Hives, Hives, Hives

[MissHaberdasher]

Hello, I am 21 (almost 22) and was diagnosed with Celiac disease about 3-4 months ago, in June or July (I have a horrible sense of time). Up until this diagnosis, I have been decently healthy. I mean as a child I would get sick a little more often than the other kids and had my bouts of unexplained abdominal pain, have teeth that love to be weak, and dealt with frequent gas. That's about it. I have never had an allergic reaction in my life. That is, until I started on the Gluten Free diet... I started the diet, felt better (I didn't even know I felt bad to begin with) and was completely fine. Then of course I had a relapse and doubted myself. My blood tests came up negative, so I wondered, what if I was just kidding myself?

Right.

I ate nothing but wheat and all of my favorite (old) foods for 3 days straight and had my first anaphylactic reaction. I had horrible head to toe hives, couldn't breathe, couldn't swallow, had no energy, couldn't concentrate, and it felt like all of my organs were inflamed. That was taken care of in a week or two after a regimen of prednisone and avoiding anything that even reminded me of wheat. One problem, the hives never truly went away. I would get a small spot (just one or two, sometimes more) in a random spot throughout the week. I tried to be extremely strict with my diet and that mostly helped but I would still get a small rash somewhere. I switched my laundry detergent in the hope that this would cure me. No such thing.

Now here's what's interesting... I ate wheat again 3 times over the past two weeks. My hives VANISHED for 4 days or so. Now they are back full force. What is going on? Why did they vanish after eating the thing I am supposedly allergic to? Why did it take 2 or so days for the hives to re-appear?

Thanks for reading

[Di2011]

Now here's what's interesting... I ate wheat again 3 times over the past two weeks. My hives VANISHED for 4 days or so. Now they are back full force. What is going on? Why did they vanish after eating the thing I am supposedly allergic to? Why did it take 2 or so days for the hives to re-appear?

Thanks for reading

It could be something else ?

If you keep on the gluten as possible problem then you might want to try going low iodine (iodized salt is in LOTS of processed products - including gluten-free product). Read and research DH (Dermatitis Herpetiformis). I spent many a night trawling through dermatology websites with A-Z pictures of skin disorders before I was convinced it couldn't be anything else.

"Hives": celiac/DH sufferers don't use the term. You'll notice skin issues described either specifically as DH or, those in doubt will you less descriptive terms - burning, itching, eruptions etc. I would advise that until you know what it "really" is don't use specific terms such as dermatitis or hives here or with medical staff. It can be limiting. ((Same as the if you tell be people you fell depressed it must depression-like but is it really??))

Usually with my DH (officially undiagnosed but gluten-free and iodine lessened I have had great relief) I know within minutes (20 at most) that I've had the iodine/salt intake.

If I've had a gluten intake my whole body starts to tingle first (within minutes/hour at most). Then it looks like my circulation is stopping and my skin (especially problem areas) starts to look like goose bumps with lots of red welting area. This is just the preliminary before a lot of new itches/bumps/burning etc.

If I've had no gluten but too much iodine/salt I get very itchy in my healing/scarring area but only occasionally get any new spots.

I'll remind that I'm undiagnosed so please don't go by self-diagnosis. But if you identify with hives you may have to look to many different issues. If you don't identify specifically with hives then perhaps you can describe your discomfort and skin lesion/itches etc in a more specific way??

di

[MissHaberdasher]

It could be something else ?

If you keep on the gluten as possible problem then you might want to try going low iodine (iodized salt is in LOTS of processed products - including gluten-free product). Read and research DH (Dermatitis Herpetiformis). I spent many a night trawling through dermatology websites with A-Z pictures of skin disorders before I was convinced it couldn't be anything else.

"Hives": celiac/DH sufferers don't use the term. You'll notice skin issues described either specifically as DH or, those in doubt will you less descriptive terms - burning, itching, eruptions etc. I would advise that until you know what it "really" is don't use specific terms such as dermatitis or hives here or with medical staff. It can be limiting. ((Same as the if you tell be people you fell depressed it must depression-like but is it really??))

Usually with my DH (officially undiagnosed but gluten-free and iodine lessened I have had great relief) I know within minutes (20 at most) that I've had the iodine/salt intake.

If I've had a gluten intake my whole body starts to tingle first (within minutes/hour at most). Then it looks like my circulation is stopping and my skin (especially problem areas) starts to look like goose bumps with lots of red welting area. This is just the preliminary before a lot of new itches/bumps/burning etc.

If I've had no gluten but too much iodine/salt I get very itchy in my healing/scarring area but only occasionally get any new spots.

