To can't handle it...

[notgivingin789]

My DS eczema (his 7 by the way).

All he does is scratch, scratch, scratch. He didn't go to bed till 2am yesterday ! No amount of emollient would take the ease off.

DS was very severe, a couple of months ago, later on he went through a treatment, overseen by the dermatologist. This consisted of.. heavily applying the emollient, waiting till it dries a bit, apply the steroid cream and wrap those special bandages to seal it. For 2 weeks, DS skin was eczema free, he slept very well, no more itching and he enjoyed going out without scratching himself.

A week ago, when we finished his steroid treatment. He suddenly had a huge flare up ! Itching like crazy, basically the cycle started again. Not only that, my GP, once again, has greatly reduced DS amount of emollient. Under the dermatologist, we would be getting two tubs of cream, 1 cream as a bath substitute. However, my GP has reduced this once again, we only have 1 Tub of cream..which we would only get once every three months ( this is what we were getting before !), he oddly stopped his cream for which we use as a soap substitute. Before this, I was bankrupting myself, buying tubs of cream every 2nd of the week, buying more if we ran out.

I have just brought DS a load of tubifast bandages, as my GP won't prescribe this as well as a dermasilk body suit. Hoping to try the wet wrap therapy.

But it's all too much. Costing me a lot of money. AIBU to feel like I just can't handle it ?!!!

Can you go back to the doctor? Surely if it was working it's strange to stop it. Or are they worried about too much steroid?

YNBU, everybody feels like this at times I think, and that's even without any eczema or illness.
Hang in there. Hopefully he will grow out of it. My brother has awful eczema that cleared up when he was about 10, and a boy in my primary school had it all over his face, neck, arms, was really bad, but again, by puberty it cleared up. When we were about 15 his face was totally clear!

Fingers crossed the body suit will bring you both some relief.

I've seen a lot of reports including from people I know, that the child's farm baby moisturiser from boots works wonders on eczema. If you can't get the steroid cream that might be worth a try. My husbands the same terrible terrible eczema to the point that are bedding is always covered in blood from him scratching himself to bits when he's asleep. We've tried everything even steroid cream doesn't help, so we're going to try the child's farm moisturiser next, I'll update you if you like as to how well it works

Did you reduce the steroids gradually? If you just stop it is normal to get a flare up.
You need to go back to your dermatologist, or is there an eczema nurse available where you are?
Unfortunately a lot of GPs are clueless or not interested in "just" eczema

My DB has had severe eczema like this his whole life.

Until he was a teenager he had a child sleeping tablet - has the GP offered / suggested this? It helped him to sleep straight through and obviously meant less scratching etc.

Is he being seen regularly under a consultant? If not could you push for this? They would be setting the treatment plan then and GP would have to follow.

Acopy What do you mean by reduce the steroids gradually ? The dermatologist said that I should only sue it for 2 weeks as the particular steroid DS had is very potent.

Does Piriton take the edge off the itchiness? I know medicating isn't ideal but my DS used to flare up whenever it got hot and the antihistamines just enabled him to get enough sleep. I sympathise so much, it is the pits.

What and how long has he been on steroids. Please look into itsan.org. Im not trying to worry you but its worth having all the info.

Have you figured out any triggers or allergies?

Sounds like you had a good / effective routine with the creams you were using (the biggest battle is finding the one that works). You need to go back & demand them from the gp... you know what works.

A few things that helped the itch here (I know its different for all).

Cutting foods.
At least one bath per day in tepid water. I always put oats in a sock in the bath. Very soothing & very cheap.
When my lo was demented with the itch I would wet wrap. Theres lots of vids & instructions online.
Keeping cool
Only wearing 100% cotton & making sure everything had an extra rinse.
On bad patches sudocream was amazing
Creaming her every hour. Even throughout the night.

There are great fb groups - parents of children with eczema & otheres... great advice & support. Also theres a tsw / rss group if you think it could be that. Long-term steroid use can actually cause steroid indused eczema.

You poor thing & your poor son. My daughter was bad and there is nothing worse than seeing them suffer & feel powerless.

Ask for a referral to dermatologist. Your child could also be prescribed antihistamine to take the edge off the itchiness and help with sleeping. It's a bit trial and error, unfortunately. We found Aveeno Baby Eczema therapy has really helped our DC.

