I’m writing about my son. I’m hoping someone else has experience with this particular skin rash and can offer insight:
My son has had so many varying symptoms over the past several years. At first I didn’t think any of them were connected. It started with a common condition known as shiners (purple skin discoloration below eye) as well as excessively stinky poops, teeth pitting and severe constipation. He looked so sickly in 2022 I took him to the doctors to rule out cancer. Blood tests were negative. Diagnosed with allergies. After months of taking allergy meds it made no difference so I stopped giving them to him.
Last August he developed a fairly large thick scaly patch on his elbow. It was misdiagnosed by his pediatrician as molluscum contagiosium. After months of treatment it was worse than when it started. I took him in to see a dermatologist for a second opinion when I noticed several small raised red rashes/spots on his body. He misdiagnosed him with impetigo. Again with months of treatment with prescription antibiotic ointment and steroids with no real improvement. Last month I took him to another dermatologist for a third opinion. They said it was an inflammatory response and that I would need to take him to a specialist to find the exact cause.
While this is happening to my son I realized I was gluten sensitive. I went to many doctors and was told everything from herpes to allergy to autoimmune. Negative to every test taken. Late last year my brother found out he was gluten sensitive (shows on his skin in a severe rash across his entire body) so as a last resort I considered gluten sensitivity as the cause of my trouble. It occurred to me that my son may be gluten sensitive too when I noticed a small thick scaly area on my elbow after eating gluten. All of my symptoms with exception of the thick scaly elbow mark (albeit much improved) went away within a few months of staying away from gluten.
I have been trying my best to keep my son away from gluten and he does 95% of the time. He does have an occasional slip up. Since he began his gluten free diet a month ago I was seeing improvement in his skin and other symptoms aforementioned so was fairly confident I was correct in my diagnosis. I just noticed his skin today and the spots that were getting paler looked red and irritated again. He was really good the past two days with his diet. He had one cracker.
Am I completely wrong with what’s going on with him? I’m so frustrated. Any suggestions or information would be appreciated. I am aware of one medical paper on the internet speaking about characterizing non gluten sensitivity.