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Why Do Dermatologists

rdunbar

By rdunbar
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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rdunbar Explorer
rdunbar
Posted

why do dermatologists have such a hard time apparantly in diagnosing DH?

it seems to me like it would be a slam dunk if the were familiar with it at all, which they should be.

the derm i went to diagnosed it as serborhal dermatitis which i found out later means "we are not sure what it is, it is a random skin disease?"

has anyone here ever been diagnosed correctly right off the bat by a derm without a biopsy?

If it's super itchy and resembles the discription of DH, how can they really fail in at least making an educated geuss?

I mean it's just not as rare as all that, i think i heard the average doctor runs into it 3 times a year, so should'nt they have a clue?

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

The problem seems to be they are not taught it in medical school :unsure: or how to biopsy for it :P

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Yea mine were clueless also. I had it misdiagnosed as 'poison ivy in my bloodstream' as a child and as an adult was told it was either 'pickers acne' or atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is basically the same sort of diagnosis as IBS. I think they are just not taught about it in school and also medicine has gotten so 'specialized' that doctors fail to look at the whole person. A derm will look at the rash but not take into account the GI symptoms. The GI doctor will look at the D or C but not at the skin condition. The neuro or rheumys again will only look at the symptoms for their specialty and no one looks at the whole person and sees the connections between all the issues.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

Mine knew as soon as he looked at it.

richard

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Mine knew as soon as he looked at it.

richard

I wish mine had. I suffered for over 40 years before we knew what it was. Even after 8 years gluten-free I still have some scars. You were very fortunate.

rdunbar Explorer
rdunbar
Posted
  • Author

I ramdomly met someone who's 2 year old son was correctly diagnosed with DH all over his body, and that was 30 years ago.he was put on a gluten-free diet; she, and her husband both went gluten-free too, and thier health problems resolved.

she said it took 2 years for the DH to go away. I still think it's amazing that they found a doctor 30 years ago that could identify it; what a lucky kid!

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I'm not sure why my doctor knew it but this was actually more than 30 years ago because he diagnosed my father by sight first. And then me several years later. What he didn't know was the DH-celiac connection, so while he urged us over the years to go gluten-free, he didn't push it a lot or tell us about celiac disease. He says that my father and I are still his only DH patients who have gone and stayed gluten-free.

richard

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