Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

How Does Dh Look Different From Excema?

Mrs. M.

By Mrs. M.
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Recommended Posts

Mrs. M. Apprentice
Mrs. M.
Posted

I was diagnosed with celiac disease a couple weeks ago. I have been reading about this condition and trying to figure out whether my 8-year old daughter might have it too. She has frequent stomach aches and also has a very itchy rash on her elbows and knees. She has complained of itchy knees for the past year. The rash is red and bumpy. I have always thought it was excema. Could it be DH? How can you tell? Is there a specific distinguishing appearance to DH?

Thanks for any advice.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


zippitty5 Newbie
zippitty5
Posted

I was diagnosed with celiac disease a couple weeks ago. I have been reading about this condition and trying to figure out whether my 8-year old daughter might have it too. She has frequent stomach aches and also has a very itchy rash on her elbows and knees. She has complained of itchy knees for the past year. The rash is red and bumpy. I have always thought it was excema. Could it be DH? How can you tell? Is there a specific distinguishing appearance to DH?

Thanks for any advice.

Sounds like a classic case of DH

Symptoms

Symptoms of dermatitis herpetiformis include:

zippitty5 Newbie
zippitty5
Posted

I feel for you and your young daughter. Get her tested.

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

It isn't always symmetrical, but red, itchy, bumpy and over the joint areas make her rash sound very consistent with DH.

They should be able to biopsy it next to the rash, but the biopsy isn't always positive even if it is DH.

You could try avoiding gluten and see if she improves, but it takes very strict avoidance of gluten and cross contamination too. So you wouldn't want to take the burger off the bun for example.

Some people have to limit iodine. Thyca.com can tell you how.

My son healed without limiting iodine, but I did not.

There are sites with pictures, but some of them are so severe that you can miss that you have a milder form. DH has many presentations from the descriptions here, but the one you gave is a "classic" DH rash description.

Best of luck to you both.

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

I agree with zippity & eatmeat.

Rushmore Newbie
Rushmore
Posted

I was just going to ask the same thing. One dr told me it was Dh and told me he thought I had celiac. He was a dr at a walk in clinic. So then I went to another dr and she said it was excema.(sp). I have had this rash for about 10 months on my lower right leg now two above my knee and some on my arm. My stomach problems are still present. The same dr told me it was thyroid along with excema. I guess now I have my mind set that I have celiac since my thyroid test came back just fine. Do you think it is Dh?

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Here is one test to find out if it is allergy related. If you take say Benadryl or an antihistamine & the rash goes away then it is not dh. Although antihistamines may give some relief from the itching of dh they will not make the dh go away.

DH is the itchiest thing you've ever known. It is relentless. I do believe a person could literally go insane from the itching of it. If dh could be bottled it could easily be used to torture ANYONE into telling state secrets. It could be used as torture on prisoners of war.

Could you post some photos of it?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Ryniev Apprentice
Ryniev
Posted

Here is one test to find out if it is allergy related. If you take say Benadryl or an antihistamine & the rash goes away then it is not dh. Although antihistamines may give some relief from the itching of dh they will not make the dh go away.

DH is the itchiest thing you've ever known. It is relentless. I do believe a person could literally go insane from the itching of it. If dh could be bottled it could easily be used to torture ANYONE into telling state secrets. It could be used as torture on prisoners of war.

Could you post some photos of it?

That's how they suspected what mine was. After going through benedryl, allegra (I was already taking Zyrtec for other allergies) they gave me a drug called Hydroxyzine that was supposed to help me "sleep through the itchiness" all it did was keep me awake still itchy and sedated. Also two rounds of prednisone which did NOTHING either. Steroid creams too.

