Homeopathy and Eczema

[melon1]

Does anyone has any experience of this? Took dd to homeopath on Tuesday, and she gave me sulphur tablets to give her - she told me it would get worse before it got better (which it really has!) and she's broken out in spots all over her face - I'm so close to giving up and just covering her in cream again, but I don't want to stop in case it's working (by the way, dd doesn't seem bothered by eczema) - what should I do?

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Melon, I was given the irresponsible advise to stop applying emollients to avoid interference with homeopathy. It went so bad that DS was covered in weeping flares in a couple of days, if your homeopath is a good homeopath and have given you the right remedy and dose, it will work even if you apply the emollients.

My homeopath even told me that if I continue using the emollient I was going to cause asthma to DS. It was not until she told me that I could avoid DS to scratch his skin off by distracting him... at that point it just dawned on me that the woman had never in her life seen a case of severe eczema.

I would use homeopathy as a complement but never as the only treatment.

Does your dd have a dairy allergy? The homeopathic tablets have lactose in. Only found this out when we took ds to the homeopathic hospital in Great Ormond Street and they made up a special homeopathic solution because of this.

I am astmatic and am extremely allergic to sulphur. Asthma and eczema often go hand in hand. Are you sure your dd is not allergic to sulphur?

I know there are lots of different types of eczema, but I think (I hope) dd just has infantile eczema - she's shown no signs of asthma, and tbh I wouldn't have a clue if she is allergic to the sulphur. I feel so bad - the homeopath told me to stop using emollients on her, and I did, and her skin is in a right mess at the moment. I just put so much hope in this working, and we're now back to square one. Her skin was pretty good before we started this, only stubborn patches of eczema under chin and creases of knees - now I have start from scratch trying to clear it all again - feel like crying.

Totally agree with Chandra on this, don't beat yourself up about this, b**y homeopaths. grrrrrr

I did this once when I was given essential oils to clear it up- I was told that I couldn't use emollients etc as they'd stop the oils working. Dd looked like a burns victim- turned here for advice and stopped using the oils and back on the emollients. Agree with everyone else who says that they shouldn't tell you to stop using emollients. We're dairy free now and that seems to help a bit. Also tomatoes and red peppers that are in some baby foods seem to make my dd worse. It's still bad but copable

i know how frustrating this can be, which is why i steer clear of 'alturnative' therepies for eczema, as i wouldnt be able to deal with the guilt if it got worse.

how old is your dd again? i find preventative is better thwan cure (but i dont think eczema can be cured), and if you can break the itch/scratch cycle, teach your dd to rub rather than scratch the itch, invest in good quality pj's with mittens for bedtime, and above all find a great gp/dermotologist then the battle is almost won.

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to bother with the homeopathy anymore - she says that there are other things we can try, but if this is what happens everytime then no way - the thing that's really making me feel bad at the mo is that we were doing ok with the eczema - I'd finally found the right creams to keep it under control, and now I feel like I've blown it. Like you say Misdee, I think I just need to accept that I'm not going to 'cure' her, and just take it day by day. Interestingly enough, and thank god, her eczema has never seemed to bother her.

that's why they're known these days as complementary rather than alternative therapies

complementry then. but there are far too many out there to try them all, and all claim to be able to 'cure' eczema.

i am tempted by skin salvation tho. but will test on me first.

Ive used arsenica album for my ezxma under my eyes , but dont remeber the pharmacist sayong not to use emolients. Its has healed on one side only , BUT it did get really bad again whilst using the remedy on both sides and very very swollen before the right side healed. Im currently using E45 whislt I decide wether to get another remedy. I just feel with homeopathy it is very difficult , as the remdy is to treat the person and not the problem , so unless the remedy has been corecctly and accurately pinpointed it will be hit or miss. Ive had bad reactions to things suggested to be used by doctors to.

MElon, have you tried Aveeno or Eucerin? if you manage to keep the skin free from infections, I don't think you'll need more than either of this two. Keep in mind that in most cases the worst year for eczema is the first one. It will get better, promise.

I have found the main thing is to stop the skin from drying out, esp after a bath. Are you able to use an essential oil in her bath?

Btw dd has had eczema since she was very tiny. She is now 8. It is better, but she still has flare ups. It is so hard to pinpoint what stirs it up. We do find if she has too much sugar it is worse, or acidic fruits like citrus and tomato.

We haven't tried a homeopath despite dsil's insistence they are wonderful. I did just recently buy a medicated honey cream which has been quite good but dd hates the smell. I think it's quite nice!

