AARRGGGHHH!!!! Bloody Eczema!!

[MetalMummy]

Well it's only 10 o'clock and already DS1 has woken up crying because he's has scratched his neck raw. I've changed his bedding, his pyjamas, smothered him in cream and dosed him up on cetrizine but after half an hour I can still hear him whimpering in his sleep
I'm pretty sure it's the damp weather that's made his eczema flare up so bad, I don't think it's Mr Scary (his cuddly tiger) because he spent Tuesday in the freezer so I don't want to take him away.
Any suggestions on how to stop him scratching will be gratefully received, he hasn't been this bad for ages

Have you tried anti-histamine? (not sure what cetrizine is, maybe that is anti-histamine).

Not sure what else to advise. DS2 stratched himself until he bled and was a mass of itchy skin until he was three and I honestly didn't believe his skin could be clear 1-2 years later.

I hope it improves soon.

Poor love How old is he?

We used to put DS in sleepsuits with built-in gloves when he was that bad, it helped him not to scratch at night.

Have you tried wet wrapping?

Message withdrawn

How old is he? I know what I itch (I have had dreadful eczema on my hands for the last 3 years) I know that cold water or ice packs etc help. In my really bad moments I have been known to put neat vinegar on them because the pain is preferable to the itch - but not sure I would recommend that for a child.

He is 5, Cetrizine is anti-histamine, but I can still hear him tossing and turning. He's also coughing quite a bit too (he has asthma), he does have comfifast garments but they are getting really tight and I think he needs the next size.

Have you tried oatmilk? Its cured the two of my four with excema

He has my sympathies I;ve suffered with eczema from being a baby and at 36 have yet to find anything that stops it itching.

Not scratching is unfortunately not an option either, it's terrible.

My advice, apart from the creams and meds that you've alrady got would be to keep him as cool as possible...light cotton pjs and cotton sheets. Tricky when it's cold weather I know.

I hope it settles down for him soon.

He seems to have settled a bit now, hopefully he will sleep for at least a few hours or he'll be so tired tomorrow. He is allergic to dustmites so I think tomorrow Mr Scary will be back in the freezer, and his bedroom will be cleaned and wet dusted to within an inch of its life (it is wet dusted everyday but you never know)
I'll ask my aunt about oatmilk I think she uses it for her psoriasis.

He is allergic to wheat and milk (they set his eczema off), beans and shellfish (has epipen for these) possibly peas and lentils too but he hasn't been tested for these we have just been told not to give them to him because of his allergy to beans. He also has asthma and hayfever.
The creams we use are diprobase (for everyday use), hydrocortisone and eumovate.

God your post brings back memories of dd as a baby. That's how I found MN. Please try some of the Aveeno products, not the lotion, the actual cream. Hope you find something that works.

He had Rast tests 18mths ago that picked up the wheat and milk (also eggs and peanuts), skin prick tests in January picked up the beans, shellfish and dustmites (and again peanuts). He then had a peanut challenge in March and had no reaction at all even though according to both tests he was allergic. He hasn't got to go back to the allergy clinic again until next March.

I have wondered about different emollients, he hasn't been to the eczema clinic for nearly 2 years. We were given loads of different creams to try then until we were given the ones he has now which seemed best for him. I suppose it could be time for a change, I'll ring the eczema clinic tomorrow and see if we can get an appointment for him.

It must have been the initial screen that he had. Our GP just sent him up the path lab, it wasn't done at an allergy clinic. I think it tested for wheat, dairy, nuts, eggs, fish and soya but not much else. Who did you contact for the private Rast test?

We are in England.
When DS had his second visit to the allergy clinic in March we had to take baked beans with us so they could use them to do the skin prick test for. It's something they don't usually test for and he'd had some nasty reactions to them but they were unsure whether it was the beans or the sauce, it was the beans. When he goes next year they want us to take beans again and lentils (already cooked).

DS1 not nearly as eczema-ry as your DS, but we highly recommend Aveeno cream.

Thanks Kerry. I'll bump in the morning to see if anyone in England can recommend a private allergist.
DS started having reactions to beans last October, the first one was to a different brand than we usually had so we thought it was the sauce. But then he had reactions to the brand we always had, first reaction was just redness and itching round his lips. His worst and last reaction was to just 2 beans that he nicked off his sisters plate and involved severe swelling of his lips and cheeks hence the epipen.
Even though he had no reaction on the peanut challenge, we still don't let him have nuts but we don't stop him having things that say may contain traces of peanuts.

i havent had time to read all the posts so sorry if i repeat some of the things previously mentioned...

i am nearly 16 and have suffered from ezcema for as long as i can remember

i used to cry and scream all through the night and scratch myself raw

i was always told i would grow out of it, first when i was 6, then 7, then 11, then 14, yet here i am, still with ezcema.

however from years of trial and error, FINALLY i have it under control and you cant even notice my skin, apart from a tiny bit on my hands.

so here are my tips... they wont work for everyone but you can try.... they work for me :)

firstly, showers/baths were a killer for me. try rinsing off skin with cold water at the end of a shower and then 'hug' dry. this cools skin before moisturising.

i cant use any aqueous creams as they trap in heat and irritate my skin more, however some people find they work well for them. instead i use AVEENO, which i love. you can get it on prescription in the uk which helps :)

if neither or these work, try using straight olive oil, its really natural and an amazing moisturiser. it can be a little messy but sinks in really really quickly.

so, moisturise twice a day, i know its a chore but try and made it as bearable as possibly, for example, warming up cream a bit in the winter.

for those flareups, (i always get back skin when it gets cold outside and the heating goes on, and again in the spring when it goes off and the weather improves,) ask you doctor for a steroid cream. as soon as dry skin or red blotchy patched appears apply cream immediately. you have to catch flareups in time. if however, cream stings and hurts when applied, try using ice packs and stress balls. another thing is hotwater bottles but try the ice first.

oilatum bath oil is ggood to use when the weather changes as it keeps skin moist while your body adjusts to the climate.

probably the most important thing to keep my ezcema under control are anti-histamines.i take cetrizine every day in the morning and ucerax in the evenings. these make you drouzy so you sleep all night without scratching. they do not affect me in the mornings and i still do wake in the night sometimes but not because im ripping my skin appart. i used to get so tired, even if i was sleeping all night due to the scratching. sleep loss increased greatly when i turned 13.

i think thats all... please ask me if you have any questions

i am thinking of setting up a website to help and advise people on how to live with eczema. do you thing this is a good idea and would work?

good luck

avalon