To be worried about GP

[Alpacamabags]

This is ridiculous I know but I get so anxious.
I need a gp appt tomorrow for my 2 year old. When she was 10m she had terrible eczema and had to wear body bandages at night. It cleared up and weve since moved house and to a new gp. It's impossible to get appts and they often refer to funding. My wee one has such a bad flare up just now all over her body. I've tried piriton, dressings, aveeno, steroids, qv ointment, oillatum, only bathing 2x week and wet dressings. Every morning she still wakes up bleeding. I've just spend £60 that I don't have on scratch sleeves, hemp cream and eczema pj's.
I've been recommended to go to gp and ask for skinnies clothing on prescription. I feel like the GP won't want to do this though and I don't know what else to do.
I feel terrible because she's my baby, she's in pain and my anxiety/fear of standing up to people is stopping me going.
I don't even know what I want from this post. I guess just encouragement and ideas.
Thanks if you read it all.

Pics of her skin yday. Today is worse.

Definitely go to the GP, completely appropriate.

We dont have an eczema sufferer in the household but have a look at the Chuckling Goat website

She needs to see a dermatologist. Pronto. You need to ask for a referral.

Any known allergies- pets, diet etc?

This is what the NHS is for. Yes some people take the mick for prescription etc but you are 100% not one of them. Your daughter deserves to be comfortable and have everything she needs and is entitled to.

You need to be her advocate and speak for her.

Good luck!

Thank you I will ask for that too. No known dietary reactions. We know bath products, chlorine etc do so we avoid those. We have a dog but always have and she has long periods of being fine. Hes also not allowed upstairs near the bedrooms. She also has suspected asthma and has an inhaler x

Oh gosh you poor thing. I remember going through the same thing with my DD cow's milk allergy. What really helped me was to take in a written list of absolutely everything I had tried. So I didn't get flustered and forget. I also wrote down what I wanted to leave with (mainly formula on prescription). I also took in videos of DD screaming in pain after drinking and pics of her flare ups at their worst. I used them all and just shoved them in the GPs face and said I have tried everything on this list. There is nothing left. I need you to write me a prescription for X please. Then when they questioned me I referred back to my list as proof it had been tried. It worked. I really really hope they give you what you need. I'm not sure if you've tried aveeno dermexa goodnight balm? It's in a very small tube but it cleared up DDs eczema super fast and it was nasty and bleeding etc. None of the usual oilatum etc worked but this was an instant miracle. I think they also do this on prescription. Good luck to you, sending strength!

Sorry I just remembered you said you'd tried aveeno. Ignore that bit!

Hi op, my Dd suffers horrifically like yours. Unfortunately in my area the protective clothing is no longer available on prescription so you might find your gp refuses it... Having looked at how much they are to buy myself I can fully understand why they aren't available.

I would strongly suggest asking for a referral to dermatology, there are lots of treatments available to specialists that your gp cannot prescribe. Dd is so bad she is now on low dose chemotherapy to surpress her immune system.

Feel free to pm if you want support

The pic is Dd during an ok flare up, she has had worse that have seen her end up being admitted to hospital so you have my sympathy! Eczema is a bastard!

You aren't using fabric condirioner are you? And no you aren't unreasonable to expect clinical support for her.

I really can't thank you all enough. I needed that reassurance. We try only to use non-bio with no conditioner.
The best I could describe it would be that 70% of her body looks normal but to touch is scaly and thick. She then has random patches of eczema over her torso. Her neck, shoulders and back of knees is an absolute nightmare though.
I will definitely go tomorrow and ask for a dermatology referral. I think because the areas are so limited (although awful!) I didn't think it would be bad enough.

@Silentlysinking101 thanks so much for sharing. I'm so sorry your wee one has to ensure this. It seems such a minor complaint that can have the shittiest impact x

I have cousins who’ve suffered similarly and it’s so upsetting so see them in pain and itching. I think it’s definitely bad enough for her to be seen by a Consultant, especially as she’s so young.
If they try to refuse a referral I would be asking for a second opinion, I doubt they will refuse though, they certainly wouldn’t in my area.

