Strange growing itchy torso rash with gastro issues

[mbost]

I have had a strange rash that begin with one red bump on the inside of my left bicep the end of June '06. A couple of weeks later it went down only to return a few days later. Each time it went away, it returned worse then a bump showed up on my right arm - similar location to where it initially started on my left arm. About six weeks ago the itching became too much. By this point it has spread pretty well through the front of my torso itching a lot. Somties it would go down slightly but would never go away. SHowers - jsut eh warm water - would aggravate it and make it look much worse. Now much of my days are spent itching. 4 weeks ago a doctor misdiagnosed it as scabies. The permethrin cream treatment seemed to make this rash worse. Note that in the meantime of this getting worse I have had gastrointesinal issues which have been prgoressing - pain in stomach, sudden urges to go to the bathroom and mucus in stools (sometimes only mucus, no stool).
I have tried two different strengths of hydrocortizone cream which don't do much. My skin has becoe very dry so I've tried different moisturizers but they sting when putting them on my arms and in the end provide little relief, I have tried 2 forms of Benadryl and tried taking Claritin - nothing works.
Any insight?

[Beaner11]

Hi, you might want to see a GI specialist and get checked for celiac disease, your symptoms support it and some people develop an itchy rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Afraid not.  Your rash sounds very nonspecific, and could be anything from folliculitis (blocked pores) to excoriations (scratch marks.)  You need to stop scratching any way you can, such as applying an over-the-counter anesthetic like Sarna lotion and moisturizing frequently.  This is to keep the spots visible so a dermatologist can tell you what they are.  That's the second thing you should do--see a dermatologist as soon as possible.

The whole thing sounds stress-related to me, though from a distance that's only an educated guess.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff