Itchy Rash

[shekoe]

For almost a month, I have been plagued with a rash which is both itchy and sore. It's mostly on my neck and shoulders. I have been gluten-free since 9/15/09. I have CC which is in remission. I googled the rash. It resembles the photos I saw of the dermatitis seen in celiacs. I have an appointment next week w/ a dermatologist who has treated me since the CC diagnosis. I know he will at least consider the rash may be related to CC and/or gluten sensitivity. I have not had Enterolab testing yet. Have any of you MC sufferers had a similar rash? Thank you. Sheila

[Gloria]

I have had a similar rash. I've attributed it to soy in body butter. This winter, I've had a rash from a body butter that doesn't contain soy, so I must be reacting to another ingredient. When I've switch body butters, the rash goes away.

I don't recall getting a rash due to something I've eaten. I've had extremely itchy rashes in the past due to a laundry detergent.

Good luck. Itchy rashes can be pretty aggravating.

Gloria

[barbaranoela]

and I have been plagued with psoriasis --on both the tops of my feet----itchy--I have been thu megga ointments --but soon to see derma---
I am assuming that there must be a blood test which can give more definition to this ailment--

matter of fact am going to ask my GP..as I am due for my check up with him first!!!

Barbara

[tex]

Sheila,

If it is indeed dermatitis herpetiformis, (which it certainly sounds as though it could be), then you probably do have fully developed celiac disease, including damage to the villi of your small intestine. From what I can find about the response of DH to the GF diet, though, it apparently takes a while for the symptoms to disappear, after the diet is adopted, (due to the fact that the antibody level in the skin has to diminish to a level below the threshold for a reaction, before the symptoms will disappear, and anti-gliadin antibodies are produced for at least a couple of years after the GF diet is begun, (at least they can be detected in stool samples for that long, and the skin is also a type of epithelia, which is very similar to the epithelia of the intestines, as far as the immune system is concerned).

While DH and celiac disease are caused by the same issue, (gluten sensitivity), the symptoms can be entirely independent. IOW, the fact that your intestinal reactions are in remission, may be irrelevant, as far as the DH is concerned, (meaning that it may take longer to resolve). This first article, for example, (from 1984), suggests that it could take from 3 to 11 months to see improvement:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1628792/

This article suggests that it takes 5 to 12 months for improvement to begin:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/n127kq32k68l4505/

This article suggests that it could take several years to see results:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/celiac-di ... ormis.aspx

Note that all except the last article were originally written a number of years ago, (in 1984 and 1981). Apparently not much recent research has been done.

Hopefully, in another month or so, the rash will begin to go away. If it's really troublesome, Dapsone is often used to treat DH, but as you can see from the last article cited, Dapsone is not without some risk.

Tex

[shekoe]

Thank you all for the advice and information. Will keep you posted. Sheila

[harma]

there also is a type of medication (dapson) to threat dermatitis herpetiformis, if that is cause of your Itchy rash of course. Surprising it shows up after you stopped eating gluten. Hope the app. next week will give you more clarity and solve your problem.

harma

[Ginny]

I have just been going through the same thing! I itch from the top of my head to the top of my feet and it ususally is worse in the morning and evening. I blamed it on the cold weather, fireplace and too many baths! I have just been gluten free for 7 weeks. I have little red spots popping up on face, arms, back, legs and some other places. I keep a big bottle of Gold Bond by my side and I am drinking aleo vera juice!

Ginny

[tex]

Sheila and Ginny,

Here is an interesting abstract about a study of DH. Note how long it took before the medications could be completely stopped, even with a GF diet:

Seventy-eight patients with dermatitis herpetiformis have been followed up for periods ranging from 3 to 14 years (mean 7.4). Forty-two patients were treated with gluten-free diet (GFD) and thirty-six took a normal diet (ND). Thirty of the forty-two (71%) taking the GFD were able to discontinue drugs previously needed to control their rash compared with five (14%) of the thirty-six patients taking a ND. The mean time taken to reduce drug requirements for patients taking a GFD was 8 months (range 4–30), and for stopping drugs, 29 months (range 6–108). The incidence of macroscopic abnormality of the small intestine decreased from 69 to 15%, and the mean intra-epithelial lymphocyte count decreased significantly in those patients taking a GFD, whereas there was no significant change in patients taking a ND. The improvement in the skin and intestinal lesions was related to the strictness of the GFD.

The red emphasis is mine, of course. That quote is from:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/jour ... 1&SRETRY=0

From a British DH site:

It is important to appreciate that a gluten free diet may have no effect on the rash for approximately six months and sometimes, even longer. It takes this length of time before patients can start to reduce their drug requirements and approximately 2 years before they can discontinue drugs completely. It is also important to realise that these times are only achieved if the diet is absolutely strict. Even small amounts of gluten may result in patients not being able to stop their drugs.

http://www.dermatitisherpetiformis.org.uk/whatisdh.html

I don't see any genetic data on Sheila, in our database, but Ginny definitely does have the most common celiac gene, (HLA-DQ2), FWIW.

Tex