Alternative therapy for eczema- going through hell at the moment

[pixiefish]

My dd has eczema on her face and has had it since about 4 months- she's now 9 months. Have been to see a dermatologist and the gp and they keep prescribing steroid cream of increasing strength for every flare up. have got some cream now that is reputed to work with eczema and I started it last Wednesday. Using this cream does mean abandoning the conventional therapies for a while.
Her face is all bloated this morning and I'm feeling like crap because of it. I was told it would get worse before it got better but I've been up a lot in the night with her and we're both tired. her little eyes are swollen and I don't know what to do- give up on this cream and go back to the steroid cream or give this cream a fair trial- today will be day 5. There's nothing in the cream that can harm her but I'm worried that by not putting the steroids on I'm harming her in some way. I am also starting today on a dairy free diet so that no dairy goes in my bm to her

an oilatum plus bath soothes her skin for definite- but am having concerns now about the aqueous- even though it's moisturing and i don't think it's actually making the eczema worse it may well be irritating her cos she does seem to scratch - I just assumed that was the eczema

Pixie the aqueous from memory (and I could be wrong) is effectively emulsifying ointment with a few extra bits - I think one of the extra bits is lanolin (once again might be wrong) which can in itself cause skin sensitivity. I would go for straight emulsifying ointment as a soap type thing in the bath - rub between your hands first, and use the diprobase after the bath. Think all that these do is retain the moisture in the skin which stops it drying out and cracking. But worthwhile. What they won't do is heal up infected skin.
HTH

cheers cab- have bought a small tube of diprobase this morning to try. the aqueous cream doesn't have lanolin but e45 does- that's what the chemist said- stopped using e45 on her months ago. will give the diprobase a try tonight

pixiefish, there was some news a while back about aqueous containing an ingredient that could potentially irritate certain skins. we dumped that and use epaderm on prescription instead. we smother ds1 with it just before bathing and then as you bathe, use it like a soap and you will find that the skin is a lot less dry afterwards. as for moisturiser, i'd def try something else in case the aqueous is aggravating her.

from what i hear, diprobase is v. good.

also, aveeno do a bath oil which i find oilier than oilatum (which we also use) but it can be quite expensive if you use it a lot.

i also found the bach remedy cream v.v.v.good for small patches but don't you find it loses its affectiveness after a couple of days use?

yes to the bach's rescue cream- excellent for a few days but then nothing-

pixiefish - it was the diprobase ointment not cream that we found most effective. Hope it helps your dd.

Sorry about the misleading info on the aqueous cream Pixie - just can't remember now why I didn't use it.
Hope the diprobase works for her. (i prefer the cream to the ointment - just to be awkward!)

bunny and cab- well- during a flare up i normally put some steroids on after the oilatum bath and then aqueous before bed. then a feed and then bed. she scratches and pulls her hair like mad during the feed normally. Tonight I gave her a plain water bath, steroids after the bath (outbreak just calming down now- still some eczema) and the diprobase cream before the feed. No scratching during the feed- cross everything for me- thanks for the suggestion.

What do you think I should do about the homeopath- its on monday- will have been dairy free for a week by then- i think maybe i should give that more of a chance first before i go- do you agree?

pixie - yes. Try one thing at a time if you can otherwise it's hard to see if it's working or not. Best of luck.

pixie - a colleague of mine has a 5 year old.
Her 5yo DS had really really bad eczema.... every crevasse (sp?) on his body was raw, weeping,.... he couldn't hold a pen, walk up the stairs let alone sleep... a complete nightmare.
My colleague is not into alternative therapies so went to GP, went to specialist in London on many occasions.... wet wraps, steroids, antibiotics (when it was infected... often!).... the lot. Was told he will grow out of it...
No improvement at all... it was really driving her life as her son was seriously handicapped by this, she didn't think he would be able to go to school.
She went to the homeopathic hospital... they told her A,B and C (basically diet to change).... it worked for a while but it was never really good.... yet she could see an improvement.
All the while several people who knew her kept saying what about seeing Mrs soandso.... My colleague didn't listen (she says for over 2 years people told her this) so she relented and went to see this woman (in Kent).
The woman did some kinesiology on the mother and told her : right he has got this problem, he needs these vitamins (expensive), needs his eczema to be treated with manuka honey (well known for its antiseptic qualities) and £60 please.... my colleague did all of this,.... she had been told it would take 2 weeks..... 2 weeks came and no real improvement at which point she thought "great I've been had".... 3 days later he was ALL CLEAR! She said if it hadn't been her son she wouldn't have believed it... he has been cleared ever since, I saw him 6 weeks ago and whilst I didn't inspect him there was no visible eczema (as there was loads before)....

According to this woman he had a significant problem to his liver (hence it partly worked when she followed the homeopath's suggestions as she wasn't straining his liver so much).... she was aiming to restore the liver's function (I think)..... It is well known that eczema is a way for the body to eliminate something it can't eliminate any other way so it comes through the skin... hence eczema is often talked about in terms of diet.

My own DS had bad eczema on his face, I used Elena Schalburg's cream and it made a huge difference in 4 days.... since then she advertises on mumsnet!

