Don't think this is DH...

ostrich · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 4137 Location: Nebraska

...but I'm not quite sure what it is. About every month and a half I get these itchy patches, usually on my elbows or (more recently) my shins. The area gets really inflamed and itches like mad (even though I don't scratch). It takes several weeks to clear up.

Anybody have something similar? The doc originally diagnosed it as excema. How'd you help the itching, or make it go away faster? Right now I'm using a steriod cream, but it doesn't seem to work and I end up using it far longer than recommended. Summer is coming up and I don't want to look like a leper in shorts. Sad

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Ostrich :>--O==={

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

Kimmus · Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 171 Location: Iowa

My non CD daughter has eczema. She breaks out on her ankles and elbows. She also uses the steroid cream, and as you said, it doesn't work very well. She has noticed that if she goes swimming it helps to clear it up faster. I don't know if it's the chlorine in the pool or what, but it really does help. She just really moisturizes a lot after she gets out of the pool and you can tell a big difference in just a couple days.
She also has a nickel allergy, so she coats the snaps on her jeans and her belt buckles with clear fingernail polish. She also watches what jewelry she wears -- she will break out where any of that touches her skin and then it also causes the other areas to break out more.
Good luck as I know it's no fun.
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Kim --
Mom of a celiac teen (GF BD Oct-04)

sarahjo · Joined: 29 Apr 2006 Posts: 119

warning!!! my daughters doctor won't let her use elidel on her skin. i quess it is starting to cause cancer in small children..you can find articles on it ....just thought you should know..there is a baby natural product that you can get at walmart (in the baby aisle) it is specified for eczema. If you want the name for sure let me know i go to walmart often, i will double check. we also use a foot fungus cream on her a few times a month, has helped.

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8501 Location: WI, USA

Here's some info on Elidel.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/elidel/default.htm

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/InfoSheets/patient/elidelPT.htm

http://www.psoriasiscafe.org/fda-elidel.htm
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

ostrich · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 4137 Location: Nebraska

Thanks all! I'm thinking about picking up some epsome salts this weekend and taking a nice hot bath. Perhaps that'll dry it out faster. I've never heard of using foot fungus cream. Shocked

I've had this problem since I can remember. It seems to be getting worse (right now it's all over my right shin) even though I've gone GF. Could it be reacting to the GF diet?
_________________
Ostrich :>--O==={

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

GFSarahSmiles · Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject:

Well that's all great. A while back when I showed my doc the rashes I'd get on my elbows, when he first suspected CD and decided to test, he gave me Elidel for it. I almost never use it, so that's good, but cancer from a cream? It sounds a little wild. I really only used the stuff in the beginning, because after the dx and going GF, it obviously cleared up and I only had occasional flare-ups which I could normally trace the source of. I just felt like the cream didn't help all that much, and not enough to "risk it." Not that I felt it was directly harmful, but it kinda felt like if I used it, it may help the rash but the reaction likely manifest in some other way. Kinda like that . . . I was not solving anything and didn't know what I might be harming, if anything.

On the salts, I used a bath salt once. Probably 5 years ago or so I used Burts Bees bath salt - I later threw the stuff out. It absolutely made my skin raw! Not to mention the unsightly red and irritated look along with the "oooh it itches but it hurts to scratch it" feeling. I don't know what the GF status would be on that because it was when I undoubtably had CD but was yet to be dx'ed. I hope your salt works well!
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Sarah Very Happy

Birthday: December 6, 1982
Gluten-Free Birthday: March 2, 2004
Remission & Dx Confirmed: March 30, 2004

yellowoctopus · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 45 Location: Washington, DC USA

I've had eczema on my elbows and ankles for years. I got worse when my CD symptoms started getting worse about three to four years ago. Going GF helped keep it under control. It gets worse everytime I glutened myself.

Steroid cream works for me when it flares up. I get the cream from my father who is a physician, so I have no idea of the brand.

I think salt and moderate sun light are suppose to help.

Torrey · Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 921 Location: Hawthorne, NJ

I know this is an older thread, but...

I, too, have had spots of eczema all my life. As I've gotten older, it seems to get worse on my palms as the weather gets warmer and/or more humid. I did some research online and it seems as though it is pompholyx (a form of eczema). It's not insanely itchy and it's not contagious or anything, but it's unsightly and is comprised of these little teeny bumps (they look like mini blisters) all over my palms. Aside from the weather (and stress), could it possibly be triggered by anything else?

Does anyone else have this? Just curious...
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~Torrey Smile

August 24, 1975
GF BD July 12, 2004

celiacmaine-iac · Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 668 Location: Maine

I have them too. I don't get them on my palms, but on the sides of my hands, and in the web of skin between my thumb and index finger. I have never been able to pinpoint a direct trigger, but they do seem seasonal with me. They are flaring pretty badly now. My dermatologist said they are a form of exzema, like you said.
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Steph

Torrey · Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 921 Location: Hawthorne, NJ

Thanks for the input! Smile

Hmm...because it's seasonal (ie, warmer weather), I wonder if it's a sweat-related thing?
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~Torrey Smile

August 24, 1975
GF BD July 12, 2004

Fifi · Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 214 Location: Wauconda, IL

My husband gets a rash on his arms and legs. It is very annoying to him but not contagious or dangerous. They call it Eurythemia multiform (eruptions of the skin in multi forms). he has seen a million doctors and they have prescribed all kinds of creams and none work. He used Dial anti bacterial soap one day and it cleared up immediately. Everytime it comes back and he uses the Dial and it goes right away. I don't know if it would work with any anti bacterial soap, but we found this and we never changed. It might just be a fluke, but he is much happier now, which in turn makes me happier. For whatever it is worth.

Torrey · Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 921 Location: Hawthorne, NJ

Hmm...that's interesting...I have both Dial and Softsoap brand soaps in my kitchen and bathrooms, but the little bumps remain on my hands...I'll have to see if, when using the Dial stuff exclusively, the bumps go away.
And, to be honest, I'm very glad that it doesn't itch or otherwise bother me--I was just curious as to what may be causing it. Smile

I seriously think that stress has something to do with it, though! Wink

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~Torrey Smile

August 24, 1975
GF BD July 12, 2004