Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • 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

How Does Dh Look Different From Excema?

Mrs. M.

By Mrs. M.
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Recommended Posts

Mrs. M. Apprentice
Mrs. M.
Posted

I was diagnosed with celiac disease a couple weeks ago. I have been reading about this condition and trying to figure out whether my 8-year old daughter might have it too. She has frequent stomach aches and also has a very itchy rash on her elbows and knees. She has complained of itchy knees for the past year. The rash is red and bumpy. I have always thought it was excema. Could it be DH? How can you tell? Is there a specific distinguishing appearance to DH?

Thanks for any advice.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


zippitty5 Newbie
zippitty5
Posted

I was diagnosed with celiac disease a couple weeks ago. I have been reading about this condition and trying to figure out whether my 8-year old daughter might have it too. She has frequent stomach aches and also has a very itchy rash on her elbows and knees. She has complained of itchy knees for the past year. The rash is red and bumpy. I have always thought it was excema. Could it be DH? How can you tell? Is there a specific distinguishing appearance to DH?

Thanks for any advice.

Sounds like a classic case of DH

Symptoms

Symptoms of dermatitis herpetiformis include:

zippitty5 Newbie
zippitty5
Posted

I feel for you and your young daughter. Get her tested.

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

It isn't always symmetrical, but red, itchy, bumpy and over the joint areas make her rash sound very consistent with DH.

They should be able to biopsy it next to the rash, but the biopsy isn't always positive even if it is DH.

You could try avoiding gluten and see if she improves, but it takes very strict avoidance of gluten and cross contamination too. So you wouldn't want to take the burger off the bun for example.

Some people have to limit iodine. Thyca.com can tell you how.

My son healed without limiting iodine, but I did not.

There are sites with pictures, but some of them are so severe that you can miss that you have a milder form. DH has many presentations from the descriptions here, but the one you gave is a "classic" DH rash description.

Best of luck to you both.

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

I agree with zippity & eatmeat.

Rushmore Newbie
Rushmore
Posted

I was just going to ask the same thing. One dr told me it was Dh and told me he thought I had celiac. He was a dr at a walk in clinic. So then I went to another dr and she said it was excema.(sp). I have had this rash for about 10 months on my lower right leg now two above my knee and some on my arm. My stomach problems are still present. The same dr told me it was thyroid along with excema. I guess now I have my mind set that I have celiac since my thyroid test came back just fine. Do you think it is Dh?

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Here is one test to find out if it is allergy related. If you take say Benadryl or an antihistamine & the rash goes away then it is not dh. Although antihistamines may give some relief from the itching of dh they will not make the dh go away.

DH is the itchiest thing you've ever known. It is relentless. I do believe a person could literally go insane from the itching of it. If dh could be bottled it could easily be used to torture ANYONE into telling state secrets. It could be used as torture on prisoners of war.

Could you post some photos of it?

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Ryniev Apprentice
Ryniev
Posted

Here is one test to find out if it is allergy related. If you take say Benadryl or an antihistamine & the rash goes away then it is not dh. Although antihistamines may give some relief from the itching of dh they will not make the dh go away.

DH is the itchiest thing you've ever known. It is relentless. I do believe a person could literally go insane from the itching of it. If dh could be bottled it could easily be used to torture ANYONE into telling state secrets. It could be used as torture on prisoners of war.

Could you post some photos of it?

That's how they suspected what mine was. After going through benedryl, allegra (I was already taking Zyrtec for other allergies) they gave me a drug called Hydroxyzine that was supposed to help me "sleep through the itchiness" all it did was keep me awake still itchy and sedated. Also two rounds of prednisone which did NOTHING either. Steroid creams too.

I've had eczema all my life and this is much, much worse. I think after 2.5 weeks I've started to feel a little relief. I've been so tired the last 7 months, I feel like I've aged 5 years.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      127,396
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    ElizHane
    Newest Member
    ElizHane
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121k
    • Total Posts
      70.1k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Celiac, Fructose and Lactose

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      Have you tried sheep's milk and goat's milk cheeses? After my diagnosis I could not tolerate cow's milk for ~2 years until my villi healed, but for some reason I did not have issues with sheep milk or goat milk cheeses.  I also had temporary issues with chicken eggs, but could eat duck eggs.
    • Scott Adams
      Waiting on Blood test results…

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      This is not a test for celiac disease, but your total IgA levels. This test is usually done with other celiac disease blood tests to make sure the results are accurate. Did they do a tTg-IgA test as well? Were you eating lots of gluten in the 6-8 weeks leading up to your blood tests? This article might be helpful. It breaks down each type of test, and what a positive results means in terms of the probability that you might have celiac disease. One test that always needs to be done is the IgA Levels/Deficiency Test (often called "Total IGA") because some people are naturally IGA deficient, and if this is the case, then certain blood tests for celiac disease might be false-negative, and other types of tests need to be done to make an accurate diagnosis. The article includes the "Mayo Clinic Protocol," which is the best overall protocol for results to be ~98% accurate.    
    • ChrisSeth
      Waiting on Blood test results…

      By ChrisSeth · Posted

      Test results came back for everything that was tested now. Cholesterol is off the charts high. Not sure if that’s related to celiac, I have no idea how it could be so high. Also tested positive for H pylori  infection… is there a link to celiac and H pylori? Or am I just experiencing symptoms of the H pylori infection? 
    • ChrisSeth
      Waiting on Blood test results…

      By ChrisSeth · Posted

      I’m reading that some sites list a high Immunoglobulin A result for my age above 300, another site says above 356, and other sites are saying above 400. I don’t know what to make of this result 🤷‍♂️
    • trents
      Need Advice on Doctors

      By trents · Posted

      You got some bum steers my friend. I have little confidence that you can trust your test results as differentiating between NCGS and celiac disease. And I think you would be much more likely to have gotten that note you need if you had been diagnosed with celiac disease. But believe me, I understand the predicament you are in with regard to the risks of repeating the gluten challenge. We have heard this story many times on this forum. People experiment with the gluten free diet before getting an official diagnosis and then cannot tolerate the gluten challenge later on when they seek an official diagnosis.
×
×
  • Create New...