It is made by Medihoney. Not sure if you can get it in the UK. It has antibacterial honey, aloe vera, chamomile, Vit E, coconut oil, beeswax, evening primrose oil and citrus seed extract. It has helped to clear up an infected area on her finger she has had for ages...seems to settle the itching too.

Melon1, I used homeopathy (sulphur) for my ds. However, it was just one of several treatments and ds's eczema was at the milder end of the spectrum. Our homeopath didn't tell me not to use the conventional treatments but to do both together, the idea being that the homeopathy would work from the inside out and the emollients and hydrocortisone 0.5% would work from the outside in.

The patches on his torso which were really stubborn disappeared within a few days and never returned. The patches on his face took a little longer to go. Prior to this point the patches would come and go so I was surprised when they never returned.

I'll never know how much of his 'cure' was down to the homeopathy or whether it would have happened anyway.

I had been reluctant to use the HC and got great advice from mumsnet. Are you using HC and using it properly, ie step down treatment etc. Sorry if this is in any way patronising. I used oats in his bath and still do and use Aveeno as emollient which is the only one he didn't react to.

I hope you find a regime that suits your dd.

Many homeopaths would be fine about using conventional and homeopathic remedies together.
Your dd will not be developing an allergy to the sulphur in the tablets - the concentration is so small (if it's 6c that means it has been diluted 1 part sulphur to 99 parts water, then that solution diluted 1:99 water...6 times. so a miniscule amount of the sulphur remains - and homepathic principles treat like with like - so if sulpur can cause asthma/eczema, a homepathic preparation of it can treat it.
I would use the cream, but continue with the remedy as well.

Portree, did your ds's skin get worse before it got better? DD's skin is in a bit of a mess at the mo, so I've stopped the sulphur. The homeopath told me not to use any emollients on her, so a combination of that and the sulphur has had a very bad effect. I've decided to hold off the homeopathy while I use hc and emollients to sort her skin out, and then when she's in a better state, perhaps try again (homeopath mentioned calc carb). I use a combination of creams on dd, eumobase and doublebase being the main emollients. I use Aveeno on her face. This regime was pretty much keeping her clear, apart from stubborn patches under her chin and the creases of her knees, which, when I think about it, I could probably manage with calendula cream and sudocreme. I just wanted to give the homeopathy a go in case it would 'cure' her!

Melon, no ds's skin didn't get worse at first even though the homeopath said that that may happen. She also said that it would heal in reverse order so that the patches that developed last would go first and that did happen.

IIRC, his first dose was 1 x sulphur 30. I don't remember how many days she told me to allow the remedy to work, less than a week I know. After that time there was no change so she said to give him one more sulphur 30. After that the torso patches cleared up within days and then the ones on his face. And that was it, so he only had 2 doses of remedy. I know if the 30 didn't have any effect she was going to suggest the 200 but in the end we didn't need it. HTH.

Sorry Portree, one more thing - what is the step down treatment for hc?

Melon, if youfeel like trying homeopathy, try it. If it's the wrong remedy it won't help but won't do damage either. But keep using the emollients.

Regarding a question of HC. One thing is true for sure, it is better to use the correct dosis, as indicated by the doctor for a week than applying half non-effective dosis at the lenght of a month. If the eczema is not so severe I supoose you are using HC 0.5 which is very mild and unlikely to cause damage (DS went up to 2.5 for some time and his skin is OK- though flares come and go, but mind you, at that stage he was a crawling burn, head to toe in weeping flares and scratching his skin off during the night, we could not even be outside for more than 15min without his skin becoming cracked).

Thanks for the advice Chandra. I may try again with the homeopathy but tbh I don't have a lot of confidence in the homeopath at the moment. She advised us to stop using the emollients whilst using the remedy of sulphur, and dd's skin became a right mess (I'm just in the process of trying to repair it again!) From what I've read on Mumsnet, a good homeopath believes there is no problem with using emollients and homeopathic remedies together, which obviously makes sense! Don't know if I want to use this woman again

Yes, that's true, unfortunately getting to find a good homeopath rather than an organic oriented individual with an interest in homeopathy it's a bit difficult. Our homeopath had recently graduated and every prescription was checked by her tutor, so at the begining we did see some drastic changes (not regards eczema but DS was very late with teething and everytime he got Calc Carb remedy -every single one-, he had a new tooth within a week, he also looked more active which was good. However, as soon as the tutor let our homeopath to do her own remedies everything went pear shaped and then she started blaming the emollients, even when she had not expressed any concern about them in the first consultation. She also suggested creams that she thought would be good (they were organic and said eczema in the label) and with one of them DS weeping flares became black! I don't blame her, she was full of good intentions and had an excesive faith in the "organicity" of the products, unfortunately DS's eczema needed far more than that.