I've recently been diagnosed with dermatitis herpetoformis

Digestive health
1

I've been battling this for months and it's been confused with excema. Wondering if anyone has managed to get rid of the symptoms by following a gluten free diet alone and without the help of medication. How long a recovery period am I looking at? 

2

Hi Charlotte, yes there is light at the end of the tunnel, I am not suffering anymore although it has taken me about 4 or 5 years to be clear. I am strict with the diet, we don't even have gluten in our house.

What i did was take 1 dapsone tablet if I got the rash and couldnt sleep and 1 tablet was enough to make me more comfortable. I haven't had any Dapsone for at least 1 of 2 years now. Hope this is helpful and you feel better soon

3

Thanks for that, I'm in a third world country where gluten free products are so hard to come by and have to ordered in. Also just wondering about dairy...I've read that dairy complicates auto immune disorders. Did you have a problem with dairy? 

4

Hi yes sorry forgot about dairy. I had to give it up for a couple of years, used soya milk instead. I can now tolerate dairy, I found giving up dairy very difficult especially as a lot of our long-standing family meals used cheese, however it is worth it if you can get well. My symptoms were not the normal CD ones, I suffered from headaches and generally feeling unwell along with the rash. To be honest you may find it better for your health to avoid gluten free products as they are full of chemicals, better to eat naturally

5

Hi Charlotte....my Celiac is very severe and I have never had that particular skin problem however I do have keratosis polaris which has improved since being off gluten. I recently discovered.....in a very severe attack that soya must also be out of my diet and I will say that diary seems to also make KP flare up. If I have dairy I make sure it's organic which helps somewhat. You might want to eliminate dairy for a month and see if your skin improves. Good luck!

6

Thanks for taking the time to write back. Ok that's helps hugely. I will keep off dairy as well until the healing is complete and try again. Yes I do agree to stay away from the Refined stuff as much as possible. I'm opting not to go on Dapsone for the moment as the sideffects freak me out a bit. 

7

Yes thanks I think I will keep off dairy. I eliminated gluten for nearly 3 months but there was no improvement so I didn't think gluten was the problem but maybe dairy was complicating the issue