And not BU. My lo is doing ok now but when she was bad I truely lost my mind. Its relentless, exhausting, so much work, expensive & you read up on & try everything you can think of & feel like you get nowhere.

Has he allergies? Do any antihistamines work or help?

Another thing we do is wash bedding and towels at 60 degrees.

I use the child's farm shampoo and shower gel, haven't tried the moisturiser yet.

Non bio washing powder
Avoid bleach

Get a aloe Vera plant and use the leaves - keep usedbonesnin the fridge apply 3x a day for a few days (DS went completely)
Buy Aloe Vera sun cream - try holland and Barrett or Amazon
Check shampoo for additives and by mild one

I agree with ZuzaPa. I used to work as a Nursery teacher in the USA and I remember an amazing transformation in a boy with eczema. He had terrible sores all over which would weep and bleed when he scratched. His poor parents tried everything. Then they went to a nutritionist who specialised in allergies. He was tested for lots of food allergies then they worked out a strict diet for him and followed it religiously. Within a week of following the new diet his condition was far more manageable and he was so much happier. His eczema didn't go away entirely but the change in his mood and behaviour was startling.

Please please read up about Dr Aaron, there is a Facebook group with a Q&A and he has a website. We moved to him 2 years ago and have never looked back. Ridiculous since he prescribes steroids, cream and antibiotics that the NHS prescribe but he tailors it to the child and has it made up by a pharmacy in London.

I was hugely sceptical but it's changed our lives.

As a PP said, the child's farm moisturiser is amazing - my friend has had severe eczema on her hands all her life, and got some of the cream on her hands when she helped me bath my DS, and says it was the first time in years she hasn't itched. I ended up giving her the whole bottle!

You need to leave at least half an hour gap between the emollients and the steroids as the emollient dilutes the steroids effects.

Thank you everyone, I'm going to look into the child's farm.

These are the things I have tried and have been continuing to do so ;

Cut food s: So dairy, wheat and egg... his allergic to wheat and egg anyway but cutting it dairy was probably the worst thing I have ever done ! A month ago, he tried dairy and it gave him the worst allergic reaction . So I guess he is now actually allergic to dairy. I only cut dairy as the majority of people told me that it would help with his eczema.

1. Washing bedding above 60 degrees

1. Surface washing powder and putting the clothes on for an extra rinse

1. Bleach for a bit, but didn't work.

1. Oats in the bath

1. I do use antihistamines though I'm worried about the long term effects of it.

1. Eczema courses ( twice)

He was using the Elocan steroid for the body. Very potent and couldn't wait till the 2 weeks were up. But DS had very very thick eczema and that seemed to do the trick.

Is there a reason your doctor is reducing the cream? If the doctor is not helpful can you see another at the same surgery.

Good luck, your poor son.

Yes Likeafish, after putting the emollient, I would wait 30mins before applying any steroids.

I really feel for you. Im another parent with a child that suffers. In our case we have confirmed allergies and we always seem to notice a flare when it's hot, heat rash tends to make it worse. My DD is 4 and has been prescribed cetrizine antihistamine which helps with the itch and gets her to sleep through. To moisturise weve been using hydromol which is like a thick Vaseline. Use that twice a day to maintain. And elocon steroid for flares. We still get bloodied sheets and skin peel over her bed but generally it's a lot better now we've found this routine. The key for is to not allow the skin to dry up, always keeping it moisturised.

Good luck I hope you find a solution for your DS.

Sorry cross posts.

Not wanting to offend, but please do not look up dr aron. Long-term steroid use can lead to steroid induced eczema & topical steroid addiction, topical steroid withdrawal and red skin syndrome. Which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

My son was treated by a homeopath (they do cost about £40 per session, not necessarily every week though) but it worked for him.

My son had the most horrendous eczema 1 infected, raw from head to toe! The itching all night - gah! No cream would touch it and I was reluctant to even try the steroid cream as he was only 6mo at the time. I cut out dairy from my diet etc as I was breastfeeding at the time. Eventually I saw a homeopath (I know they get a bad time on MN but I had seen one before for my anxiety so wasn't open minded about trying again). By the 3rd dose of his treatment his eczema was gone. Now it very rarely comes back but if it does I give him another and it goes. Sometimes I use a bit of diprobase if it's dry but that's only once everybody few months.

The problem with treating eczema with cream is that it's an immunity issue and is coming from something internal, so the creams just mask it and as soon as you stop it will come back.

Hope you find something that helps OP.