Poor DS2's eczema is driving him mad, he's so itchy! Any advice?

[Jojay]

He's 2 and suffered from eczema last winter. His skin was perfect all summer but it's back with a vengence now.

He's got patches behind his knees which Epaderm is sorting out but he got a heat rash type thing today (ironic I know, given the weather)and was so so itchy.

We use Cetraben regularly, only bathe him 3 days a week. Epaderm is great for bad patches but doesn't seem to stop the itching.

I checked him before I went to bed last night and he was scratching in his sleep . Any ideas that would help him, or do we need to go back to the doc?

Do you wet wrap over night?

(Thick cream, covered in bandages/ elastic bandages.)

Can help stop the night scratching and the thick cream helps to break down the outbreaks.

Do you use oilatum or similar in the bath?

How often are you applying the emollients?

He may need some hydrocortisone if he's having a flare up. Also check that your house isn't too dry with the heating on; you may want to put some bowls of water near radiators to add some humidity to the air.

hope's relief cream

i can't recommend it highly enough. it was recommended to me by some peoiple on another site who had kids with very bad eczema when i was researching it for a friend's little boy.

anyway, friend's baby had awful eczema, she was pretty much constantly using steroid cream on him. used the hope's relief and NEVER needed the steroids again
in fact, she was so amazed she was even seriously going to send some off to be analyzed because she didn't believe that it didn't secretly have steroids in it

it's expensive, but really worth the money IMO

It'll be the combination of central heating, cold air and the hot clothes.

I can't remember what age they can have antihistamines but if he can have, I'd give him some before he goes to sleep to hopefully stop him scratching in his sleep. Just as a temporary measure while it's bad.

What is centraben? I use Epaderm. Have you tried putting it all over him before he goes to sleep.

Ah ok cetraben. I see it's an emmolient, hadn't heard of it. Hope he's feeling better soon.

Emollient ffs can't spell

The antihistamine is a good idea, I don't know why we didn't think of that - duh! We have some as he has an egg allergy.

We'll start using Oilatum in the bath again too. We use Aqueous Cream to wash him with, not soap. It's all stuff we've done before, but his skin has been so good for so long, we've got out of the habit of it.

Thanks for the Hope's Relief Cream recommendation, we'll give it a try

Aqueous cream can worsen itching in some people - maybe try not using it and use the Epaderm in the bath instead.

I was told to take antihistamines, I get it just on my palms and soles of my feet.

I have a cream called double base, changed gp's and had to get the nurse to get it for me and she didn't knwo what it was - it was eventually found in catalogue

double bease is thick and glopy but keep in the fridge and it is so lovely to pump onto the skin

GP told me to give DS2 (2.8 yrs now) Piriton regularly for 48 hrs to "break the itch, scratch cycle" and for 7 days, to apply Epaderm 3 times a day and hydrocortisone ointment 15 minutes later on the really angry patches, again 3 times a day. It is time consuming but works.

We go though pots of Epaderm, we use it in the bath in place of soap (rub some in your hands and it emulsifies and can be masseaged over the skin) and I have kept a 150ml pot in my bag when we're out in case of emergencies ever since DC1 starting crying about her legs one day and I had to go and buy a small pot - it's very expensive!

I am however interested in hope's relief cream, sounds like a "natural"alternative, is it? Where can you buy it from?

We use Kamillosan cream on our DS and bath him in camomile tea. We also use E45 cream.

dd used to have Loratadine (clarytin) at night for her excema. She used to call it her sleepy medicine.

Bubaluba - when I googled Hope's Relief Cream, I found it avaiable on Amazon (is there anything that site doesn't sell?

Thanks for all your advice. He's had 3 lots of antihistamine today and that seems to have calmed the rash down a lot. We also applied Cetraben 3 times today, with Epaderm on the bad bits. He seems a lot more comfortable and less itchy.

I think I will take him to the Doctor though, if only to get Epaderm on prescription - as you say, it's great but I bought the last lot and it costs a fortune

Thanks again, I have a much happier boy thanks to you lot

After googling it looks like you're only using emollient you really need some steriod cream for him, so definately off to the doctors.

Piriton (and there is another one that we've had in the past, but can't remember the name!) can be helpful when they're really bad but it makes my son tired and a bit spaced out so I do try not to use it too often.

have you tried Dermol 600 bath emollient its fab they also do a soap, which my sister dd is using as is allergic the any soap. You can also melt the epaderm in hot water and poor it in to the bath( make sure you have the thick one not the thin cream or it doesnt work.)

Jojay - I know someone has already said but definitely don't use aqueous cream - it's been a big bugbear of the national eczema society that people are still being prescribed it when it dries out the skin of people who have normal skin, let alone those with eczema.

The hopes relief cream does sound interesting - will have a look too. The other one we have just mow which seems to work quite well for relieving itch, but can sting when going on is atopiclair.

We use the Dermol too, we've got the cream, the bath, and the shower cream, it's great.

We've also got hydrocortisone and elecon or betnovate for flare ups.

Jojay, thanks I've found Hope's Relief cream and am going to order some. I've practiced what I preach since I read your post and done the Piriton every 4 hours, Epaderm 3 times per day and hydrocortisone 15 mins later and DC2's skin has improved vastly in 24 hours! Glad you're having success too!

Conkertree We just use aqueous cream in the bath, not as a moisturiser. is it still bad for that?

The antihistamine we used is Chlorphenamine, which is the active ingregient in Piriton I believe.

I've booked an appointment for Wednesday at the doctors, so we'll see what they recommend.

Thanks for all your comments and recommendations - noted!

As far as I know, the national excema society says to avoid aqueous cream in all circumstances. We use epaderm in the bath but am keen to try dermol too as have heard good reports about it on here.

Well we've been to the doctors today and we've got some steroid cream, so that should sort him out

just to let you know that medics n assocociations have recently found what i found out years ago (my son is now 14) Aqueous creams does not work and can in fact worsen eczema, everytime i used to put it on my son's skin he used to go ballistic and say it burned n itched like crazy...it still upsets me today that the trials n errors we mums have to bet n put our kids on the line when the odds of even 1 in 10 creams actually helping is soooo small, it tends to be what doesnt make it worse??? food allergies tests are always inconclusive at best of times and ambient control is super hard to achieve........ it is a constant struggle to control his eczema, and now for the past year (gp says teen yrs n hormones tend to increase problems}for the past year my son's eczema is so bad n ard to treat that theres blood on the sheets nightly n inside his clothes...we are atour wits end. Help???!! happy new year by the way.