To demand a referral for eczema !!

[HJWT]

My poor DD is 2, almost 3. She has had eczema for 18 months and has not had a day since without it! Now don't get me wrong its not that bad compared to some children its only on her wrists inner side of elbows and a few patches round her body. Doctors have given me anti fungal & steroid creams when its angry and fobbed me of with other stuff to help the dryness that never works.

We started using La roche posay and before that tried 100's of pounds worth of creams, not that this stuff is cheap its £16.50 and the sun cream is £11 but it seems to stop it getting angry but still very dry!

ANYWAY every time I ask for a referral they tell me she will 'grow out of it' but its got to a point now were my poor baby is waking up in the night crying itching herself! Last night she was awake 12.30am-5.30am because it woke her up! She went to sleep tonight and again she is awake itching and making her wrist bleed 😔

I have started giving Piriton twice in the evening before bed but it isn't helping.

I am so exhausted! Obviously I cant leave my toddler to sit up alone for 5 hours in the night so I am losing sleep with it!! AIBU to ask again for a referral?! Surely they will help now its effecting her sleep!?

Have you tried scratch sleeves overnight? Might stop her making it bleed, poor thing (I have eczema too so I know how horrible it is).

Do you think you might be unwittingly cutting down the moisturising regime when it starts to look better? That could be why the flare-ups happen?

Body shop Hemp cream heavy duty body moisturiser has been a blessing in this household. However this is for psoriasis and eczema.
Tried everything else he’d scratch till it bled, it’s not by any means cured but a lot more manageable than with the other creams.

Isn’t there a specialist at your GPS?

Are you avoiding SLS in all body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, hand soap etc?

Look at zinc impregnated dressings just for night. Like zipzoc or viscose paste pb7. Do a patch test first. Apply at night only to the affected arm. Leave in the fridge so it soothes when put on.

@Twillow no I still do it! If I don't do it everyday it drys out by morning! She hates it though crying every time and shouts No mummy! She has a speech delay but manages to say don't like cream! Bless her 😔 xx

@chainmail I use Sanex on her but don't put it on her eczema and don't put anything in the bath water, I wash her at the end with the shower so its not sitting on her skin x

@PseudoQuim I will google that thanks xx

My gp refused to refer us as well but my health visitor did. You can try speaking to your hv to refer if your gp won't

anyone know how i post pics?? Trying to post before nd after pocs of my daughter before and after dermatologist referral!

My daughter is 13 had it since birth pretty badly. There are sooo many causes of eczema that I think a referral would be pointless. First thing they suggest is cutting out dairy. That is the main cause of eczema. It really is a process of elimination though. My daughters is definitely triggered by heat. She’s clear all winter and covered in Spring and summer. One thing we have found after speaking to a dermatologist is that bathing daily really helps, then when the skin is still damp, cover in emollient and let it air dry. Bathing every few days makes it worse in my daughters case, she’s so uncomfortable.

We've been there too with my 8 months old DS since he was born, but it looks like we are on the back side of it now. Everybody focuses on treating the skin condition, but you really need to find the trigger. My LO is allergic to eggs, nuts and cow's milk. Since I cut all those things out of our diet, his severe eczema and itching has completely gone away. Moisturizing is important, but it won't make it go away. Neither will steroid creams. Do insist on getting a referral for allergy test.

One appointment with a private derm changed all of our lives. Don't be scared of steroid creams, use them properly and studies have shown no long term side effects. It was a short course of strong steroids that enabled us to control her eczema, and has meant we've rarely had to use them again - the weaker stuff from the GP hardly touched it and I'm sure I'd be still dutifully rubbing it in now if we hadn't bitten the bullet and paid for a specialist paediatric dermatologist.

What else helped us was installing a water softener, switching to gentle/natural cleaning products, and an allergy test. DD is allergic to cows milk and egg white. Since cutting them out of both of our diets (breastfeeding) she's gone from basically being covered in one giant top to toe scab, to occasional patches of dry skin that are easily sorted.

I rate Epaderm the best out of the emollients, and we tried them all! The ointment in the autumn/winter, cream in spring/summer.

I wrote a really long response but accidentally deleted it. Maybe for the best. I'll be short here.
You can pm if you need more info.
My LO is 3.5 and has had almost as long. Here's some of what I've found worked for us.

