Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Celiacs and Dermatitis Herpetiformis

When my physician told me I might have Celiacs a few years ago, I didn't have health insurance, so the expensive test was out of the question.  I toyed with a gluten free diet for quite awhile.  I would eat gluten free for a few weeks then get tired of it and go back to eating like the rest of the world.  Until I started breaking out in itchy, stinging blisters on my face.  They were mostly around my nose and mouth area.  I was miserable.  At first I thought it was poison ivy but no amount of Calamine lotion helped.  After some research I figured out I had Dermatitis Herpetiformis.  This can be an ugly side effect of Celiac disease.  Not only was it because of my diet but my face lotion had wheat starch in it.  After about of two weeks of no gluten in my food or face lotion, it cleared up. 
Now I either use Dove or Ivory soap in the shower.  My face is another matter altogether.  I'm a middle aged woman with dry skin.  I need my moisturizer!  Most of the time I use grape seed oil extract or coconut oil with vitamin e.  The grape seed oil extract isn't quite as greasy.  But it's also more expensive.  My last bottle of coconut oil cost two dollars at Dollar General Store.  The grape seed oil is normally ten dollars or more and not in any of my local stores.  I either have to get it online or make a trip to Springfield which is almost an hour away. 
Next on my list of foods to try is Domata Living Flour.  It's supposed to be a cup for cup replacement for wheat flour.  In other words, I can use my old gluten recipes with this flour.  I may even try fried chicken and gravy! Mmmmmmm!

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