To find eczema one of the hardest things about parenting

[YukoandHiro]

Honestly my daughter has a lot going on including asthma and food allergies but I honestly find the hardest thing her eczema.
For a long time it was under control but in the last fortnight or so it's gone absolutely wild again. She's 2.5 now and it's not going anywhere.... I'm so depressed about it. She's been on steroid cream most of her life. Every time she flares I feel like I've failed her somehow. It's hard because now she's at nursery part time they haven't the time to
Moisturise her head to toe every hour like I could at home - but I'm pretty sure that's not the only reason for the flare. I've no idea where it's suddenly come from 🙁
Anyway that's it really. It sucks and I'm out of ideas. Seeing her derm on Friday but just fed up of this cycle. Please don't say child's farm - that made things 100 times worse

I am sorry. I was in a terrible place with my son for a long time. I was totally broken in the first year. It was just misery. I saw a good derm and we got on top of it and cleared the prevailing infection but we were then plagued by food allergies, chest problems, hospitalisation with viral wheeze multiple time’s and now Sleep apnoea and (I think it’s linked) minor behavioural issues such as hyperactivity. He is 6 and we are on top of it. I does get better. But I feel sad for him he has had a tough time. His siblings have eczema but nothing in comparison. I think it doesn’t get the attention it warrants or the funding. I get sick of people suggesting child’s bloody farm!!

Have you had an allergy test?
Someone I know can’t have any animal products (so a vegan but not by choice) as it causes her eczema to flare apparently

Dairy is so often the culprit!

Every eczema case is so different and GP's never know what they're talking about, always conflicting advice and an unwillingness to supply steroid creams!

Same. We're lucky that DS's eczema is moderate rather than severe but I've found it really frustrating because I seem to have alternated between GPs who tell me that it's really important to fully control the eczema and so be fairly aggressive in the treatment, and GPs who make me feel awful for using the treatment the last one gave me and who tell me just to manage it with emollient (which doesn't work). As far as I can tell it's the former which is actually the current best practice, but it's just so frustrating to be told conflicting things, and a bit upsetting to be told I'm not doing the best thing for DS when I'm doing exactly what the last doctor said to do.

Really, really frustratingly we waited six months for a dermatologist appointment and then he was eczema free for the first time since he was five months old when the appointment came round so it was cancelled and we were taken off the waiting list. A month later his eczema came back and has been persistent ever since, but we're now way down the waiting list...

All of this is a very long way to say that you really do have my sympathy, OP!

Have you heard of doctor Aron? I believe he saved my sanity. Its not a miracle - same ingredients, but a different way of using them - still steroid, emollient and anti bac. But god.... Does it work. Heres a guarduan article from another parent:
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/05/daughter-eczema-dr-aron

We cut all dairy out of DDs diet as soon as she turned one.

We did 2 weeks of steroid creams twice a day followed by 2 weeks of once a day.

Kept her off dairy till she was around 2.5 and we were able to slowly re-introduce it. It went away and had never come back (touch wood)

She had allergy tests but dairy didn't show up, but it still worked!
Good luck x

You have my sympathies, I'm 27 and still suffer really badly. I wish there was a magic cure. Every day it gets me down.

Just wishing you well OP - we had the same with DD as a baby and it was heartbreaking. I hope things improve soon.

Our son has eczema. It flares up as a result of temperature changes. We’ve been able to get it under control using dermalex and probiotics.

My son's is triggered my milk and gluten, however an allergy test won't necessarily help you, as my son has had these and they show he is not allergic to milk or gluten. I believe the skin prick allergy tests is showing whether you are having a fast immune response to something, in other words, a serious allergic reaction. Whereas what my son has is a very slow reaction, he could eat a small amount of dairy for a few days and it would only start to show on the third day.

You’re are doing absolutely amazing.

I had really bad eczema as a child. I had it on my joints and behind the knees.

Usually did flare up in the winter more then the summer. Even now I’m generally more dry skinned in the winter. Central heating doesn’t help and drY air in the office.

You can only do your best and as your child grows older it’ll clear up or she’ll just manage it better herself. It’s easier to control something yourself.

What helped me was;

Reducing baths
Being mindful of dairy products such as cheese
Red meat
I went through a phase in my teens where anything fried would result in a flare up

I’ve been pretty much eczema free throughout my 20s. Last time I had a flare up was when my mum died but other than that I’ve been fine.

I use Aveeno Cream as a moisturiser all over (not the lotion) and my skin is ‘normal’ except for my eczema scarring.

With eczema it will be trial and error. What works for some may not work for others. But it’s good to remember it’s not only about creams and ointments but what we’re consuming too, as that can make a massive difference to our skin too.

All the best x

Scratch sleeves are a great alternative to cotton gloves as they won’t come off during the night www.scratchsleeves.co.uk/shop/en/products?gclid=CjwKCAiArJjvBRACEiwA-Wiqq4VSa1b5F9IRBCEXOGvBgfRf5E6i7CwH2BCJ5wQg_ZAhTAYXZOti7RoCHA4QAvD_BwE

I had an awful time with DS but the dermatologist prescribed elocon for a fortnight and it cleared it up never to return. Better to be on a stronger steroid for a short time than hydrocortisone for months

It’s an awful condition- I get mild flare ups and the itching drives me mad!

