eczema treatments on prescription?? how to fight the GP

[bumbleandbumble]

I am so tired of battling with my gp over my daughters eczema...

1. So far I got cortisone cream for the bad parts...but I hate using it so much. Is there an alternative? something more natural?
   

1. I have found the only bath thing to work is aveeno bath oil. But its too expensive and I have just lost my job! GP told me oil is not for young children (daughter is 18months) and gave me acqeous cream, which does nothing, in my opinion.
   

1. I am also struggling with a everyday moisturiser. I had an aveeno one from america, but I dont think they sell it here and again its very expensive. What do you use as a daily moisturiser? I have tried coconut oil, waitrose bottom butter, e45, elave, aloe vera cream....some are ok but none amazing and all too expensive...
   

1. I also think she is slightly milk intolerant. She has many bouts of diahrrea and can only have a little bit of dairy...but again my GP said she is clearly not allergic because the symptoms would be worse and she does have a bottle of formula and seems to tolerate that. Can you force a GP for allergy/intolerance testing? how?

[Dolallytats]

Things like lavender, chamomile and oats are supposed to be soothing for eczema. I know that lavender oil helped when I had a flair up, although luckily I don't get them too often now. It may be worth googling essential oils or natural remedies if you haven't already. That way you should be able to get exact amounts and how to prepare the oils etc. There are certain foods that can antagonise eczema, although I'm afraid I can't remember what they are so this may also be worth looking into.

Is it possible to see a different doctor-or even change practises? Also have a look and see if you are entitled to a NHS exemption certificate as you are no longer working. It is possible to pay prescription fees upfront for 3, 6 or 12 months. I don't know if this would be possible because a lump sum can be hard to find, but if you need regular prescriptions you will save money in the long run.

Hope you find something to help soon, eczema is horrible to live with.

[Sossiges]

I would use whatever works for your DD, whatever the GP says. Boots do Aveeno (try online).
You could try cutting out dairy, see if that makes any difference. Sorry can't help with the GP questions, have never managed to make mine do anything! Change GP?

[Sossiges]

I used Salcura products on my DD and agree with Dolally, natural is best.

[neolara]

Didn't the GP prescribe a moisturiser e.g. double base / diprobase / epiderm? You need to slather your dd in moisturiser, up to 5 times a day. Oilatum is good in the bath.

Steroid creams really are the best thing to deal with a flare up. You need to use something strong (e.g. betnovate, or betnovate RD) for a short period of time (e.g. a week). Then step steroids down to a less potent one (e.g. 1% hydrocortesone) for a bit longer (e.g. another week). Once the flare up as cleared up then moisturiser alone should be enough to keep it away. But flare ups that don't respond to moisuriser really do need steroids.

[ilovemydogandMrObama]

It may be that she's intolerant which is different than being allergic, which perhaps is what your GP meant to communicate? Dairy can be a trigger for eczema. There aren't any specific tests for intolerance other than exclusion, but there are tests for suspected allergy, which is the prick test (amongst others).

[nextphase]

Is there an eczema nurse at your GP's surgery? We have found that the best route - they hand out the steroids when required, and tell you to moisturise when not required.

Bath oil - yes, we've been having it since tiny. There are some Junior versions also - think we have oilatum junior atm.

We also have some aveeno on repeat prescription. Boots do sell it, but its not cheap.

Aqueous cream can aggravate eczema - its pretty mush a case of keep trying different creams til you find one which works for your daughters skin. If there isnt an eczema nurse at the surgery, see a different GP or move surgerys

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Aveeno is available in boots. Get a boots advantage card and u can collect points which can give u money off for when your really short. I found the ones from the dr made eczema worse.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Ask to see a different gp I know if people who get aveeno on prescription.

[bumbleandbumble]

Yes Aveeno is available at boots...and at many other places. but the problem is the price?!

No my GP didnt give me a moisturiser. just the cortisone cream for flare up which I need a refill soon.

I just realised you cant get a homeopath on the NHS...I cant afford to pay a lot for a consultation but I cant help thinking that the problem could be solved with diet (i.e. finding about about milk protein or lactose intolerance or whatever) and natural oils/creams and methods

how do you find a reasonably priced and valid naturapath?

[PoppyWearer]

My DD's GP has been useless with her eczema and suspected food intolerances.

Regarding the eczema, they stuck with the hydrocortisone and diprobase, which sting her skin. It was her school that told me to ditch that and use Aveeno instead. She is slowly getting better but the price of Aveeno is eye-watering. FWIW I have been using the Aveeno oil on my 19mo DS for the past month with no issues.

I've had no joy with the GP about food intolerances. No advice there but have posted in other threads and it seems that getting GPs to listen is very difficult and frustrating.

[notJenkins]

We get Aveeno cream and body wash on prescription for ds.

[freefrommum]

Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that 'natural is best'. When it comes to eczema, 'natural' products can in fact make it far worse. Go back to your gp and demand a referral to a dermatologist or skin nurse. Your gp clearly knows nothing about eczema. Aqueous cream is totally useless, you need a good bath additive like Dermol 600 or Oilatum Junior, plus a soap substitute like Epaderm or Dermol 500 and most importantly, LOTS of emollient/moisturiser (eg hydrous, 50/50, Diprobase, Doublebase etc). You need to apply the moisturiser up to 5 times a day. You also need a stronger steroid ointment for flare ups - and no, steroids are not as dangerous as everyone thinks, in fact it is much better to use a stronger steroid for a short amount of time than a low dose (eg hydrocortisone 1%) on and off for ages. But you do need some proper advice from a specialist about how to apply it, how much and how often.

