Nutramigen/diprobase - how long before you noticed a change?

[lechatnoir]

DS has been on nutramigen for a week now and I'm sure his eczema is getting worse not better . Is this to be expected & when should we start to see an improvement if he does indeed have milk allergy, or, could it be that the cream (diprobase) is not agreeing with him which we also started with on the same day. And if it could be the cream, what the bugger else do we use as his skin is like sandpaper at the best of times but now it's getting really red raw & sore. Not seeing the pediatrician again til just before Christmas so a bit lost for advice until then.

I am of course now feeling guilty that (a) we took so long to even clock that he had eczema & therefore get treatment and (b) I didn't b/feed him as long as DS1 (who is of course totally allergy free.
Excuse the self-pitying moans - shit day involving a washing machine repair man who failed to turn up for the 4th day in a row & too many sleepless nights but any advice or suggestions much appreciated.
LCN

It's complicated by the fact that you've started two new things at the same time so it's hard to judge the effectiveness of either. The Nutramigen may well have made a difference but the Diprobase may have made things worse...or vice versa.

In my experience Diprobase is pretty useless so if things are getting worse I'd be inclined to ditch it first and see how he gets on without it. There are hundreds of creams to try (as you will probably find out!) but you will most commonly hear MNers singing the praises of Aveeno. My dd hasn't needed any steroids or dry wraps since we discovered Aveeno so I'd strongly recommend it. I'm afraid finding the appropriate treatment is pretty much trial and error.

Also, I don't have any advice re the BF as I suffer from the same guilt complex! Maybe we could start a support group...good luck!

Sorry, meant to add that with my dd we were told that it could be about a month before we seen any improvement as a result of the Nutramigen (never really seen any improvement so milk allergy was ruled out).
Also, do you know to be on the look out for infection? We tried about 4 different treatments which all seemed to make her skin worse, but then the dermatology nurse swabbed her skin and found it was infected. Once the infection was sorted, the emollients were much more effective.

Dont beat yourselves up re the BF. I have just stopped BFing at 14 months, I even went DF and my DS still has a problem with milk & soya.
So BF isnt the great healer/protector that we would love to believe.

I agree change the cream first.

Thank you both & I'm off to hunt out some Aveeno this morning & will report back next week.

LCN

Is diprobase the only cream you have been given?
It only moisturises so you may need HC or other stuff if you get inflammation

Took a couple of weeks with Nutramigen (it's the AA one)

Diprobase never agreed with dd at first but now things are way more under control it's good as a moisturiser and lighter than Epaderm.

Agree with Eldon that you need steroid cream to get things under control. Diprobase won't be enough on it's own.

Oh now we've got steroid cream but I was worried about using it on such young skin - obviously do need to use it though as his neck particularly is so sore looking.
Thanks again.

I used steroid cream on my son after all the other creams failed to do anything, so it was a last resort really, but after using it sparingly twice a day for a week his eczema had nearly completely cleared up and it hasn't come back since.

once the excema has got so bad you haven't really got much choice but to use the steroid cream. Just make sure you only use a little bit. Also- the doctor probably told you- you wean them off the steroid cream gradually or you can get rebound excema.

ps- look on my profile for pics of my dd2 before and after the diet/creams were sorted. Not fab pics but you can get an idea.

Use the steriod cream

If you are unsure about how much to use go back to the GP
Mine gave me a print out with how much to use per limb etc - I wasn't using enough before

I would ask GP to swap Diprobase for Doublebase. My son was given Aqueous Cream first and then Diprobase but did not improve with either. The Doublebase is a cream but it turns to a light gel even watery consistency when it hits the skin. Many of the creamy formulations contain lanolin, derived from wool, which can be irritating to sensitive skin. Once I removed all lanolin and wool formulations my son's ezcema improved dramatically.

Don't be afraid of the steroids. I hated using them...until we seen the dermatologist and he was very forceful that we needed to apply them liberally before putting on the wraps. It was quite difficult to get used to! Apparently if it's just 1% hydrocortisone then it's quite difficult to do any harm and it's better to get on top of the inflammation quickly, rather than using it for ages and never quite getting rid of it. The dermatologist's attitude and the GP's attitude to steroid creams were poles apart, but we listened to the dermatologist and we've never had to see him again.

My dd now has very occasional flare ups and when this happens we slap on the 1% followed by Aveeno. Simples.