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Dermatitis Herpetiformis In Toddlers...


Sarawatson5665

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Sarawatson5665 Newbie

Are there Any Moms that have a toddler with dermatitis herpetiformis, If so please i would like to know more about how u noticed they had it and what tests were done to figure it out.. my daughter i believe she has it but im not so sure and the drs here kinda suck at finding it..

TY In Advance...


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nmlove Contributor

Hi there, my two year old has a suspicious rash too. His older brother (4) was recently diagnosed with celiac and now my younger one's bloodwork came back positive. I wouldn't be surprised if the rash is related. I actually thought it was eczema, as did the pediatrician. I knew nothing of dh or celiac disease. Now, I look at it differently. Both my sons had infant eczema. The oldest slowly outgrew it while the youngest did not. And, looking back, I see that it actually changed. But of course I had reasons. It was more scabby on his butt/low back because he was scratching. His diaper area was more blistery because of coming into contact with pee/poop. Sometimes he would cry because the itching was so bad but I knew how that was because I get the same thing on my feet. You could scratch to you're raw and it wouldn't stop itching. I'd dutifully put on lotion and the prescription hydrocortisone cream for it to kind of work but not really (would ease it for the night but would never make it go away). I look for this rash to disappear once he's been gluten free for awhile. At least I hope so!

As for testing, I've heard that you need a skin biopsy - of a section of clear skin next to the rash.

Sarawatson5665 Newbie

Thank you , i was scared it was going to be that, my daughter has the same issue as you desrcibed with your son, the scabbed hers go on the back of her neck her arms her legs, her diaper area is just like your sons, she cant have juice for that reason..

Thank you again so much for the input

Hi there, my two year old has a suspicious rash too. His older brother (4) was recently diagnosed with celiac and now my younger one's bloodwork came back positive. I wouldn't be surprised if the rash is related. I actually thought it was eczema, as did the pediatrician. I knew nothing of dh or celiac disease. Now, I look at it differently. Both my sons had infant eczema. The oldest slowly outgrew it while the youngest did not. And, looking back, I see that it actually changed. But of course I had reasons. It was more scabby on his butt/low back because he was scratching. His diaper area was more blistery because of coming into contact with pee/poop. Sometimes he would cry because the itching was so bad but I knew how that was because I get the same thing on my feet. You could scratch to you're raw and it wouldn't stop itching. I'd dutifully put on lotion and the prescription hydrocortisone cream for it to kind of work but not really (would ease it for the night but would never make it go away). I look for this rash to disappear once he's been gluten free for awhile. At least I hope so!

As for testing, I've heard that you need a skin biopsy - of a section of clear skin next to the rash.

  • 1 month later...
TerryK Newbie

I believe my daugher who is now 7 had dermatitis herpetiformis as a toddler. She was diagnosed at 14 months with Celiac but had huge blisters on her bottom all the time which she would then scratch & it turned into a scabby mess. The Drs. told me she didn't have it b/c children do not get it. I believe they are wrong. Now if she does get gluten by accident the first thing she gets is a rash. She now gets the rash on her bottom, back of legs, around the ankles & underarms.

Are there Any Moms that have a toddler with dermatitis herpetiformis, If so please i would like to know more about how u noticed they had it and what tests were done to figure it out.. my daughter i believe she has it but im not so sure and the drs here kinda suck at finding it..

TY In Advance...

strawberrygm Enthusiast

i am also interested in hearing the answers to this, as my 2 yr old is getting unexplained diaper rashes and my 4 yr old has been breaking out on his face. their older sister has celiac, but no skin issues thankfully. of course once one child or family member has celiac, its gonna make me think everything they get is related.. =)

we live in podunk as well, so getting diagnosed isnt easy here either.

nmlove Contributor

Hey, just wanted to follow-up from my previous post. My 2 year old's been gluten-free for 2 months and his rash is gone! I still see eczema bumps but the diaper area rash is no more. But the few times he's had gluten accidentally I can see it start to pop out again.

mommaofthreebeans Rookie

Hi everyone I feel like I am reading stories about my own baby! lol

He has extreme "eczema" on his legs arms and trunk, buthis diaper area is the only "clear" area.

Is that uncommon?


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  • 2 months later...
mommaj Newbie

This is the way that both of my babies were (for about 5 years... really severe all over except no diaper rash or eczema on diaper area). I'm still waiting for the blood test to come back on my daughter. If she's positive, of course my son will be tested too.

Hi everyone I feel like I am reading stories about my own baby! lol

He has extreme "eczema" on his legs arms and trunk, buthis diaper area is the only "clear" area.

Is that uncommon?

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