GA

Hi Helen Ann

I am 61 and have had this only for a few years now and have done lots of reading about it. 

It’s a bugger of a condition  that clears up for some and not others it seems. I do not mean to be flippant or hopeless when I mention this but I would pay attention ( not to say you are not already doing so) to how your son is processing all this and make sure he does not let it affect his self esteem or self worth. A simple and consistent message that different people have different skin and that one is not better than the other might pay off in the long run. My daughter had learning issues as a kid and needed extra help. We presented the fact that she needed extra help was no big deal.... it was just the way it was and somehow it did not seem to worry her. I know it’s a different situation  but am hoping it might apply in some way to you helping your son. I also hope his is not itchy, mine is not usually. If he already has psychological issues relating to his rash, he can learn to accept it better. And we will all

Continue to hope for more treatment. I think it’s an autoimmune thing that gets turned on for whatever reason.

Hi Helen I am sorry to here about your son having GA .  I am 61 and I have GA now for a few years.  I had all over my body.  Started out on arm.   Then it was everywhere I tried everything creams, steroid shots, then my doctor suggested a clean eating diet. Well it took a few months to see any results.  Now I have almost none.  Oh and mine was extremely itchy.  At times .   I know it is difficult watching what you eat.  Especially for a young boy.  But maybe you can do eat a little at a time.   Good luck my heart goes out to your son.   

for me, GA was a sign of leaky gut.  after 3 years of it slowly creeping up my legs I decided to get allergy testing done and I was allergic to 10 normal foods that I was eating most days of the week. this is because the large proteins were getting through the gut lining and entering the bloodstream where they should not have been, and the T cells were responding accordingly. I immediately cut those foods from my diet and the GA disappeared within 6 months or less, but it was not until recently that I have begun to repair my gut and so I've had a minor reoccurrence. I would look to a holistic or integrated medicine doc for help, or a functional medicine doctor, and get off the antibiotics immediately because they destroy the gut microbiome and contribute to dysbiosis and permeability.  GA is something that needs to be healed from the inside out, not topically. It is a sign that the body is trying to detox something.  Good luck to you!

My GA “marks”were mostly on my hands. I was using a steroid cream that only helped a little, and getting occasional kenalog shots. About two  years into it, I got a red, itchy rash on my arms. I didn’t know what it was from, but when I ate a small pack of trail mix (with mixed nuts in it) for 4-5 days  (1 per day), it got WAY worse. I decided to stop eating nuts completely and my rash cleared up. To my surprise, so did my GA. I now eat nuts very sparingly and my rash and GA haven’t come back. I think it might be worth getting your son tested for food intolerances and/or allergies. 

skin testing at the allergist