Dh In Kids.. Have You Seen It?

[NewGFMom]

Hi there,

I have a 5 year old celiac son diagnosed through bloodwork and diet (no biopsy). He's been gluten-free since June of '07 and he's just doing great.

I have a younger daughter nearly 3 who shows no gastro symptoms similar to her brother (his main "tells" were bright green and yellow poop and stomach issues). But everybody in the family was tested so we did an IAG and TTG blood test on her 10 months ago and both were negative for celiac.

But lately she's had this nasty rash on her arms, and suddenly the front of her torso from her neck to her belly is covered in tiny dots. Some of them look like little pimples.

I took her to the ped today who thought it was scabies. I think that's pretty unlikely because I called everybody she spends time with, and nobody else has it. Scabies is HIGHLY contagious. Her family day care teacher has seen no rashes on any of the other kids. Scabies is usually between toes and fingers and her hands and feet are clear.

I made her look up DH because as the parent of one celiac, we're always on the lookout for symptoms in my youngest. She came back with a referral to a dermatologist after she read that DH is often misdiagnosed as scabies.

Her torso is not particularly itchy in spite of how awful it looks...

My daughter is on about 90% gluten free diet. She only eats gluten at daycare (3 meals per week) and if we're out to eat, (1-2x per month).

They retested her IAG and TTG today and we'll get the results next week...

I guess I'm just looking for some feedback here on DH in kids. Does your kid have DH? Does it look like hundreds of tiny dots and pimples on their tummy and forearms? Most of the pics I've seen on the 'net are such extreme cases...

Thanks in advance,

Margaret

[mimommy]

Hi there,

I have a 5 year old celiac son diagnosed through bloodwork and diet (no biopsy). He's been gluten-free since June of '07 and he's just doing great.

I have a younger daughter nearly 3 who shows no gastro symptoms similar to her brother (his main "tells" were bright green and yellow poop and stomach issues). But everybody in the family was tested so we did an IAG and TTG blood test on her 10 months ago and both were negative for celiac.

But lately she's had this nasty rash on her arms, and suddenly the front of her torso from her neck to her belly is covered in tiny dots. Some of them look like little pimples.

I took her to the ped today who thought it was scabies. I think that's pretty unlikely because I called everybody she spends time with, and nobody else has it. Scabies is HIGHLY contagious. Her family day care teacher has seen no rashes on any of the other kids. Scabies is usually between toes and fingers and her hands and feet are clear.

I made her look up DH because as the parent of one celiac, we're always on the lookout for symptoms in my youngest. She came back with a referral to a dermatologist after she read that DH is often misdiagnosed as scabies.

Her torso is not particularly itchy in spite of how awful it looks...

My daughter is on about 90% gluten free diet. She only eats gluten at daycare (3 meals per week) and if we're out to eat, (1-2x per month).

They retested her IAG and TTG today and we'll get the results next week...

I guess I'm just looking for some feedback here on DH in kids. Does your kid have DH? Does it look like hundreds of tiny dots and pimples on their tummy and forearms? Most of the pics I've seen on the 'net are such extreme cases...

Thanks in advance,

Margaret

This sounds a lot like the pimply rash my daughter has on her arms and chest. It never seems to itch for her, but I had a good look at it the other day and I suspect this may be another manifestation of her celiac, in the form of DH. She has had this bumpy rash for years, and it's getting worse as time goes by. I have only seen extreme cases in photos, too, so I didn't think it was DH until I saw a post on this forum a few days ago that had some pictures that looked like what she has. I am definitely going to ask the GI about it next visit.

Has your child spiked a fever recently? Roseola starts out with a spiking random fever, then a few days later the rash comes.

Hope your little one doesn't have DH, but have your GI look at it, as the ped. may not know what to look for.

[NewGFMom]

She's getting her 2 year old molars.. only about a year late! And that's been making her grumpy. But she's been really healthy this winter (knocking on wood). No fevers or anything.

We did the scabies medication last night, and it's significantly better this AM. But it also gets better when the heat is on less and the temp just jumped in boston about 15 degrees.

hmmmmm

[ravenwoodglass]

Rather than taking her to her GI for this rash it might be a good idea to take her to a dermatologist. They can biopsy the area next to the rash to look for the antibodies. A diagnosis of DH is a diagnosis of celiac.

[lovegrov]

I don't think that all DH looks alike, but this sounds nothing like my DH, which was incredibly itchy clear blusters (almost like burn blisters) primarily at pressure points, such as elbows, knees, buttocks, etc. DH is, quite simply, INCREDIBLY itchy. I've also heard on very few cases of DH in children. I'm sure it must happen, but virtually every case of DH I know about started in adulthood, including mine and my father's (both in our mid-20s). I can noelookback at my childhgoodnd realize that for a time I had celiac, but not DH.

richard