Hi, glad I found this forum.
When I was around 10 months old I had a horrible rash on my butt and legs that was red, raised and painful (so my mom tells me). I also had diarreah and stopped growing and gaining weight. The doctor thought it was a gluten reaction, took me off all gluten for 6-8 months and I was told that the symptoms, rash/stool issue/growth all got better.
The doctor assumed Celiac and diagnosed me with it. No biopsy was performed (I don't know if they did them back then this would have been late 70's).
Anyways, I was always shorter and had a late onset of puberty but ended up catching up to my bone development for my age at around 15 or so. (Now stand the same height as my Dad - 5'10).
Throughout childhood I always had some issues with diarreah, but nothing that wouldn't resolve on its own in a few days or weeks depending.
My mom told me that the doctor started to introduce wheat and gluten foods back into my diet when I was around 2 years old and I did not react so he felt I could continue with a normal diet and wanted to see me regularly for the fist 10 years of my life to monitor bone development and growth etc. Everything seemed to pan out ok.
Fast forward to today, 29 years of age, healthy male for the most part however, last January I was under a lot stress and experienced a traumatic event which triggered this outbreak on my face that was the weirdest thing, it was characterized by:
- abrupt onset
- extremely painful
- burning and stinging sensation
- litlte lesions that looked almost like flat acne that sort of hardened and scabbed over after a few days but then popped up in other places.
- The lesions and pain were exactly symmetrical on both sides of my face (weird).
- I have what felt like blisters almost under my eyes (2 under each eye in exactly the same place on both sides of my face).
The doctors were unsure and gave me Minocycline and a topical antibiotic which helped clear it for a few weeks then it came back but to a lesser extent yet still lingered.
The blisters under the eyes remained and would start to go then come back then surface again, then begin to fade - back and forth for several months. Then the lesions all over the face (symmetrical again) started in the spring, both sides, stinging and burning, almost feels like wind burn. I was now on Doxycycline and the Derm switched me over to Bactrim DS (did not help much more). I then went on Accutane @ 40mg as he felt it was peraphs inflammatory skin disorder similar to acne. Still to this day, one year later I am dealing with this persistint stinging and burning in my skin and what feels like little blisters but they never surface fully surface as they did the first time (likely due to the meds I am on). But they never fully go away and always return or surface in the exact same area and are so painful, the worst pain I have ever felt. I am on Bactrim, Accutne and Indomathecin (a strong anti-inflammatory) as well as using topical Bactroban to the areas when they flare and get sore. The pain is periodic, comes and goes, sometimes lasting hours, or days.
Does this sound like it could be a case of Dermatitis Herpetiformis?
I had no idea about Celiac disease until I started searching around and told my mom about what I was experiencing and she informed me that the docs thought what I had was Celiac when I was a baby. I never knew the name of what they thought it was, it was over 20 years ago now.
So now I am thinking perhaps this is what it is? Maybe the traumatic event triggerd the symptoms to come back? (As I read this happens in those with Celiac who do not follow the proper diet._
I see a gastro specialist on Monday and I am going to see if I can get that endoscopic biopsy done.
If this is the cause I will be forever greatful because I know I can treat it with a diet. Not that it would be good to have this, but not knowing and having no treatment for something that is incredibly painful is worse imo.
Sorry for the babble, feedback and opinions welcome! I know nothing much about this DH condition and cannot find much on the internet so am hoping to gain some possible insght.
THANKS!
- extremely painful
