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Ongoing Rash


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Hi!

 

I started my first whole 30 in July. Prior to starting whole 30, I would say that I ate pretty clean with the occasional splurge. I definitely was (and am) a sugar addict, but I have been better about staying away from white carbs. 

 

During week 3 I developed some itchy bumps that I thought were bug bites. I even thought they were poison ivy. These started on my legs and were SO SO SO itchy. They started spreading with my itch and eventually formed clusters of raised red bumps that are similar to hives. It spread down my legs and to my forearms. 

 

The stress of the rash caused me to stop eating Whole 30 on day 23. 

 

I visited my MD who thought it was contact dermatitis and i was put on an oral steroid and a topical cream. This helped a tiny bit, but not completely. I visited a dermatologist who thought it could be an allergy and who put me on another different topical ointment. This didn't clear it up, so i got a 2nd opinion at a different dermatologist. This dermo put me on Xyzal which is a treatment for hives, and suspected that it the rash was hive related, although of a somewhat unusual breed.

 

The major clusters of rash have mostly gone down, but I am still developing new spots of rash 4 weeks later. My follow up at the dermo had them taking a piece of my skin because they couldnt figure it out. I keep telling them about whole 30 and my diet change, since I didnt change any other aspect of my life (no new detergents, body washes, etc) the only thing that changed was my diet.

 

The dermo and MD don't think its a dietary thing, but after reading others accounts on here, I feel strongly that it could be a big  part of it. 

 

During whole 30 I ate much more nuts and eggs than usual, and I've read about some people getting rashes they call "ketosis rash".

 

Has anyone had experiences like this? I am at a loss for what to do since it won't go away. Its been on my legs and arms, but now my back and chest are itchy as well.

 

I've attached a picture of my rash at its worst.  

post-48401-0-88887300-1408638305_thumb.j

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Try to keep a food log to see if you are eating anything on a regular basis (daily) that could be causing this. Think back a few days or more if you can. I'm sure the doctors asked this but have you had any changes in soaps lately? Detergents? Sheets? Mattress? Cologne? Lotions? Did you buy any new clothes that you wore without washing first? Have you slept out in the last few days? Any exposure to something bothersome (i.e. Bleach, cleaning products, flowers, new medications, bug bites, etc)? Ruling out any of that, it possible that you may never know what caused this. If it happens again, try to think of what occurred in the day or two prior and see if there are any consistencies. I hope it goes away soon and it doesn't itch too badly!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am getting tested for allergies, hope to get some light into this area. I refused from the doctor the ointments and allergy pills. Will keep trying natural things and looking to get to the cause to heal from the inside and out.

 

I have ketosis pilaris or some name like that, in my arms... it is a clear allergy immune sign, most of the time product of gluten consumption.  You may be allergic to nuts, or something else. A test would be great, look for an immune doctor.

 

Best, 

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This is just a thought here.

 

Maybe you are having issues with a specific protein because of the diet of that specific protein?  For example I cannot seem to eat pork.  Unless it's really overcooked.  ie: dry, shoe leather.  If I eat undercooked pork then I pay for it with either large cyst like pimples on random spots on my body or a boil (even larger cyst like pimples)

 

Unfortunately I haven't much luck with getting pastured pork - so I cannot tell you if that is better.

 

So maybe you are eating a specific type of protein that has a high diet of something.

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I broke out in terrible hives on Day 8 (likely due to increased cashew and brazil nut consumption) luckily the hives went away after a few days. Tried 1oz pistachios on Day 12 and Day 15 and got terrible headaches and nausea both times. Never been allergic to anything before. Will I ever be able to eat nuts again?

 

Can someone explain (or post a link) as to what changes have occurred in my body by doing Whole30 that my previous good tolerance of nuts is now gone???

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It looks a bit like psoriasis, but I

I don't know why a dermatologist wouldn't know that, if that was the case.

If it is from the eggs or nuts, you would have to remove them for at least four weeks to see a change.

I'm so sorry about your rash. It looks angry. I hope it clears up soon.

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Hi- I just stumbled on your question as I am having something similar.  In my situation the rash started awhile ago and not related to this program. My derm. said it was Granuloma Annulare (after taking a biopsy) and said to avoid stress and gave me a steroid spray.  Mine presents on my arms and knees. My naturpath added that this is a form of auto immune disease and we did some food testing. Mine recently flared up again. I am just about 100% sure I am senstive to almonds, cashews and they trigger the inflammatory response. This is a bummer because while doing whole 30 it was the nuts that were getting me thru the day.  Now I don't know what to eat when I need a bit of protein as a snack.

Anyway, just sharing my experinece and I am very interested to see how you do. This thing is very frustrating.

Andrea

 

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Thanks for sharing your experience Andrea. Sorry to hear about your rash flaring up again :(

 

So long nuts I guess. I'm going to give them up for as long as I can. Will try reintroduction after giving my gut some healing time. 

 

BTW, has anyone tried bone broths, fermented foods, probiotics, etc. and noticed if it had any effect on food sensitivity reactions (hives, rashes)?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hazelnuts are missing some of the nut enzymes people can react to, but if it's nuts in general, won't help.

 

Sunbutter is a nut alternative (sunflower seeds).

