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I wanted to post this so it may help someone. For the past several years my husband has been plagued with this horrible skin eruptions. They were welt-like and they were extremely itchy. The doctors really couldn't diagnose what it was, saying it was probably exzema and he'd just have to live with it. Once every three months he gets a shot, but each time it lasts less and less and needless to say, he's absolutely miserable. He has all sorts of prescription creams, but they don't really do anything.

Three days ago we decided to go on a little diet..just lose five to ten pounds before we go on vacation. We cut out all breads and starches and stuff.

Today, he said he feels good for the first time in years...we didn't put two and two together. I started doing some research online and one of the symptoms of gluten allergy can be these skin irritations. And the descriptions are not generic..they described his outbreaks exactly.

I can't tell you what a relief that this may POSSIBLY be it. We don't know yet, but we plan to go gluten free for a month and see what happens. I'm very excited.

Wheat can cause hives and celiac disease. They are related but not the same thing.

Low grade allergies have a lot of effect on the behavior of some people, hives, nose problems, and stomach upset.

Celiac disease can cause diarrhea and change the bowel lining.

I recently heard a lecture where one doc discussed that newer tests are finding a lot of mild celiac disease.

Milk is another problem. Non western Europeans have lactose deficiency, and can get bowel problems. But many "white" Americans may not realize a Cherokee great grandmom or a Hungarian ancestor that makes them unable to eat a lot of milk products.

And again, milk can also cause allergies (and so can soy, alas).

There is a relationship between low grade allergies and behavior, and giving a person a good diet often makes them behave better. But it is not true for everyone.

A lot of people with mild mental illness get obsessed with one idea. Sometimes this idea is a diet. But since schizophrenia is a description of symptoms not a disease, it may be years to find whether or not there is a link.

For example, pellegra can cause mental disease (low vitamin B) and thirty years ago people would treat schizophrenia with high dose vitamin B...and some would respond. But the number who got better with the vitamin wasn't higher than the number of normal remissions with no treatment at all.

although some people have allergies, they don't affect everyone.

One more note: Those with American Indian ancestry often get a sun allergy rash that can be quite bad. So if you get a dry itchy ecsema type rash in the summer, check your geneology. Most docs don't recognize it.