Tex

[JLH]

Can this be gluten?

From a Facebook friend: "Yesterday I went into the Brighton hospital I awoke with my eye swollen shut both my hands swollen and in pain blotches and bumps all over my neck and scalp,arms and chest I also felt really sweaty hot and sick they gave me steroids Benadryl and did a ct scan the ct scan showed I have Noduals and possibly pulmonary embolisms on my lungs my heart rate is high at rest 135 should be 80 but no higher than 100 and my white count is very high. They have drawn a ton of blood no answers yet. "

BTW, DH has a bad rash. He is now on the way to the dermatologist (3rd time). I suspect gluten. (He must have given our older daughter her Celiac gene because I don't have one.)

[JLH]

The Facebook gal reports no embolisms.

DH's doc took biopsies. Yea.

[tex]

Hi Joan,

Your husband's rash could certainly be caused by gluten sensitivity, but your friend's situation sounds like a massive mast cell reaction to some unknown antigen. I hope that her doctors are checking her tryptase levels (in her blood), just in case she has systemic mastocytosis.

To me, that sounds suspiciously like a systemic mastocytosis reaction, but as you know, I'm not a doctor.

Tex

[JLH]

Thanks very much.

[Zizzle]

Sounds like a serious autoimmune attack, Lupus maybe? Or Lyme Disease? Where is DH's rash? Does it itch?

[JLH]

Everywhere, I think. It itches like crazy, he says.

He tried and failed a gluten free diet three times in one week. I wanted to see if it would help his arthritis.

[Zizzle]

I finally convinced by brother-in-law to quit gluten (mom and brother are intolerant). Within 5 days, he was having massive D from cross-contamination! I feel guilty that I ended his clinical tolerance. But he says he feels better, no more morning tummy aches, headaches, fatigue, etc. Hope he doesn't blame me for this new hurdle when finding food!