Eczema Help!!

[cartersmum]

My 11 Month Old Son Suffers From Severe Atopic Eczema.... Doctors Have Tried Wet Wrappin N It Didnt Help So was Back At Hospital Yeaturday And NOw They HAve Give Him A Stronger Steroid Cream Dermol Miostr Vallergan Elixir 5ml At Night 2 Sedate Him N Anotha Anti Hitamine Durin Da Day....
They Say They Are Running Out Of Ideas As He Is So Young... But 2 Be Honest Im Not Totally Satisfied It Feel Like They Have Gave Up On Him....
Does Anyone Else Have Any Ideas I |Could Try.... I Will Reply And Let U KNow If I Have USed Them Or Not....
Thanks

hi cartersmum , ah your poor ds
my dd & i also have atopic eczema , have you tried putting oilatum in his bath water ? also AVEENO moisturiser is great , use the steroids creams until the redness has gone then put on the aveeno 3-4 times a day , hope he is feeling better soon , my dd is back to the hospital tomorrow for her check up .x

hi elmofan i use oilatum n bath him twice a day as the dermatologist says it is good for him.... i have tried aveeno n didn find that it has helped.... i preferred cetraben n really hate usin epaderm as its just a germ spreader.... im runnin out of ideas myself dont know what to do for him anymore....

ah the poor thing i think bathing him twice a day might be too much , our doctors have told us once as a day as any more that that might dry out dd skin , after her bath i apply the steroids creams then an hour later smoother her in aveeno . dd is 3yrs old now but when she was a baby we were very limited as to the creams we could put on her maybe this is the case with your baby , as he gets older they might try stronger creams not much help to him now though

Have you seen a dietitian yet?
Our dd was awful with her excema until dairy, wheat, egg other stuff cut out.
Wet wraps at home with the comfi fast suits and popaderm cream.
At 12 months she has only just started wearing babygros with uncovered hands at night.
Allerief anti histamine before bed.
We tried all the specialist bath stuff but only scrubbing her with jonhsons top to toe helps- this is the total opposite for most excema kids though!
Now twice daily diprobase and elocon steroid cream as and when.

hi the easiest way to remove excema is to remove wheat and or dairy, if its breast milk there is a subscription lactose free milk but you need to go through g.p.helath visitor might help as well or you may have to pay for it.
many children outgrow their allergy my son was sensitive to wheat which improved steadily with age by age 3 he no longer had excema but we follow a gluten and casein free diet and we use enzymes. as your child is 11 months you may want to ask for the prescription lacto free milk
or try lactofree milk from supermarkets in a months or so or goats milk
Idon't advise soya it causes diohhrea and consripation.
enzymes come from mandimart.co.uk if you think you may need them in the future.

pushkar that's not very often the case - sometimes it's not linked to food allergies.
My friends ds is under GOSH, and has every test and treatment going, but unfortunately still suffers. He is now having a version of chemotherapy (new treatment I think, still in trials). He is 8yrs old.
cartersmum hopefully he will grow out of it, but they are looking at new treatments all the time.

My dietitian said that in children under 1 food is nearly always the main cause particularly dairy and/or egg.

But I don't agree that removing the foods removes the excema it helps significantly though.

Thanks For All The Comments Nothing Seems 2 B Helpin So Far I Have Already Cut Out Dairy Products N E Was On The Lactose Free Milk But It Constipated Him Badly.... He Now Gets A sedative At Night To Make Him Sleep N 2 Anti Histamines During The Day....

Im At My Wits End On What 2 Try Next He Has Been Through So Much N Nothing Seems 2 Work.... I Have 2 Go Back In 2 Weeks When He Is One 2 C If They Can Do Anything Else For Him....

It Doesnt Help That He Also Has Asthma N Its Got That Bad HE Is On A Nebuliser Twice A Day....

It sounds like he has a serious case. My son had excema from the age of 6 months and we tried the wet wraps which I must say worked very well. He is now 12 and is fine although we do need to watch his skin doesnt dry out too much. Lots of Centraban and Hydromol bath oil. We were also under the care of Dr Atherton at Great Ormond Street (we had to pay privately to see him) although he does work for the NHS. As your son's case is so serious I would try and get an appointment to see him. I cannot recommend him highly enough. He has written a brillant book on excema in children. I read a review on the book on Amazon which said 'rush and see this expert' and the reviewer was in the US!

Thanks Rocky 12 The Only Problem Is I Live In Northern Ireland.... He Is Being Seen At The Royal Victoria Hospital In Belfast....

What Is Hydromol Oil? I Have Never Heard Of This. AT The Moment I Am Using Oilatum....

Have you tried the oats in a pair of tights in the bath thing?
Did you only do wet wrapping in hosp. If so it's really worth another try at home. It was the only thing that got our dd sleeping through.

He Was Wet Wrapped For 6 Weeks N Didnt Make A Change....

No Avent Tried The Oats But I Def Will Do Anything Is Worth A Try At The Minute.... Thanks

Oilatum is not always the best thing. It can cause problems in some children. You can try Balnaum and see if that helps.

My son also has severe atopic eczema. He has it about as bad as you can get . We have some control now (he is 6).

