Please share your eczema success stories

[naturelover]

By success I mean "identifying the triggers" and being able to more or less keep it under control. I know there is no magic cure.

I'm feeling very despondent about DS's eczema. He's 6 months old and it developed at about 3 months when he was still excl bf.

My GP refuses to refer me anywhere, she says he will "probably" outgrow it. Meanwhile she prescribes cream after cream, and so far we haven't found a cream that helps. Some make it worse. Right now we have HC and oral antibiotics for his scalp which is infected due to the scratching

I strongly suspect food intolerance but she says there is no way my diet can affect DS via breastmilk. Plenty of articles I've read contradict this.

Please can you share your stories of HOW you managed to isolate the triggers for your DC's eczema. Naturopath/skin prick test/blood tests/elimination diet?????

I'll try anything to help him.

Eczema is a complete pain naturelover - dd1 had a similar history to your dc and it drove me to distraction.

I have to say I strongly disagree with your GP. Food via my breast milk was THE trigger for us, confirmed by an allergy specialist and a dermatologist (and now a lactation consultant and a paediatric gastroenterologist with dd2 - both advising elimination diets whilst I breastfeed her). DD1 is still severely allergic to dairy and I eliminated this whilst feeding - that made a bit of a difference but her eczema persisted until I stopped eating egg. The effect was miraculous.

The other key step was to stop her scratching. I know you are probably trying this but we found you have to be 100% vigilant. DD1 wore socks up to her elbows/scratch mits sewn on to vests all the time until it cleared. Stopping the cycle of scratching and inflammation was key. She looked a bit daft and people commented a lot but it worked for us.

Plus Dermol 600 in the bath - slightly antibacterial. Some believe that children with eczema may be a bit allergic to staph aureus (a normal skin bacteria). Keep this under control and the scratching stops, eczema lessens.

Her eczema peaked at about 6/7 months because we tried the above at this stage. She hardly had any from about 8 months onwards and has been completely unaffected since about 1.

Good luck, hope it gets better for you too.

P.S. DD2 (6 months) has no eczema at all so far - which may be luck or may be due to the fact that I have eaten vitually no dairy and no egg whilst bf her.

You will need heavy duty calcium supplements whilst bf but why not try your own elimination diet?

yes I agree with head. Mine is a bit of an extreme case but dd had dreadful eczema, and all over her face too . She was (at the time) fully bf, had reflux and terrible screaming all the time. Doctors not interested.

I knew I had to go back to work when she was 4 months so around 10 weeks I tried her on formula and her lips swelled. We tried soya and the same happened. FINALLY, the health visitor listened and the doctor prescribed her nutramigen. Within a few weeks of being on it, her skin was about 1000x better and she's never had eczema on her face ever again.

in fact, she's 10 this year and hardly ever gets any (except behind her knees). She outgrew her milk/soya allergy at around 2 and kept the egg one for a while longer.

Dh, whose eczema was so bad, he has been hospitalised with it, now hardly ever uses any creams because we have cut out what he is allergic to (egg and chicken).

But not all eczema is linked to allergies. Mine seems not to be (although I know I do have some allergies) but it is certainly worth trying to see if it is with your ds. I mean, why not really.

I know you asked for elimination stories etc but have you tried oatmeal in DS' bath? Just put some in a sock or muslin square (make sure you tie it tightly though!) and popit in his bath - you can wash him gently with it and it really does clear up angry red patches. Very soothing. I have found a miracle cream too - Aveeno it's natuarl and oatmeal based and it has cleared up my excema like nothing else ever has. You can gte bath oils etc too. And your gp can prescribe it.

It can be hard to identify triggers. My eczema is not diet related. Can be stress related though. Also time of year related - whenever the sun starts to come out in the spring I get a load of eczema on the backs of my hands for a while then it goes away.

DS1 had awful eczema as a baby and in the end we paid for a private hospital consulatation and did the wet wrapping technique which worked incredibly well. He still gets it (is 10 now) but nowhere near as badly as he did when a baby. And his doesn't seem to be triggered by anything we can identify easily either.

We are just a fanily that gets all this stuff - eczema, asthma, hay fever and so on. I get a bit fed up personally when people insist it is diet related - yes for many people it is, but not for us.

yes I agree with katisha. We are a family of eczema, asthma, hayfever, sinus problems. We are an ENT's delight we are .

