Wits end. Bleeding eczema

[jilted]

Dc3 has very bad eczema. Been seen by paediatric dermo and has Eumovate along with numerous other creams. Keep smothering in cream (epiderm, dermal, hydromol) but this week has been really bad. He keeps scratching and bleeding and I just can't get on top of it. Asked chemists if it looked infected and they didn't think so yet but said he should see Dr anyway. He's 15 months and every time I put him down or am not watching he's scratching himself to bits. I've got blood everywhere. On his clothes and bedding ect.
I'm going to take him to GP tomorrow but I really don't know what else can be done?
He's had allergy tests and only has mild allergy to peanut which we don't have anyway.
I tried wet wrapping last week but was back to square one the next day and I don't think I can wet wrap anyway now if it's bleeding?
Chemist said I shouldn't cover it as it could cause infection or get worse.

Dc1 had all this but she had cleared up bybthis age and had numerous allergies too. She was actually put on Elecon for a while.

Anything else I can do?
I can't even put him down to sleep in his room, so I'm just sitting up with him.

[KrystleA]

For those that used Salcura for your littles, did you use the regular or junior version?

[naturalbaby]

Black tea wraps. I had an interesting chat with a Swiss doctor who was talking about using it in the hospital where she trained.

[Cloudhowe63]

Resurrecting this thread to thank whoever recommended Salcura (summerworld?). DD1, now 21, has had eczema since she was a baby. It has been a constant in our lives, made worse at times by stress and goodness only knows what. Had so many creams over the years and have tried most things with limited benefits. Years of anguish and frustration. Anyway, bought this for her to try. Didn't want to get her hopes up, but 3 weeks later, she is amazed at how soft her skin is. They have quite an informative website. For the first time in 22years, I am tentatively beginning to think we have found something that works for us.

[captaincake]

Beverley DS has milk allergy and we use biogaia probiotic.

[nickelbarapasaurus]

aloe vera straight from the plant is best though - and it's really easy to grow and keep alive in a pot (i am not greenfingered in the slightest with indoor plants)

[nickelbarapasaurus]

Glitoris - i too believe that has a huge part to play.

the dermatologist and the allergy dr both agreed about that - the antihistamine goes a long way to stop the itching so that the scratching can be stopped in order for the creams to work without skin being infected.

diet can have an effect - allergies and intolerances can make huge differences, environment can have a big effect too - air borne allergies etc.

we have a list of allergens, none of which seem to make a difference when they're removed, but we are starting to notice (now we've got most of the symptoms under control) that some days she's itchy and some she's not - must be related to what's happening in the air

[lulu12345]

Agree with Nickel, great to get all these ideas on one thread. Lots of new ones here that I hadn't heard of before that I'll definitely try!

[NaughtyRed82]

Aloe Vera plant or soap was mentioned, I was told to try Aloe Vera in gel form for my son who suffered with it a lot when younger and I found it was the only thing that helped, creams and emollients off doctors didn't do much. Can get Aloe Vera gel in a tube from stores like Holland and Barrett if Uk based, all natural too and soothing on the skin

[WhereYouLeftIt]

As has already been mentioned, try Aveeno cream as your emollient. My son's eczema was pretty much like your son's is now, his skin really responded well to this.

Just make sure you get the 'right' Aveeno. They've since expanded the brand into several ranges; ignore the 'Daily Moisture' and 'Skin Relief' ranges, they're not really up to it. I think they now describe the original range as 'Dry Sensitive' - that's the one to go for. It was available on prescription.

[drinkscabinet]

DS has asthma as well and what has worked for his eczema this winter is having lots of asthma attacks and getting oral steroids to treat those, his eczema has clear right up as a consequence.

FIL's eczema never came back after he had a heart bypass over 10 years ago, I'm assuming it was the drugs he's been on since that made the difference. I wonder if there has been any research on people whose eczema has cleared up long term and anything that might be linked to it and if that is useful to other sufferers?

We've had success for a while with epiderm but are now on dermol500. We use Oilatum Plus in the bath (ordinary oilatum had no effect). We use fucibet on outbreaks which works much better for us than hydrocortisone cream.

