gluten-free And Itchy Itchy Itchy!

[wendstress]

I've been gluten-free since the beginning of 2009 and feel like I've been slowly and steadily healing. I never had DH rashes before diagnosis. (Nor do I now).

Over the last 2-3 months my legs have been so itchy I am going crazy. No rash. Just itching. One time I itched so hard I caused my inner thigh to bruise.

No changes to detergents, soaps, etc.

This may not be Celiac related, but since it generally seems like everything is related to celiac disease, I thought I'd ask.

Any thoughts? Ideas?

I've also gone light on dairy, and am trying to give up caffeine. At times more successfully than others!

[mushroom]

I truly sympathize (from experience) with your itchiness. It can drive you crazy.

I am sorry to say, if my personal experience is any guide, that these itches are probably caused by one or more additional food intolerances. Since I gave up gluten almost two years ago the following food groups have caused me itching (with or without rashes): (I would identify one, only to find that there were others! -- layer upon layer of them): soy, citric acid, potatoes. With potatoes I had mostly eliminated nightshades, but then decided to have half my husband's baked potato one night and blam!! 4:00 a.m. itching. I then cut out potato starch from the gluten free flour mixes I was using, and the remaining itching went away. I had itching variously on neck, chest, upper arms, thighs abdomen, back, wrists, sometimes it seemed like everything itched.

I hope that you have only one food causing your itching. You have probably read on here to keep a food diary. The best I can advise is to cut out most of the likely itching candidates and add them back in one at a time, keeping a diary, and see how it goes. If I had done that it would not have taken me so long to figure it all out.

Good luck on achieving an itch-free body.

[VioletBlue]

I agree a food diary is the best way to figure out what is making you itch. It is most likely an allergic reaction.

In the mean time there are a couple things that worked for me. Claritan stops the itching but it takes thirty or forty minutes from the time I take it. If it's an allergy it will respond to things like Claritan and Benedryl.

There are also anti-itch creams you can use and I used a spray at one point that was heavenly. Take a look in the drug store. Benedryl makes a cream and there are others. I had a dozen or so products to choose from when I went looking.

The most drastic choice is a capsicum cream. Basically it's hot pepper, really hot pepper. It deadens the nerve endings in your skin pretty much on contact but it can also cause a burning sensation if you use too much, and you need to use gloves or some kind of applicator because it's very hard to wash off your hands. It's a last resort; though when I used it and mistakenly applied too much I came to realize I preferred the burning sensation to the itching, LOL.

[tiggsy]

I agree with everything that's been said, but one thing you said made me pause:

No changes to detergents, soaps, etc.

It's not unusual for household and hygiene products and makeup to contain gluten. My article "Open Original Shared Link" discusses this issue. You need to check everything! You may be lucky and discover that gluten is your only problem - just hidden in places you don't expect.