I found the most key thing for my skin was finding the right emollient. Epaderm has been a life saver for me. Have to put it on a lot though (have a small tub to put on during the day at work).

When it's on the scalp, it's v tricky. what are you using on it (every day)?

ok i actually do have a miracle cure story!! i had severely bad eczema from childhood into late teens i had every test done skin scrapes done seen evey specialist to be seen and had to cover myself in hc cream and aqueous cream day and night and scabs always getting badly infected it really got me down i was always itching and bleeding crusty scabs all over, then i went to a natural health centre and had a course of homeopathic remedies and acupunture treatment no word of a lie it started to clear up in the first week took about 8 weeks altogether for all crusty scabs to heal comletely and bit longer for scars to fade but am completely cured now i only get a very small patch of eczema on my hand if i get very stressed out or lacking sleep badly but it clears v. quickly maybe its worth giving acupuncture/homeopathy a try if you feel you are getting nowhere with gp/ hospitals it definitely worked for me am itch/scab free have been for about 17 years now lol xx

i've not got dc but i had it really really bad as a child especially in eye sockets behind ears and in elbow crease and was in alot of pain. my mum was told just to wait it out and i would probably grow out of it, to avoid cows milk and to use steroiod cream.

well avoiding cows mild did nothing so my mum slowly started to eliminate things from my diet when i was about 6 and re-introduce to see if it made a diffrence. nothing seemed to make a change. then one day i had a massive asthma atttack, the first one i'd ever had, it was very scary and the docs went over what i'd eaten, exercise etc to see what had caused it, they couldnt work it out and then one of the nurses bought me all these drugs to take and gave me a drink of lemon juice to take them with. que another massive attack.

anyway to cut along story short, doc told me to stay away from citrus fruits and citric acid and within 4 weeks exzema has all but gone.

i now have it very much under control and can occasionaly have citrus but only occasionaly.

My DS has v.severe atopic eczema.

Its not diet related. He eventually had allergy testing at the hospital and he allergic to just about everything but particularly dust and pollens.

I have found that a really rigourous (sp) housekeeping regime has been the biggest help.

I sort of resisted it for a while but it has become second nature.

No dust is allowed to settle in my house and the washing machine is on most of the time. I wear out hoovers and have a huge supply of microfibre clothes too

This goes alongside lots of skin care of course.

Stress also makes DS's skin much worse and the heat/cold but I have less control over those things.

Keep pushing for a dematology ref. GPs really cant deal with eczema.

I didnt used to believe that bf babies could be affected by diet until my friend had a DS who would flare up if she had a latte!

agree with others who disagree with your gp.

Our dd2 is atopic and her skin got so bad that by 7 months she looked like she had been burned esp on her face.

we were fobbed off with creams time and time again and it was only when we went to the dietitian that she took one look and diagnosed her with allergy to cows milk protein which was later backed up by test results.

She was put on hypoallergenic formula which was a bit of a miracle cure really.

Do not give up without getting a referral to a dermatologist/dietitian/allergist, in the end I think I was referred cos they couldn't stand the sight of me anymore!!

Wet wrapping her was also a god send - first nights she had slept through in 10 months.

See my profile for pics of her- not fab but ok to get general idea.

She is 18 mo now and still has fairly restricted diet and excema still there but not nearly so bad, some days you can't notice it at all.

I really feel for you though, the first year with dd2 I thought I would go insane.

Just to back up some of the above advice - oatmeal in a muslin cloth in the bath, Epaderm cream (and you can put it in the bath) but the most dramatically effective was acupuncture. Was lucky enough to know an acupuncturist who had trained with children. Cured my DD's eczema in 6 sessions when she was 18 months old (and her eczema was all over her body and had defied a year's treatments prescribed by the GP).

HTH

Ds had excema as a little baby. The Gp prescribed a large carrier bag full of products. The excema got much worse; really upsetting. Someone suggested that he might be allergic to lanolin. I stopped everything except (I think it's called) Oilatum in the bath and no problem since.

Hi there

I have one DS of 3.5 and we are another of those classic hayfever / allergy type families. Diet doesn't seem to be factor for us. DS got it at 9 weeks when exl bf. It has had its moments, big time, over the last few years, but we just had six good months.

I agree with getting the right emollient - aveeno seems to work for us, and epaderm was a nightmare but as is always the case IMO with eczema, there are so many factors at work that it's not always easy to identify what causes success.

