema". Funny thing is, now that she is off the supplement and has not been glutened recently the rash is better again. She can always tell when she has inadvertantly ingested gluten somewhere because she will get the rash. To our surprise apparently it is not DH, but it is quite apparent whatever this rash is DH or otherwise, it is definately gluten related.

[Mother of Jibril]

Yeah... I still think my rash is food-related too. Gluten and corn cause terrible inflammation in my body! I know I also have candida overgrowth... put the two problems together and WHAM.

I have been VERY careful with food for the last three weeks. The only thing I've had at a restaurant is a cup of soy chai (which felt so risky!)... the rash is no longer itchy and has nearly disappeared.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I can't help wondering if the diagnostic criteria for DH is either inaccurate or incomplete.

They used to say that you couldn't have celiac if you weren't wasting away, and they were obviously wrong there! I bet that someday, they'll discover that all these pseudo-eczema and pseudo-psoriasis (ps ps!) rashes are actually forms of DH and that the current tests simply aren't sensitive enough, or that they work by another mechanism besides for IgA deposits.