So Thankful That I Stumbled On This Website

[Coco722]

Hello Everyone! I am new here and just happened to stumble on your site last week. I have been suffering with a rash for about 10 years and in those 10 years, I have been to a doctor and dermatologist. At first they test me for herpes but both of those came back negative and then over the years no one could figure out what it was. I do not get the rash often ( maybe 3-5) times a year and it is very mild but still annoying. My rash looks similar to the member that posted the other day. It is usually one red mark right above my buttocks and it always comes in the same area, either on the left or the right. The first time that I get the rash, it was after eating hot and spicy chinese food so I assumed that I was allergic to chilli peppers. Then last years, it dawned on me that I get this when I also eat something with peanuts in it( peanut butter crackers, snickers, even fried turkey that is fried in peanut oil). I can eat walnuts and pecans just not peanuts. Plus I eat lots of salt, pasta, and rice but I don't get the rash every time I eat these products. Is this normal not to get the rash all of the time when I eat these foods? The rash does not hurt. It just itches and when it starts healing, a clear to white discharge comes out if I scratch it. Lately I have tried to leave it alone so that it does not form a sore. Sometimes I put dilute clorox on it and also mouthwash since it is an antiseptic. This seems to dry to sores up. Then I put olive oil on it one it heals for the dryness.

[itchy]

Coco, I wouldn't say that this isn't DH, because there are a range of symptoms, but generally I think symtoms more typically associated with DH are: intense stinging rather than itching, bright red to purple lesions that don't heal, blisters with reddish fluid, lesions often in lines, often quite symmetrically on both sides of the body, stinging worse in the evening or certain parts of the day.

However, reading through back discussions, it would seem that people get relief from a variety of symtoms by cutting out gluten from the diet.

For a couple of years before my DH showed up in full force I had a variety of small skin issues (scaley patches, various bumps and blisters) that didn't look like full blown DH but which disappeared soon after I got really serious about eliminating gluten.

Perhaps you have a borderline DH condition, or perhaps you have something else entirely.

[rosetapper23]

I also don't know if you have DH--perhaps you should try cutting out all iodine to see if you get some relief. As for how DH appears and feels like, although my DH does indeed sting and feel really sore, the predominant feature is, indeed, horrible itching. Medical resources consistently state that the itching is a principal feature of DH. As its name implies, it is "herpes like" in that it can sting and feel painful, but the itching can be incredibly uncomfortable. The lesions generally peel repeatedly as they heal and then leave thickened, purplish scars behind that take a long time to go away.