1. Flare-ups like the one you describe can sometimes be steroid withdrawal symptoms so there's a process to minimize that.
2. Avoid avoid fairy detergent. Makes him flare real bad. We use bio detergent cos they're the only ones that help with stains but double rinse. (Even varnish powder counts as bio)
3. Wash/ shower everyday with dermol (antibacterial emollient)
4. E45 no go. Jury still out on Oilatum. But since switched to showers don't use the bath additives any longer.
5. Rash may be infected in which case it'll never clear without antibiotics no matter what you do.
6. Aveeno the best so far. Second best is doublebase day leave gel
7. Use my own blend natural moisturizer in addition to Aveeno....coconut oil among other things.
8. Piriton 3/4 times a day. Switch to cetrizine when no longer effective (drs. Orders)

P.s. second the "isthereany" post who said do nothing. The last infected flare up all we used was Aveeno and it worked. Used 3 courses of antibiotics to clear up the infection though. Have gradually introduced steroids now. All the best. As you can see from on here, you're not alone.

Please don't bathe her in bleach like pp suggested. When skin is very sore even water stings.
I saw something on This Morning the other week about the Speakmans son being treated with an anti-biotic and his eczema had completley cleared. Might be worth looking it up.

Some good advice in the last couple of posts. We muddled along with the Gp and Fucidin for ages. dermatologist prescribed epaderm, a new non-absorbed steroid, a course of oral antibiotics to clear the infection and allergy tests. Anyone who says it’s not worth seeing a dermatologist needs to see a different one in my view. We weren’t advised to cut dairy because allergy tests didn’t indicate any sensitivity.

Have you tried 50/50? Slather on and cover in bandages. I had eczema in 89% of my body at one point. doing the above was part of the hospital regime.

What laundry detergent/fabric softener do you use?

Always put your laundry through at least one extra rinse (not just hers, but everything)

I spent years as a kid going to school with my hands and arms wrapped in crepe bandages to keep the (smelly) coal tar ointment.

I am allergic to dairy so cutting out dairy helps my eczema but there's definitely something environmental as well that triggers mine.

I had patch tests and now avoid limolene (which helps a bit) but still every couple of weeks it flares up a bit.

And those stupid air freshener sprays that they have in the office toilets trigger mine too.....

I've got an appointment next month with a dermatology dietitian to see if there is anything in my diet which could be triggering it.

Get all the referrals you can as it's likely that there's not just one trigger - could be something she eats/wears/touches/breathes ....

Best of luck - everyone is different and it can be a matter of trial and error to find the things that help each different person.

It's so hard though OP because there are so many causes of eczema and different things help different kids. When DD's was really bad I wanted to headbutt every well meaning stranger who told me Childs Farm moisturiser helped their neighbour's sister's best friend's baby - I'm sure it did, but for us that was like trying to put out a forest fire with a glass of water. My daughter couldn't even have a bath without tearing herself open and I would dread going to her in the night just to find she'd managed to get her scratch sleeves off and her cot looked like something out of a horror film, covered in blood.

A dermatologist will be able to take one look at your DD and devise a tailored treatment plan, and even advise you on possible causes- ours said from the off she thought it was a food allergy. They see it all the time and are so so knowledgeable. Our GP meant well but she was open from the start that it wasn't her specialism, and the HV seemed to take the attitude that eczema was just one of those things kids get and she'd grow out of it so it wasnt worth bothering about too much. 'They usually grow out of it by the time they go to school' isn't much comfort to the mum of a 5 month old that wakes every 45 mins through the night ripping at their own skin.

My dd suffers badly with this as a result of food allergies. Cow protein (milk and beef, soya, oats, pineapple and strawverries). Flare ups dont have to be immediate they can be delayed and cumulative.

Our allergy specialist gave us Hydromol ointment which is a big help plus piritin twice a day. Good luck xx

I've been told it's private referral only for Ds's Excema. So I guess I'm saying demand if you want but in the end you will have to pay for it,

I went through the same with both my DC. They had terrible widespread eczema and the fight I had to go through for a referral was insane. I ended up booking weekly appointments and taking them back and eventually they put the referral down. For DS1 the dermatologist was so angry he hadn't seen him earlier he wrote a letter of complaint to my GP about it. Due the that DS2 got referred slightly quicker but still had the rigmarole of trying all their lotions and potions even though I told them it was a waste of time and he needed referred.