Question For Everyone

[itchyanus]

Is it just me or does anyone else find that when they eat anything gluten they end up having a very itchy anus? i've been searching around for a place i could ask someone, i hope you guys can help me out.

[jkr]

Is it just me or does anyone else find that when they eat anything gluten they end up having a very itchy anus? i've been searching around for a place i could ask someone, i hope you guys can help me out.

I have that same problem. I get a rash which is I think is DH. It's very itchy, like you said. Do you have a rash also?

[MissyJoy]

Yes, I am finding that this chronic problem is directly related to gluten. I am 40 years old and had been suffering with intense rectal itching since I was 12! No doctors could help. Only since going gluten free has it improved - but I still have it occasionally. I don't understand it but I know its related. There seems to be a watery discharge that causes a terrible itch. Keeping it clean and dry with witch hazel has helped, but being faithful to the diet is what helps me the most. Oh, and I don't have a rash.

[jkr]

Yes, I am finding that this chronic problem is directly related to gluten. I am 40 years old and had been suffering with intense rectal itching since I was 12! No doctors could help. Only since going gluten free has it improved - but I still have it occasionally. I don't understand it but I know its related. There seems to be a watery discharge that causes a terrible itch. Keeping it clean and dry with witch hazel has helped, but being faithful to the diet is what helps me the most. Oh, and I don't have a rash.

Are you a diagnosed celiac?

[Ahorsesoul]

I think the problem is that our digestive juices are pushed out of the body too fast when we've ingested gluten items. That why the rectal itch/burn, the juices started to eat away the skin. All of us in my family had this problem before we went gluten free. We use to carry some samples of diaper rash cream for some relief.

[MissyJoy]

Are you a diagnosed celiac?

I was not diagnosed by a doctor but after years of suffering every time I ate, I finally gave up trying to eat anything. My friends begged me to go to a nutritionist, and she thought it was Candida. I was put on the cleanse diet of only protein and high carb veggies, and began to improve. Once I began reintroducing food back into my diet after 1 1/2 years, it was obvious to me that it was the grain food group that brought all my symptoms back. I searched on the internet, and realized that I have a gluten intolerance or Celiac. It doesn't matter to me - I have gone grain free, and my symptoms are disappearing.

I didn't connect the chronic anal itching with the other symptoms until someone asked the question. I haven't really seen that as a common symptom on the websites. But now that its been brought up, the itch has pretty much stopped after being on the gluten free diet for only 3 weeks! Wow!

[MissyJoy]

I think the problem is that our digestive juices are pushed out of the body too fast when we've ingested gluten items. That why the rectal itch/burn, the juices started to eat away the skin. All of us in my family had this problem before we went gluten free. We use to carry some samples of diaper rash cream for some relief.

I agree with your theory - that would explain the watery discharge. I guess I did have more of a burning sensitve area rather that what I would call a rash. I never thought of using diaper rash cream. This is funny to me, but I used to itch so badly that I finally started putting Oral gel on it so it would be numb and not itch. I would also sit on an ice pack to freeze the nerves and not feel there. I was desperate......

[Takala]

Wet wipes.

Not just for babies.

[LadyCyclist87]

MissyJoy -- if you're like me, you might have intolerances to both gluten AND yeast products (or food with lots of sugar, sweeteners, alcohol-based prodcuts...anything that sets yeast to grow within your body). It's always a possibility... But glad to hear that you're doing a lot better now that you've gone gluten-free!!

[Mrs.Doyle]

I had been thinking about posting this, but was trying to work up the nerve, haha.... thanks for asking, now I don't feel so bizarre! And yeppers, mine seems to be related to gluten and other things that my system doesn't care for.

[Lizking531]

Well - Now that's why I like coming here, there's got to be some place to ask these questions.

I am right there with ya on that. I would describe mine as a burning sensation. I feel like it is from contact with something I expelled, as I have never had that feeling otherwise. It can be so friggin painful!

Does anyone experience what I can best describe as "ass sweats"?

When my guts are in the zone to put the hurt on me, one of the majoy signs I get is that my butt sweats intensely - not all over the cheeks, but more on the way bottom of lower back & into the rectal area. It is really embarrassing because it is not uncommon for the sweat to be so intense that it soaks thru my clothes, leaving a rather large spot that looks like I didn't make it to the bathroom in time. I've tried to pay closer attention, thoughts being that maybe I'm clenching or straining, but I can't quite figure that out