Strange Rash And Blisters On Son

[brendab]

Ok, I don't know much about this rash that celiacs have but I took my son off of gluten for 6 weeks and then 5 weeks ago I allowed it back in his diet in large amounts. The only thing I noticed was an increase in his bad behavioral problems until about a week or so ago where he had a huge, round and bumpy rash that was quite swollen on his wrist. Not only that but his entire torso is covered to this day with a red, bumpy rash. Some of the bumps have light color scabs on them today, last week I noticed he had a couple of bumps on his fingers that I had mistaken for warts; today they are deflated and hardened on his skin. What is this I wonder? I cannot for the life of me think of what this may be for him.

I highly doubt it's from gluten but it was worth an ask to rule it out as I am not very experienced in this area. TIA!

[missy'smom]

My son's chronic eczema went into remission with a gluten-free diet. Initially we put him on a gluten-free diet because of that and the fact that allergy testing-both blood and skin was pos. at the time. Is his issue and allergy? celiac disease? other? We may never know. We did the dietary removal and re-introduction. Removal phase cleared up his eczema completely, skin healed and it didn't return. When gluten was reintroduced, it came back. Through further allergy testing and dietary experiments, we've found that beans seem to trigger it also. Current allergy test was neg. for wheat which supports the idea that sometimes we can ditch our food allergies by avoiding the offender long enough. As I said, I'm not sure what to label his problem at this point and he's doing so well at school this year I don't want to uset the apple cart when we've go a good thing going so for now, allery or not, proof of celiac disease or not he's staying gluten-free, at the very least so that he doesn't have to live with the eczema.

[brendab]

Thank you for your reply, I may never know what has caused this and it could also be environmental. I get sick of food issues around here, why can't we just eat whatever!

[missy'smom]

Thank you for your reply, I may never know what has caused this and it could also be environmental. I get sick of food issues around here, why can't we just eat whatever!

Yeah, those were the days...the thing that keeps me from complaining about it more is that I feel so much better without them.

Anyways, maybe some who are familiar with DH can share what they know and have experienced. I haven't dealt with DH.

You are right, it could be environmental-a chemical sensitivity, like natural rubber latex(which is in rubber bands, pencil and other erasers, balloons, some kinds of balls etc. some toys with rubbery parts, gloves in a food service or medical/dental setting. I've had unpleasant reactions to sanitary napkins and had to stop using the mainstream ones and switch to organic cotton.)Does any of that ring a bell with regards to what your son may have been exposed to around the time of the reaction? I encourage you to not give up and just accept not knowing. You may not get immediate answers but keep your radar on and keep exploring things. Consider making use of tests. I know alot of people, including allergists dismiss testing but it has helped us alot. If you decide to try one, check them out first by asking what their thoughts and proceedures are for dealing with food/other allergies that are not to the level of anaphylaxis. If you find one who believes in eliminating stuff anyways sometimes then you've found a keeper. None of my dx food allergies were severe individually, according to the tests, but I found out through elimination that the total load makes a big impact! Some of us are very prone to develop allergies to things we are exposed to often. Sometimes I think we seem to be fine and then our immune systems seem to hit an overload limit resulting in a reaction.

I wouldn't dismiss gluten easily though.

Good luck to you in sorting it out.

[brendab]

Well, the only different thing we've done/eaten is playing around with dairy and gluten. We will be going gluten-free again soon after my 2 year olds appointment soon. Now this rash is coming a bit over a month after introducing these foods back into the diet. Our detergent hasn't changed (mind you this is mostly on his chest/tummy, some on his back, a few on his arms and one larger one on one of his wrists. He had a few blisters on his hand. He said they itched but they aren't bad enough for him to scratch a lot. I'm just wracking my brain to figure this out!

[missy'smom]

What brand and kind of detergent are you using? Detergents have irritated my skin in the past. Tide is well known for being a problem to those with sensitive skin. Bath products used to bother me when I was little-Mr. Bubbble esp. powdered bath and detergents. My sister has said the now that they've further concentrated even the All-Free and Clear it causes problems for her so I stear away from the small bottles that are 3X concentrated and go for the 2X(although I preper not concentrated at all)and skimp on it. No fabric softener in the wash or dryer softener sheets used here.

Dairy causes skin issues for me, although not always immediate, sometimes it takes a few days or a certain amount of build up. Long story with me and dairy but I've had problems with it my whole life and after a few negative tests, recent test with our new "good" allergist came back pos. for casein.

[ravenwoodglass]

This sounds like it could be DH, especially since it showed up after you added gluten back in. I would take him to a derm and tell him it appeared while you were doing a gluten challenge and ask for a biopsy of the skin next to the rash to check for DH.

[brendab]

What brand and kind of detergent are you using? Detergents have irritated my skin in the past. Tide is well known for being a problem to those with sensitive skin. Bath products used to bother me when I was little-Mr. Bubbble esp. powdered bath and detergents. My sister has said the now that they've further concentrated even the All-Free and Clear it causes problems for her so I stear away from the small bottles that are 3X concentrated and go for the 2X(although I preper not concentrated at all)and skimp on it. No fabric softener in the wash or dryer softener sheets used here.