 

I've found bone broth and fizzy kombucha has made a big difference. I can now eat a little dairy without getting sick! yay!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Oh boy. I developed the same rash immediately after completing my first Whole 30 last year in July. The hives/welts have been a permanent fixture in my life ever since (15 months now), and they've been diagnosed as chronic urticaria and delayed pressure urticaria. Some mornings I wake up with 250+ welts; other mornings, I'm lucky to have just a dozen or so and a swollen lip.

 

I did not have this problem prior to the Whole 30, and it did not go away when I tinkered with my diet again after. (I do have a history of dermatographic urticaria, but it was not affected/improved in the least by my Whole 30, much to my disappointment.)

 

I worked with a nutritionist this past summer to no avail, so I just asked my allergist to help me out and we did some extensive allergy and food intolerance testing. According to those results, I now have a sensitivity to all nuts, soy, beans - including my beloved green beans - dairy, several types of fish, pretty much all spices and herbs, etc. I'm about to embark on a ridiculously strict diet to see if there's any hope for a future free of welts or if I'm just stuck with them now. 

 

I echo "eva222333"s request above: "Can someone explain (or post a link) as to what changes have occurred in my body by doing Whole30 that my previous good tolerance of nuts is now gone???"  This is a disconcerting side effect. 

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 "Can someone explain (or post a link) as to what changes have occurred in my body by doing Whole30 that my previous good tolerance of nuts is now gone???"  This is a disconcerting side effect. 

 

This is my understanding: prior to whole30, when you regularly ate foods that were problematic, your stomach and intestines became porous allowing proteins from food to spill out into other areas of the body. It isn't good to have these proteins circulating outside the digestive system, so your body protected itself by creating inflammation and a mucousy coating on the lining of your stomach and intestines. This mucous prevented the skin issues from happening by keeping these problematic foods inside the digestive system. Although this might seem like a good thing, chronic inflammation creates a host of health issues long-term.

 

During the whole30 when irritants were removed from the diet, this mucousy lining got thinner and the inflammation went down. When you reintroduced foods or started eating more irritating foods like nuts, they had an easier time getting through the thinner lining of the stomach and your body purged them via the skin resulting in acne or a rash.

 

The solution to this is to spend more time healing the gut so it is no longer so porous. Whole30 style eating, limiting nuts if these are problematic for you, adding bone broth (and gelatin), probiotic foods like kombucha and sauerkraut; these would be my first steps. Eventually your gut will repair itself to the point that you can have irritating foods occasionally without as much of an issue, but going back to eating those foods regularly will likely result in the same inflammation you had at the start. It's how you eat long term that really matters.

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I am dealing with something very similar.  On day 7, a rash broke out on my arms, stomach and down my legs.  It's incredibly itchy.  I've never had a food allergy before.  I've never even had any skin issues before other than poison ivy episodes.  I haven't introduced any new foods, just cut other food out.  I'm now on day 14 with no relief.  I'm also on day 5 of prednisone from my doctor and it's not making a dent.  Not sure what to do other than call a dermatologist on Monday.  May have to cut this experiment short.

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I have an allergy to eggs, it's not a bad allergy BUT if i eat eggs in excess (i now will only use them rarely)  i get hives and it is awful.  The last time they had me on prednisone (no idea about the allergy at that time) and i finally figured out that it had to be eggs (since confirmed).  i completely eliminated eggs and it took a month before my body settled down and that was with the prednisone.

 

many people are allergic to eggs....

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Well, add me to the list. I've never had a food allergy or experience hives before in my life until the last 6-8 weeks. I did my first W30 last Nov and another this Sept. After last Nov, I fell back into my old way of eating, which wasn't terrible (no dairy and few grains), but LOTS of sugar, even worse than before my W30. When I finished this last one, I've stayed primarily W30, straying only occasionally, mostly with wine. Now if I don't take a Benadryl or half before I go to bed, I wake up with severe itching and when I scratch, it produces hives. Not widespread, but usually in the same areas.

 

I've always eaten egg breakfasts, for more than 10 years at this point, usually with spinach and tomato so that wasn't a big change for me. In fact, other than using coconut oil for cooking instead of other oils, there is nothing new in my diet. I've done some research into histamine intolerance, but according to everything I've read it's pretty rare, 1% of the population. So I'm planning to do an elimination of high-histamine foods first to see if that takes care of it.

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I had the same issue pop up on day three. They come and go. Sometimes just a few while other times they cover most of my torso & arms. I was put on steroids by an urgent care doc but have set up an appointment with an allergy doctor. I've never had this issue before and I'm not eating/using anything new. They are driving crazy. So itchy!!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Add another one to this topic.  I did my first whole 30 in September.  No issues to any of these changes.  October went fairly well.  Only added a couple of non paleo foods and nothing really bad.  In November I went on vacation and was camping for 2 weeks.  It's pretty tough to stay on the program when the only foods available are from a small camping store.  A regular grocery was 2 hours away.  When I got home on Tuesday this week, I started the whole 30 all over.  Within one day I started itching and by day 2 I had a huge rash.  I feel like nuts might be a trigger.  My question is why would they all of a sudden bother me?  I have never had a reaction to nuts or any other food.  No new soaps, etc.  Is there any evidence that when eating chemical filled food, this reaction can happen due to toxins leaving the body?  Any help would be appreciated.

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