Eczema has been under control for years and in the past two days my ds is now covered

[travellingwilbury]

He has had a bad flare up over the last few weeks on his legs which was down to wearing shin pads but everywhere else has been clear for a long time . He is now pretty much covered , chest , stomach , back , arms and legs . The only place that is not too bad is his face thankfully .

Nothing has changed other than the flare up on his shins , diet hasn't changed , he is ridiculously fussy , also egg and nut allergic which has made him very wary of food .

He is 8 and very fed up with it , I am doing all the usual Diprobase and even giving him piriton morning and night to try and ease the itching .

Does anyone have any ideas please ? I feel so sorry for him .

Rape seed? It's everywhere and my eczema which is normally undercontrol has flared up.

I don't think it's uncommon for a flare up in one place to spread as the body goes into 'attack mode'. Rape seed is also a good suggestion as this is a common allergen.
Have you got any steroid cream with the diprobase and piriton? You need to use this for about 7 days to bring the flare up under control and then hopefully go back to using diprobase only. If you don't and can't see a GP at the weekend then you can buy hydrocortisone or eumovate cream over the counter at the chemist (although I usually say it's for me rather than a child but mine is younger than yours).
Make sure you use the steroid cream separately to the diprobase as otherwise the emollient dilutes its effect.
Hope it clears up soon as it is so horrible for them.

Thank you , yes I have been using a hydrocortisone cream , I have an emergency supply . Rape seed has never had this affect before , is it particularly bad this year ? On the other hand his hayfever hasn't kicked in so at least that's something .

Loubeee is right when she says a flare up on one area can make the body go into attack mode. Mine certainly does that and within half a day, I can be covered.

My body reacts to different allergens at different times as well and to differing extents to it could be something like rapeseed.

Hope you manage o get it under control soon. at least he tolerate piriton which I am highly allergic too.

Thank you , I am going to take him to see the nurse today . It does feel a bit pointless , I am sure they will just tell me to carry on doing what we are doing but I will feel better having spoken to someone .

Eczema can look quite different with him from one flare up to the next and I always worry they will tell me that it is something else .

Just a word about piriton. An allergy specialist at the Olympia allergy show last weekend said in a workshop that it's not a good idea to use piriton on a regular basis. However, she said it was safe to use Benadryl (cetirizine hydrochloride) every day, and it's non-drowsy. The eczema nurse at the same workshop said that in any case antihistamines don't tend to help the itching unless the cause of the eczema is an allergy. I found this information helpful as I give my 2-year-old DS cetirizine every day, and I think his eczema is aggravated by allergy (although he avoids all the foods we know he's allergic to).

It isn't actually Piriton , I just call it that out of habit . He has chlorphenamine because he really really didn't like Piriton and it doesn't seem to make him drowsy either .

Thank you , I presume this is much the same , I just feel really sad for him , the itching is driving him mad . I think it is an allergic reaction , he does have quite a few but weirdly no hayfever as yet this year , it normally starts with the tree pollen so this is really late for him .

I hope it clears up soon -- constant itching must be so uncomfortable and frustrating!
Sorry, I should have been clearer: it's the chlorphenamine maleate itself (piriton is just one of the many brands of it) which she advised not to use on a regular basis, even if it doesn't make you drowsy. She said, however, that cetirizine is fine to use on a daily basis, unless you have liver problems.

Thank you , I will speak to the nurse about changing the prescription , he is having it often atm and if/when his hayfever kicks in it will be every day then as well .

Fingers crossed it goes as quickly as it came , I don't like using the hydrocortisone cream too much either , but at the moment I don't know what else to do .

Hi OP, I'm having the same with my DD and have been on here this week to get some advice. Exactly the same as you, she's always had bad excema on her arms but all of a sudden has spread all over her body, even parts of her face.
Her childminder wanted to send her home today as she said it was measles - it isn't but that is what the rash is like. I just don't know what to do - 2nd trip to docs booked tomorrow which is a waste of time as they don't seem to know what to do either.
Does it clear up after a stint then? We've never had this before?

I'd use plenty of hydrocortisone, IME if you use a lot for a few days you shorten the time that you need to use it quite dramatically.

Thanks all , fingers crossed we have got it under control , hydrocortisone , diprobase , antibiotics and anti histamine seem to be doing the trick .

Boboli have you been back to Dr ? I hope your dd is feeling better , it is so miserable seeing them like this .

Hi GP has advised to see another GP who's a specialist in this area but no appointments until July and they won't let me book in July as they haven't released the dates yet???
Her eczema on her tummy and back as subsided a little - I'm thinking it is due to heat as this is the only thing that's changed in the last week.
Hope your ds is finding some relief in the treatment!

Heat is a big issue ime.