I've had eczema all my life and this is much, much worse. I think after 2.5 weeks I've started to feel a little relief. I've been so tired the last 7 months, I feel like I've aged 5 years.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. trents
      - trents replied to Paulaannefthimiou's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      1

      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      Not necessarily. The "Gluten Free" label means not more than 20ppm of gluten in the product which is often not enough for super sensitive celiacs. You would need to be looking for "Certified Gluten Free" (GFCO endorsed) which means no more than 10ppm of gluten. Having said that, "Gluten Free" doesn't mean that there will necessarily be more gluten than "Certified...
    2. trents
      - trents replied to jenniber's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      10

      Disaccharide deficient, confusing biopsy results, no blood test

      I think it is wise to seek a second opinion from a GI doc and to go on a gluten free diet in the meantime. The GI doc may look at all the evidence, including the biopsy report, and conclude you don't need anything else to reach a dx of celiac disease and so, there would be no need for a gluten challenge. But if the GI doc does want to do more testing, you...
    3. Paulaannefthimiou
      - Paulaannefthimiou posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      1

      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      Are Bobresmill gluten free oats ok for sensitive celiacs?
    4. jenniber
      - jenniber replied to jenniber's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      10

      Disaccharide deficient, confusing biopsy results, no blood test

      thank you both for the insights. i agree, im going to back off on dairy and try sucraid. thanks for the tip about protein powder, i will look for whey protein powder/drinks! i don’t understand why my doctor refused to order it either. so i’ve decided i’m not going to her again, and i’m going to get a second opinion with a GI recommended to me b...
    5. trents
      - trents replied to SamAlvi's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      Let me suggest an adjustment to your terminology. "Celiac disease" and "gluten intolerance" are the same. The other gluten disorder you refer to is NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which is often referred to as being "gluten sensitive". Having said that, the reality is there is still much inconsistency in how people use these terms. Since celiac disease...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,846
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Fultonn
    Newest Member
    Fultonn
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      By trents · Posted

      Not necessarily. The "Gluten Free" label means not more than 20ppm of gluten in the product which is often not enough for super sensitive celiacs. You would need to be looking for "Certified Gluten Free" (GFCO endorsed) which means no more than 10ppm of gluten. Having said that, "Gluten Free" doesn't mean that there will necessarily be more gluten than "Certified Gluten" in any given batch run. It just means there could be. 
    • trents
      Disaccharide deficient, confusing biopsy results, no blood test

      By trents · Posted

      I think it is wise to seek a second opinion from a GI doc and to go on a gluten free diet in the meantime. The GI doc may look at all the evidence, including the biopsy report, and conclude you don't need anything else to reach a dx of celiac disease and so, there would be no need for a gluten challenge. But if the GI doc does want to do more testing, you can worry about the gluten challenge at that time. But between now and the time of the appointment, if your symptoms improve on a gluten free diet, that is more evidence. Just keep in mind that if a gluten challenge is called for, the bare minimum challenge length is two weeks of the daily consumption of at least 10g of gluten, which is about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread. But, I would count on giving it four weeks to be sure.
    • Paulaannefthimiou
      Bob red mill gluten free oats

      By Paulaannefthimiou · Posted

      Are Bobresmill gluten free oats ok for sensitive celiacs?
    • jenniber
      Disaccharide deficient, confusing biopsy results, no blood test

      By jenniber · Posted

      thank you both for the insights. i agree, im going to back off on dairy and try sucraid. thanks for the tip about protein powder, i will look for whey protein powder/drinks!   i don’t understand why my doctor refused to order it either. so i’ve decided i’m not going to her again, and i’m going to get a second opinion with a GI recommended to me by someone with celiac. unfortunately my first appointment isn’t until February 17th. do you think i should go gluten free now or wait until after i meet with the new doctor? i’m torn about what i should do, i dont know if she is going to want to repeat the endoscopy, and i know ill have to be eating gluten to have a positive biopsy. i could always do the gluten challenge on the other hand if she does want to repeat the biopsy.    thanks again, i appreciate the support here. i’ve learned a lot from these boards. i dont know anyone in real life with celiac.
    • trents
      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      By trents · Posted

      Let me suggest an adjustment to your terminology. "Celiac disease" and "gluten intolerance" are the same. The other gluten disorder you refer to is NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which is often referred to as being "gluten sensitive". Having said that, the reality is there is still much inconsistency in how people use these terms. Since celiac disease does damage to the small bowel lining it often results in nutritional deficiencies such as anemia. NCGS does not damage the small bowel lining so your history of anemia may suggest you have celiac disease as opposed to NCGS. But either way, a gluten-free diet is in order. NCGS can cause bodily damage in other ways, particularly to neurological systems.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.