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Dermatitis Herpetiformis and Gluten Free Diet

by Allergy Guy

Diet to Cure Dermatitis Herpetiformis

The way to cure Dermatitis Herpetiformis is by changing to a gluten free diet.

Although medication has its place, this is a short-term solution that deals with some of the symptoms only.

To deal with all of the symptoms, without the risks and side-effects of medication, a gluten free diet is the way to go.

You must go on a strict gluten free diet, eliminating all wheat, oats, barley and rye from your diet, as well as a host of food additives based on gluten.

This is difficult but well worth it.

First of all, it will make your dermatitis herpetiformis go away, which is worthwhile right there.  This may take some time.  If you’re on medication to deal with the rash, you may need to say on it for one to three years.

In other words, a gluten free diet will not make your rash disappear instantly.

Please realize that what you have is not dermatitis herpetiformis.  Dermatitis herpetiformis is just a symptom of celiac/gluten sensitivity/gluten allergy.

Consider yourself lucky.  By discovering your sensitivity to gluten in this way, you have two big advantages.

One advantage is that by cutting out gluten, you will improve your general health.  The risks of thyroid problems and intestinal lymphoma are significant, along with other severe complications, if you continue to eat gluten.

Better to get a rash and learn to cut gluten, than to get cancer!

You’ll almost certainly notice an increase in energy, and the disappearance of a long list of symptoms you could never get cured, or which you just accepted and never really knew you had.

You will notice these hidden symptoms once they’re gone, trust me.

The other advantage is that the skin rash is so nasty, that you have lots of motivation to stay on a gluten free diet and avoid all the other horrible symptoms that come with gluten consumption for celiacs, gluten allergy sufferers, and the gluten sensitive.

Good luck on your gluten free diet.

 

 

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Dermatitis Herpetiformis – Diagnosing and Treating

by Allergy Guy

Dermatitis herpetiformis can easily be confused with other types of eczema. Correct diagnosis leads to appropriate treatment.

Dermatitis herpetiformis is also known as Duhring’s disease

Diagnosing Dermatitis Herpetiformis

One problem in diagnosis is that the blisters are sometimes scratched off before the doctor can see them.

If the doctor suspects dermatitis herpetiformis, a blood test for IgA antibodies and a skin biopsy looking for IgA deposits should verify the diagnosis.

Note that starting on a gluten free diet may cause this test to give a false negative, in other words, the test may say you don’t have Duhring’s disease, when in fact you do.

Treating Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Duhring’s can be treated in two ways: with drugs or with diet.

These two approaches are entirely different, and there is really only one right answer. We’ll look at the temporary fix in this article, and the “right answer” in the next article.

Drug Treatment of Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Although drugs may provide temporary relief, which is worth having, this should be considered a short-term solution.

Drugs have side-effects and are not good for your health.  There is always a tradeoff between the benefit of pharmaceuticals, and the side-effects.

In this case, the drugs do not cure the disease in the slightest, they just hide the symptoms.

Given that the problem is irritating on the skin, but serious or fatal in organs like your heart, brain etc., do not rely on drugs to fix the problem.

The usual drug is Dapsone.  Not everyone can tolerate this drug, so other, less effective drugs can be used, including colchicine, lymecycline, nicotinamide, tetracycline, sulfamethoxypyridazine and sulfapyridine.

You may need to maintain drug treatment for 1 to 3 years.

Be sure to change your diet and re-evaluate your need for drugs regularly.


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Dermatitis Herpetiformis

by Allergy Guy

Dermatitis herpetiformis is a form of eczema caused by gluten.

It is frequently misdiagnosed.  Some dermatologists as if eczema is a disease, not a symptom.  They treat the symptoms (the rash) rather than the underlying cause.

Powerful drugs often do make the rash go away, but they have unpleasant and health-degrading side effects.

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The answer is a change in diet.  Your doctor may know little if anything about this (I’m particularly suspicious of dermatologists, but this may be unfair).  You will find at least part of the answerer here.

Dermatitis herpetiformis was first noticed by Dr. Louis Duhring in 1884.  It was not until 1967 that the connection was made between this skin condition and gluten intolerance (celiac disease). 

Given that doctors have been slow to recognize and look for celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis can easily be missed, especially as it may be the only symptom of a gluten intolerance.  In fact, some people may have the skin condition, without having any disturbance in their gut.

The condition involves the immune system, so to some extent, you could consider it a kind of gluten allergy, although this view is my own, not scientifically tested, and is not defined as an allergy according to some people’s very strict definition of an allergy.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis Cause

Duhring’s disease is an autoimmune reaction triggered by gluten in your diet.  This means that your immune system sees gluten as an invader, and in fighting the gluten, your immune system also attacks your own body.

