<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

*****
It looked like blisters that were filled with clear fluid. It did itch
like
crazy and over the counter creams and creams I received from my doctor
who
repeatedly misdiagnosed it as eczema didn't work.  I finally went to a
dermatologist who thought it was DH and did a small biopsy of 2 area's of
my
skin - one tiny section from the breakout area and one from a piece from
a
area of clear skin (no lesions).  It was painless and over in a minute.
He
then sent it in for testing and it came back positive.  There are two
options he gave me.  One was medicine and one was go on the gluten free
diet.  The medicine has side effects and I was found to have Celiac
(sister
disease of DH) anyway so I went gluten free.  The itching was so bad that
I
never want it to return, in fact I have a slight itch on my elbow right
now
and therefore know that I ingested some gluten somewhere and I cringe
with
the thought that I may start to break out.
****
Four months!  Yikes!  If it's DH that would be enough to make me go
insane as much as it itched.  Mine started on my elbows and moved to my
knees, back and scalp.  I'd get him in to see a dermatologist since it's
not going away.  A little skin sample is all they need to test for it.
My diagnosis took just a couple weeks.  Really easy and quite painless.
****
There is only one diagnoses that is worth while and that is biopsy.
There are a number of things that look just like DH.  And if your
dermatologist takes it wrong you can get a false negative. The biopsy
should be taken near the outbreak, but not on the blisters themselves.
There is so much ignorance it the medical field that it is hard to find a
doctor that is knowledgeable in this area. I strongly suggest that you
try
to find a Dermatologist that is familiar with D. My doctor took about 10
to
12 biopsies before he got a positive diagnoses, but he was taking
biopsies
of the blisters themselves and I did not find out till afterwards that he
was taking them wrong.
*****
Two things....but first you should know no one in my family is
"diagnosed"
officially but this is my experience anyway...
First of all, my husband is HIGHLY sensitive to poison ivy.  We live on a
farm and he gets several attacks a year.  His dermatologist told him
point
blank that it cannot spread by itching/distribution of the oil.  It was
hard
for us to accept because that is what we have all grown up thinking.
Second, my family history is what led us to CD and so my daughter is GF.
However, I have had for years, in various different places what you
describe
on your son and what I have often told my husband is like having poison
ivy
year round.  Only recently did I look into DH enough to believe that is
probably what it is.  (I have yet to be bold enough to try to go GF...)
I
do have relieve from a special soap called a ZNP bar and hydrotcortisone
cream, but only if I use it daily and never miss.  Otherwise, I am in
itching/burning trouble.  With the little bumps.
Don't know if this is helpful at all...

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