Doctors have finally identified it as Palmoplantar Hyperkeratotis which can be treated with creams. Took 9 months for the Dermatologist to diagnose it which is ridiculous.
Treatment is dermovate mixed with propylene glycol.
There’s some indication online that this condition is associated with Hypothyroidism.
Hopefully this might help someone suffering and also if anyone has experience of this I would be keen to hear your experiences.
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Wired123
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There are many health problems for which hypothyroidism is accused of being the root cause. I tend to believe they are all true as I believe that, as I have no remaining thyroid gland, taking levothyroxine alone allowed some rogue cancer cells to give me kidney cancer. It is an established fact, seemingly unknown to endocrinologists, that this condition causes carpal tunnel syndrome which I have also had. It may even have caused my gout which, ever since I started taking NDT, has simply gone away.There is no way on earth that I would ever even consider going back onto levothyroxine. It is not so much what is contained within levo that causes all these problems, It's what is NOT in it that is the problem!
Assuming coeliac test is negative you can immediately trial strictly gluten free diet
If test is positive need to stay on high gluten rich diet until have endoscopy….officially 6 week wait
approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal
Before considering trial on gluten free diet get coeliac blood test done FIRST just to rule it out
If you test positive for coeliac, will need to remain on gluten rich diet until endoscopy (officially 6 weeks wait)
If result is negative can consider trialing strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months. Likely to see benefits.
If no obvious improvement, reintroduce gluten see if symptoms get worse.
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Eliminate Gluten. Even if you don’t have Hashimoto’s. Even if you have “no adverse reactions”. Eliminate gluten. There are no universal rules except this one
This is the problem with medics, everything is black or white, you have it or you don’t. No appreciation of shades of grey despite being highly educated people!
Interesting that my blood and endoscopy were both negative for coeliac (had both privately many years ago) but no mention of intolerance, however even a child could pick up the pattern of symptoms I have the day after consuming bread yet doctors are more likely to tell me it’s in my head/I’m depressed/offer antidepressants!
Even dairy/lactose intolerance I diagnosed myself through symptoms as doctors can’t see the woods for the trees when the symptoms were so obvious but clearly there’s more money to be made carrying out invasive investigations and doling out pointless drugs than simply cutting out food that doesn’t suit!
Agree, yet she loves bread and anything with wheat. It’s frightening how addictive wheat is even though it’s doing damage on the inside, though I guess no different to cigarettes!
Hi Wired123. I noticed your post but didn't have time until now to contribute. I have Warren Heymann's 2008 book Thyroid Disorders with Cutaneous Manifestations (Springer, 2008).
It's a compilation of related articles on the subject introduced by the author and was intended as a text 'to provide a single resource that will enable the physician to comprehend the basic science, laboratory evaluation, epidemiology, and clinical aspects of thyroid diseases and their cutaneous manifestations.'
I'd like to include a screenshot of the pages especially as they have photographs, but I'm not sure about the copyright issue so I'll quote or paraphrase info that I thought you might find interesting.
He writes clear insightful mini-editorials before the chapters. In one of them, Dermatological 'Disorders Associated with Thyroid Disease' (Kirby & James), the authors state that PPK has been reported to occur secondary to hypothyroidism and that 'a common and striking feature was the lack of response to topical corticosteroids but a total response to thyroid hormone replacement. Most people had resolution of their findings in a few weeks to months after hormone replacement. The cause of PPK in hypothyroidism is unknown...'
They say that when PPK presents at birth or in childhood it can be sign of inherited syndromes and an adult-onset acquired form will often have associated cutaneous and systemic signs of the underlying etiology. I wonder whether ineffective treatment of your Mum's thyroid hormone replacement over a long time could have brought this on.
Acquired ichthyosis (adult-onset, severely dry, and scaly skin especially on the lower extremities) 'is associated with hypothyroidism, sarcoidosis, leprosy, nutritional deficiencies, chronic renal failure and SLE. The association of hypothyroidism and acquired ichthyosis may be due to the role of thyroid hormone in fatty acid metabolism and sterol production in the skin. Fatty acids and cholesterol metabolites are very important in the structure and function of normal skin. This is supported by reports of improvement of the ichthyosis with thyroid hormone replacement and recurrence with the cessation of T4 administration.'
If she has other symptoms it might be worth considering Dermatomyositis and Polymyositis which are described as two distinct subsets along a spectrum of disease. DM is in the middle of the spectrum and includes both cutaneous and muscle disease. The most common skin signs of DM include erythema and scalp scaling, periocular heliotrope rash and Gottron papules. Less common signs include dry thickening of the palms ( mechanics hands) and linear red plaques on the trunk (flagellate erythema).
There's mention of the benefit of T3 treatment somewhere in there but I can't find it now. It's such a useful condensed resource and I just wish it was consulted by GPs and
Hi StPetes, thank you so much for replying. I’ve only seen it today and will have a proper read tonight after work. Looks really useful so thank you very much
Hi again, I actually purchased the book - was available relatively cheaply second hand on eBay.
I might snack the Endo, Dermo and GP round the head with it given its a nice hardback!
So much laziness and incompetence in the medical profession that they don’t take a step back and consult this kind of research and take the easy option each time.
The arrogance of doctors astounds me, even when you’re showing them a medical textbook… I really would have been tempted to smack them round the head with it if they behaved like that in the appointment.
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