In the meantime, if your gp won't prescribe a moisturiser (which I find totally shocking), you can buy a big tub of hydrous or 50/50 for about a fiver and start applying that 3-5 times a day.

If you suspect that your DD might be intolerant to milk, then depending on her age you could try eliminiating all dairy from her diet and keeping a detailed diary of symptoms to show to your gp. If your DD is over 1 then you could try fortified oat or soya milk instead of cow's milk (although some allergic or intolerant to cow's milk also have problems with soya). If it looks like that's the problem then you should ask for a referral to a dietician for advice.

[SA3008]

My surgery have readily prescribed anything & everything (Epaderm, Double&Dipro&Zero base, bath oils) on the basis that it's a case of working out what works for your DCs. Advised against using steroid creams, as did the chemist. Nothing worked!
Glycerine is the only thing I found works on Ds2. It's about £2 a bottle and lasts ages. Doesn't get rid of it, but does help reduce it.
Ds2 also has lactose intolerance as did Dd. I find it bizare your GP won't test, but have heard a similar story from a friend.

[Roseformeplease]

I have eczema and my GP prescribes:

Piriton
Hydrocortisone
Double base Gel (for the shower)
Double Base Cream (for moisturising)
Betnovate (for severe flair ups)

Be persistent.

[breatheslowly]

Try a different GP. DH's eczema was improved by seeing a "GP with special interest in dermatology" which there was one of in our local area. Your GP appears to be scarily out of date on the treatment of eczema given how common. Aqueous cream is not recommended and may be doing harm due to the sodium lauryl sulfate in it www.eczema.org/aqeous. That information about aqueous cream is also stated on the British Association of Dermatologists website www.bad.org.uk/site/796/default.aspx. Clinical guidelines for the treatment of eczema are here. You may have to try a few different emollients to get the right one for your DD, but using enough is also important. DH struggled to get GPs to prescribe him enough emollient until he saw the GP with special interest as she put him on a repeat prescription of loads of the stuff and told him that he should be using it in vast quantities.

[YoniTrix]

We have had aveeno bath powder on prescription since my DC were tiny. We did get given a special infant version once, so maybe you could ask for that?

We also had aveeno cream on prescription, but that didn't work for my DC, we use epaderm..

[Bagofmashings]

Hi bumbleandbumble. Your GP shouldn't have given you aqueous cream, I believe it's not recommended for eczema any more. Can I also suggest you change GP, it sounds like yours has no idea about eczema!

I agree that natural is very often not the best with eczema. Cortisone however is a substance that is found naturally in the body and it very very rarely has any side effects if it's used properly. I think maybe people associate steroid cream with anabolic steroids, which are obviously very different. During an eczema flare up it really is necessary to use it, only on the affected parts of the body and only for a week. And you need a good moisturiser cream and bath ointment to prevent flare ups, which should be available to you on the nhs.

You could ask your GP to see a nutritionist, who may be able to help you establish if your DD has an intolerance (there are no tests). What yiu need to bare in mind is that your DD could be intolerant to anything, or a combination of any number if things so it might not be as simple as cutting out milk. You may have no luck with getting the referral but it might be better use of your money to do that privately than pay to see a homeopath.

[lovesmileandlaugh]

My DD was very similar. We stopped cows milk and changed to goats milk, and it cleared within days. I didn't believe it, I only tried it to prove it wouldn't make a different to my Mum!
Cheese, yoghurts are okay, apparently the making of them destroys the enzyme in milk that causes the intolerance.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

freefrommum wrote what I would write.

Steroids are not a bad thing, please use them. My DS has used them from five months old. Our dermatologist said that it's the children that can't be treated with steroids that are the ones to worry about. You have to treat the inflammation with steroids and the dryness with emollients. Aqueous is not recommended as a moisturiser. We use it in the bath to wash with.

You need to fight the GP. See a different one, get a dermatology referral. A lot of GPs do not know how to treat eczema. It is linked to milk intolerance, my DS has it.

Our DS's eczema wasn't treated correctly until we saw a dermatologist who prescribed a steroid and emollient treatment regime. You need to see someone who knows what they are doing.

[freefrommum]

Our experience was exactly the same as Pobble, ie nothing worked until we got referred to a dermatologist. I can't explain how miraculous it was within 2 weeks of seeing the wonderful skin nurse, DS was like a different child. I wanted to kiss the her - she was our saviour!

[jitterbug85]

Think it's pot luck with GPs and eczema. Our old one was fab and highly recommend epaderm ointment as a daily moisturiser and can also be used in the bath with double base wash gel. It's a soap that doesn't contain any foaming nasties and is lovely and moisturising. I'd highly recommend trialling a dairy free diet then slowly reintroducing it to find a tolerance level. I have seen it work for so many people.

[bubbles1231]

I would second the aqueous cream thing. DS2 reacts to it, and even reacts to the hrdrocortisone cream which has an aqueous base. we have to get the ointment.
I bought an aloe vera plant. Easily kept- sunny position and water once a month. The gel from that is really soothing, but not sure if it's ok on such young skin.