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Cold Sores?

bossley

By bossley
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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bossley Contributor
bossley
Posted

Does DH look like cold sores on your fingers? I get them a lot

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bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

I don't have DH, but from what I uderstand it can look different for different people. Does it itch intensely? Also, DH is symetrical. In other words, you will get it in the same place on both sides of your body.

I have palmoplantar putular psoriasis. It looks a lot like whitehead pimples and I only get it on my hands and feet. It doesn't itch very much but it hurts, just like a whitehead pimple would when you put any pressure on it. Also, when it starts to heal it cracks and peels and that's pretty painful too.

If you didn't have it before you went gluten-free and it is just showing up now it probably isn't either. gluten-free cleared my psoriasis up after a while. DH though, if that's what it is, takes a long time to heal and anything with iodine usually makes it worse, even if you don't ingest gluten.

I think there is a thread here somewhere in which members have posted pictures of their DH. Check that out and compare yours to the pictures. In the meantime I will try to find a picture of PPP and post it here so you can see what that looks like.

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

OK, here is what my hands and feet USED TO look like. It sure made life miserable. As bad as it was, going gluten-free (and corn-free, soy-free, nightshade-free and salicylate light) made it go away. And now that my gut has heeled I have been able to get corn starch and nightshades back. With a little time I'm hoping to get more of them back.

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bossley Contributor
bossley
Posted
  • Author

I don't have DH, but from what I uderstand it can look different for different people. Does it itch intensely? Also, DH is symetrical. In other words, you will get it in the same place on both sides of your body.

I have palmoplantar putular psoriasis. It looks a lot like whitehead pimples and I only get it on my hands and feet. It doesn't itch very much but it hurts, just like a whitehead pimple would when you put any pressure on it. Also, when it starts to heal it cracks and peels and that's pretty painful too.

If you didn't have it before you went gluten-free and it is just showing up now it probably isn't either. gluten-free cleared my psoriasis up after a while. DH though, if that's what it is, takes a long time to heal and anything with iodine usually makes it worse, even if you don't ingest gluten.

I think there is a thread here somewhere in which members have posted pictures of their DH. Check that out and compare yours to the pictures. In the meantime I will try to find a picture of PPP and post it here so you can see what that looks like.

I was wondering because I got it a lot before gluten free and I could not figure out what it was from. One of the first pictures , on her hand, looks just like it. That would be very interesting if that was what it was. No matter what I did to it would'nt stop it. I even tried to scratch it off. ( That hurt.) It still continued on it's course. I got a lot of cold sores when I was young, And in the last eight years they started again, so I just assumed they were cold sores. Starts out itching, and then blisters under the skin, then clusters of blisters,usually on my fingers. Stays pretty long before it leaves.
bossley Contributor
bossley
Posted
  • Author

OK, here is what my hands and feet USED TO look like. It sure made life miserable. As bad as it was, going gluten-free (and corn-free, soy-free, nightshade-free and salicylate light) made it go away. And now that my gut has heeled I have been able to get corn starch and nightshades back. With a little time I'm hoping to get more of them back.

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WOW !! That must have been pain full. The stuff on my hand is only a finger or two. Keep going and be well.

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

If you had it before going gluten-free then it might well be psoriasis. OR DH. It will take a while to get rid of it, but I'm sure that if you are scrupulous with your diet you will see results. I hate to even bring this up, but you may have trouble with corn or salicylates like I did. I used to go on a psoriasis forum and when I mentioned gluten-free, they (some of them) scoffed. Some of them said they tried gluten-free and although it seemed to help at first, it came back. I believe that is because they too developed intolerances to other things.

What happened with me is my body was so messed up from about twelve years of untreated celiac that my immune system was mistaking EVERYTHING for gluten. I was down to eleven foods I could safely eat. Everything else flared my psoriasis and gave me insomnia (among other things). It wasn't easy. I kept getting "corned" because corn is in everything - even plastic water bottles.

But eventually I had enough time to heal and when I did, my psoraisis stopped flaring and my gut healed enough to where I can now tolerate corn starch and potatoes again.

If your spots don't start healing pretty soon, you can always PM me and I can help you learn to avoid corn. Another thing you might try to find out if salicylates bother you is asperin. That's how I discovered that I had a problem with sals. I took asperin for a couple of days for an unrelated problem and my psoriasis flared like wildfire. I knew I hadn't been glutened or corned, then one of the helpful folks here told me about salicylate sensitivity. Turns out I have it.

Here's hoping you don't have to go through all of that though. I hope your spots clear up just by ditching the gluten and you are on your way to good health. :)

bossley Contributor
bossley
Posted
  • Author

If you had it before going gluten-free then it might well be psoriasis. OR DH. It will take a while to get rid of it, but I'm sure that if you are scrupulous with your diet you will see results. I hate to even bring this up, but you may have trouble with corn or salicylates like I did. I used to go on a psoriasis forum and when I mentioned gluten-free, they (some of them) scoffed. Some of them said they tried gluten-free and although it seemed to help at first, it came back. I believe that is because they too developed intolerances to other things.

What happened with me is my body was so messed up from about twelve years of untreated celiac that my immune system was mistaking EVERYTHING for gluten. I was down to eleven foods I could safely eat. Everything else flared my psoriasis and gave me insomnia (among other things). It wasn't easy. I kept getting "corned" because corn is in everything - even plastic water bottles.

But eventually I had enough time to heal and when I did, my psoraisis stopped flaring and my gut healed enough to where I can now tolerate corn starch and potatoes again.

If your spots don't start healing pretty soon, you can always PM me and I can help you learn to avoid corn. Another thing you might try to find out if salicylates bother you is asperin. That's how I discovered that I had a problem with sals. I took asperin for a couple of days for an unrelated problem and my psoriasis flared like wildfire. I knew I hadn't been glutened or corned, then one of the helpful folks here told me about salicylate sensitivity. Turns out I have it.

Here's hoping you don't have to go through all of that though. I hope your spots clear up just by ditching the gluten and you are on your way to good health. :)

I'm doing your whole food diet and I see some improvement, but I keep messing up. I know right away when I blow it because my face swells and my nose closes. I put butter on something yesterday thinking ( whole ). Two hours later I could not breath. Forgot about milk. I'll keep picking away.
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