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How Long Till Your Dh Completely Cleared Up?

ItchyMeredith

By ItchyMeredith
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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ItchyMeredith Contributor
ItchyMeredith
Posted

I have been gluten free for almost 3 months and I keep getting DH on my fingers. I have improved greatly...now the rash is only on my fingers but it is driving me nuts. It itches something terrible. I have been constantly scrutinizing my diet for hidden gluten sources and I haven't found any. How long till the IgA deposits are gone??? When did your rash go away completely?

Thanks

Meredith

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lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I was fortunate in that mine went away immediately, which is very unusual. I've heard that in some people it can take many, many months.

richard

silly celiac Rookie
silly celiac
Posted

I noticed a marked difference after switching my shampoo. I still have a few stray single blisters here and there, but it's not multiple clusters popping up all over throughout the day like it was! For me, after eliminating gluten from my diet, it seemed to get worse for a while until I changed shampoos!

April in KC Apprentice
April in KC
Posted

Meredith -

Mine got better and better over 6 months (that's how far along I am now). It was more like a 2 steps forward, 1 step back thing than a constant forward march.

Couple of things:

Try to notice if yours gets triggered with your monthly cycle in addition to gluten. Mine did.

Try to notice if yours gets triggered by salty or iodine containing foods in addition to gluten. Mine did.

Basically, mine started getting better right away, but each month it would still flare a bit around my monthly cycle. This definitely happened for the first three months. For the past two cycles, I didn't notice any DH or any mouth sores. Somehow hormones played a role.

My theory (happy to change it in light of evidence to the contrary) is that it takes a while for the levels of antibodies in your blood and skin to drop. During the time the antibodies are still present but falling, you can still "bring out" the reaction by supplying the other ingredients it takes to make the reaction happen. Iodine is definitely one of the ingredients - that's been proven by others. For the next few months, consider switching all your salt shakers out for plain, non-iodized salt. You can get it at the grocery store - just have to look for it. I did this, and I'm going to switch back now that I'm doing better. Hormones were also an ingredient for me.

Just some ideas - not science but personal observations.

April

CtheCeliac Rookie
CtheCeliac
Posted

My DH went away within a few weeks of going gluten-free, but we're all different in how we heal. My brother's lasted much longer after going gluten-free, but his DH was much worse. Great advice from others! Anytime, I start suspecting any possible problems in my diet, I go back to as basic of a diet as possible for a week: fruits, vegetables, meats, and only labeled gluten-free food. I also try to avoid dyes in foods and meds, which I may be sensitive to.

dhd2000 Newbie
dhd2000
Posted

Hi Itchy Meredith (love the name!)

I was diagnosed with DH in May and have mostly cleared up at this point. I've found a few things that trigger an outbreak, other than the obvious. They are: advil, iodized salt and maltodextrin (like in flavored chips) I've read about the advil and salt so those didn't surprise me. But I got a few active blisters from eating two different kinds of barbeque flavored chips and the only thing I could trace it to was the maltodextrin. It's a bit confusing because I thought maltodextrin was a corn derived product. Who knows? So watch for those and maybe you'll finish clearing up as well. Good luck!

Denise

I have been gluten free for almost 3 months and I keep getting DH on my fingers. I have improved greatly...now the rash is only on my fingers but it is driving me nuts. It itches something terrible. I have been constantly scrutinizing my diet for hidden gluten sources and I haven't found any. How long till the IgA deposits are gone??? When did your rash go away completely?

Thanks

Meredith

Joan (Maine) Newbie
Joan (Maine)
Posted
Hi Itchy Meredith (love the name!)

I was diagnosed with DH in May and have mostly cleared up at this point. I've found a few things that trigger an outbreak, other than the obvious. They are: advil, iodized salt and maltodextrin (like in flavored chips) I've read about the advil and salt so those didn't surprise me. But I got a few active blisters from eating two different kinds of barbeque flavored chips and the only thing I could trace it to was the maltodextrin. It's a bit confusing because I thought maltodextrin was a corn derived product. Who knows? So watch for those and maybe you'll finish clearing up as well. Good luck!

Denise

Favored chips cause my itchies to erupt as well. Chips that work best forme are the expensive health food store kind cooked in olive oil and lightly sea salted.

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Joan (Maine) Newbie
Joan (Maine)
Posted

Flavored chips often have dairy powder mixed with the seasonings....I react to dairy as the gluten protein and the dairy protein as supposed to be similar.

Joan

Joan (Maine) Newbie
Joan (Maine)
Posted

Flavored chips often have dairy powder mixed with the seasonings....I react to dairy as the gluten protein and the dairy protein as supposed to be similar.

Joan

silly celiac Rookie
silly celiac
Posted
Basically, mine started getting better right away, but each month it would still flare a bit around my monthly cycle. This definitely happened for the first three months. For the past two cycles, I didn't notice any DH or any mouth sores. Somehow hormones played a role.

Hmm... It has been almost four weeks now since I switched shampoos. I flared up right before that and the blisters quickly subsided after switching. The other factor in the equation... it was "that time" right when the blisters subsided! Now I'm approaching that wonderful week again, and they're increasing again. Perhaps I should look forward to next week... :P

  • 2 weeks later...
Skeet Rookie
Skeet
Posted

My DH has DH :P It took him about 8 months on a gluten-free diet to eliminate his need for dapsone.

Unfortunately for my hubby over 10 years ago he saw a dermatalogist who diagnosed him (a positive) but prescribed medication, Dapsone, to "cure" the DH. My husband continued to eat wheat and break out but took Dapsone to control his itchy blisters.

It wasn't until we had trouble getting pregnant that I had him go gluten-free.

He still has bowel symptoms, so I'm now requesting he FINALLY see a gastroenterologist.

Aligray Apprentice
Aligray
Posted

Wow. What an excellent discussion! I came in here tonight bc i know everything i ate today was gluten-free but yet after my supper i now have sores in my mouth and i am itching ALL over! So i am reading thru this thread and notice two things...my dinner was high in sodium and my cycle is supposed to start thursday. hmmmm...just when i think i am starting to figure all this out, another monkey wrench is thrown in! thanks for all the great advice. i was pretty sick last month too when my cycle was here. goodness.

-Ali :)

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I stopped getting new blisters within a couple of months. I was however VERY sensitive to CC for about 2 years after that. A outbreak of blisters would be my first indication of CC or a glutening and would occur within hours of contact or injestion. Now 5 years into the diet and it takes a lot to get those deposits reformed. They now don't show up till a few days into the reaction. If I get a bad glutening I will get one or two little blisters and that's it and they heal real quickly now (unless I am inadvertantly reglutening).

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