Dh In Varying Stages And/or Different On Different On Varies Areas Of Body

[TPT]

I had a skin biopsy 2 days ago, so I am not diagnosed yet. I seem to get different kinds of rashes, maybe dependent on where on the body they are, or maybe the rash has stages?

Sometimes, I have a rash the has dark red bumps. This tends to be the most itchy. I see this often on my side and near the breasts.

I get single little pimple/blister like things that often turn into a little hole in the skin. I most often see this on my arm.

I also get little dry, scaly patches that form in cirles. It looks similar to ring worm.

I have no idea what my scalp and hairline look like, but this is ALWAYS itchy to some degree. I can feel bumps right at the base of the scalp and hair line.

Any thoughts or similar experience?

[Hopeful1950]

Well...I can tell you that the rash can act in many different ways! Was undiagnosed for 7 years and have had groups of watery blisters that end up looking like an oozy road rash. I have had hive like things. Then healing areas will blister on the edges and underneath and crack and peel and ooze. Blisters appear at the edges of old lesions that have healed. Tiny little bumps that itch like crazy. On legs, arms, hands, back of neck, upper back, behind, lower back and areas where clothing rubs. A couple even on my heels! Always itchy. Very itchy. From reading the posts on this forum I think the common thread is the intense itching and sometimes pain (after clawing at the itching), but the actual rash can vary from person to person depending on their skin type, severity of disease and how far they have progressed with treatment.

Good luck. Keep reading the forum. So much good information, even in older posts.

[juppygirl]

It does have different presentations and moves round the body - it will be interesting to see what the diagnosis is.....

[Bigbread]

Please please let me know what the diagnosis is. It sounds a lot like things I am experiencing. I'm going to request that my doctor does a biopsy and maybe it will be a starting point that I can ask him to test for.

Good luck, I hope this sorts it out for you.

[TPT]

Please please let me know what the diagnosis is. It sounds a lot like things I am experiencing. I'm going to request that my doctor does a biopsy and maybe it will be a starting point that I can ask him to test for.

Good luck, I hope this sorts it out for you.

Bigbread~ Are you diagnosed with celiac disease at all yet?

[Bigbread]

Nope. All my blood work came back negative. But from my own experience I can't tolerate oats and bread seem to make my skin itch. My gp said a lot of times the test don't pick things up even if you have it.

I would really appreciate it if you can let me know what your test say, maybe it could be a starting point to test for. Are they just testing for DH or other things as well?

[TPT]

Nope. All my blood work came back negative. But from my own experience I can't tolerate oats and bread seem to make my skin itch. My gp said a lot of times the test don't pick things up even if you have it.

I would really appreciate it if you can let me know what your test say, maybe it could be a starting point to test for. Are they just testing for DH or other things as well?

As far as I know, they are just testing for dh. I'm not sure how that works though, if the test is that specific. Also, I understand to test for dh, they are supposed to test skin NEAR the rash. They took a sample near my rash, and a sample of my rash. So, for all I know they are looking at other things and didn't bother to tell me.

[TPT]

Bigbread, I will surely be posting my results when I get them, but feel to ask any questions. I should hear by the 6th, if not before.

[Kinshasav]

I have Celiac Disease, Hypothyroidism, had Gestational Diabetes last year; now it is back. I get rashes on my face and elbows from gluten. I have been getting it from nuts and unexplained foods. I feel like I can't have anything and am getting depressed. I am overweight and hate exercise. Any suggestions?

[jessicalw28]

Keratosis pilaris can be associated with celiac disease. It is small red bumps usually on thighs, arms, back and butt areas. They can be itchy. The skin is also more reddened in general. You get keratin plugs in the follicles.

Also, eczema, which I also have, can be patches of dry scaly skin that is itchy. It is worse in cold, dry weather. It too can be associated with celiac.

