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Thank you so much for all of you wonderful responses.  It is amazing  
the number of people (children and adults) that experience some level  
of itchiness due to CD.  It seems to range from mild to chronic and  
can be felt anywhere on the body (hands, feet, legs, torso, head, etc.)

Itchiness can first and foremost be an accidental ingestion of  
gluten.  If that is all it is, you are one of the lucky ones.  If the  
itchiness is accompanied by bumps, redness, hives, or anything  
visible, it is important to go to the doctor asap because there is a  
good chance it is DH (dermatitis herpetiformis), which is associated  
with CD, and can be quite serious and painful.

Itchiness accompanied with numbness, tingling, "bug bites" sensation,  
feet "falling asleep", and "pins and needles", are also symptoms  
associated with CD.  This is called PN (Peripheral Neuropathy), and  
more specifically Small Fiber PN.  It does not do anything, it is just  
there.  It can be felt (it's very uncomfortable and can be painful)  
when your body is rejecting something.  If you or your child  
experiences any of these sensations, it would be wise to see a  
neurologist familiar with Celiac, of course.

I also received a number of responses about contact dermatitis.  It  
could be detergents, dryer sheets, cleaning supplies, soaps, meds,  
etc.  It would be wise to look at all these products, and even if they  
are gluten free, switch to something more mild to see if it is just a  
case of sensitive skin.  For children, it could be grass or  
environmental allergies.  It could also be heat.  Too many layers not  
allowing the skin to breath has been a cause of itchiness for some.

There ended up not being a definite response.  It seems that the  
majority believes strongly that it is PN.  But next to that, it could  
be a variety of things.  What is really tricky about Celiac, is that  
other problems surface even after years of being on a successful GF  
Diet.  People itched or tingled (in all different places on the body)  
from the following:

-Iodine (dairy, potato skins, salt, rice)
-heat (shower, socks, etc.)
-Yeast * seemed to be a popular response
-corn
-soy
-sugar
-additives
-preservatives
-too much of anything, including fruit
-salt
-B12 or a number of other vitamin def.
-eggs

Overall, it seems like it can be so many different things and it can  
be more than one thing.  It's a matter of trial and error and  
continuing to read as much info as possible.  I am still waiting to  
hear back from my daughter's GI nutritionist :-(  I wish the answers  
were more black and white, but this seems like a very gray area.

All my best,

Alex

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