That pic is a few years old, she has got far worse as she has got older.

I think the problem is that people think it is a minor issue, but in actual fact it is a pretty major one.

The specialist prescribed us mometasone at quite a high concentration for her torao and synalar for her face, along with hydramol ointment. She is also on 30ml of antihistamine every day, with emergency rescue dosea available for the extreme sudden onset flare ups.

I would make sure you ask for allergy tests too. They flagged up Dd was allergic to dogs even though she had never shown any signs of allergy around my parents dogs (our own were hypoallergenic due to her dad's allergy).

I would strongly suggest keeping a diary of everything she does and eats and the reactions/flare ups she has. We found Dd is hyper sensitive to so many things through this... A small example being grass, ctmitric fruit, fresh strawberries (although can tolerate jam fine) she has such a severe reaction to pineapple we have to treat it like anaphylaxis, she is alps allergic to ibuprofen. She also has urticaria and reacts to heat.

The pics of your Dd show the key 'sweat' areas, try and keep her in lose fitting cotton clothing where you can, avoid tights etc. Also if she gets it around the top of her legs/crease of her bum then try not to use knickers as the elastic can irritate and trigger, Dd wears the short style pants as the don't have elastic round the legs - the hospital suggested it and it has been amazing the difference.

The skin is our largest organ and its so very sensitive. But so painful when it flares up.

It may not work on your Dd but aldi do their own version of sanex bath wash, it has been Brill for Dd as she cannot use any soap products and even stuff like child's farm gave her issues.

Also be really careful with anything that has aloe on it, massive trigger for Dd too

In my area GPs can't prescribe the clothing but dermatologists can. It Sounds entirely reasonable to ask for a derm referral.

Your CCG may not allow your GP to prescribe it.

The poor little love. I know how painful eczema can be. You need to see your GP as conventional treatment is not working. The eczema could be infected, she could have reacted to something or she could just be having a flare for no obvious reason (the joys of eczema). Do they have a dermatology GP in the practice? They have one in my practice and he can prescribe things the regular GPs cannot. The wait may be shorter than a dermatology referral.
A referral is indicated based on the NICE guidelines (see pictures)

Here is the link if you want to read for yourself:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg57/chapter/Key-priorities-for-implementation

You can't dictate what the GP prescribes, but an appointment is definitely appropriate.

While you should be prepared to demand a solution, not all GPs are terrible. I’ve Met a few lovely ones in Britain. One of them was NHS. In the meantime, if you haven’t already V tried Dermalex do. One of my children had similar awful patches of eczema. We tried all the prescription creams, according moistures etc but the only thing that worked was the Dernalex. It was completely gone in less than a fortnight and never came back (obviously her skin n is still sensitive but no patches).

I know you're using no bio washing detergent but we got a big improvement when we switched to unperfumed washing powder and when washing DD's clothing, bedding and towels, we put them on for a second wash without any detergent, so effectively a super-rinse.

This sounds nuts but ds suffered. I know it's discredited now but our gp suggested a referral to the Royal Homeopathic Hospital. Prescribed Pulsattilla, Mercuris and Kali Mur. Was 22 years ago but cleared in 72 hours. May have been a coincidence. We will never know. We did of course have to pay.

Thanks everyone for the support. Not massively impressed with gp today. He thinks because her eczema is contained to only those areas (even though her skin feels like a lizard!) it doesn't need a dermatology referral yet. 🙄
She's been given eumovate and more qv intensive ointment and I was told to buy more piriton to give.
I'm going to give it a week and if no improvement then go back. Village gp so no others for second opinion.
I'm still going to wet bandage at night because that really helps with the itch and then try and air as much as possible daily.
No further forward really but will see this week out.

Is he the only GP in the surgery? Do you have any GP surgeries near you that take out of area patients?

I hope it clears up soon for her (and you).

That sounds frustrating! We also use a humidifier when it gets chilly as we find that the heating really dries out DDs skin. Not sure if that would also ease it a bit?

How is she OP?