any experience of 6 month V bad eczema

[mrsbumbledosem]

I am at my wit's end with this.

It started with cradle cap at 3 months and has got steadily worse. She has had anti Bs twice and is now on Eumovate twice a day and cetroban and dermol and bath stuff from GP too.

Every so often I do oats in the bath but I don't think Aveeno is better than anything else I use.

She is 6 months EBF. I am weaning her. The only thing she reacted to was tomatoes (rash round mouth). She may be dairy intolerant which may exacerbate the eczema but I don't think she is (nothing scientific here just a feeling) and I don't eat an awful lot of dairy anyway. She is due to have allergy testing but GP wants me to wean her first in order to identify what we are looking for.

My problem is that although she has been to eczema clinic (nurse led) and seen the paed consultant no one seems to recognise that we are not getting on top of things. The Eumovate might be controlling it to an extent but she has discoid eczema on her arms and face which has not cleared in anyway for 3 months (big sore scaley red raw patches)

I know you all know how upsetting eczema is and I don't mean to sound all sorry for myself but even the pharmacist today asked if it was chicken pox!

So where do I go from here?

I am v aware of dust and I haven't used any product on her EVER (or me) and I wash clothes in hot wash and use non bio etc

help!

Hello. My DS had the same. He is now 4 yrs - and between 2 and 2.5 he eventually grew out of the eczema completely but still has very sensitive skin that reacts to fragrance and strong soaps.

The first thing we did was use a non-coloured, non-fragranced liquid soap in the laundry for everyone. This really helped, especially those areas like armpits, inner elbows, backs of knees, ankles.

Most of the time he has no soap in the bath at all, and when he does, its minimal - aveeno baby bath or similar (though even that can cause a rash if I use too much).

We clean his hair and scalp (still) with olive oil and a comb and then a rub of a gently soaped flannel and a rinse. His hair is in really nice condition and his scalp is fine.

It sounds like you're doing your best, and I think with many children its a matter of time. I know how upsetting it is to see your child suffering and feel like there's nothing you can do to remedy the problem. Hang in there.

Forgot to mention - my DS also had a strong / bad reaction to tomatoes around his face. He will not eat tomatoes at all now (though he has no memory of the sore face) - he hates them though, even ketchup!

Thanks anonymosity (that took me ages to spell!). Great that your DS has grown out of it - seems like that is all I can hope for.

Actually I think I am going to try an appointment with a private dermatologist because I am so unhappy with the treatment so far. She has been on Eumovate for weeks ( and its not doing anything). Anyway i am banging on again. Thank you for your advice and support

You need a referral to a dermatology expert and you should get one on the nhs without a need to go private. My experience was that the private consultant had exactly the same attitude and suggestions as the nhs one but I suppose that depends on the individual.

If your 6 month old is on eumovate with no improvement, you should definitely demand a referral.

There is often no straightforward answer. I have always struggled to keep dd2's (12) eczema under control and the medical professionals just tell me I can't be doing it right. But I think it would be very useful for you to talk to the experts (consultant and nurses) at a hospital.

And I sympathise re the comemnts. Being asked about rashes, burns, infections and then being told what you should be doing by strangers is par for the course.

Pointydog - that is interesting - you reckon you don't need to go private. But I do need a referral, that is becoming clear to me. Today I was sent to a paed consultant for no reason whatsoever other than the GP was flumoxed and I could have cried ( actually I did) when they prescribed more antibiotics but no actual constructive advice or plan regarding the steroid treatment.

I was optimistic about the nurse led clinic but now I am not so sure. I don't mean to moan so or sound ungrateful with the NHS but I am really struggling. And ohmygod if one more person suggests I go dairy free/ change soap I will explode!

MAy I ask -have you seen private and NHS then and have you tried diet related stuff?

I certainly didn't need to go private. I don't know how much this depends on the area you live in, but I don't see why, if you are seriously struggling with a dermatological problem, that you can't see a dermatologist.

You have a 6 month old whose eczema you cannot control and you are constantly using eumovate. I really would insist on a referral to get expert advice. I don't see why you are always sent to a paed. You need a skin expert.

My hospital derm dept has a special surgery for children and a great team of dermatology nurses who take you through every step in a very detailed way. I found it better than the private consultant (which my dad insisted on paying for because I was so upset at one point).

So dd2 regularly went to the nhs dermatology clinic at the hospital and I saw a private consultant just the once.

Just two years ago we cut out all dairy from dd2's diet for six full weeks. No mucking about. It was ruthless. I went to see a herbalist (yes, another desperate phase). I was fed up at the guilt trip she sent me on about diet so I thought, fuck it, let's go dairy free.

Made no difference whatsoever to dd2. It works for some so it might be worth a try at some point.

And it does clear up for many children, often by school age.

Unfortunately, it is still pretty bad for dd2 (12) who developed it at 5 weeks.

thank you for your imput pointy, much appreciated.

I can understand why you would try herbalism - you (one) would try anything

I know you're fed up of hearing about diet. But ime, egg is a bad exaggerating factor for my DS2s eczema. I eat probably about 4 per week, not counting eggs in baked goods, we discovered when DS2 was 11 months that he's highly allergic to egg white and causes a bad flare. His skin is pretty good now, but he's still bfed and if I eat eggs, we get a flare up.

Good luck with your referral...