I kept DS in babygro type sleepsuits for as long as possible to reduce scratching at night and I keep him really cool at night, often wondering if he's cold but he seems ok.

the other 2 things for us were: not being nervous of using moderate strength or even potent steroids to really get a grip on flare ups. Having spent most of my childhood smeared in betnovate, with no lasting ill effects, I am probably much more relaxed about this than some people - but I feel that short doses of stronger steroids followed by going back to weak ones or just using lots of emollient, work for us.

And one more thing (sorry this is so long). We live in London with really hard water. We were massively lucky because got the chance last year to go on something called SWET - softened water eczema trial - from Univ. of Nottingham. Got a water softener installed as part of the trial. It actually coincided with DS' eczema being worse ever, but we then did one week of stronger steroid cream and touch wood, sustainable and very good improvement since. GP used to be a dermatologist and she says if you can get on top of a flare up, then water softener is great for keeping things good, but won't deliver miracles in itself.

Also agree totally with chegirl re the cleaning regime.

Good luck - agree with going back to your GP, I have just been exceptionally lucky that mine worked in dermatology previously, otherwise I would have asked for more specialist help a long time ago.

Thanks so much for your replies, it has given me a lot of hope. And plenty of ideas to try.

Water softening seems expensive but as we are in London too I think it could be worth doing - and would benefit the whole family (and our appliances and sanitaryware).

I've decided to keep a very detailed diary of his skin, giving marks out of five each day, and then it gives me something to look back on and possibly spot patterns.

I already invested in some scratchsleeves which are great at night for stopping him scratch his face, as he had quickly learned how to remove socks over his hands.

I'm seeing a different GP next week who is allegedly more clued up about skin (has dermatology qualification or something). Fingers crossed.

It's reassuring to read that other people have found a link between diet and eczema while breastfeeding.

Naturelover, our stories are very similar!
DS is 6 months, exclusively bf, had ezcema since 2 months and had the usual endless creams and emollients prescribed. I also suspected an allergy to cows milk protein after reading about it as DS also had mucusy poo, it was often green and he started displaying silent reflux symptoms too. Mentioned all this to two gp's and my hv - all said it was normal and not allergy.
Started blw a couple of weeks ago and after a lunch of cheese on toast fingers DS came up in hives around mouth and on hands almost immediately. Didn't connect initially and a day later he had weetabix with expressed milk plus the tiniest amount of cows milk as I hadn't expressed enough - same thing happened and this time we realised it was an allergic. Saw gp and we have been really lucky that she referred us to the allergy clinic without hesitation, got the appointment for late April.
In the meantime we did a touch test with cows milk just to be sure and also egg which I had read is closely related - both areas came up in hives within minutes. I then cut out dairy and eggs from my diet two weeks ago and after getting initially worse, his eczema has virtually now disappeared. I wish I had trusted my instinct sooner and tried giving up dairy long before now!
Also want to say that we too use porridge oats in his bath - no other soap products at all - and it has been the only thing that has calmed his skin and left it beautifully soft.
Good luck and trust your instincts! Xx

naturelover, I could have written your post a year ago. As a family we tend to suffer with skin problems (see my name!) etc.

Ds3's eczema was just terrible - he was covered in open, bleeding weeping wet sores. GP was sympathetic but seemed oblivious to the fact that the creams he prescribed were making it worse.

We eventually saw a more senior GP at the same surgery who took one look and said "I can't believe this baby's been suffering in this state for so long - he needs to see David Atherton."

Unfortunately we had to pay privately - it cost us about £300 for two consultations - but the advice he gave was brilliant. He prescribed beclometasone (steroid) and cetraben cream and ds3 showed massive improvement within a month. We had to pay privately for the steroid - GP wouldn't prescribe it on the NHS, but it was worth every penny. We went from having a screaming distressed baby to having a very happy little boy.

His advice in summary - we were doing everything basically right (avoiding dairy/eggs, still breastfeeding (at 17m), we had a water softener) - but you HAVE to get on top of eczema quickly. And don't let anyone tell you that he or she will grow out of it - they might, but at this point in time your dd or ds is suffering. Routine is crucial.

OK sorry I've gone on a bit - but honestly if you could see the difference between a bleeding, scratchy baby and the happy little boy ds3 is now .....

