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

Itchy Skin But No Rash

Janessa

By Janessa
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Recommended Posts

Janessa Rookie
Janessa
Posted

I have had very itchy skin for years that would itch so bad I would actually scratch it in my sleep and wake up with scabs. I never thought it was really related to anything until I went gluten free and it went completely away, and if I get glutened I get itchy again for about a week but I have never had a rash or bumps. Does anyone else get this? Is it DH if there is no rash?

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


sparkles Contributor
sparkles
Posted

I have literally scratched the skin off because of this itch... no bumps, just itch! I don't think it is DH. I had a skin dr check it and the biopsy came back not DH. Of course, he could only biopsy the areas that were scratched off as there were no bumps. I wonder if besides celiac disease it could be an allergy to wheat though the allergy tests on wheat came back NO ALLERGY. I do have a dairy allergy and maybe that is what causes the itch. Whatever, I just spray on cortisone to control itch and try to watch intake of dairy.

Josina Newbie
Josina
Posted

When I am really down on my water I get really itchy. Maybe you just need to drink more water?

I used to get alot of rashes, but now that I am gluten free I have no problems with rashes at all. My skin does get pretty itchy but only when I am down on my water. I have been diagnosed with celiac disease, but I have observed that this disease makes people react in different ways.

If I consume gluten by accident, I usually end up with a few small bumps here and there, but whether that is from DH I am not sure.

When I used to consume gluten, I would get this horrible rash all over my arms and back. I went to several doctors over the past ten years and they never could figure out what it was. I am now free of all that.

Best of luck figuring it out!

wowzer Community Regular
wowzer
Posted

I had itchy dry skin all of my life. I went gluten free the beginning of the year and my skin is so much better. I used to always itch after a shower, now I don't. I just wish I'd figured it out years ago. It is so nice not to itch all of the time. I will say if I get glutened, I may get a few itchy spots, but at least it isn't so intense.

  • 1 month later...
Joan (Maine) Newbie
Joan (Maine)
Posted
I have had very itchy skin for years that would itch so bad I would actually scratch it in my sleep and wake up with scabs. I never thought it was really related to anything until I went gluten free and it went completely away, and if I get glutened I get itchy again for about a week but I have never had a rash or bumps. Does anyone else get this? Is it DH if there is no rash?
Joan (Maine) Newbie
Joan (Maine)
Posted
I have had very itchy skin for years that would itch so bad I would actually scratch it in my sleep and wake up with scabs. I never thought it was really related to anything until I went gluten free and it went completely away, and if I get glutened I get itchy again for about a week but I have never had a rash or bumps. Does anyone else get this? Is it DH if there is no rash?

Yes, I itch without actually breaking out....with small amounts of gluten, dairy and/or iodine. as time goes on I react more quickly and to smaller amounts. My blisters have actually been small and mostly on my face and scalp....it took six months to get a dermatologist appt. so naturally I was clear when the appt. came around. The derm. did agree to try to see me on short notice if I accidently get ingest dairy, gluten or iodine and have an outbreak. I do itch with a small rash on my shins and upper back

  • 6 years later...
tonalynn Explorer
tonalynn
Posted

I don't know if this is related to my recent celiac diagnoses or not. But it seems like other people here have intensely itchy skin and no rash or DH.

 

I've been gluten free for about 10 weeks (I don't really feel any different yet). Every now and then (no rhyme or reason to it) I will have an itch on either my arms, legs or back that is SO itchy! Sometimes it feels like my entire body is just one big ITCH! If I try to ignore the itch and not scratch it, it becomes so painful that I've actually twitched involuntarily because of it. No matter what I do, the itch won't stop, sometimes for hours. I haven't broken skin yet, but I do break capillaries under the skin, because I will develop a rash of red spots just under the skin. Or scratch marks where the capillaries have broken in a line.

 

They occasionally wake me up, or I'll have an itch that I think is minor and scratch it and WHAM! It turns into the super painful itch. Itch relief creams, heavy duty moisturizers, cortizone, ice packs...none of them help. Once I was so itchy in the middle of the night I had to take a shower and scrub everything with a loofah just to stop the itching! I've tried taking Benedryl if I'm itchy before bed. I figure even if it doesn't stop the itch, maybe I'll just sleep through it!

 

I have no rash or telltale signs of DH. I have a bit of Keratosis Pilaris on the back of my arms I've had most of my life, but that's not always where I get itchy. I haven't ingested any gluten (that I'm aware of, as I don't seem to get the intense symptoms from it) in the last 10 weeks, but the itch is the same.

 

Could it be related to celiac? Or am I being paranoid and thinking everything that's wrong with me is celiac-related? ;-)

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Tonalyn, you've posted to a thread that is from 2007, I doubt any of those ppl are still hanging around here.

 

What you describe is likely related to gluten. Celiacs get lots of rashes & skin stuff. It's possible that you have something like pre dh but you've gone gluten-free now so that itch should begin to die down sooner or later.

