To expect someone to be able to help my 2yo 'eczema' skin- pic

[MrsP2015]

Firstly this thread isn't in place of medical advice. We see the GP's weekly atm and 8 weeks, 6 GP's none have helped. I'm on the waiting list for a specialist appointment.

Until then I'm hoping someone may be able to help.

I was told this was eczema when it was dry patches but around 8-10 weeks ago the spots started, the odd 2 or 3 on each arm has now turned to this. Spots everywhere.

It's heartbreaking I don't know what to do any more to help my baby.

So far I've tried numerous creams over counter and prescribed (inc hydrocortisone).
More baths/ less baths
New washing liquid/ anti bac washer stuff
Different clothing materials
Dressing warmer/ cooler
Anti histamines
Diet changes
Heating on/ heating off
Clothes air dried/ tumble dried
Avoiding homes with animals
Avoiding public places

Nothing made a difference and I'm at a loss and feeling so bad for my child.

Any suggestions or advice appreciated as it could be something I could fix now.

Before this happened there was never an issue with allergies or skin- nothing.

Ps. I wasn't convinced at the time, and neither was dh who is a Dr, but antibiotics worked within 24 hours.

Do you have pets? I was covered in eczema as a child and it was partly a reaction to our dog. My dd was covered in eczema as a baby and nothing shifted it until I went dairy and egg free (as I was still breasfeeding). It took 6 weeks to see a major difference. Bloid tests confirmed severe dairy, egg and nut allergies and she has since been prescribed adrenaline pens. She has no eczema whatsoever whilst her diet remains allergen-free...but occasional new foods cause flares or accidental ingestion of traces of dairy/egg/nut. Honestly, it could be any number of things but in the majority of cases we know it is a symptom of food allergy.

Have you tried the brand

CHILDS FARM

Iv known many many children where the parents have tried everything and nothing works, untill this...

Bless him, that does look sore.
My DD2 has eczema up until she was about 4. It was so frustrating to deal with. We tried everything the doctor could prescribe, all the emoillents, steroids, barrier creams, bath oils. Each new thing would be an absolute miracle...for a week.

Eventually we went all natural (not meaning to sound hippy, but), no SLS (so nothing that foamed), no perfumes, no steroids. Baths were run with oats in a stocking hung under the tap. Moisturiser was cocoa butter and coconut oil. She only wore cotton clothing, all her pretty fleece bedclothes were binned because within a few hours of putting one on the rash came out again. Things calmed right down. Just a few more ideas for you to try! Good luck.

All the posters saying this doesn't look like eczema it is exactly what a severe eczema outbreak can look like. My DH and daughter have had it like this as they have very bad eczema. My Dh ended up on immunosuppressants for 5 years and has been off them now for 6 months with only tiny flare ups. My daughter is only 5 so they won't give her them, I use dermol lotion as a soap and cream 3 times a day, diprobase twice a day and oat baths every other day alongside steroid cream when needed. It does help eventually and then I only cream twice a day to keep her skin soft.
We've had allergy tests and they are both allergic to nickel and blue dyes but not the usual dairy/eggs/wheat the cutting out of food groups should only be done when advised by a dr.

We had similar when 0-2y and now just get out breaks when ill or if any products go in bath water - we wash with an emollient in plain bath water - then more emollient when dry- hair once a week wash with children’s farm- betnovate used for bad patches for few days - hope it settles x

@MrsP2015,

Not sure if it's been mentioned but change to ECOVER washing powder/liquid. Wash all the baby's clothes in it.

Along with Hydrocortisone cream it was the only thing that worked with my child.

It doesn't look like excema to me as my brother has suffered all his life with it.
It does look very similar to the skin problem my daughter had when she was 3 month old. We got told to go lactose free so we did, but she also had reflux so had infant gaviscon till she was moving about more.
We were given double base gel lotion and the double base gel. We tried most creams for excema but nothing else so I'm the end we tried calamine lotion and it took the redness down right away and it cleared up within a few days.
We also only used cotton wool and just warm water to bath with for a few days.

I also used fairy washing powder and their conditioner in the same make or the comfort one.
Has you DC been under the weather or had a virus etc as my daughter with having the reflux the doctor's said the rash could be due to the stress of not being able to keep her food down.
I'm hoping you get it resolved soon.

*Ezcema

Removing cows milk for 2-3 weeks should show you if it will make a difference but do NOT change it for goats milk, all mammalian milk is similar. The most nutritious non mamalian milk is soya "growing up milk" it is fortified (has a picture if a giraffe on). Even oat milk etc has added calcium, its wise to give a measure of liquid vitamin in the milk as a substitute to compensate while the milk is removed. If you find it is beneficial without the milk you need to ask your GP to refer you to you local paediatric dietitian who can give more complete advice. It is common to have them in both your local hospital and often your local childrens health clinic. Milk can be reintroduced according the the milk ladder scheme at a later date.

Both my boys were like this from babies, my youngest almost identical. Ended up needing a chemotherapy cream at 4 months it was that infected! Awful time :(
Fully understand how you feel.
Ultimately (and I tried everything) ours boiled down to the following -

Avoiding ANYTHING with SLS in (it’s a major trigger). Sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. You’ll find it in everything - all shampoos conditioners shower gels, cleaning products.

Turned out he was highly allergic to sesame, egg and dairy products (confirmed on allergy tests). Dermatologist actually refused to accept that food via my breast milk could cause any issues, Immunologist called him some very bad names and insisted we eliminate ASAP, it helped.

