My dermatologist is treating me for DH, i'm on dapsone 100mg a day now..he never did a skin biopsy, he said he wants to clear the rash up first with the med and gluten free diet..I told my family dr. and he set me up with a gastro spec. in Oct. I've had gastro problems for about 16yrs, been told its IBS, but now i'm worried i have had celiacs all these years ;( I've had scopes done and upper lower GI's but i never heard of celiacs before, so i'm not sure they ever tested me for it. I don't no of anyone in my family that has/had celiacs either.
Sounds like your dermatologist is the only doctor you have seen who has any sense at all.
Most of us on this board are of the opinion that IBS doesn't actually exist as a disease. The S stands for "Syndrome," which means a collection of symptoms. Those symptoms are IDENTICAL to the symptoms of celiac. Unfortunately, most doctors seem to be idiots, and they don't bother testing for celiac because they have either never heard of it or they are sadly misinformed about it (like, they think you have to be wasting away to nothing to have it, or that it's a children's disease, or that it's extremely rare, etc.).
Anyway, welcome to the board! I hope your rash and tummy troubles disappear quickly.
Most of us on this board are of the opinion that IBS doesn't actually exist as a disease. The S stands for "Syndrome," which means a collection of symptoms. Those symptoms are IDENTICAL to the symptoms of celiac. Unfortunately, most doctors seem to be idiots, and they don't bother testing for celiac because they have either never heard of it or they are sadly misinformed about it (like, they think you have to be wasting away to nothing to have it, or that it's a children's disease, or that it's extremely rare, etc.).
Anyway, welcome to the board! I hope your rash and tummy troubles disappear quickly.
Congratulations on the diagnosis! Unfortunnately you already had to endure a scope
happy healing!
You indicate that they have set you up with a gastro appt in October. If you are gluten free now, any test results will not test positive for Celiac (not sure about DH). Surprised your dermatologist didn't do a punch biopsy of your rash - this must be done when you have the rash - they test skin right next to the rash (ouch by the way!!).
QUOTE(Queener @ Oct 4 2007, 01:42 PM) 
You indicate that they have set you up with a gastro appt in October. If you are gluten free now, any test results will not test positive for Celiac (not sure about DH). Surprised your dermatologist didn't do a punch biopsy of your rash - this must be done when you have the rash - they test skin right next to the rash (ouch by the way!!).
He did do a scraping at my first appt. but i was told thats not a biopsy. I'm just going to see what this dr has to say, he won't do any tests unless i say so lol. I might go for the scope to see how much damage was done to my intestine, i've been diagnosed with IBS for 16 yrs, so i'm worried how much damage was done in all that time. I don't understand why my dermatologist didn't do the biopsy, i really wish he would have. But i do believe i have DH, with the dapsone and the gluten-free diet, my rash is almost gone, which is the first time in a year, a dr. was able to control it or get rid of it completely.