Well I'm feeling quite sad about DS's eczema now.

Two different GPs now say that my diet isn't affecting DS (who is breastfed) and they won't refer me for allergy testing.

They say it's atopic eczema and he'll outgrow it and in the meantime it's all about management. I've come home with antihistamines, emolliant and stronger steroid creams than before.

I've always been a believer in healthy diet and natural remedies.

I can't quite bring myself to believe that I can't do anything else other than "manage the symptoms" with drugs and creams.

I've seen plenty of anecdotal evidence, including this thread (thanks everyone) to show that diet can affect maternal milk. But I'm not confident about an elimination diet carried out without any kind of professional supervision as I'm extremely run down and stressed.

So I guess I will use the meds they've prescribed to get the eczema under control initially.

Naturelover ..... please try cutting out milk from your diet - i did for my poor wee DD whose skin was so bad that her open, infected wounds were spreading before our eyes and she spent months on antibiotics to try and stop the nasty infections. I cut out dairy from my diet, she was EBF and wham! Her skin improved dramatically, I had no real support - a lovely GP who didn't know much and a random selection of health visitors. It was all confirmed at the hospital, months later, but I was totally convinced by the milk thing ...... once I forgot and drank a large hot choc from Costa - the next day her skin was bad again.

Hi - I have 2 kids with eczema - very bad from 4 months on - and although it has not gone completely, I saw a consultant - paediatric dermatologist and he swears (and now do I) on ELOCON. Yes it is a steroid, yes it is stronger than what the GP gives you time and time again for years - but the consultant said it was better to stop it over the course of a week, and not have to use anything again (other than emollients). Longer term use of the less effective steroids he said was worse than eliminating it. Literally overnight the ELOCON made the eczema vanish. Like many of you said, I hated the idea of it, tried homeopathy, but when my DD at the age of one hadnt had an un-interrupted night's sleep, and we were driven to distraction, within a week on ELOCON she was sleepiing LIKE A BABY! I could have kissed the consultant. GPs arent specialists and it drove me nuts. Good luck. x

Fairysparkle67, I've been dairy free for 3 months already - for his digestion.

I wonder if it could be egg - I haven't tried eliminating egg yet.

Yep, milk for us! DS is now 6, he pretty much eczema free when on goats milk but it comes back when he goes back on cows milk. I still let him have yoghurt, bread etc. I'm sure if I cut it out altogether it would go altogether but I tread that fine line of keeping it under control and still giving him food freedom.

Switching to once a week baths also helped as it allows his limited skin oils to stay around and do their job.

Naturelover - if you have been dairy free for a while already, just adding egg to the list shouldn't be too difficult. I really would give it a go. A month of absolutely no egg (reading labels etc) should give you the answer. I agree re the other allergens - tricky to isolate and you risk becoming more run down. But I would do egg - it changed my daughter's skin completely within a couple of weeks.

Even if you had the GP onside, the amount of help you would get with diet would be limited. (I am medical btw so am not GP bashing, it just isn't their area of expertise). You probably wouldn't be referred to a dietician, so IMO you have nothing to lose doing it yourself.

naturelover - my ds is now 17 months and his eczema has all but gone. We were told when he was 3 months that he probably had a cow's milk protein allergy and I have only just started giving him diary products in the last two months. His eczema has not returned but he does have very messy poo which may or may not be due to the dairy - he is being followed up for this by the paeds.

He has developed allergies (nothing officially confirmed) to kiwi and strawberries they give him itchy rashes. I suspect he is sensitive to spicy foods and I think this goes through to my breastmilk so I have to be careful eating spicy foods. I did try and cut out milk products when ds was very small but I don't think this made much of a difference.

My ds had allergy testing when he was 3 months but everything came up negetive - they then told me that don't usually test at this age as the tests are inaccurate at this age. The tests were horrible and I wish he hadn't had them He will be two years old before he has any more tests.

Another vote for Elocon here it is the only one that works for us.

by the way I very occasionally used a tiny bit of a steroid cream (mildest one) but mostly the oily cream my ds was prescribed worked very well.

Limit baths as much as possible, and when bathing use an oil eg oilatum. I use balneum.

Soft water is better for the skin then hard water.

Use a non skin irritating washing powder. Don't dress your baby in scratchy clothes such as wool.

Hope you find something that helps your baby soon.