Wheat Intolerance-related eczema / dermatitis

[Karma]

After 5 weeks of treating DD for eczema, our Dr today said she thought she now had "dermatitis herpetiformis" on top of her eczema. Apparently it is an infection caused/irritated by wheat products, and our Dr just said to avoid all wheat for at least 2 weeks and see if there is an improvement.

I have spent all night 'googling' and have only found references to gluten-free diets and eczema/dermatitis. Does anyone have experience with "dermatitis herpetiformis".

It is a red pimply rash all over her face (from chin to eyebrows) that sometimes welts. It had started just around her mouth and I thought at first, it was only teething rash as my son had this. It spread a couple of weeks ago but was dry and flaky and the Sigmacorte cream settled it down but didnt heal it completely. Ive been using Paw Paw salve every night after her bath and while this also settles it down, it is still very visible.

Im so confused as to what to feed her now. Almost everything Ive found (apart from fruit and veg) has gluten / wheat in it!

Any links to sites with specialised recipes (tailored for fussy toddlers who like to ONLY eat finger foods at the moment ) would be so very appreciated

[mum2squish]

Squish can't have gluten/wheat (among other things), not due to excema/dermatitis, he's just flat out intolerant (I am summing up the courage to take him for his cealiac? test)
He is MEGA fussy about what he eats and theres not a lot he can have anyway, your local coles/woolies usually will have a small selection of Gluten free stock available, usually in the health food section...
Squish loves rice cakes (in biscuits section, they are round) with vege spread (vegemite) has just started eating rice pasta (on its own, refuses to eat anything on it)...
There is a large range of cookbooks with gluten free recipes in them, if you are after a particular food I can see if I have a recipe for it...
I will be back with some links....

[Karma]

Thanks for your reply. I bought the Orgran flour today to make my own bread/biscuits etc as the loaves are $6+ each! Our family goes through 1 loaf a day almost.

She loves rice cakes and the new rice rusks (Baby Mum Mum?) but cant have vegemite now I dont think as it contains yeast.

Lucky for me she loves vegies and will eat a whole bowl of them, but I cant give her that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Usually she has weetbix & banana for brekky, sandwich for lunch and meat & 3 veg for dinner, but now I have to substitute her breakfast and lunch meals with other things.

Im right for snack food ideas, just the main 3 meals IYKWIM?

[mum2squish]

Originally Posted by Karma

Thanks for your reply. I bought the Orgran flour today to make my own bread/biscuits etc as the loaves are $6+ each! Our family goes through 1 loaf a day almost.

She loves rice cakes and the new rice rusks (Baby Mum Mum?) but cant have vegemite now I dont think as it contains yeast.

VegeSpread (found in health food aisle at woolies and coles) is a gluten/wheat free and yeast free version of vegemite, Squish loves it and I actually prefer it over the normal vegemite...
He also loves 'Rice Cookies' by arnots biscuits, they are in the normal biscuit aisle $2.38 a packet
Do you have a Lenards chicken place where you live? Their plain chicken sausages and chicken patties are gluten free - they are the only meat product that Squish will eat , our lenards also makes a gluten free chicken roast loaf if I order in advance
I'm still thinking...

[Karma]

thankyou We do have Lenards chicken nearby, I will go there tomorrow if they're open.

Ive just rechecked my Dr's notes in Mia's blue book and she has Perioral Dermatitis not the other one I mentioned *blush*, my grandfather had the other one, which is why I thought immediately of that.

[mum2squish]

There should also be gluten/wheat free cereals in the health food aisle too...
Squish has Rice Puffs by Freedom Foods (like rice bubbles)... sometimes he has scrambled egg yolk (he can't have egg white) for brekky or waffles (need a waffle maker... probably not worth investing in one unless it becomes long term problem)

[kirrily]

I get excema on my hands if I eat wheat, so for me there's a definite correlation there and it was one of the things that made me suspicious of a wheat intolerance in the first place.

Starting a wheat/gluten free diet is a bit overwhelming at first. I starting cutting things out for months before I went totally wheat/gluten free and I think that made it easier than an instant switch, but unfortunately, the key for me was to cut it ALL out, not just reduce my intake.

For bread, try the Laucke Easy Bakers GF bread mix. It's $10 for a bag with 4 portions in it and they've just started stocking it at woolworths here (previously it was only at coles) (Thanks Theresa!). It's the least brick-like of the ones I've tried, but it has a weird smell/taste that is taking some getting used to...... I've pretty much stopped eating bread of any kind now, cause I'm too lazy to bake it or it all just tastes wrong to me.

I don't have kids so I can't offer advice on what to do with food for little ones, but this blog saved my sanity - Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern - and might have some ideas for you... Things like pancakes make a pretty good alternative to bread.

I'm sure others with more helpful ideas than mine will be along soon!

[tikki]

eva, in the health food section there are some gluten free cereals you could try for brekkie. what about some gluten free pasta for lunches?

[kirrily]

Also, maybe give us a list of what she currently eats and we can suggest gluten free alternatives?

[Theresa]

gcFree index

Kris has an amazing range of packet mixes for all sorts of things and most are all dairy and gluten/wheat free - makes life a bit easier to start with.

Wheat/Gluten is actually one of the easier things to avoid these days because there is so much awareness and so many more options - all the w/g free pastas/cereals etc as well as a whole host of other grains.

Sure rice flour and some of the other things are *interesting* to cook with initially but if you can use the Orgran products - go for it!