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Itching Shins.. Dh?

ninakacz

By ninakacz
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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ninakacz Newbie
ninakacz
Posted

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to this whole thing, but just want to get this question out there.. it's driving me nuts! And doctors just think I'm crazy. I've been gluten free for about 6 months, and have had this terrible itch along my shins for a few years (since my symptoms of celiac started.) There is barely any kind of rash, only tiny little bumps when it's really bad. For some reason it gets way worse at night. Cortizone and anti-itch creams don't seem to do much. I have no idea if it's related to celiac but would love to know if anyone else has this strange condition! hellllp :)

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TrillumHunter Enthusiast
TrillumHunter
Posted

How's your b-12?

ninakacz Newbie
ninakacz
Posted
  • Author

How's your b-12?

Not sure.. should I be worried about that? I also have anemia, but I think that's gotten better with a gluten free diet.

TrillumHunter Enthusiast
TrillumHunter
Posted

Both iron and b-12 anemia will cause this kind of itching. I had this terribly for YEARS. I lived near the ocean and people told me crazy stories about sea lice. :rolleyes: But I still had it when I moved inland. It didn't resolve until I got my iron and b-12 up. I don't think it's DH--at least mine wasn't. There wasn't any real rash, just an unbearable itching on my shins only.

Work on improving your anemia and maybe try a sublingual b-12. Maybe ask for your b-12 to be checked next time you are in the drs office. Lots of folks with celiac have low b-12.

Good luck!

missy'smom Collaborator
missy'smom
Posted

My son gets eczema on his calves. No rash until he itches it, then more like tiny broken little bumps. He was a big itcher in his sleep-not during the day. Dietary elimination of gluten made it go away. Now, after allergy testing pos. for beans(amoung many other things) and doing an elimination, then re-inroduction, we discovered that beans made it come back-he got very itchy right away. Original allergy testing showed wheat reaction so that's why we initially eliminated gluten.

ninakacz Newbie
ninakacz
Posted
  • Author

thank you so much for your responses- I'll definitely get tested for that. I never thought it could be another food other than gluten contamination but that's also something I could look into. I just want it to go away!!

RoseTapper Newbie
RoseTapper
Posted

My shins (and sometimes my ankles) have itched for years! I have celiac and have been gluten free for the past 6-1/2 years, but the darned shins itch almost every evening. It's a mystery to me, too.

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climbmtwhitney Apprentice
climbmtwhitney
Posted

Count me in! I scratch my shins till they start to bleed sometimes. Like others, it's much worse in the evenings. And, it happens every day--with some days worse than others. About 2 months ago I went for skin prick testing thinking I must have a true allergy to something. Turns out I have a lot of true allergies, but an elimination diet didn't cure the itching. Darn.

I'll up my B vitamins and see if that helps.

Jillian

detoxhealing Newbie
detoxhealing
Posted

Hi - I have Dermatitis Herpetiformis too - mainly on my shins and back of my knees. It was horrible when I was eating gluten foods (before d/x) and is healing on a gluten-free diet but there's still some patches that will itch and have little bumps if I accidentally eat gluten or maltodextrin...

Some supplements that helped with the healing were zinc, selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C and lots of omega oils (I use YES Oils). For the itching, coal tar ointment helped but darkens the skin if used over a prolonged period. Also, watch out for lotions, shampoos, conditioners and body wash containing wheat germ oil or wheat protein. I use Dr. Bronner's castille soap now.

Jo

pigeonsailor Newbie
pigeonsailor
Posted

I'm a celiac who experienced the same thing. Crazy itching on my shins, right next to the bone itself, that I simply couldn't stop scratching, but no real rash.

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