Is Dh Relieved With Antihistamines?

[sparklette]

Hi,

Is DH relieved with antihistamines (cetrizine etc)?

I have been getting an itchy rash that fits the description of DH but the itching rapidly dissapears on taking antihistamine tablets.

Does this mean that the rash is more likely to be an allergy type reaction than DH?

[tarnalberry]

DH takes a while to clear, and antihistamines won't do it. If it's responding to the antihistamines, it's probably not DH. (But no guarantees, of course.)

[lovegrov]

In my experience, DH doesn't respond to antihistamines. Maybe hives or an allergy of some sort?

richard

[sparklette]

Thanks!

You have confirmed my suspisions.

I am almost certain that my rash may be due to a sensitivity to histamines as I have reacted to histamine and amine rich foods with mouth ulcers and headaches.

I have a lot of symptoms of gut malabsortion and food sensitivity so I may trial eliminating gluten anyway to see if it has any effect on my health.

Thanks for the quick replies

[RoseTapper]

Okay, I'm going to take a differing point of view here. My DH developed in my early 30s, and for four years I was tortured with it. However, I noticed that when I took an anti-histamine, the itching and blistering would decrease somewhat. That led me to believe that the rash was the result of an allergy, and I eventually identified iodine as the culprit. Of course, I didn't know at the time that BOTH gluten and iodine were responsible for the DH, but I discovered that by avoiding iodine, I could control the outbreaks. However, if it hadn't been for the fact that I had a favorable reaction to anti-histamines, I would never have connected the DH to eating certain foods.

However, that said, I don't favor taking antihistamines to treat DH. If you eliminate both gluten and iodine from your diet, you should see success in reducing outbreaks.

[Doup]

I have noticed that when I take regular OTC Claratin that a break out will clear up in a couple days. I have to agree that meds aren't the best cure for this, but it does help in an emergency.