foods to avoid with eczema on 1 year old? are allergy skin tests any good ?any advice

[foxy1]

any advice would be appreciated as am not getting any sleep.

thank you!!!!

[Bilbomum]

Proper testing such as skin prick or blood testing done via GP/hospital is worth doing. I would avoid any other sort of diagnosis through healthshops and the like.

My DS (18m) has allergies which have been diagnosed (dairy/eggs/sesame/nuts) it has helped his eczema but not cured it.

I've every sympathy on the sleep front (up 6 times last night). My son's eczema has improved but unfortunately his need to scratch all night hasn't abated. We have had an antihistamine with a sedative effect prescribed from the hospital (Ucerax) I don't like giving it very often but sometimes needs must. Ask your GP if you're not already attending a hospital clinic for the problem.

Good luck!

[williamsmummy]

not all eczema has a food relation.
indicators of this are if the ezcema developed after a year old.

under 3 months is a sign of classic food allergy.

skin prick testing is not that reliable for ezcema induced allergy.

whats your ezcema routine?

how many times do you moisturise in a day?
what are you using ?

are you using soap substitute?

have you ruled out ezcema infection if you are having an unusual flare up?

are you using steriods ?

are you using a 2nd generation antihistamine for a flare up?

any other signs of allergy related illness?

[foxy1]

hello
thanks for feedback. i am using ucerax antihistamine for nights from dermatologist at hospital but this is not doing anything. steriod cream, aleeno lotion, capasil shampoo for scalp, balneum soya oil for bath. his cheeks and face are the worst areas that he scratches. i put creams on about 10 times aday on face but still itches. his eczema has got worse in the last 4 months.
think he might be allergic to eggss and cheese. i am still breast feeding him at night early morning but he has cows milk in day (not much) not sure whether to change. he does not like fromage frais very much either? would pasta or tomato pasta sauce cause an allergy?

[williamsmummy]

okay, lets see...........
you didnt mention when your son developed his eczema?

if you suspect food allergy, and your son is showing other signs of allergy, ask for a referal to a immunologist. if that fails, and its just for the ezcema with no other atopic disease, then you can still ask for a blood test from your Gp, or pead consultant.

If you are thinking of allergies, I suppose you have already avoided the nasty cause of much childhood ezcema, the dreaded dustmite??
This is an expensive, but very often a big help in the fight against ezcema.

If convinced its the dairy , remove from childs diet, up the breastfeeding a little, or include other calcium rich foods in childs diet, or use a low allergen milk formula for calcuim intake during the day. use to make custard or drink etc.
Then remove milk from your diet for a few weeks.

However dont starve yourself or cut out a lot of foods for a long period of time.

making this effort only works if skin improves quickly.

another thing to chuck in the barrel of suggestions, is to look over the effectiveness of your moisturisers, perhaps its time to change them? get back to the dermo doc?
BTW how helpful is this skin consultant? allergy wise , this again varies from doc to doc.

The tomato causing ezcema is because of the tomatos highly acid or high natural histamime content, such a mature cheese/marmite etc.
A ezcema person has highly sensitive skin, and does cause a problem with contact on skin.
if no tummy aches, dont remove completely from diet, but reduce amount in food, and perhaps slap a layer of vaseline on child/face before eating, and remove quickly after eating.

Sorry to flood you with suggestions/ideas!

[foxy1]

hello williams mummy thanks for taking the time to give so much feedback! (my son is called william as well!)

Alot to think about! My son developed eczema gradually from around 3 months but after weaning him he started to really scratch his face and gets really upset by it. i have been to doctor and the latest cream to try is Aveeno but none of them give a rich long lasting moisturising feeling. You apply them and 2 minutes later they feel like you havent applied anything. I have tried Double base, diprobase,( epaderm -which is quite good) and aveeno lotion.

Should look at anti allergy bed sheets as well but not sure of the best place to go for cotbed anti allergy sheets? He sleeps in a grobag. Which foods are rich in calcuim apart from milk, yoghurt and cheese? Should i try goats milk? Could it be a wheat allergy??????????

Thanks again !!

[williamsmummy]

if he started the ezcema at around 3 months , go for the pead immuneoligist route.
with the thought that those that dont ask dont get!!)
for added support/gp pressure, ring for support from allergy uk, get a your nearest allergy pead's name and clinic details.

DO get the allergy bedding, something that should have been mentioned to you by your skin doc.
there are sites on internet that provide allergy bedding , you will need to get duvet , mattress and pillow protectors.
I got some from wilkinsons a couple of months ago in a sale, william is fine with them!!

you should also,
damp dust his room
boil wash his bedding
take his teddies of his bed.
freeze them overnight before washing them and tumble drying them.

if he has a carpet in his room , consider replacing , until then, vacume only using a cleaner that is good for removing the dustmites.

