General eczema/allergies questions..

[girlsyearapart]

Hi dd2 10mo has had severe excema from around 6 weeks old. At some points it had been so bad that it looked like had been burnt on her face and drew gasps of horror from people looking into the pram. She has had RAST tests which showed up allergies to egg and milk but only 3 and 2. Other foods definitely cause it to flare up even ones which tested 0 or negative. Her reactions are extreme worsening of excema, has had all over hives once (plum?) and swollen eye, face and lips (melon?pollen?) I just had a few questions..

1. Does anyone have a child who still reacts to foods negative in RAST test? Did these come up on skin prick? (she has those in sept)

2. If she has so far not had an anaphylactic reaction is it unlikely that she will start? She has never had nuts or egg..

3. We have all the stuff for wet wrapping but her back and tummy are clear and soft so only wanted to do her arms and legs. We have the vests and tights so do I only only wet the arm and leg parts??

4. She is crawling (after a fashion..) and it sems to have got worse. Has anyone elses DC improved once their child started to walk?

TIA Sorry to put so many different things in one thread!

All three of mine are allergic to eggs, dairy. DOn't have all the answers to your questions.

Mine carry epipens. Be careful; the first reaction or even second may not tell you whether they she is anaphylactic, i don't think.

Found that the skin tests were not always conclusive. The doctor tested them by rubbing on skin, then lips then taste.

First son has worst eczema. We always wonder whether that was because he had the most exposures/reactions. His eczema is still very bad at 10yrs!! Other two are still allergic to all the food but have very good skin. we never use soap to wash them. Epaderm is very good for washing as well as for keeping skin moist. Also diprobase on prescription.

We use Nutramigen (available on prescription) as milk substitute- very norishing and Nutramigen 2 can keep using for a while DD is 6 and still uses! DS came off of it at 9. taste not very nice but they get used to it and don't complain if you start early.

these tops are great for stopping skin damage at night as they have built in mittens. YOu don't need the bottoms just the tops.

Sorry I didn't answer your questions!!

bump

1. No BUT dd had reactions to some foods which weren't defined allergies but just odd reactions. For example, peas used to make her eczema worse but not all the time. It certainly wasn't an allergy but just a reaction to them every now and then. Melon is quite a common one it seems and it does seem to depend on the type of melon and ripeness (don't know why). Also, she had some very very bad skin prick reactions to foods that weren't overly severe in her RAST test. Think those with eczema often have severe skin reactions.

1. Don't know.

1. Yes, you can do just the arms and legs. Well that's what I was told. You can just do the bits that need it iyswim.

1. If it's worse with crawling, it's definitely worth checking for dust mite allergy. Have you got carpets or heavy curtains?

Wooden/laminate floors in living areas and DCs bedroom should help if you can.

Hi
It's shit isn't it?
My ds had appalling eczema at that age.
It is a billion times better now -he is 6 yrs,but has been since he was 3 ish so ther is hope.

to answer your q's
1.he reacts to food that he has been tested negative for
tested by skin prick though which apparently can be false negs
ds is severely allergic to tree nuts ,esp cashews and pstachios.
his skin reacts to milk and milk products but he tested neg to milk

2.too son to tell ,has she had secondary skin contact with either,ds reacted at that age to being touched by someone who had touched eggs/nuts

1. just wet wrap the affected areas

1. yes she may well improve is she is reacting to things in carpet.ds reacts to woolen carpets but thankfully not to dustmite ...phew

Hi ggirl. Yes totally shit. She has been up screaming and itching for past 2 hours now. If I hold her so she can't rub arms or legs together then she sleeps -but I don't. The moment I lay her down in her cot the itching begins again. Really thought we'd turned a corner. She was sleeping through after absolutely months of nights like tonight..
We have wood floors downstairs but not in her room. She is already on Nutramigen AA. Not sure re the nuts thing. DH eats eggs a lot so probably.. Who knows. ffs i need some sleep!!!

bad night then?
I am off to work but thought I'd post quickly

Are you using a steroid cream,it was the only thing that helped ds in the end.

He started on o.5% cream which did nowt really but went on to 1% and sometimes eumovate ,plus epaderm emollient cream.

I would book a drs appt if she is worse and not sleeping . You need some help.
Ds was referred to hospital dermatology clinic at that age-have you been referred yet?

Morning got sleep from 3-630 in the end.. Yes using Eumovate and diprobase. Been seeing derm at hosp and dietitian. As the appearance of skin has improved so much they are pleased with progress but it's the itching that keeps her awake..
Doctor said they can't give her anything to help sleep as not 1 yet. It appears to be a magical age as far as they're concerned at all our apts! Have a good day- work on a Sunday??