Rehomed our cats :(

Extra rinse cycle, plant based washing liquid (Method), no fabric conditioner

Scratch sleeves at night.

No creams or potions other than natural oils - they all (including aveeno) contain SLS..

Probiotic and fish oil supplement. All above made a huge difference.

Hope that helps x

Look up Salcura products. Absolutely cracking. Calamine lotion too.

Another vote for Dr Aron, changed my sons life!!!

I wonder if eczema could be infected and the cream is spreading the infection around. Sorry OP you’re probably overwhelmed by all the suggestions on this thread. I think a referral to skin specialist would be best.

Go back to your GP and ask them to prescribe Elocon, it's a steroid cream like hydrocortisone but much stronger. DS had weeping itchy eczema from 4 weeks, it was absolutely HELL. I tried everything, every ointment/cream you can imagine. Nothing helped, until a friend recommended elocon! I've never looked back. Cleared his eczema within a week and he was able to sleep. It's a very strong steroid cream, helps with redness/itchiness. He had really red weeping itchy skin, but now at 3 his skin is clear but my god it was hard seeing him in pain

Thank you to every single one of you. Really, it has brought tears to my eyes to see the support.

I have read through slowly and spent time googling what I've not heard of and making a list.

Forgot to say in my last reply that I began to reduce milk (doesn't really like anything else dairy but has about 10-12 oz of blue milk daily) with the idea of stopping it but the GP said no as at 2 years old a milk allergy would have shown by now... so I stopped that idea.

Has been on piriton since last GP visit and I had high hopes but no difference.

Re assessing my washing I will use less liquid per wash (I use to much- always have) and will swap to try what's been recommended.

Natural creams are a good idea as I do believe all I've tried are not completely natural...
However I'm questioning again if this is infection- I asked the GP on the visit about 4-6 weeks ago and he said no. Maybe antibiotics or a fungal cream would be better.
I have tried applying rarely and often and no difference but I have wondered about the skin being able to breathe with all the cream.
I stopped putting anything in the bath in case she was reacting to that but the GP advised use the oilatum again so I have and bath only twice a week which I'm thinking of changing- just to see.

The clothes suggested are brilliant thank you.

I've managed to get a Doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon as I'm conscious it's still getting worse.
I won't be telling the GP his job but I will have more questions thanks to you all.

I really didn't expect so much help so again thank you to each and every one of you.

Blue milk being full fat milk obvs! 🤪

If anyone still thinks milk please let me know as it's something I can easily swap.

My gp swears that I don’t have an allergy to dairy and the fact if I don’t eat or drink it means my skin is clear and if I do have it and my skin breaks out is purely coincidental

Its definitely worth trying to swap the cows milk for soya maybe. Its not always dairy but try it (and for longer than 2 week, 2 months at least and it needs to be all dairy like yoghurt etc too)
Try different creams, so many swear by aveeno but it made my child worse, others swear by other creams but it really is trial.and error.
Scratch mits if they wont take them off, v short nails if they do. Quit using soap and shampoo and find alternatives - we got a liquid emollient for hand washing with no SLS in it.
Try different detergent. I still vividly remember being woken up by what sounded like someone sandpapering the walls and it turned out my mother in law forgot to wash the bedding at hers in Fairy and had used some Lidl Bio cheap shite instead and the sound was actually my child scratching herself in her sleep...
Its a huge amount of trial and error to try to ease it, it might never completely go but you can certainly help ease the symptoms by trying to figure out the things that make it worse.

Just remembered that another trigger was starch on clothing/bedding. Mother in law (again) had a habit of wanting my child to put on newly bought clothes before washing them or putting brand new sheets on the bed without washing them first... itch itch itch for hours after.

Trust me I understand your frustration - I've had moderate to severe eczema for 24 years. It's awful. But, there aren't any magic fixes and young children have even fewer treatments than adults because they can halt growth or cause things like lung fibrosis.

I had the spots, it was allergies interacting. Eczema is not just dry patches.

It's a horrible horrible condition and there needs to be more money for research but it's not really yours doctors fault.

As an adult who's been trying and testing - bath every 2-3 days, ointment/cream (I find thick ointment like emollients are better than smooth creams) when still wet - this is key. moisturiser doesn't add in hydration it TRAPS it. So there has to be moisture on the skin for it to be effective.

Cut out dairy, make sure they're hydrated, add in an antihistamine.

I know that some people use oat baths but I found them ineffective (every one is different though). Aveeno also seemed a miracle cure to me until a year later when it made me much much worse - the specialist told me that this is common because you're risking them developing a reaction to the wheat in it and this is why the NHS doesn't prescribe it.

Good luck

Oh, and I use a clothes washing egg with essential oil rather than detergent 🤷‍♀️ all detergents set me off

Big hugs, OP. It's awful when you feel so helpless. For our son, we used Burts Bees Baby Bubble Bath and then slathed him in Aveeno after his bath. It cleared it up pretty quickly. Nothing else we'd tried before helped. Good luck xx

OP if you can't get him off his milk try goats milk. Works a treat for me. Soy and other plant milks don't really taste like milk.

Try La Roche Posay Lipikar - they do a version that is anti-itch. Recommended to us by a Belgian dermatologist and it made a big difference. Cutting out dairy and replacing with soya milk also helped.

GPs know very little about skin issues, so if you can get a referral to a dermatologist that would be your best move.