NOT PSORIASIS, BUT A CHRONIC SKIN DISEASE

I do not have the skin condition you are referencing, but I have struggled with what the doctors have diagnosed as psoriasis, for more than half my life (I am 37). It is on my hands, and the doctors are just guessing it is psoriasis. I had been treating it with a steroid cream, but after a while, it lost it's effectiveness. I didn't really want to start using a stronger prescription, because long term use of steroid creams isn't really healthy. A dermatologist prescribed me a topical cream, that had a side effect of cancer (!!). I chose not to use it. Instead, I decided to focus on diet. It sounds crazy, but I had heard of a friend who has suffered with eczema who cured it by cutting out gluten. He introduced gluten foods back into hgis diet after some time, and didn't really have the skin problems anymore. But some years down the road he started to experience a whole new problem. He became very ill, his kidney was shutting down, and the doctors had a hell of a time figuring out what the problem was. They ended up diagnosing him with a rare auto immune disorder, and basically told him there wasn't anything he could do (he is my age). Being the type of person he is, he wasn't going to accept that, so he started the process of elimination, focusing on diet. He figured he'd try the gluten free thing again. Guess what? He completely went in to remission! His autoimmune problem was no longer causing him problems. I am trying not to make this a long story, but I firmly believe there is a connection between gluten and autoimmune problems. I have not been tested for an autoimmune problems, but will be soon. They run in my family. My sister and my niece both have Hashimotos (an autoimmune thyroid condition), I have had an underactive thyroid in the past, but it has fluctuated from low to normal, most recently being normal (a classic symptom of hashimotos). I decided to try the gluten free diet, and within two weeks, my skin cleared up (it had been in a constant flare up stage for 2 years). I was amazed. I then reintroduced gluten in to my diet to see if it was a fluke, and it came back. I went back and forth with the gluten free thing for about a year (it's hard not eating gluten!). I have come to my own conclusion, the gluten is the thing that causes my psoriasis to flare. I am certain of it. The thing about autoimmune and gluten is, the gluten protein will mimic another protein that is naturally occurring in your body. Your immune system will attack the gluten protein, and in the process, it will also attack the naturally occuring protein in your body, which will result in any number of outward physical symptoms. Gluten sensitivity can present itself any time in life. It might be a long shot, but I encourage you to get a gluten sensitivity screening (before cutting out gluten). And if it comes back negative, try cutting out gluten anyway, because I am told the test results are unreliable at best. Just a suggestion. I am sorry for your struggle. I hope you are able to figure it out.

I am not going to lie, going gluten free is hard. There are a lot of great gluten free options out there, but they are more expensive than "regular" food. There are sneaky ingredients that contain gluten, like "modified food starch" and "natural flavoring", etc. Gluten is found in some salad dressing, soups, seasonings, even candy (like twizzlers). But there are plenty of foods that are naturally gluten free (eggs, fruits & veggies, rice, meat to name a few). It takes a lot of research. If anything, give it a try for two weeks, and see if your skin condition starts to clear up. Then at least you can get an idea of whether going gluten free is worth it. Good luck!