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. Rejoicephd
      - Rejoicephd replied to Rejoicephd's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      5

      Basic metabolic panel results - more flags

      Thank you @trents for letting me know you experience something similar thanks @knitty kitty for your response and resources. I will be following up with my doctor about these results and I’ll read the articles you sent. Thanks - I really appreciate you all.
    2. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Jmartes71's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      12

      My only proof

      You're right, doctors usually only test Vitamin D and B12. Both are really important, but they're not good indicators of deficiencies in the other B vitamins. Our bodies are able to store Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D in the liver for up to a year or longer. The other B vitamins can only be stored for much shorter periods of time. Pyridoxine B 6 can...
    3. NanceK
      - NanceK replied to Jmartes71's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      12

      My only proof

      So interesting that you stated you had sub clinical vitamin deficiencies. When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease (silent), the vitamin levels my doctor did test for were mostly within normal range (lower end) with the exception of vitamin D. I believe he tested D, B12, magnesium, and iron. I wondered how it was possible that I had celiac disease...
    4. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Larzipan's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      39

      Has anyone had terrible TMJ/ Jaw Pain from undiagnosed Celiac?

      Segments of the protein Casein are the same as segments of the protein strands of gluten, the 33-mer segment. The cow's body builds that Casein protein. It doesn't come from wheat. Casein can trigger the same reaction as being exposed to gluten in some people. This is not a dairy allergy (IGE mediated response). It is not lactose intolerance...
    5. trents
      - trents replied to Larzipan's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      39

      Has anyone had terrible TMJ/ Jaw Pain from undiagnosed Celiac?

      Wheatwacked, what exactly did you intend when you stated that wheat is incorporated into the milk of cows fed wheat? Obviously, the gluten would be broken down by digestion and is too large a molecule anyway to cross the intestinal membrane and get into the bloodstream of the cow. What is it from the wheat that you are saying becomes incorporated into the...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,371
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Susan Blodgett
    Newest Member
    Susan Blodgett
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Rejoicephd
      Basic metabolic panel results - more flags

      By Rejoicephd · Posted

      Thank you @trents for letting me know you experience something similar thanks @knitty kitty for your response and resources.  I will be following up with my doctor about these results and I’ll read the articles you sent. Thanks - I really appreciate you all.
    • knitty kitty
      My only proof

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      You're right, doctors usually only test Vitamin D and B12.  Both are really important, but they're not good indicators of deficiencies in the other B vitamins.  Our bodies are able to store Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D in the liver for up to a year or longer.  The other B vitamins can only be stored for much shorter periods of time.  Pyridoxine B 6 can be stored for several months, but the others only a month or two at the longest.  Thiamine stores can be depleted in as little as three days.  There's no correlation between B12 levels and the other B vitamins' levels.  Blood tests can't measure the amount of vitamins stored inside cells where they are used.  There's disagreement as to what optimal vitamin levels are.  The Recommended Daily Allowance is based on the minimum daily amount needed to prevent disease set back in the forties when people ate a totally different diet and gruesome experiments were done on people.  Folate  requirements had to be updated in the nineties after spina bifida increased and synthetic folic acid was mandated to be added to grain products.  Vitamin D requirements have been updated only in the past few years.   Doctors aren't required to take as many hours of nutritional education as in the past.  They're educated in learning institutions funded by pharmaceutical corporations.  Natural substances like vitamins can't be patented, so there's more money to be made prescribing pharmaceuticals than vitamins.   Also, look into the Autoimmune Protocol Diet, developed by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a Celiac herself.  Her book The Paleo Approach has been most helpful to me.  You're very welcome.  I'm glad I can help you around some stumbling blocks while on this journey.    Keep me posted on your progress!  Best wishes! P.S.  interesting reading: Thiamine, gastrointestinal beriberi and acetylcholine signaling https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12014454/
    • NanceK
      My only proof

      By NanceK · Posted

      So interesting that you stated you had sub clinical vitamin deficiencies. When I was first diagnosed with celiac disease (silent), the vitamin levels my doctor did test for were mostly within normal range (lower end) with the exception of vitamin D. I believe he tested D, B12, magnesium, and iron.  I wondered how it was possible that I had celiac disease without being deficient in everything!  I’m wondering now if I have subclinical vitamin deficiencies as well, because even though I remain gluten free, I struggle with insomnia, low energy, body aches, etc.  It’s truly frustrating when you stay true to the gluten-free diet, yet feel fatigued most days. I’ll definitely try the B-complex, and the Benfotiamine again, and will keep you posted. Thanks once again!
    • knitty kitty
      Has anyone had terrible TMJ/ Jaw Pain from undiagnosed Celiac?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Segments of the protein Casein are the same as segments of the protein strands of gluten, the 33-mer segment.   The cow's body builds that Casein protein.  It doesn't come from wheat.   Casein can trigger the same reaction as being exposed to gluten in some people.   This is not a dairy allergy (IGE mediated response).  It is not lactose intolerance.  
    • trents
      Has anyone had terrible TMJ/ Jaw Pain from undiagnosed Celiac?

      By trents · Posted

      Wheatwacked, what exactly did you intend when you stated that wheat is incorporated into the milk of cows fed wheat? Obviously, the gluten would be broken down by digestion and is too large a molecule anyway to cross the intestinal membrane and get into the bloodstream of the cow. What is it from the wheat that you are saying becomes incorporated into the milk protein?
×
×
  • 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.