The IgA antibodies are produced in the lining of the gut.  The IgA binds to the gluten, producing a relatively large glob.  This gets absorbed into the bloodstream.  Because it is relatively large, it clogs small blood vessels in the skin. 

This IgA/gluten clog attracts white blood cells which try and attack the clog.  They release chemicals that cause the rash.

If this is happening in the skin, you can well imagine that it can easily occur elsewhere in the body. 

Treating the symptoms rather than the cause is likely to result in severe health problems elsewhere in the body, which seem unconnected to a skin rash.


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Is There Wheat without Gluten?

by Allergy Guy

Is there wheat without gluten?  Someone asked me this recently.  It sounds like an attractive option (if it exists) – that way you could make all the recipes you’re used to with this special wheat flour, but be safe if you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy. Perfect for the gluten free diet!

Someone asked me this very question a while ago, so here’s my answer:

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How long to see benefits of gluten free diet?

by Allergy Guy

How long until you see the benefits of a gluten free diet?  This is an important question if you are on an elimination diet to test for a gluten allergy, or if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease and wondering how long it will take for you to feel better.

The length of time varies for each person.  You may see an improvement in a few weeks.  It may take longer, depending on how much gluten damage your body has to heal, and how quickly your body can flush itself of gluten-related toxins.

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Behavior Improved After Removing Gluten

by Allergy Guy

Might the behavior of your children improve after removing gluten from their diet?

Gluten is not the cause of all misbehavior in children, however it can play a major role in some cases.

To put it another way, gluten may have nothing to do with your child’s behavioral problems. But if your child has a gluten allergy or has celiac disease, going on a gluten free diet will have a profound effect on their health, and most likely their behavior as well.

This makes me think of my niece, who was really a piece of work from day one, through to when she was about six or seven years old.

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Benefits of a Gluten Free Diet

by Allergy Guy

The benefits of a gluten free diet depend very much on your genetic makeup, and the state of your health.

For some, eliminating gluten from their diet is a matter of life and death.  That’s not an exaggeration.

Others notice little change, if any. For many people, the benefits are somewhere in between: more energy, better health.

Why the variation?  And is a gluten free diet right for you? 

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Gluten Intolerance

by Allergy Guy

Gluten intolerance is the general term for a collection of conditions that are triggered when you eat gluten.

Many people assume gluten intolerance is the same thing as celiac disease.  Often this is true, but not always.

A gluten allergy is a form of gluten intolerance.  Many people are much healthier and have more energy when they go on a gluten free diet, although they may not actually have celiac disease.

The treatment for a gluten intolerance is simple but challenging: stop eating gluten-containing foods.

There are two challenges here: one is discovering if you have a gluten intolerance or not.  The other is actually being on a 100% gluten free diet.

A third thing to consider is that many people may seem to have a gluten intolerance, when in fact they have a wheat allergy.

The good news is that by avoiding gluten you are also avoiding wheat.  So even if your problem is really a wheat allergy, by maintaining a gluten free diet, you are avoiding wheat.  The only downside is an unnecessarily restrictive diet.

Many people do not notice the symptoms of exposure to gluten right away, so they may have this problem for years without being aware of it.

So there is something to be said for a gluten free diet, even when wheat may seem to be the real problem.

Diagnosing a Gluten Intolerance

We have come to expect tests for everything. 

There are tests for gluten allergy, and celiac disease.

Gluten allergy tests are not 100% accurate, especially when you consider the many different types of allergic reaction the body may manifest.  A test may be 80% accurate for one type of reaction, and miss another type completely.

There are several tests for celiac disease, some better than others.  You may still get a false negative with these tests, especially if your reaction is relatively slight.

The best way to test for gluten intolerance is to go on a gluten free diet for at least 8 weeks (preferably longer) and see if you notice a difference in your health and energy levels

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Gluten Free Diet and Lupus

by Allergy Guy

A gluten free diet may benefit many diagnosed with lupus.

The symptoms of celiac disease, not to be confused with a gluten allergy, can be similar to lupus.

Both diseases are hard to pin down, having multiple and varied symptoms that can be quite different for each patient.

Both diseases can effect all organs in the body.  So if you have a rash, fatigue, and poor weight gain as a child, you may be diagnosed with lupus, and that may be the correct diagnosis.

However, a surprising number of people diagnosed with lupus are actually gluten intolerant, meaning they have celiac disease

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Gluten Free Diet and Symptoms Get Worse?

by Allergy Guy

A gluten free diet is a must for those with a gluten allergy or if you have celiac disease.  But what if your symptoms get worse when you start eliminating gluten?

Let’s first look at a short list of reasons for eliminating gluten, then look at why symptoms may become worse when starting a gluten free diet.

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