eczema - 7 month old baby

[jeaniew]

Hi,

just wondering whether anyone out there has any advice - we have a seven month old son who's been on Hydrocortisone now constantly since he was 3 months (and Eumovate when it's really bad or Fucidin if it gets infected).

The eczema now isn't actually that bad, but never goes completely - the minute we stop putting the steroids on (mainly face, feet, knees, elbows and wrists), it comes back.

The other big problem is that he scratches himself to pieces, and since he was 3 months old never sleeps for longer than 3-4 hours at a stretch - the itching wakes him up.

We've just been prescribed Ucerax, and after alot of misgivings have given him the first dose of 2.5ml - and he has fallen into a stupor. We are really concerned about giving him this medicine, so would appreciate hearing of any experiences anyone else has had.

We also want to stop using the steroids. We use Epaderm as his ointment 3 times a day (under Tubifast garments) and bathe him once a week with Oilatum. Has anyone tried to just stop using them, and if so what were the results?

Apologies if this is really long - I've just discovered this site and like so many of you am really frightened about the amount of steroids and medication generally being heaped on my sons little body without the eczema ever going.

Hi, our little boy started getting eczema when he was 2 months old. I was offered steriods by the doctors but decided to seek an other opinion because like you I wasn't completely happy with him using them. We have put him on goats milk. We have goats milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter. It'a taken awhile but he has so little now. Can't promise anything but it's worked for us.

IJ - thanks for the suggestion. Our litte boy is severely allergic to dairy, so we have been warned not to try any goats products. He is being weaned, but I'm still breastfeeding him and expressing milk to add into his foods.

Sounds like things are pretty bad for your son. Have you thought about alternative therapy? No hippy stuff but someone who looks at your sons diet etc

We saw a homeopath last week! As a result we gave him sulphur tablets for a few days - he does seem to be a bit better, but still has the eczema, so I'm going to call her next week to see if we can continue with it. Our consultant today said she has seen a number of babies in the last few months who have taken sulphur and have shown improvement.

My DS was allergic to "dairy" but I just took that to mean cow's milk. He was almost 2 at the tme so it was a bit easier. However - goats mik products didn't seme to be a problem, fwiw.

silly question, have you cut dairy out of your diet if you are breastfeeding?

My ds2 has a very dry skin and I have been advised to avoid citrus fruit. We use Hydromol on his skin which is fantastic in a pump dispenser - non-steriod too. I agree with diet being key. Perhaps keeping a food diary would help then you might be able to identify a trigger

must be a milk protein problem rather than lactose if he can be breast fed so hopefully he'll grow out of it later on. So if you are still having dairy goats milk might be better than cows for you. Have you tried adding probiotics do your diet as they sometimes help? If you're dairy free as well you can get dairy free probiotics in health stores or via the net.

Want to add a message as my son had same prob, now 2 and cutting out stuff did help. However, so did something called Efalex. Its a concoction of omega oils and stuff and can be bought at Holland & Barrett. It's not meant for children under 2, but guess what, it helped and my health visitor said it couldn't hurt my boy. Check with your HV and see what they say. If not check with your GP

Hi, My DS (now 8½ months) has had severe eczema since about 6 weeks old. He is breastfed and weaned at 6 months onto fruit, veg and chicken only. We have just had him allergy tested and found he is allergic to milk, egg, wheat, latex and cat fur and have eliminated these things from my diet and is eczema is 80% better than it was.

Hope this helps.

My son has suffered from Eczema since he was a baby he is now 2 and like you I have used the steriod creams it then clears and I'd stop the cream as I dont like using them, then something would flair it up again, I now use Hemp body butter from the Body Shop has the same effect as the steriod creams.

He is now being referred to get checked for allegies as he ended up with a skin infection and was on antibiotics.

Wow - thanks for all the messages - I've been a bit off colour so haven't managed to get to the pc for a few days.

In response - I have been dairy free for about 3 weeks (misdee) - they believe he's allergic to milk proteins so have told me not to try him on any goats produce since the protein is apparently very similar. (I did originally suggest to my GP that I give up dairy when the eczema first appeared but was told it would make no difference!)

Sam C - sounds a similar case - I haven't had eggs for months, since we noticed his eczema was always really bad a day after I'd eaten eggs, and our geriatric cat is now banned from most of the house.

The dairy free probiotics sound a really good idea tatt - my husband is being sent shopping tomorrow, and will also buy some efalex (brassy bird) - my thoughts on this are even if the GP/Health Vistor doesn't like the idea I'll take it myself and he'll get some of it via my breastmilk (I already take mummy omega but I'll just switch to efalex) - if it's worked for you then it may work for me.

Tweenies - did you just stop using the steroids completely? If so how long had you been using them for, and did you then find the eczema really flared up? When it flares up we have to use eumovate, since hydrocortisone just has no effect. The eumovate tends to clear it within a couple of days, but we're talking a stronger level of steroid and it still comes back.

Finally has anyone tried any homeopathic/ alternative remedies? We've used sulphur, but only for a few days - he's teething at the moment so it's impossible to tell from one day to the next whether it makes any difference, but I'd be really interested to hear from anyone on this - whether the results were good or bad.

Thanks again - I'm really sad so many of you have had similar or worse experiences but I'm grateful for your common sense responses, and I feel if anything will work it'll be because of something I read here.

jeaniew - Have used steriod creams on and off since he was small but my friend recommended the Hemp cream and it disappeared, it then came back really sore a red, went to GP and he has referred me to get test done, but has told me to use another steriod cream untill then. Use Hemp cream and only the steriod when its really bad, think its cats fur.

hi - my son has been diagnosed in the worse 5% for eczema. He has had it since the day he was born so it is definatley not diet or enviroment related. He sees a doctor at Great Ormond Street and is in wet wraps every night with a mild steriod underneath. Unfortunaley this is the only way my sons eczema will calm although if you miss a couple of nights it all comes back. I too did not want to use steriods but this particular one (properderm) has been researched and is quite safe to use. My son never slept more than 20 mins at a time and now he sleeps through the night and is alot happpier. Don't feel bad about using drugs.