I am back after a few weeks hiatus from the forum and I just want to say screw the diagnosis!! I am sticking with the gluten free diet now whether the dermatologist thinks 'gluten intolerance' is just a new fad disease that is cool to have, or not. Yes that was what she said when I told her that I thought I was gluten intolerant. She looked at my rash and said it was eczematic and prescribed a compound of cortisone cream mixed with some sort of aveeno moisturizer and an antihistamine that I had already been taking which did seem to lessen the itch at night so that I could sleep. I told her that the rash had been over most of my body but that I had been doing a gluten free diet for a few weeks and it seemed to have cleared from my tummy and back. She at that point said well lets put you on a hypoallergenic diet of just lamb rice and pears as well and told me to come back in two weeks. So I went home and did her diet of lamb rice and pears and continued with the antihistamines. It took 7 days for the cream prescription to be filled as it was a special compound, so I just followed her diet for that first week. By the day that I actually got the cream from the pharmacy, my rash was looking markedly better and was not nearly as itchy. So I did the last week with the diet (I did add in some foods that I found on a list of hypoallergenic foods online) and the cream and then went for my next appointment with the derm. She looked at my rash and said it looks a lot better and told me that the antihistamines and the cream were responsible for my improvement. So like an idiot I went home and went back to eating my normal diet. What a huge mistake!!!! my rash is awful again and it came back even worse than before....my legs and arms are a complete mess and once again so itchy that I am waking up in the night even when I take two (dosage is actually only one pill) antihistamine pills before bed. My hips and butt are also starting to itch so I am nipping this in the bud. I am back on the hypoallergenic diet in the hopes that it puts a stop to this. I think the hypoallergenic diet worked so well because there is no real chance of getting cc'd. Its all homemade foods like quinoa, yams, fresh veggies, rice, lamb, wild fish, and only organic meat that is raised on no grains, it has to be grass fed. It is only day 3 of my being back on this diet so I haven't yet seen an improvement but I will keep you posted on my improvement. I am shocked at how much worse the rash is that before, my legs look like they have been burned in a fire...all red and raised tissue with scabs...so horrible!!!
I would recommend the hypoallergenic diet to anyone who is struggling, it seems to have helped me once so I am hoping that it works again.......
Elaine