It doesn’t seem to be one single cause but usually a combination of factors which makes mine worse. It’s a complex condition to treat for a lot of sufferers. It’s worse in winter and I suspect it’s the dust circulating with central heating.

Conventional advice is to moisturise constantly but I found this makes my skin hot during flare ups and worsens it. The things I find help are keeping my skin cool, cotton gloves/clothing in bed, keeping skin clean but no harsh cleansers. I found a medicated powder which was quite soothing. Keeping bedrooms well aired/ using an air purifier might also help.

To echo other posters it does seem to improve with age although my lack of sleep with a toddler seems to have set it off again!

Are you anywhere near London OP and able to afford private treatment? Dr Helen Cox is a leading paediatric allergy specialist, she sees NHS patients but also runs a private practice in Harley Street. She completely solved our DS's horrendous severe eczema with a detailed but manageable treatment regime, we only needed a couple of appointments. GP had refused to refer us so we had to take drastic action. Honestly her advice saved our sanity and DS became a different child once we got on top of it.

I sympathise with you massively. Is there any way you can
Afford to see a dermatologist privately? They can be much less conservative than the GP and can really treat the problem rather than flare ups. If you are in London I can recommend Professor Dowd at the Lister (Chelsea). She treated me as a baby and now my DC.

The oats in tights run under the tap works miracles. It will go from red and itchy to dull looking and it soothes it’s so much.
Also yeast was a trigger for me.

it's awful and hard work and heart breaking.
poor dd and poor you.

have you found out what her allergens are? mine are hibiscus (which is often a colourant in natural foods) and brown rice. took ages to figure out but once we had my skin recovered and I only have dry shins and eye lids usually.

does she have a foam mattress (less dust than a sprung one) 100% cotton bedding and underwear and pyjamas that a washed hot with an extra rinse?
do you have mould in the house? pets?

My sympathies op. Ds had ezcema (at times on 70 to 80% of his body) from early babyhood. Eczema is a real bastard and different things work for everyone. Child's Farm made ds worse as well! We had limited success with both gp and nhs dermatologist. Eventually we paid to see a private consultant and what he prescribed worked. 18 months later 6 year old ds is eczema and steroid free.
Here is what worked for us:
10 minute luke warm bath every night. Capful of Dermol 600 in bath and wash with Dermol 500, no other shampoo or soap.
For emmolient we used Diprobase. At least 4 times a day and always immediately after bath. Nursery applied it for us, speak to them about a treatment plan. We found the really thick gloopy ointments worked best 50/50 was also good but vv messy.
The doctor prescribed ds a steroid called Elocon. We used it for 2 weeks to start with then at weekends only on any active eczema. For any flare ups dr said use for another 2 weeks -this only happened once. The Elocon was amazing. Ds had been waking up 2-3 times a night crying because he was itchy, on the first night using it he woke up once, and has never woken up because of his ezcema since. The difference in his skin after 2 weeks was amazing and it has never gone back to how it was since.
I hope you find what works for you.

I'm so sorry Yuko, eczema is horrible. Small children often outrow it, that's something to think about.

Oil of evening primrose, applied locally to the skin, is very effective. Doesn't do any harm either, unlike steroid creams.

I'm sure you watch her diet and all that, I hope she is under the care of a good dermatologist.

Oh here come the people with random shite recommendations..... please dont reccomend this stuff to An established eczema parent! You really don’t know what you are talking about. If you had eczema that cleared up in a couple of weeks and never came back then you didn’t really have serious eczema and it is insulting. It’s is about good long term management. And yes we do use elocon amongst other things. Not the other crap people are reccomending. Any other illness and people would say go to an expert but somehow with eczema everyone thinks they can prescribe any old crap without even knowing the patient or having any training.... and breathe.

Sending sympathies. We really struggled while in the UK to get good, consistent advice and treatment.

Once we moved to the US our health insurance covered much more testing, treatment, good, consistent advice from specialist allergy/asthma/eczema doctors.

DD's allergies do result in eczema if she's not careful, but we've had lots of tests and advice about how to treat her specific allergies, eczema and asthma, and mostly it's under control. She's 16 now btw.

I really think it's worth paying to see someone good, regularly.

Allegorical if you are talking to me ds had severe eczema (classified as such by dermatologist) for 4 years. It did not clear up completely in 2 weeks (as I said that took 18 months)but improved beyond all measure in 2 weeks because of the things that the consultant prescribed including Elocon and the other things I've detailed I am not trying to suggest random shite but what actually worked, recommended by an expert after 4 years struggling.

No I wasn’t talking to you about the random shite or the elocon.
You can see on this thread and every other thread about eczema recommendations for random crap.
Or their kid had a bit of mild eczema and because they just basically just moisturised with something for a week they assumed it was a miracle product and then waxed lyrical about it to people with severe eczema.
We use elocon. It does work. Somebody above said they used elocon for two weeks and it never came back. That’s great. But then their kid clearly didn’t have severe eczema if it never came back.

From www.amazon.com.au/Allergy-Epidemic-Mystery-Modern-Life/dp/1742582915/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?keywords=allergy+epidemic&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1575412926&sr=8-7

More information
www.fedup.com.au/factsheets/symptom-factsheets/eczema

Wow so many different products mentioned that work for different people. So confusing