Skin rash, unable to get a diagnosis

[rjcb52]

My 23 year old has a rash that comes and goes for two years now. She has gone to two different dermatologists who have done scrappings and biopsies and ruled out the usual - scabies, lice, etc. The rash is on her extremities, starting in a realtivly small area and spreading to cover the entire limb. It goes onto her torso eventually. so far the face has been avoided. It has discreet bumps that are reddish while the rest of the non raised skin retains its color. There is some itching, no pain. We seem to have no cause although she has had a cleared up rash come on after a dog nip (she is a dog groomer).(her allergy tests for dogs is negative) The first rash lasted about 6 months and cleared for about two months and the next rash was 1 year and cleaqr for a few weeks and now has started agian.

She was diagnosed with celiac sprue as an infant but w/o the biopsy. At age 6 she had a biopsy done by a gastroenterologist but only had one serving of bread the evening before the test after being gluten free for nigh 6 years - the test results were negative. However, whenever she ate anything with gluten she would get very bloated, often throw up and have severe diarrhea and cramps.  She recently had a blood test for celiac sprue and was told it was negative..... By the way, here son tested positive for celiac sprue, "33% genetic markers"

Any ideas? Grateful for any helkp!

[jagesh50]

Your description is nearly classical of dermatitis herpetiformis which occurs in gluten sensitization.