As you DS is atopic I would suggest housekeeping tactics to help manage his condition.

I hoover at least twice a day with the windows open. Damp dust daily. Hoover his bed everyday and dont forget underneath.

Try not to store anything under his bed.
My DS does not have any soft toys in his room and no carpets, rugs or cushions. He has blinds.

I wash his clothes at 60 and only use non bio (no fabric softener). He only wears his clothes once before washing. He changes as soon as he gets in from school because of the dust/pollen on his clothes.

I now use 'Method' cleaning stuff. It hasnt got any nasties in it and actually works so I think its worth a go.

We also have a strict skincare regime. We have got used to have a methodical routine and he never misses his cream/ointments etc.

Cotton clothes only - no synthetic.

Its a bit of a military operation but its the only way we can keep him the way he is.

Its not a cure but at least he is not bleeding and infected all the time anymore.

He has been on a course of oral steroids. They worked like magic and gave him a break. It was the first time in his life he had normal skin. The eczema came back but it has never been as bad. It gave us a fresh start IYSWIM.

My son is allergic to lots of things that we can not control so we have to try and manage. He is not allergic to diary or eggs etc. My friends DS was so allergic to milk she couldnt even have a latte when she was Bfing! I wouldnt have believed it unless I saw it.

I am sorry you and your DS are dealing with this. I used to be in despair.

I can only suggest what we have learnt over the last 6 years. It may work for you too. I really think my best weapon is keeping dust, dust mites and pollen away.

So sorry - loads of cleaning and washing .

BTW there are loads more things the doctors can try. There are quite a few new non steroidal treaments on the market plus medicated bandages (messy but work really well for us), different moisturisers (we use Epederm), different clothing/dressings.

Good luck

We are currently having a terrible time also with my daughters eczema. She is nearly 3. This is a new condition for her only started this summer and is really bad. When I say bad I mean eczema patches on her arms, neck, armpits,back and legs and skin so dry she is like a reptile. The main problem I am finding is that it is constantly becoming infected and we are having to resort to antibiotics. About 6 months ago it was infected with MRSA which was a nightmare and I worry so much about the amount of antibiotics she is having. She keeps getting foliculitis, has anybody else had this experience?
We have just this week started wet wraps and it is the first time she has not woken up in a bloodbath.We use oilatum in the bath but she often complians it stings, any better bath products from experience? We also tried Dermol but she found that stingy. Currently using Epaderm and like the way it goes on but am alittle concerned about what you said Cartersmum about it being a germspreader? Does anyone have any better ideas for moisturiser in a pump that works well? Has anyone resorted to using a spoon to get ointment out to prevent sticking your hands in and potentially infecting the stuff?
Our nights are always traumatic due to itching but wet wraps are stopping her butchering her skin. Anti hystamines don't seem to have much effect.
Do you send creams into nursery with your kids? She has just started playgroup and I have been sending in a litle tube of diprobase.
How long do you feel happy using steroid cream for?
I am struggling to cope and feel weepy a lot of the time.
Back at the hospital on Thurs and want to go armed with loads of questions and prescription ideas!

Also have just started using surcare for washing clothes, has anybody else used this?

Hi,

I only use Surcare for washing clothes and it has much improved my eczema. I used to have really bad eczema as a child and luckily its under control now - some tips:

• only use 100 % cotton clothing
• avoid dust mites (I highly recommend AllerGuard www.allerguard.co.uk - they also give away great tips on avoiding dust mites)
• avoid certain foods for a while to see if it makes a difference (i.e. wheat, egg and dairy)

One thing I learned to my surprise was that too much sugar really made my eczema worse. Not just pure sugar but foods with hidden sugars in them or 'yeasty' foods. Try avoiding:

• mushrooms
• bread (and other products made with yeast)
• cheese
• canned tomatoes
• processed foods
• dried and citrus fruits
• chocolate
• honey/syrups
• fruit juices
• corn
• potatoes
• soft drinks/drink mixes

Good luck!

Ds is 11 months and had really bad eczema from 3 months. We discovered at 5 months that he is severely allergic to dairy & eggs (which he has only ever had through breastmilk) and he is currently undergoing more allergy tests.

One thing we were prescribed that has really helped is dermasilk clothing. He used to wear the leggings and vests all the time, but now only needs them at night. You should put on less cream under them than you would normally use and they really seem to make a difference to ds.

We use hydromol bath stuff (its added benefit is that it doesn't make the bath slippy like oilatum does) and epaderm emollient - to stop it spreading infection you should use a spoon to get it out of the tub.

A useful tip about steroid creams that a nurse gave me was that you should continue to use them for 2-3 days after the redness has cleared, to ensure the lower levels of skin are healed as well as the top layers, or else it will return within a few days of stopping the creams.

Ask for a referral to a paediatrician and see if there are any allergy specialists who might be able to help as well - apparently in very young children it is likely to be driven by an allergy esp when it is so severe.

Luckily ds' skin is currently doing really well, but I feel for you and hope that your ds improves soon.

Thanks all advice greatly appreciated. Wraps are doing a fantastic job - creases of arms never looked better.