I really dont know if this will be of any help, but my DS has excema, although not as bad as what you are describing -he only gets it on his wrists, knees and ankles.
In the UK we used steroid creams which did help, but we have since moved abroad and the doctor here has prescribed a cream called "Advantan cream" there is also an "advantan milk" and it has worked on DS amazingly well. It is very soothing and I think milder but has sorted him out very quickly.
Another tip my new doctor told me which is interesting, is that when excema does dissapear you must keep treating the area for another week or 2 or it will come back.
My DS also has food allergies, but I do not know enough about it to answer your questions.

Good luck

girlsyearapart - watch out for infections from scratching at night. We used to have to sleep holding DS's hands- not really sleeping at all!! He used pull off whatever we put on his hands. And then we found those Cotton Comfort tops that I linked in my first poost above. Eapderm cream and those tops are our best weapons. We use combination of Epaderm and Diprobase depending on temperature etc. Often we put Diprobase on first on the the thicker long ;asting Epaderm.

You will eventually need a Panasonin (SD-255 for example) breadmaker and this gluen free book for breadmaker

Oh bum we had a breadmaker and gave it away! Yes been there with the sleeping holding her hands and feet. DH works nights so doesn't get home most nights till 2 or 3 so it's up to me. She can get any top (even specialised ones) or no scratch combo off. She is a baby itching houdini.. Epaderm worked for a while but then made her more itchy. Argh. Did you do wet wrapping?

Is wheat one of DC allergens? Not so bad if he/she can have wheat as most bread is dairy/egg free.

no although wheat tested either 0 or negative on RAST it gives her awful excema so she is wheat free too..

That Panasonic breadmaker + that book above will help you with breads, pizza doughs etc. Also great way of making non additive fresh bread etc.

girlyearapart-sorry didn't mean to state the bleedin' obvious.Sunday working ,I am a nurse.

So her skin is a lot better but she still itches like buggery? Poor thing.

Hope you get a bit more sleep tonight,I used to put a fan in ds' room to keep him cool.

God it was awful..it's coming back to me now.Used to have to peel his face off the sheet in the morning .

hi girlyearapart sounds awful.
poor you and DD.

my DS has eczema too (hes 7yo now and has been alot better for the last 6mo) however from age 2yo until about 6yo - it was awful.

wet wrapping saved my sanity. with the creams it is definitely trial and error, we were prescribed so many, fucidin/fucibet worked best for us.
dermatologist gave us vallergan too, dont think this would be suitable for under 12mo.
it worked well for us - need to stop the itch/scratch cycle.
he has only shown an allergy to eggs.

do you think it seems to get better because we become more adapt at dealing with it?
there are so many children with eczema now, hope we are able to help or at least suffer with you too

we use Fucibet (sometimes Fucidin but less effective) for infected eczema and it helps.

Yes am soooo glad to have discovered MN it has mopped up some of my excema related tears!
No ggirl wasn't obvious but had already tried it all. Hope your day at the swine flu coalface was ok!
Did wet wrap for first time tonight she screamed throughout.. Went to bed ok though. Also have a fan which helps a bit but haven't tonight as don't want her to get too cold cos of ww. Don't know if I could do ww when dh is out at work at bedtime though (about 4 days a week) as it took ages and god knows what dd1 would get up to..
We have the comfi fast vests and tights with popaderm(?) cream. The clothes say 6-24mo I struggled getting them on her and she is 9th centile 10 monther!

when you remove the ww skin might be beautiful underneath
i had to ww his fingers at one stage individually, looked like a mummy not a boy
can smile about it now, but at the time was the worst thing ever !!!

Yes that's what I'm hoping for! Wish I could wet wrap her little face.. How many nights shall i perservere with ww for?
DH said she looked like the milk tray man but just in white..

we just kept it on for 2/3 days, it goes really dry and quite hard. if when youve taken it off skin is sore just put some new ww on.
the trouble really is that it is so awkward to have on, i imagine its not comfy but when it works its like magic.

really hope you get some results
think it is harder for your 10mo than my 3yo though in terms of mobility.

Oh don't think I've got the idea then. I was going to take it off in the morning diprobase and dress her then do it again at bedtime with new set of ww clothes?

no, we used to put cream on then ww, leave it on for 2/3 days.remove and start again if needed.

did nurse/doctor/dermatologist say to change daily? youre only doing it at bedtime?

Yes dermatologist said to do it at bedtime as think she feels like it would make dd2 unhappy in the day. Already a frustrated crawler!

i would do what they say, my DS had to keep it on day/night
i thought this was the norm, give it time and if you dont see any improvement contact them and explain its not working