Pupuce it's good this worked for your friend's son, but believe me, there's no miracle cure for eczema that suits everyone. One also needs to be VERY careful about some of the alternative remedies around cos they can cause liver damage if used long term and haven't been properly tested as mainstream medicines have.
My parents paid fortunes for various 'cures' at various times, sometimes something worked for a while, next time it wouldn't. But you know what REALLY improved it on a long term basis? When the parents split up and I was under less stress from their constant arguments - so have to say I'm not impressed with this assumption that eczema is just some toxin trying to escape the body. The honey thing is trendy at the moment as it was over 30 years ago when I was being dragged to various homeopaths etc - didn't work for me, but I'm sure there are some people it helps.
I would repeat Pixie - leave the homeopath until you've given the dairy free et al a bash otherwise it will be hard to work out what works or doesn't - and sounds like the eczema is clearing up now which is brilliant.
p.s. Not saying don't use homeopaths ever, just one thing at a time and don't expect miracle cures.

Sorry I haven't got time to read through all of this but I have had two children whose excema went completely after using Aveeno cream and bath stuff (you can get it in Boots here, and apparantly they prescribe it in the States), anyway I had tried everything else without success: an archive search on Mumsnet should bring up quite a long thread about it from around a year or so ago.

I would second the Aveeno cream worked a treat on ds, not as effective on dd, still ahve to use HCn a stubborn patch that flares up. Aqueous cream was a nightmare for us, ds looked like he had been burnt. Would say as others though just try one thing at once otherwise you will never know what's working.

thanks cab and clairabelle- her face is looking better this morning after the diprobase

That's great news pixiefish, but don't be surprised if it gets bad again with this cold weather. I'm sure that's what's made my hands so bad recently.

Glad to hear things are starting to get better Pixiefish!

hey pixiefish, have missed your response on the thread. If you have time have a read as there maybe something on it that might be helpful to you now. My ds is doing awesome now with the Bowen Therapy complimented with the "Colloidal Silver Creme" we are now using. More info on the other thread re this creme. You have had lots of really good advice from those of us who have/continue to suffer along with our children. The 1 suggestion i can offer thats slightly different is to try & get past looking at your dd's situation from an emotional view point. Approach it in a "matter of fact" even business like manner so you can deal with the situation in a more focused & logical way. I feel that i may have caused my ds a good 14-18mths of unnessary suffering if i had of adopted this approach sooner. This is how i now deal with his condition. Before i was so emotionally caught up in it (which i still am from time to time) but no longer the 24/7 that it used to be. You think clearly about the process of elimination of what you have/will try next, and for what reasons, what you are prepared to do for dd, & yourself. When i was mostly emotional about ds situation i was irrational & made uninformed / semi-informed decissions grasping at hope that this will work. You want so desperately for it to work. You know, beat yourself up material! Its dam hard, & you will still get upset as i still do, but move over it quickly and refocus. For you & dd. Hope this is helpful. My apologies if uou think im outa line. Luck & happiness

We tried lots of different things. Aveeno was great for my itchy bump when pregnant but made no difference to DD's skin. Aqueous cream seemed to help for a while but her skin was very red and decided to stop. Bought (£12!!) some Dermol 500 and it instantly took away the redness and left her with dry, peeling but much less angry skin (it kills the bacteria that cause infection or something). Diprobase cream has been great for moisturising and also use Oilatum now that it's under control a bit. For a while I thought nothing would ever help and it was so upsetting. Bath-times and nappy changes are still more like battles (socks on hands and feet) than anything else but she doesn't wake up scratching in the night so much. As other people have said, you need to keep trying different things systematically until you find something that works and keep seeing the doctor until you find something that does work.

I agree m22 and komatsu- I have been rushing from one thing to the other. I have cancelled the homeopath and am going to see what happens with the dairy free diet for 6 weeks and then make a decision about the homeopath. Amalso back to see the dermatologist in about 8 weeks.
Have heard of this Bowen therapy- from you i think Komatsu- your ds is improving i'm glad to hear. What do you mean by more business like? Is it what i am doing now. see how one thing works at a time?

My dd has had excema since three months- she is 5 years. allergic to p-nuts, dust mites, cats, dogs, feathers, pollen,and grasses. she began allergy shots a month ago. does not appear to be working. excema has attacked her face more than normal. she sleeps in mittens, stays hydrated, and i constantly grease her up with a variety of steroids, and creams. everything seems to dry her out lately. any suggestions? i am constantly in search of a cure!!

have you tried homeopathy? i found it helped quite a bit.

I don't know about the cream - personally I put as little as possible on my eczema when it flares up as I find anything, including essential oils, can irritate my skin. However horses for course...

I found homeopathy to be very helpful, even though I was initially a total disbeliever. Went to it in a "well it can't hurt" frame of mind and it really helped. You can continue conventional therapies while using the homeopathic ones too.

we use this routine:
bath her, pat her dry, grease her all over (not rubbing in exactly) with 50/50 white soft and liquid parafin (from GP or chemist). Use .55% hydrocortizone on 'active' ie red patches of eczema. Use soap subsitute (Dermal) and bath additive (Dermal again). Never use anything perfumed. Use only Ecover non bio no fabric softener. Get Eumovate on awful bits