Cannot cope with DD's eczema any more...

[Schulte]

...is there a support group somewhere? A hotline where I can cry down the phone? Or can you lovely people cheer me up a bit?

Have you used wet wraps at night? We used these on DS after months of horrid eczema and they did seem to work. It was hard to get them on though.

What about an anti-histamene at night to stop the scratching?

The eumovate really should make more of a difference than the hydrocortisone.

You are possibly not applying enough. Eumovate on body twice a day until improved, then down to hyrdocortisone. That's a rather odd mix of emollients that you've used - not all prescribed by the doctor surely? If diprobase works, then stick with it.

Have you tried bathing her nightly with an emollient in the bath? Makes a HUGE difference to dd2. Apply creams right after.

Try Surcare washing powder.

Your poor dd , i suffered badly with it as a child, i still get it on my fingers, around my mouth and eye lids (but no way near as bas as when i was a young child), i still use strong steroid creams and have also found cutting out gluten helps (although i find it hard to cut it out completely). I think mine was worse between the age of 2 and 6, i can remember my first playgroup photo (my mum still has it) and my face was covered, it made my mum so sad to see me like that. Sometimes just smuthering mine with vasiline can help (stops it from getting too dry and does not sting).

I found doublebase cream offered some relief,it is available on prescription (its a lovely body lotion too), whereas diprobase was useless. Ds had this put on lots of times every day. He also had oilatum bath oil. I cut out dairy for him which helped a bit but he really just grew out of it. The only cream which really worked was one i was given over the counter on holiday in spain. It was like magic but when I tried to get it in the UK the Dr said it was a really strong steriod which should never be given to children. At the time (4months to 3 years ish) I thought he would have it for life; people used to ask if he had been in a house fire . Now he just gets a patch behind his knees very so often.

I agree - hydrocortisone 1% was okay for smaller outbreaks but anything bigger needed something stronger. We used elocon?? when the outbreaks were really bad, or a protopic cream that isnt a steroid.

Doublebase is a good emollient imo.

x-posts with Mavis.

god please excuse my awful typos on this (and every thread i have been on tonight) it is rum o clock and i am not using my usual computer

I get her up, change her nappy, put a lot of emollient on. Then we have breakfast. Then I undress her again and do the cortisone cream.

Throughout the day she has emollient on at most nappy changes, or sometimes I put some extra on when she scratches. I also use Bepanthen (it's a skin healing cream bought in Germany, not the nappy are cream you get here) on open wounds.

We don't bath her more than once a week. When we do, it's clear water, Dermol as a soap substitute and she's only in the bath for a few minutes. Pat dry, put emollient on straight away. Then we do Piriton, teeth, hair, story, then last thing I use the cortisone cream again.

I think I said I use Fairy non-bio and an extra rinse, and dry her clothes in the house. Her bedroom has wooden floors and I hope the cleaner keeps on top of the dust.

Most people don't use steroids effectively as GPs are not very good at advising and everyone is too cautious. Hydrocortesone will do nothing and sounds like you already know that. In order to effectively manage your DDs eczema you need to see the eczema clinics or dermatologist and if it is really bad just keep bugging them and asking for a cancellation till you get seen.

The single most useful thing for me was going to the eczema workshops at St Thomas in London and seeing the dermatologist (at my local hospital who prescribed a massive tube of super steroids which definitely keep it at bay). Are you near London as you can self refer.

Also I learnt that you have to apply moisturiser all the time. Literally 3/4 times a day at least when things are bad.

i know you probably get inundated with people saying "ooooh try this cream..."

but i am going to recommend one anyway, only because I know several people who really swear by it

it's called Hope's Relief. it's quite expensive, you can buy it online.
it was recommended to me by a couple of people I knew when a friend of mine had a baby with horrendous eczema.
baby was literally covered, and scratched himself raw. the only thing that helped at all was steroid cream, which mum was understandably worried about using so often, for a long period of time

anyway, she got the hope's relief and she said it was amazing. it had the same effect as the steroid cream had on him, only it's a totally natural product.
this is the same thijng that happened to the people who had recommended me the cream to start with.

my friend even wanted to send it off somewhere for analysis because she didn't believe it had no steroids in it

I KNOW I sound like an advert for the cream, but i'm really not anything to do with them, i just have 3 separate friends who have seen incredible results from it....

I was always told to put the steroid cream on first. We also used Surcare (available in the supermarkets) on his clothes as its didnt seem to irritate his skin so much.

Are you under the care of a dermatologist?

Bathign in clear water is bad. There should always be an emollient in it, an anti microbial (sp?) one might help a lot too. Daily bathing with emollients really helps some children. Might be worth trying.

That's interesting pointydog. I was asking about baths because ds2's eczema gets significantly worse if he is bathed/goes in water more than a couple of times a week. None of the bath oils, etc make the slightest difference to how badly the water seems to dry him out.

2 baths a week, washing his hair in the last few seconds before he gets out and rinsing him really well with the shower before he gets out keeps him relatively under control. Also, applying a thick layer of dermol (so his skin is white) before he gets in, then afterwards patting him dry very gently and applying the steroid and another thick layer of emollient helps too.

OK obviously I didn't use all those creams at the same time. And no, not all prescribed, but some are commonly used in Germany for eczema. And the calendula cream helped for a long time.

Diprobase seems to have stopped doing the trick.

Do I get Surcare in the supermarket?

I was told Eumovate only once a day, is that wrong?

sorry i didn't read your last post about applying lots of emollient sorry!

OK so I have learnt that you should bathe at least once a day as it is v important to prime skin for the emolient / moisturiser and the best way to do this is with bathing with softened water ( oats or emolient in water). We use Oilatum. Also it is important to keep everything very clean so bathing helps with this. Not suggesting you are not clean but I imagine 2 year olds get covered in all sorts!

Also avoid any thing that we would actually eat ie olive oil as this seems to exacerbate most eczema by creating a breeding ground for bacteria. Oats are OK though.

How do I self refer to St Thomas eczema clinic? Is this on the NHS?

Yes, surcare is a washpowder that is specifically designed for sensitive skin. It doesnt give your clothes a 'clean' smell but it works well enough. It comes in a powder form, in a white box and you can get in in tesco/asda/sainsburys :)

Skin will become used to an emmolient/steriod which is why you need to keep changing.

right.

you need to ditch the detergents. no fairy, no persil. you need soapnuts. they are nuts from india that produce soap. sounds ridiculous. look it up, it works. here

secondly what are you bathing her in? ditch any detergents and any potions or creams with sodium laureth sulfate. get a sock and fill it with porridge oats, run this under the bath water as it fills up then squeeze it lots. this makes the water go milky and oaty, very soothing. you can also 'wash' her with the oaty sock. and bathe rarely, like twice a week tops.

thirdly, you do need to use the hydrocortisone until the eczema clears and the skin is smooth. then carry on every other day for an extra week. then just use diprobase/cetraban/aveeno etc.

fourthly, don't put the diprobase type stuff on straight before or after the steroid, or it won't take effect. you need to leave an hour in between.

really hope this lot helps, it sorted my dd out.

All the GPs I have seen have said bath as little as possible... Oilatum was bad, what else can I use (apart from oats)?

Pharmacist insisted it was emollient first, then steroids, but happy to try the other way round! Makes sense really.

lady Dame, I know that some people say baths do not help but for many they are an essential part of keeping eczema under control. Dd2 is now 12 and she uses Dermol in the shower and it makes an incredible difference and makes the skin far more receptive to any creams and moisturisers that are applied afterwards.

So definitely woth a try to ascertain what works best for your child.

My 2 year old DS has eczema on his face. I have been using a cream called Allergenics Intensive Care, recommended to me by a friend whose DD has bad eczema and who has psoriasis herself. It has worked very well. Also on her recommendation, I bought but have yet to use a lotion by Argentum Plus called Silver - MSM Dry Eczema Lotion.

Also on her advice I stopped using Oilatum in his bath as well as applying Oilatum cream to his skin. She reckons that things containing paraffin, I think it was, can exacerbate the condition. FWIW I found neither Diprobase nor Dermol worked.

I use Infaderm in his bath and now only wash him with Weleda Calendula shampoo and body wash. I was using Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo and I noticed a huge change when I stopped using that on him too.

Yes on Nhs. I'm going to pm a tel number

I have so much sympathy for you - it's horrible watching them go through it. DS really suffered as a baby.

Honestly though, I would agree that you need a stronger steroid. Our GP had 3 DC with severe eczema - she said we could faff about for ages with hydrocortisone or knock it on the head with stronger stuff and then work preventatively, using steroids when needed. That's what we did and although I know steroids can be scary, we had to improve DSs quality of life. It sounds like an exaggeration but it eczema does really affect their life, doesn't it?

Now we use Epaderm (the only ointment that worked for him, and of course it's the greasiest one and gets everywhere!) and Eumovate or Betnovate (the lower one) when the patches come back.

I really hope your DD (and you!) get some relief soon.

I am going to print this thread off - lots of good things to try on here, thanks people.

But it also demonstrates how much conflicting advice you get... it's all trial and error, isn't it. Sigh.