Most clothes for children should be washed at 40%, this often leaves some of the ezcema creams on the clothes.
it also rots the elastic in waistbands etc.
put the clothes in a bucket of cold salty water over night before washing. ( keep this away from children, re drowining danger)

dont dry clothes on rads, dont warm clothes on rads before wearing. ie PJ's on rad while having a bath.

frequent cool baths are good for some, because you then trap moist water on skin.

be very careful about hygeine when storing or using the tubs of creams. Use a tablespoon to remove from tub before applieing to skin.

Also think back to this,

did the ezcema on your childs legs improve when he started walking?

if he sits on a carpet or sofa , does he scratch the backs of his legs?

When summer/winter starts , have you pulled out from a cupboard last years hats etc , put them on , only to find child stands itching head coninually?

if he jumps on a bed, does he go red and itch?

if he wriggles under a bed, does he spend time , standing itching?

if he does , its dustmite!!

AS FOR GOATS MILK, THATS A BIG NO NO

if you suspect milk intolerance, or allergy, the lactose is present in both goats and cows milk.
a child with gut problems needs at least 6 weeks on a fully protein changed formula before moviing on to the partially changed ones. just to give tummy time to recover.
I would suspect that some time is needed for skin prone to eczema as well.

Also the NANNY brand of milk is not recommended. it has been taken off NHS prescriptions, not because of its poor effect, but mainly because the company has never submitted its product to health and safety testing.

hope this is helpful.

[williamsmummy]

have to add that cot anti allergy bedding is available.
that 100% cotton should be used.
that they shouldnt over heat esp at night, as that causes more itching.

I am sure more will come to me, but as am flooding you again i must go slow!!! LOL

[foxy1]

wow thank you very much!! very helpful!!

[williamsmummy]

oh good grief cant stop!

pat skin dry after bath, do not rub.

apply ointments and creams in direction of hair growth.

any other tips anyone?

[Bilbomum]

Loads of good info there williamsmummy, wish I'd spoken to you 18 mnths ago. Only thing to add is we use the Comfi fast suits 24/7. Apply the emollient first in thick layer and then on with the vest/tights.

Not only does it keep the moisture in but it also stops them hurting themselves by scratching. It's worth it to try break the scrach/itch cycle. We get them prescribed by hospital. They look a bit bizarre (my DS looks like a little mummy in his!) but they soon get used to wearing them.

[foxy1]

thanks bilbomum - the main area that my son scratches is his face. Do the dermatology department at the hospital prescribe the confi suits?

thanks again

[Bilbomum]

Sorry foxy, not been at my computer. Yes the hospital does prescribe the suits. They also do little balaclava's for the problems with the face in the same range. We've luckily never had to resort to them though. They also do mits with thumb holes for the thumb suckers but mine would never keep his on.

Although my DS had it very badly on his face when small, as soon as we realised the food allergy link it seemed to clear up on his face and hasn't really come back. He suffers mostly on his arms and legs now.

One easy way to see if there is a dairy allergy link is to rub a piece of cheese on a clear patch of skin (well away from face, just in case). When I did this with my son it came up in a red wheal so it was pretty obvious there was a problem. Although he was exclusively breastfed he reacted to the dairy in my diet which was why his eczema was so bad from such a young age. When we started weaning the reaction became more pronounced, he was diagnosed at about 6 months.

The hospital told me to do this with anything I suspected of being a problem. I wouldn't try it with nuts though, it's too high risk.

[atlasthebrute]

Hi Foxy, my son was exactly the same at that age.
Eczema is one of hte hardest problems to treat - so many factors involved. Just be patient - you will get the the (semi)bottom of it. Skin prick tests aren't always reliable, as someone has already mentioned, but they are worth doing nonetheless. My DS was very allergic to eggs and they made his skin SO bad, but it didn't show up in the tests. However, some nut tests came back positive, which I think were very important to know about. Not all nuts/foods can be tested for, and so we have to still be a little careful around unfamiliar foods. Dust mites are also tested for in the same lots of skin-prick tests.
Red foods, particularly tomatoes and strawberries do tend to make eczema flare-up for a lot of sufferers. I would ask your doc if you can have some skin tests done, because then you can eliminate some troublesome foods in a flash.
Ask your doctor to send you to the eczema clinic at your local hospital - they will show you how to wet wrap your child and also give you some suits on prescription. If these suits don't work for you, then they show you how you can make them yourself. You can also buy them at great expense on the internet. They give some really good advice that is particular to your own child (every child is different)and they are there all the time for advice that your doctor probably can't give you himself.
The main thing is don't worry! It's easy to think you're alone in all this when you're fiddling with creams, sedatives, bandages at 3am, with a filthy headache and a screaming child. It does get easier, I promise.

[fireflytoo]

These are all fantastic ideas...I would like to add that coconut oil is a lovely soother and does keep the area cool and moisturised. Maybe you can use it in between the steroids and other creams. Your DS is still young, but we have also found most pork products made my dd's itch as did seafood, MSG laden foods and red food colouring.

Any teething event also set them off and the coconut oil really helped protect against the excessive salivating

[foxy1]

Thank you everyone. Great info!! Fireflytoo- did you put coconut oil on the scalp as well? thank you