I'll remind that I'm undiagnosed so please don't go by self-diagnosis. But if you identify with hives you may have to look to many different issues. If you don't identify specifically with hives then perhaps you can describe your discomfort and skin lesion/itches etc in a more specific way??

di

Thanks! I will have to do some research on that. I looked up DH and that actually seems pretty dead on... oy vey.

Honestly, because this whole thing is a lot of firsts for me, I have absolutely no idea about what any of this is. It itches and it isn't mosquito season? Must be hives, the only allergic reaction I know of. My stomach hurts? I must be getting sick. This is going to take a lot more work than I initially thought it would, ha.

[Takala]

If you have been diagnosed with celiac, stop eating wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, and some varieties of uncertified oats and anything made from them which contain these gluten proteins.

Celiac is an auto immune reaction, and is not the same type of body response as an allergy, altho the symptoms can mimic each other for some people. Your "hives" can be actual hives as an allergic response to almost anything (I get them when my skin touches certain plants, for example, and from certain shampoos/cosmetics with these added), but they can also be the celiac skin condition D.H., which shows up several days after eating gluten.... or it can be a combination of BOTH.

Sometimes something else strange is going on, such as people are getting flea- bitten from their pet's fleas at night and don't realize it. In the southeast, in the spring/summer, there are chiggers which are in the grass which are nearly invisible, and will bite your ankles and knees up badly if you don't shower. I have a horse which is so allergic to certain grass family plants (allergies to rye, barley, bermuda grasses which started after he recovered from a bad infection and a vaccine reaction) that if he eats the wrong hay, he responds dramatically poorly to insect bites. Keep him on what he can eat, and he's completely different, and it can be controlled with flyspray and some time in a run- in shed. The veterinarian tested him. I also tested him by applying topical tinctures of certain essential plant oils in a water mist spray, and he would welt up within minutes of some certain herbals being applied that are commonly used on horses. I've seen him welt up after another horse out of a different pasture full of nasty weeds groomed him and drooled on him. (and I've hosed him off more times than you can count....) This horse probably has done nearly as much to get me to understand how eating the wrong thing can cause a whole - body reaction, as all the research I've done.

Your blood tests will come back negative (usually, for most people who are celiac) after several months on a gluten free diet.

Taking prednisone, for even a short period of time, can drastically alter how your body responds to other things which irritate it, even after you have tapered off of it.

[Skylark]

You need to be working with an allergist. I don't understand how you lived through eating wheat three more times if you have an anaphylactic allergy to wheat. Are you sure the anaphylaxis was from wheat and not another food?

[MissHaberdasher]

You need to be working with an allergist. I don't understand how you lived through eating wheat three more times if you have an anaphylactic allergy to wheat. Are you sure the anaphylaxis was from wheat and not another food?

I'm sure. I have never been allergic to anything before. I think when I went on this "wheat binge", it was just way too much. Sure, when I ate wheat in an isolated situation after, I felt crappy for a while (still do) but it wasn't so dramatic. I assume it was because my body was finally feeling better, healing itself, cleansed from the stuff it has been trying to avoid, when BAM I hit my poor body with 2 1/2 pizzas, 3 sandwiches, crackers, pasta, chips, McDonald's, etc all in one short block of time. That's a lot for anyone to handle haha.

The most recent time I ate wheat (the incident you're talking about now), I had one breaded wing. Then two days later I had a quesadilla on a flour tortilla. The day after that, I nibbled a pretzel. Much different. I didn't react as violently per se, but then again, I've been having cramps, my stomach hurts, I didn't have an appetite for a while... It could be a thousand different reasons, but I'm the most suspicious of wheat. The only way to find out without consulting a doctor or an allergist would be to try introducing wheat into my diet again. I'm not brave enough for that, ha.

I've been considering talking to a nutritionist... I can't really afford both, and I need to learn how to balance my diet right now. I'm almost never home and eating on the go is next to impossible for me.

Sum of the story: I'm just as confused.

[Di2011]

"wheat binge":

My equivalent was going to work in a bakery. I got sicker and sicker. Then one day I started getting mosquito bites around my ankles (middle of winter and I really did feel like I was going crazy). By the end of that 6 hour shift I was covered in them! I never went back for any more shifts and 3-4 months later I feel like I am finally recovering. Not so itchy, the sharp all over body/nerve pains have stopped and the gastro/bloating etc is good most days. I have energy to burn and don't feel like staying in bed every morning.

The only way to find out without consulting a doctor or an allergist would be to try introducing wheat into my diet again. I'm not brave enough for that, ha.

Having to quit my job means I too can't afford to see specialists at the moment. I go by the theory and practice that I DO NOT have to introduce wheat etc. NOT having the glutens has made me better. One day I might use the referral I have for an alergist but my priority has been getting better so that I can get a job with having to dress like this: