My step son was diagnosed with celiac a little over a year ago when he was 4. He has had what the doctors said is eczema his entire life, sometimes it is extremely bad and covers his legs, buttocks, feet, sometimes his cheeks. Personally, I believe it is DH, because it looks exactly like the pictures I have seen. Is it possible that if he does somehow get gluten that his only reaction would be the DH? He's never had any other type of reaction, like diarrhea or vomiting or even stomach pains. We are extremely careful, but it's hard for me to believe that he has never been glutened when he is back and forth between our house and his mom's house and grandparents! Sometimes it goes away completely, and then all of the sudden it's there again for a few days, then it's gone again. No one has asked the doctor about the possibilty of it being DH, and since I am not his legal parent I am unable to do that myself. This forum was my next option.

From what I understand, dh can be the only symptom you feel or see, but there can be other damage going on in the intestines. I've also read that you can keep breaking out with dh even if you are gluten free because the antibodies remain in your system for some time.

As for it being eczema, it's hard to say. All my kids have eczema and they occaisionally get something that looks like dh. With them, the dh rash looks like chicken pox with blisters that come up, break and heal over. Their eczema comes up in irregular bumpy patches that can be pink or tan colored. Both are incredibly itchy and both can last for weeks.

I sure hope you're able to find an anwer!