psoriasis and celiac

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i'm wondering if any one with celiac or gluten alergies also experiances psoriasis or excema and if so when yu stopped eating gluten, did it help your skin any?

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  • Shausil82
    Shausil82 Posts: 218 Member
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    i'm wondering if any one with celiac or gluten alergies also experiances psoriasis or excema and if so when yu stopped eating gluten, did it help your skin any?

    I got diagnosed with Celiac about 3 weeks ago, and I did have some skin issues recently. Not sure if celiac and skin issues are related, but, I drank more water, and used lots of moisturizing lotion and the problem is starting to go away. Definitely check with your doctor.
  • calimari
    calimari Posts: 202 Member
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    A couple years ago I got a really awful rash on my hands/feet - doctor said it was psoriasis. I didn't believe him, as it looked nothing like my uncles', but it did look like something my mother had for 40 years that was never resolved. But I went for 2nd opinion, did light therapy for it, which gave me 2nd degree burns. I also tried a gluten-free diet for several months, but it made no impact.

    Finally, after the burns, I went to a 3rd dermatologist (who was just shocked by what he saw). He gave me a $5 tube of cortizone and it cleared up in days and has never returned. Mind you, I begged the previous doctors for cortizone w/ no success...

    Apparently, the GF diet can help w/ SOME rashes - I've read books on it - but I've not read a connection to psoriasis.
  • YMTaylor
    YMTaylor Posts: 230 Member
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    "Dermatitis herpetiformis, an itchy, stinging, blistering skin rash, occurs when your skin reacts to gluten antibodies circulating in your system. Some people call dermatitis herpetiformis a "gluten rash" or a "celiac disease rash" because it occurs in conjunction with celiac disease." taken from http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/whatisceliacdisease/a/DermatitisHerp.htm

    It is definitely possible to have skin conditions related to uncontrolled Celiac. If you've been diagnosed with celiac, how long have you been GF? It can take a few weeks for everything to run through your system so you might want to wait if it hasn't been very long. Not to nag but if you have celiac make sure you are NOT cheating at all! Even a small amount of gluten can ruin days or weeks of being gluten-free. If you've been gluten-free for awhile you might want to check with the doctor to rule out other issues. Good Luck!

    Sorry I got sidetracked, you asked if the skin issues went away. If it's truly dermatitis herpetiformis then it will go away as you stay gluten-free. :)
  • cainieftw
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    Hey ! I have a gluten intolerance and when i DO eat gluten, i end up COVERED in an eczema-like rash. Cortizone cleared it but it returned real soon and the only thing that makes it say away is a totally gluten-free diet! hope this helps :)
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
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    Along with celiac folks are often intolerant to Dairy, if I cheat and have some dairy I get the worst itchy rash ever. I was getting weird patches of rashes before I went off week and the doctor would always just tell me to use an antihistamine and some cortisone cream. She was treating the symptoms but not the issue.
  • fastmethod
    fastmethod Posts: 40 Member
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    Hi
    sorry I should have said earlier- i dont have celiac- ( not that i know of) but i do have psoriasis. I was asking just out of curiosity, because i've stopped eating grains for a month and it appears to have cleared my psoriasis a little bit. but i think that could be placebo effect .
  • clh126
    clh126 Posts: 115 Member
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    Hi
    sorry I should have said earlier- i dont have celiac- ( not that i know of) but i do have psoriasis. I was asking just out of curiosity, because i've stopped eating grains for a month and it appears to have cleared my psoriasis a little bit. but i think that could be placebo effect .

    Ah, this is very interesting. I have psoriasis and noticed recently that I get bloated and retain water when I eat gluten, so I figured that I probably have some sort of gluten insensitivity (def not celiac's though). I'm going to try to cut out the gluten now and see if it helps my psoriasis because this pesky rash has stopped responding to most medications, so I've just been sort of dealing with it for the last few years.
  • fastmethod
    fastmethod Posts: 40 Member
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    lol well mine has gone kinda funny, instead of having flaky crustiness, i know have shiny smooth red patches, like a burn or a scar thats almost healed. so we will wait and see. let me know how you get on with this please i'd be really interested to know.
  • fastmethod
    fastmethod Posts: 40 Member
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    Hey ! I have a gluten intolerance and when i DO eat gluten, i end up COVERED in an eczema-like rash. Cortizone cleared it but it returned real soon and the only thing that makes it say away is a totally gluten-free diet! hope this helps :)

    this is starting to make sense, apparently eczema and psoriasis have some kind of link, If i remember correctly from what I have read, there are no cases of anyone having both conditions, and it appears on the surface that they might actually be the same or similar conditions (an auto immune reaction) but with slightly different symptoms. but don't quote me on that.

    this is all reall good information
    thanks everyone
  • jessradtke
    jessradtke Posts: 418 Member
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    I have had psoriasis most of my life and tried a gluten free diet several years ago. As with just about every other elimination diet I've ever done, the psoriasis got a little better for a bit but then came right back. Staying away from refined flours and sugars DOES help my psoriasis though. It's still there but it's much lighter in color (pink not red) and it's not flaky. Like someonone else said, it looks more like a burn than psoriasis. If I eat mostly raw fruits and veggies as well, it will fade to an almost normal state. It's still there, but it's hard for other people to see.
  • fastmethod
    fastmethod Posts: 40 Member
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    you see that i could cope with. if i could get it to look like a scar semi perminanlt (like it does just now) I'd concider that a win.
    its just when its all flaky and nasty looking! so far 3 things i've tried have had an effect.
    so far this no grain thing seems to be working. I dont eat sugar either, so maybe its the 2 things in combination
    Ive tried all the hc creams and coal tar and they've had no effect (and coal tar stinks soo bad!)
    I tried this herbal cream i bought at holland and barrett years ago by they stopped making it! which is a shame because it worked really well
    and Ive done sunbeds, but there too expensive. although on the plus side " it helps my psoriasis" is a good excuse for a black man to get a tan with out looking too metrosexual
  • cainieftw
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    drink lots and lots and LOTS of water, i mean tonnes of the stuff, and make sure you moisturise the area affected at least 2x a day if you wanna keep the nasty, flaky parts away.
  • fiabka
    fiabka Posts: 294 Member
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    I think you may find that what helps one person won't help another.

    I am a sufferer of psoriasis have been since I was 27 years old - Mine got so bad that my area hospital sent me to the top one of two in the UK to get their help.

    I have tried cutting out gluten, dairy and every other food group etc etc etc & none of them made a difference but I have been in hospital with people that have had a brilliant response from removing certain things from their diets

    The one thing that used to really inflame mine was alcohol though - if I had a night out within two days my skin would be so sore & itchy & the patches would be red raw - flippin agony

    I have seen patients have total success with light treatment, others, like me just a fab sun tan !!!!!!

    I am now on a drug treatment which, fingers X, is working for me & I have my life back & I do count my blessings but if I have a slight flare I can always put it down to a stress situation that has happened

    I think you have to try all sorts to see if anything helps you personaly but the one thing I would recommend is omega suppliments - this is a must if you have skin problems

    Good luck with your investigations ! :smile: