Argh! Eczema help please.

[prolificwillybreeder]

Long story short:
DS1 Recently diagnosed with eczema which she thought was infected so gave us:
Hydrocortisone cream
Oilartum (sp) bath stuff
Doublebase

Now, I thought I cracked it applying them all and it got better, well much improved. I stopped the steroid cream after 7 days like the packet said and now it flared up again. It's spreading like wildfire too. Help!
I don't know what to do :(
He has a cows milk protein allergy but can tolerate milk in food. I am cutting that out too. All food homemade so can replace etc. I have same allergy

Would oat bath help? DP is gluten intolerant so I worry maybe he has it too. Oats might be bad? He has oats and wheat and seems ok.
Tried aveeno before I went to the doc and it didn't help.

I can't seem to control it and bring the flare up down. Why is it spreading?
Yes I am in a state, I'm calming down. And yes he is my PFB!

I've only ever used Weleda baby on him before so this exzema has come from no where at 14 months and I haven't changed anything.

Thanks for reading

Yes, but we applied dd2's after her bath with emollient in it so her skin was soft and dampish, we put on the steroid, then waited before more moisturiser. I see the misunderstanding though.

I've seen good consultants. I know what I'm talkign about

Oilatum can cause problems in some children.

If your DS is atopic it can be a real battle to control eczema because it means they react to just about everything.

When DS was very bad (and he has been, in the words of the specialist nurse 'about as bad as it gets') we moisturised 8 times a day and left 20mins afterwards before applying steroids and/or antibiotic creams.

I agree with a PP that lanolin can be a problem for lots of children and is best avoided.

It is a case of trial and error I am afraid and I do sympathise. It is such a horrid and distressing condition.

If it is any comfort, my DS's is now controlled pretty well and I never thought it would be.

My biggest weapon against flare ups is (sorry about this) housekeeping. I hoover and damp dust a LOT. I change bedding and wash clothes a LOT and clean under furniture and wipe skirting boards and all that boring stuff.

House dust mites are a nightmare for some eczema sufferers. Once we found out that this was the case for DS I was able to know my enemy

Best wishes for your DS and dont blame yourself. This is a condition that is very hard to get on top of.

Yes the main cream we were given was Propaderm (Beclometasone Dipropionate). It nuked the eczema - seriously. But we were at the stage that the GP was wanting to give him oral steroids so this was preferable.

We also used a paraffin lotion with no preservatives as it seemed to be this element that was making the problem worse.

We had to go down the oral steroids route. I was very reluctant but I have to say it did the job and gave us a 'clean slate' to start again with DS's skin.

It has never been as bad again. We were desperate though. When i think back to how ill he was it breaks my heart.

He is pretty good now although he has skin like sandpaper!

I think that's the thing Mrs you have to gain a foothold and then you can keep things under control. We were at the stage where every single cream was making things worse. The worst was Epaderm, ds3 screamed when we put it on - yet for others it does the job.

Ds3 had oral steroids recently and was fine (not eczema related btw).

Why won't the nhs prescribe propaderm? They prescribe a huge range of steroids.

Epaderm is an emollient rather than a steroid, isn't it?

I was told by my GP that it isn't on their list of allowable items. I have no idea whether that is on the basis of expense or because it doesn't generally work - I can only say that for us it worked brilliantly.

Yes Epaderm is an emollient - I can't even remember most of the names of the creams we had (Diprobase and Doublebase for sure though) - they mostly just didn't work but Epaderm was the one that really burnt when we put it on him.

Just shows how hit and miss it is paws , epaderm is the one that works for us and it took us ages to get round to it!

E45 is the work of the devil

Epaderm is an emollient pointy

Go back to the doctor.

If the eczema was infected then your DS may need antibiotics. Applying the emollient can then spread the infection over preciously healthy skin so that may be why the eczema is getting worse. My DS is always given anitbiotics when he has an infected eczema and Fucudin H cream (an anitbiotic with hydrocortisone as well)

We also used Dermol 600 in the bath which is anitbacterial.

Even if the eczema isn't infected Doctor could prescribe another emollient. DS has Epaderm as Oilatum didn't work for us.

My son had really bad eczema and GP was prescribing various things, some helped and some didnt. He was then seen at the hospital for something else and they saw his skin and referred him to the dermatology clinic and they prescribed different creams and strengths of hydrocortisone. Seems to me its about finding the cream that suits your child and creaming +++ times per day, using whatever the maximum strength of HC that gets rid of the eczema. I'd try and get a referral to specialist help if you're not able to control it. Doesnt need to be private - I have found the NHS to be great (disclaimer - I work for NHS ;-)

Maybe a GP wouldn't prescribe that cream but that does not mean that the NHS doesn't prescribe it. GPs refer children with bad eczema to a consultant dermatologist. An NHS dermatologist - in my experience at least - prescribes whatever s/he sees fit and it's free to the user.

I know I'm going on a bit but it's just not true that the NHS will not prescribe fantastic things that work.

I dn't understand why your GP didn't refer you to a consultant dermtologist, paws. No need to go private unless that's your choice.

Our GP wouldn't, no.

And I can only speak for my son's experience and what worked for him. I wasn't having a dig at the NHS generally. I don't think I said the NHS won't refer people for treatments that work, did I? I simply relayed my son's experience.

"The creams cost us just over £100. The NHS won't prescribe them."

That's what you said. That's what I was a bit miffed at.

The NHS will prescribe them

But Pointydog, they (according to my GP friend) won't! According to her it does not fall within the NHS prescribing guidelines - which is what my GP said (though without giving a reason). I'm not advocating the cream we used as a miracle cream except in the context of it being a miracle cream for my ds!

Jeez, give me a break here. I'm only trying to help not single-handedly dismantle the NHS.

I may be missing an important point but I just want to say that in order to get severe eczema treated properly you have to see a dermatologist.
No disrespect to GPs intended. Eczema is a very difficult condition to treat and GPs do not have the expertise and resources.

In fact I think the best people to see are the specialist nurses. (IME)

Not much advice on treatment than that already given, but thought I would mention that everyone I know who has eczema (DH, DD, several Dnieces and friends) are all having a flare-up at the moment. DH says it is due to the change in season, happens every time for him and DD and settles down after a few weeks.

I am thinking that maybe the warm/wet combination of autumn and spring affects dust mite populations so we have steam cleaned our mattresses and then hoovered them along with the usual hoovering of the house to try and reduce their numbers.

Keep going back.
My ds (10) has been having months of intransigent eczema and now a sudden outbreak all over his back. GP has given us anti histamine now.
It takes a lot of patience.
My friend who is an expert on these things just says get the strongest steroid you can get and blast it til it's gone.
But not everyone agrees!
The biggest enema is drying out though that's where I sometimes slip up. YOu have to watch it.

Both my dcs suffered with eczema and the best thing I have found to control it so far is hydromol ointment. Very gloopy but really does the job, along with balneum in the bath, and mild hydrocortisone to treat severe outbreaks.

I found oilatum and doublebase made my dcs condition worse, but obviously different solutions suit different people.

I completely agree with deVere. If the eczema is severe, you'd be referred on to a dermatologist as a matter of course.

Great advise on here so I will try not to repeat. We see a dermatologist for our DD's eczema which is now dramatically better. We were told to stop all cwp containing food, and also hydrocortisone is too mild for eczema other than on the face so we were given eumovate or synalar to use every day for 2 weeks then alternate days for 2 weeks before trying to stop it, 7 days is definitely not long enough but this is what most GP's will prescribe.

If there is any infection you should keep the skin dry and have an antibiotic cream or oral antibiotics if it's bad. When the infection is clear wet wraps are also very good for bad attacks of eczema. HTH. :)

Sorry but I will repeat some main points! Do use an ointment type emollient rather than doublebase, something like epaderm, hydromol or dermal cream. Apply it frequently, I use it at every nappy change all over. Wash everything at 60 degrees or above, change sheets frequently, vacuum as often as possible especially bedroom, freeze any soft toys that can't be washed at 60 degrees, bath everyday but apply emollient all over skin before and use oilatum in bath and bath for 10 minutes max. I tend to apply the steroid cream first but you are meant to apply the emollient and wait 20 minutes before applying the steroid cream. I think that's everything I can remember that our eczema specialist nurse told us to do!

Thank you Chocamum great advice.
Little update: applying doublebase before steroid cream- can't believe the difference! Some of the worse bits are now nearly smooth!
Bathing in oilatum for 10 mins. Hair washing any ideas on that one? Water doesn't always get the oatabix or pasta sauce out.
Moved over to oat milk- the new one in the chiller cabinet, blue carton Oatly I think it's called. Seems to be helping, well hasn't made it any worse! He seems to be sleeping better too.

Glad to hear things are improving. We use oatly or hemp milk.
For hair I use DD's epaderm but I think you can use any emollient to wash with, it's just epaderm actually foams up but they all clean even though they don't turn into a foam. We definitely have the same problem with food in hair! :)

I'll ask for epiderm I think.
Could I ask what you do about cheese and yogurt? Soya yogurt? I worry about soya though I'm not sure why.
He did have lacto free yogurt but obviously I've cut everything now.
He still have one hypoallergenic formula feed at night.
I need him allergy tested and dietary support. I feel way out my depth.

Hi my ds suffers with severe eczema, and a six months ago I was at the end of my tether, it spread all over her body and her face also began to swell. Emergency doctors just said use anti hystimine tablets, I was so frustrated, it was bleeding in places and oilatum and oer the counter products were not working. Eventually I was told my health visitor was also a Dermatologist to my relief and I begged her to see her immediately, she prescribed Cetraben 2-3 times a day, and a steriod cream sparingly called Eumovate. I wash her bedding at 60, do not use any fabric softners and chnaged all washing powder to non bio. She still suffers flare ups but it is now manageable, we use Cetraben religiously every day, and only use Eumovate every couple of weeks now. These creams has made a fantastic difference so just wanted to pass on my experiences as I know how frustratig it can get.