Dairy causes skin issues for me, although not always immediate, sometimes it takes a few days or a certain amount of build up. Long story with me and dairy but I've had problems with it my whole life and after a few negative tests, recent test with our new "good" allergist came back pos. for casein.

OH gosh, I cannot recall the name at this moment but it's Bio-something-er another LOL In the purple-ish box We try and use all natural stuff with no scents as we all have sensitive skin and various allergies. Nothing has changed other than the food.

This sounds like it could be DH, especially since it showed up after you added gluten back in. I would take him to a derm and tell him it appeared while you were doing a gluten challenge and ask for a biopsy of the skin next to the rash to check for DH.

The rash is almost gone; yay! I'm interested to see what would happen if we eliminated again, if the rash would arrive again? But would it take this long and still be DH? It showed up 4/5 weeks after the first day eating glutenous products.

[ravenwoodglass]

The rash is almost gone; yay! I'm interested to see what would happen if we eliminated again, if the rash would arrive again? But would it take this long and still be DH? It showed up 4/5 weeks after the first day eating glutenous products.

I'm glad the rash is going away. It could take some time for the antibodies to build up on a gluten challenge. I think it would depend on how many antibodies were there when the challenge was started.

In myself when I was first diagnosed my DH would appear within an hour of injesting gluten but after the antibodies left my skin, after a couple years gluten-free, it now takes almost a week after being CC'd for the DH to show up and even then it is just a small blister or two. No way I would do a full challenge so I don't know how long it would me take to have a bad outbreak again.

[dh mom]

Ok, I don't know much about this rash that celiacs have but I took my son off of gluten for 6 weeks and then 5 weeks ago I allowed it back in his diet in large amounts. The only thing I noticed was an increase in his bad behavioral problems until about a week or so ago where he had a huge, round and bumpy rash that was quite swollen on his wrist. Not only that but his entire torso is covered to this day with a red, bumpy rash. Some of the bumps have light color scabs on them today, last week I noticed he had a couple of bumps on his fingers that I had mistaken for warts; today they are deflated and hardened on his skin. What is this I wonder? I cannot for the life of me think of what this may be for him.

I highly doubt it's from gluten but it was worth an ask to rule it out as I am not very experienced in this area. TIA!

Hi Brenda,

Our son has dh, so unfortunately, I am very familiar with it. It's trademark locations are to start up on the elbows, the front of the knees and on the buttocks. It is extremely itchy. One of the itchiest diseases known. The blisters will appear with a clear liquid in them. After having it, it will spread across shoulders, neck, face, down the arms etc. When this rash is that extensive, it will take almost a full year to go away, because, it only goes away when the anti-bodies go down. Until that time, the doc is apt to put your son on dapson. Dapson is a medicine which is used to treat leprosy. Some people cannot toleratte Dapson as it affects their liver, (our son couldn't) So, the next step most docs do is to stick the patient on very large doses of steriods. Do NOT do this. Any doc worth their salt will tell you the big dangers of steriods. After months of everything from steroids to chemotherapy drugs, our son was finally put on sulfapyradine, which is made by Jacobus Pharmaceutica. It is an old-school drug widely used in the U.K. and pre-dates dapson. it does not have the nasty side effects of dapson, however, it is more expensive to produce. sulfa-pyridine is free. Jacobus does not market it due to the limited market for it, so your doc needs to request it. DH is diagonosed with a skin biopsy taken from NEXT TO the blister. good luck

[dh mom]

Ok, I don't know much about this rash that celiacs have but I took my son off of gluten for 6 weeks and then 5 weeks ago I allowed it back in his diet in large amounts. The only thing I noticed was an increase in his bad behavioral problems until about a week or so ago where he had a huge, round and bumpy rash that was quite swollen on his wrist. Not only that but his entire torso is covered to this day with a red, bumpy rash. Some of the bumps have light color scabs on them today, last week I noticed he had a couple of bumps on his fingers that I had mistaken for warts; today they are deflated and hardened on his skin. What is this I wonder? I cannot for the life of me think of what this may be for him.

I highly doubt it's from gluten but it was worth an ask to rule it out as I am not very experienced in this area. TIA!

Hi Brenda,

Our son has dh, so unfortunately, I am very familiar with it. It's trademark locations are to start up on the elbows, the front of the knees and on the buttocks. It is extremely itchy. One of the itchiest diseases known. The blisters will appear with a clear liquid in them. After having it, it will spread across shoulders, neck, face, down the arms etc. When this rash is that extensive, it will take almost a full year to go away, because, it only goes away when the anti-bodies go down. Until that time, the doc is apt to put your son on dapson. Dapson is a medicine which is used to treat leprosy. Some people cannot toleratte Dapson as it affects their liver, (our son couldn't) So, the next step most docs do is to stick the patient on very large doses of steriods. Do NOT do this. Any doc worth their salt will tell you the big dangers of steriods. After months of everything from steroids to chemotherapy drugs, our son was finally put on sulfapyradine, which is made by Jacobus Pharmaceutica. It is an old-school drug widely used in the U.K. and pre-dates dapson. it does not have the nasty side effects of dapson, however, it is more expensive to produce. sulfa-pyridine is free. Jacobus does not market it due to the limited market for it, so your doc needs to request it. DH is diagonosed with a skin biopsy taken from NEXT TO the blister. good luck