<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Lauren Walton wrote: I....have not seen much on dermatitis herpetiformis or steatorrhea (fatty stool) and would appreciate anyone who has experienced these problems to comment on there experiences.... Especially on the recovery process; how long does it take to be rid of the signs of the itchy outbreaks... Regarding DH: The following excerpts come from The Sprue-nik Press, March 1995, from a summary of a talk by Dr. Murray entitled "Celiac in the 90s", on pgs. 4-8: Dr. Joseph Murray, of the University of Iowa, is a gastroenterologist that specializes in treating Celiac disease. He gave a talk entitled "Celiacs in the 90s" at a conference hosted by the American Celiac Society on June 10-11, 1994. What follows are highlights of Dr. Murray's talk. .... Dr. Murray believes that ALL Dermatitis Herpetiformes (DH) patients also have Celiac disease, whether they realize it or not. This celiac disease is often latent or silent. Earlier reports of patients with DH who did not have enteropathy (small intestinal damage) may not have counted milder forms of the celiac disease damage. .... Most DH patients are prescribed Dapsone, which treats the symptoms. In most cases, they are told of the GF diet, but it is not stressed and so most DH patients do not follow the diet. Dr. Murray finds this most distressing, because even if these patients don't have GI-related symptoms, there is still continual damage being done to the small intestine. Dermatologists, in general, don't give enough consideration to a GI problem as the source of DH. This places DH patients at an even greater risk of developing lymphoma in the small intestine. .... DH is caused by reactions to antibody complexes that, for reasons not totally clear, become deposited under the skin. These DH breakouts can continue for a long time after a GF diet is adopted, because these deposits are not reabsorbed by the body very quickly. In about 70% of the cases, dapsone treatments can be discontinued after 18 months-2 years; for the other 30% it takes longer. I believe that an information file on DH will soon be available from the list. When this occurs an announcement will be made to the list. -- -- Jim Lyles -- [log in to unmask] -- Holly, Michigan, USA --