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Dh Diagnosis Question

MacieMay

By MacieMay
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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MacieMay Explorer
MacieMay
Posted

Hello there!

I was hoping someone could help me...

In order to diagnosis DH, I understand you need a skin biopsy but do you need to be on Gluten? Thanks!!

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scratch-n-eat Newbie
scratch-n-eat
Posted

If you weren't eating gluten, then there wouldn't be anything to biopsy. Right? If you are gluten free and having skin reactions, it can't be from gluten.

Kay DH Apprentice
Kay DH
Posted

Gluten reaction and DH are slower than they are for GI problems. As such, it is probably a good idea to be on gluten when you are getting the biopsy so that the immune response is sufficient to "ping" the positive reaction. It is especially important to get a dermatologist that is expert in DH. I've shown the rashes on my legs, back, and arms to I don't know how many doctors over the last few decades, and the most I've gotten is to use hydrocortisone on them. The rashes went away about 6 months after I went off gluten because of other symptoms. Even if your test results from biopsy around the lesions are negative, you can still be gluten intolerant or sensitive. Best wishes on your test.

Kay DH Apprentice
Kay DH
Posted

If you weren't eating gluten, then there wouldn't be anything to biopsy. Right? If you are gluten free and having skin reactions, it can't be from gluten.

Actually, it can take 1-2 years after going gluten free for the DH to clear up in some people. So, you can have the DH rashes and still be gluten free in terms of diet. It is a lot quicker to clear the gluten from a GI system than to clean the immune response from within the skin.

MacieMay Explorer
MacieMay
Posted
  • Author

OK...I guess that makes sense, because my daughters skin issues are not resolving as quickly as I had hoped after going Gluten Free. They certainly are not getting worse, like before, which is good. I'm trying to get the Derm she is seeing now to skin biopsy but he doesn't want to rush into anything. He's telling me to use the hydrocortisone (which we've actually tried months back, per recommendation of the allergist,after she tested negative for the big food allergens and oh Yah...it didn't help!!) We have an appointment for Derm @ Childrens hospital in 3 weeks, and I'm pretty sure they will want to do the biopsy right away but I'm not sure I want to keep her on Gluten until then. She is just miserable. : ( We've had a negative panel and a negative biopsy, she is almost 18 months. Im thinking the skin biopsy might be our only hope for a diagnosis. Is is possible for this not to be DH but another kind of reaction to the Gluten? And if it was... would it show on a skin biopsy?

Thanks in advance!!

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