Eczema and milk allergy

[Angeoxford]

Hello there
My LO is 4.5 months old and has had pretty bad eczema all over her body since about 6 weeks ago, poor thing. We've had lots of advice from a specialist eczema clinic and it's more under control than a few weeks ago, but we're still relying on use of hydrocortisone, which is something I obviously want to move away from.

She is BF and nurses / GP have advised me on several occasions not to change my own diet. But on the weekend her skin came into contact with a tiny bit of cows milk and had a really big reaction - red and big hives right across the area where she was touched with milk. I am convinced she has a milk allergy and I'm therefore going to exclude all animal milk products from my diet for a fortnight to see if it helps her eczema (inc cows and goats etc)

Does anyone else have experience of BF babies with eczema reacting to cows milk through your milk? I wonder if I shoud push for allergy tests with GP at this stage, or wait til later. Any of course then there's the weaning question for a month or so's time....

Thanks a million for any advice xx

My DD had eczema around the same age. I found that hydrocortisone cream helped clear the eczema up, but as soon I stopped using it the eczema would return.

I tried every cream available and the results may vary with each child, but in my experience an emollent cream from our GP called Cetraben worked wonders. It can be perscribed in huge pump action bottles which last for ages.

Another good cream is one called Aveeno, which is made from oatmeal (great for Eczema and sensitve skin). You can also get the bath range, though it can be expensive so ask your GP to perscribe.

Does your baby have any other allergy symtoms, i.e vomitting and loose mucous stools? If your baby does have an alergy to cows milk, then yes cutting out cows milk from your diet may make a difference. some babies are sensitve to cows milk especially before 9-12 months, though this passes as they get bigger and they usually outgrow it after their first year.

my experiences (i am stil ltrying to update with mopre recent stuff,) dd4 is now almost 2yrs old, still allergic to milk.

That certainly sounds like it could be cow's milk allergy. Angeoxford, I was given the same rubbish advice as you about not altering my diet, but yes, DS's eczema did clear up when I eliminated his allergens from my diet (while still ebf).

Definitely push for allergy tests, and be careful when weaning! Given your DD's hives reaction to cow's milk, ask your GP if you can have some antihistamine to give her if she reacts again. Good luck.

my baby with a dairy intolerance developed eczema on his face when i ate it.

i think it's soemthing worth trying.

Thanks all this is really helpful.

greenbananas what sort of timescale did it take for you to notice an improvement in the eczema when you altered your diet? I'm hoping that within a couple of weeks we may see some different.

Thank you thank you

My DS had eczema on his face from a few weeks old and his pediatrician advised me to try cutting dairy from my diet as that was most common cause. It helped, although can't honestly remember how quickly.

Looking back, I can also identify other times when he flared up that were probably related to other allergens. Like eating a big goats cheese omelette - I put it down to goat's milk having similiar effect to cow's milk, but with hindsight it was probably the egg.

I eventually weaned him onto soya formula instead of cow's milk (although many with dairy allergy are also allergic to soya, mine was ok). He's now 4 and outgrown dairy allergy but still allergic to eggs and nuts.

I breastfed for 11 months and got quite skinny because am normally BIG eater of cheese and chocolate!

Angeoxford, when I cut out dairy and eggs, I saw some improvement quite quickly, but it does take a few weeks for allergens to leave your systems.

Our case was a bit complicated because DS was also allergic to some other things. I kept a very detailed food diary and that really helped when I was trying to identify exactly what caused his symptoms.

Again, good luck with this. Let us know how you get on.

Hi,

Sorry to hijack the post - but a couple of you have mentioned that your little ones got eczema on their face due to a milk allergy. Did they have any other symptoms?

My LO has been suffering for months off and on. The steroid creams clear it up then it comes back again.

I think it might be milk, but hubby reckons our son would have gut symptoms - such as bloating/ abdo pain/ vomitting or loose stools. Which he doesn't. The only thing is that he's a bit windy!

Can you get just eczema with a food allergy?

Thanks

Hi there
My daughter definitely has a milk allergy - illustrated by the reaction when she came into contact with it on her skin. She's had bad eczema all over but no other symptoms - though we haven't weaned her yet and she's EBF. I'm no expert but in my experience it's worth giving it a go to exclude cow's milk to see if it clears up the skin. Only a week since I excluded dairy from my diet so a bit early to say if it makes big difference but fingers crossed it's seeming better.....

DS1 has eczema (v severe as a baby, under paed etc) and when weaned had hives reaction to cows' milk. However, blood testing showed a negative reaction to milk allergy (positive for egg, chick peas and lentils). The paed said this meant it was a mild intolerance which he would prob grow out of, and indeed he has been able to drink milk since about 2 years old.

I would def push your GP for a referral to a specialist for testing. A food exclusion trial should only be done under the supervision of a dietician.

Should also add that before the blood test, when DS1 was exclusively breastfed, I did a dairy and egg exclusion test (under paed), made no difference at all to his skin. Allergies and intolerances can be v hard to self-diagnose accurately so please get professional help with it.

i have an 11 yr old dd who has severe eczema still - at her worst she has virtually no skin - it is as if her skins breaks down and she is weepy and crusty over her entire body. Looks like I have thrown boiling oil over her. We have been asked to leave public places

Over the years I have found that no one thing works and it is trial and error trying very hard to work with your paediatrician. Make sure you get a referral to one you trust implicitly.

info here
very helpful specialist I think you can see on the NHS
and I have had telephone advice from this place it was Dr Adam Fox's nurse I think.

Don't despair - eczema can be very serious and no-one understands how all encompassing a condition is can be in severe cases - eczema society can help too. And don't give up - you know what is best, follow your instinct always with your little one.
x

An intolerance and an allergy are different things dispatcher. Eczema and skin problems often arise with allergies and gut problems more with intolerance. If your GP thinks she has an allergy they are usually tested ad should be put on a special hyperallergeic formula if bottle fed (not sure as I didnt breastfeed)
My daughter started coughing up,choking,itching like mad and come out in hives when given dairy, so was put on another milk called nutramigen which she did fine on. They are now trying to introduce milk back into the diet as she is 1.

Overthemill - totally, no one understads eczema untill you or your child have suffered from it. It can be terrible. My daughter was in hospital at 3 months because of her infected eczema. She has suffered so much from it and yet so many people don't understand the reall effects it can have both physically and mentally.

My son never had gut problems, vomitting, or similar symptoms at all as a baby, just eczema, and only on his face, not all over like some poor kids get.

And it was definitely linked to his allergies and me cutting dairy for breastfeeding definitely helped. I never had any allergy testing done when he was small as I was advised it is not very reliable. My paediatrician was very fixated on milk allergy as it is the most common, but in hindsight I should probably have cut egg too.

Since being weaned, whenever he has come into contact with a food he is allergic too, it produces an instant reaction on his skin - hives on his face or hands, or if it has got as far as his mouth, it clearly irritates his throat. It doesn't get far enough to cause digestive problems.

I got a blood test done when he was 3 and it revealed highly allergic tendancies and then the specific foods he was more or less allergic too, eggs being worst.

But yes, you can definitely just get eczma symptoms.