[Glitoris]

Udos' oil,taken orally.It's a mixture of Omegas 3,6 and 9 (if I remember rightly).It was our families 'miracle' cure anyway,changed my sons skin from a bleeding eyesore (he really looked like he had been sandpapered,poor child) to the most beautiful soft skin within a couple of weeks,we could see the improvement begin within 2 days.

I only tried it on the advice of someone who said that you need to treat excema from inside,instead of just applying creams to try manage the dryness.It made sense to me,and it really,really worked for us.

[nickelbarapasaurus]

we used coconut oil for a while, too.

[LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops]

DS was prescribed all sorts of creams; but £1.99 coconut oil from Superdrug cleared it up in three days - I was amazed. Still use it for flare ups.

[nickelbarapasaurus]

it's not myth - research has shown that there is a certain amount of protection - that those who aren't BF show higher instances, or worse, but it doesn't mean that BFing will stop it or even prevent it if it's going to happen (because other factors are always present)

and of course, BFing mothers have to take out of their own diet those things that the child is allergic to, or has an intolerance to.

[Postchildrenpregranny]

Interesting the bf was no help nickelarea .I was keen to it anyway but it was an added incentive .Even put Dd1 onto soya milk after .perhaps it is Myth

[nickelbarapasaurus]

the steroid thing - you have to wait until the emollient has soaked in, yes, indeed.

our dermatologist has always reiterated that the emollient is always the most important thing.

yy to applying the emollient really thickly

[HumphreyCobbler]

Someone on here, who had received up to date advice from a Harley Street expert, advised putting on the emollient so thickly that you could write your name in it, not rubbing it in but waiting for it to soak in, then applying whatever steroid you are using.

THis advice was extremely helpful to my ds.

[nickelbarapasaurus]

the best thing about threads like this is that, because it's trial and error, so many people have tried so many different things

you'll always get a chance to see something you haven't yet triedest thing is seeing people's "the only thing that worked for us was..." when it's something that hasn't worked for you at all.
That can be a positiive or a negative thing, depending on how bad you're feeling right now.

So, take the rough with the smooth, see what people have tried and try them if you haven't already ( even if they're things that they say haven't worked at all)

If he's only 15 months, then you can probably still put him in proper sleepsuit scratch mimtt cuffs - when dd got to 12 months, asda stopped doing the scratchmitts up to 24 months in their sleepsuits, in the disney ones.
but if you look on ebay, you will probably still find some.
it's worth having a look (make sure you look in the pictures, because the new style don't have them above 3-6 months)
do a search for "george disney sleepsuits" and you'll find them.

if you can sew, i can help you with putting hands on his pyjamas.

[AccidentalAnarchist]

My sons eczema cleared up in less than 2 weeks when we started using aveeno lotion. The emollient had been prescribed did sod all so I tried this off recommendation and now have a prescription

[momtothree]

Buy an aloe vera plant - break.leaves and apply 3 times a day for a few days. Tesco do aloe vera soap,.and its expensive but aloe vera sun cream - kids ezxema dissapeared after the plant except very hot summer days behind knees - lovely soft skin with the sun cream. All natural.

[shewolfroar]

cytoplan or biokult probiotics are good. salcura good here and pure potions good....we mix it about. wr have also cut out all dairy (including mine as still feeding a bit) and gluten for her...finally sleeping in 3 years! evening primrose oil under armpits and in groin to get into system. oat baths...it is tough...I feel your pain.

[fruitpastille]

Scratch sleeves (google it) are v handy to prevent scratching. Like a little bolero with silk mittens. Ours our loose enough for DD to still hold things like her dummy.

[BeverleyCrusher]

Which probiotics snow?
I would like to try but we have milk allergy

[BeverleyCrusher]

We found the cotton wet-wrap suits made things worse. We have now got silk suits (which are available from baby to adults). Think they are called Dream Skin. They are very fine so they keep the skin cool (heat massively aggravates DS's skin) and much smoother than the cotton ones. We put them alone or under a vest at night (in sleeping bag) or instead of a vest under clothes. They have integral scratch mitts.

You do have to hand wash which is a pain, but they've made a real difference for us.