[drgoogle]

TPT, this sounds a lot like what I'm experiencing - please post when you know your results! In September of this year, following a stressful incident, I started getting some strange folliculitis/pimple-like spots on my legs, which would eventually expand into clusters and dry, eventually flattening out into just a discoloration, but the scars seem to be able to be re-inflamed back into raised lesions. The original onset seemingly started from mosquito bite sites so at first it was thought they were infections (staph) and I was treated with antibiotics which did nothing, then it was thought it was an acute dermatitis so I was put on prednisone, which helped but only while I was on it. Once off the prednisone everything came back in full force. Things ended up spreading to my arms and back but on my arms they're different - smaller, starting as a clear tiny bubble that eventually pops and then it's just little reddish spots. Also got some bubbles on my hands and feet at one point which I was thinking was a latex allergy but that theory seems to be incorrect now. On my back the spots are much smaller and I had completely cleared there until just the past couple of weeks. Bacterial and viral cultures came back negative. Got in to see a dermatologist in October who diagnosed me with eczema, putting me back on antibiotics and giving me many topical steroids and antibiotics to apply, plus light therapy 3x/week. The light therapy seemed to help heal existing lesions but did nothing to prevent new lesions.

I started suspecting DH and stopped eating gluten in Nov., but had a gluten binge mid-Nov. after an allergist I saw said food had absolutely nothing to do with my skin problems. Skin prick testing did show allergies to dust and dog dander (I do have 2 dogs). Feeling much worse after the allergist-inspired binge, I went back off gluten again. I also started avoiding dairy at the same time as avoiding gluten since I read that some need to avoid casein too, and started avoiding shellfish most recently because I had started to think it might be exacerbating things.

Lately I've been feeling like I cyclically get better and then worse, and thought it might be linked to my birth control pill (Yasmin) so I mentioned this to my family doc who has switched me to something else.

I finally got a biopsy today from my family doc (the dermatologist has never suggested a biopsy). But, I think my doc biopsied a lesion, not next to a lesion. Also, because I've been avoiding gluten not sure if that'll impact the results.

I feel that salty foods aggravate things. After feeling like I was finally clear everywhere but my legs, I'm now getting new "bubbles" on my arms/hands and as I type my upper back is super itchy for the first time ever really - it's been a part of me that's been relatively spared. I did have non-shellfish, gluten-free sushi on Wednesday, not realizing that seaweed is so high in iodine. Also had some dark chocolate that did have a warning of possible wheat/milk.

So frustrated, and glad to find this forum.

[itchy]

TPT: Yes, the rash can vary in my experience. My arms have/had several types of rash/lesions and skin conditions, which have disappeared at different rates after I eliminated gluten from my diet. My legs had a different type of condition which was dismissed as eczema by the physician, but which went away quite quickly after I became gluten free.

drgoogle: Interesting to hear about the cyclical nature of your symptoms. Same here, though the cycle seems to be more like a week or ten days, unrelated to the calendar week or any other cycle I can identify. Anyone else have that experience?

[TPT]

TPT: Yes, the rash can vary in my experience. My arms have/had several types of rash/lesions and skin conditions, which have disappeared at different rates after I eliminated gluten from my diet. My legs had a different type of condition which was dismissed as eczema by the physician, but which went away quite quickly after I became gluten free.

drgoogle: Interesting to hear about the cyclical nature of your symptoms. Same here, though the cycle seems to be more like a week or ten days, unrelated to the calendar week or any other cycle I can identify. Anyone else have that experience?

Itchy~ Are you officially diagnosed? According to my derm, my results were negative, but she could not explain my raised ttg Igg. They had also told me before the biopsy that my rash wasn't very active and they weren't sure what the resulst would be. So, I am currently in limbo. I'm going in for patch tests next week. As far as celiac goes, I'm waiting to see what the patch results tell me, then I'll make an appointment with a gastro, as I feel my results weren't accurate. Several things, including this ttg thing, tell me SOMETHING isn't right. The 2 weeks I spend gluten-free, had me feeling better, not ever realizing I was sick aside from lots of itchy rashes.

[itchy]

TPT: I am self diagnosed after being told I didn't have celiac disease and being tested for many other things over 15 years.

But I knew I was wheat intolerant and minimised it for a long time until the DH appeared. I self diagnosed from symptoms described on the internet: extreme stinging especially in the evening, location of blistering, and the very characteristic blistering. I got an appointment with a dermatologist who had better photos and agreed with me that DH was very likely. But declined to do testing unless I ate wheat for a couple of weeks, which I declined. With horror.

The blistered sores were the most distressing, but I also had patches of dry skin and patches of raised bumps, also in the same general areas as the blisters. In fact, the dry skin and raised bumps occurred before the blisters, but didn't necessarily turn into blisters.