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Gluten Free-Now What?

Twoxxmom

By Twoxxmom
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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Twoxxmom Rookie
Twoxxmom
Posted

I began cutting out gluten a little over 2 weeks ago. I may need to do more with skin care products, but I have done well with food. I was just wondering how long I should wait before considering other foods that might be causing a reaction (rashes). It seems as though there might not be much left to eat if I excluded iodine and salicylate foods. How would one go about this? Should I give the gluten free more time or should I exclude high iodine foods or exclude everything all at once? Need help! I also have low potassium so that seems to make it trickier too.

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Mateto Enthusiast
Mateto
Posted

I'd recommend you give up the gluten first, then wait maybe 3 weeks or a month. Then wonder, has anything changed?

If not, give up the iodine foods as well. If this works, then you can try to go back on gluten but not iodine and see what happens. It's a trial per se.

Twoxxmom Rookie
Twoxxmom
Posted
  • Author

I'd recommend you give up the gluten first, then wait maybe 3 weeks or a month. Then wonder, has anything changed?

If not, give up the iodine foods as well. If this works, then you can try to go back on gluten but not iodine and see what happens. It's a trial per se.

I was thinking I should give gluten-free longer. I will give that a try. I probably can't go back to anything with wheat as I reacted to that on skin testing. I will be going back to the allergist next week.

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Yes, give the gluten free some time. Make sure you've cut all the gluten though. Then after about a month you can see how it's going. Keep a log. Take photos of the rash to help you judge at different stages. Then I would only cut the iodine if needed. And cutting the iodine is a temporary thing --- you don't do it forever. I will mention that you go LOW iodine not iodine free. And I would do the sals as a last resort.

Twoxxmom Rookie
Twoxxmom
Posted
  • Author

Yes, give the gluten free some time. Make sure you've cut all the gluten though. Then after about a month you can see how it's going. Keep a log. Take photos of the rash to help you judge at different stages. Then I would only cut the iodine if needed. And cutting the iodine is a temporary thing --- you don't do it forever. I will mention that you go LOW iodine not iodine free. And I would do the sals as a last resort.

Thank you! I appreciate the help and support so much!

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

YVW!smile.gif

itchy Rookie
itchy
Posted

I don't think two weeks is anywhere long enough on gluten free before trying other food reductions. DH goes away very slowly for many people. I was aware of improvements after a couple of weeks, but these were VERY small. And bear in mind that I had been mostly gluten free for 12 years, and was just converting to a very strict diet. It can be difficult to eliminate every shred of gluten from your diet if you are just starting out, so you should concentrate on that, IMO. It may take months to learn all the pitfalls, depending on how astute and disciplined you are.

I differ from many of the posters on the list. I have never been able to detect any effect of iodine, salycyclates or any substance other than gluten on my DH.

Iodine is essential in preventing thyroid diseases. Salycyclates are implicated in reducing several types of cancers. Many high iodine foods like salmon, sardines, mackerel are useful in preventing heart disease.

Unpleasant as it is, DH doesn't kill. Heart disease, thyroid disease, and cancer do, as well as coeliac indirectly. In my opinion it is dangerous to eliminate or significantly reduce otherwise health giving foods from the diet without an extremely good justification.

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Mateto Enthusiast
Mateto
Posted

I meant three months....ooooops :unsure:

I'm sorry. Three weeks wouldn't prove anything.

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