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baby excema...what do you do when you cant use steroid cream?

31 replies

lynny70 · 16/10/2005 12:40

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hunkerpumpkin · 16/10/2005 12:42

Have you tried Aveeno? Lovely cream - just oatmealy and works beautifully, IMO and IME!

lynny70 · 16/10/2005 12:54

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bakabat · 16/10/2005 13:03

You can't just stop steroid- you have to taper it gently. So for example when ds1 had his eczema herpeticum he was initially on a strong steroid under wet wraps (can't remember the name of it now), then he went to 1% hydrocortisone under wet wraps, then 0.5% under wet wraps, then 0.5% every other day, then every third day, then I stopped it an just used emollients and an occasional 0.5% not under wet wraps (under wet wraps the asorbancy is increased).

He was 11 months at the time and in total was on topical steroiuds daily for about 6 weeks, then tapering him off them took about a month. (this was under hospital direction),

But the big thing is do not just stop steorids or the eczema will falre up again. Either go down a strength or use less often (every other day, then every third day etc) but taper slowly- or you'll be back at square 1.

bakabat · 16/10/2005 13:04

We saw a consultant regularly- although I worked out the tapering myself- I found I had to taper very slowly or he just started to flare again.

lynny70 · 16/10/2005 13:18

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hunkerpumpkin · 16/10/2005 13:42

Yes, it's a shop bought cream, but you can get it on prescription too.

lynny70 · 17/10/2005 17:44

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BudaBabe · 17/10/2005 17:59

My DS had mild eczema whilst little but I later discovered it was a dairy allergy - could that be the case? His flared up big time when I tried to wean him from formula to cow's milk at about 14 months. Eliminated dairy till he was about 2.5 and it has cleared up.

People seem to rave about Aveeno so that might be worth a try.

We were in Bulgaria at the time and the doc recommended a German cream that wasn't a steroid but mimiced a steroid - ie. no side effects. It really worked for us. Am going back to Bulgaria in a couple of weeks - I could send you some if you want to CAT me your address. I could try to get it here too.

Hate to think of a little one being uncomfortable!

SerahScarer · 17/10/2005 19:04

Hi Lynny

My DS has recently had a very mild bout of excema - a tiny patch on his bottom which needed hydrocortisone to clear it.

It could be a coincidence, but after giving DS a tiny bit of peanut butter (had been advised it was ok to) his whole abdomen came out in what I know as the pre-excema spotty rash. (May have been a coincidence, but he won't be getting peanuts again until he is at least 3!)

I was able to treat it without hydrocortisone by washing with aquaeous cream (dirt cheap) and slathering in oilatum junior moisturiser after each bath. Whilst I am not suggesting that this is the treatment for your DD's severe reaction, perhaps it is something you can try when it is sorted to keep it at bay?

I have also heard of the scenario that BuddaBabe describes - a friends DS had severe excema and it was linked to dairy - dairy stopped, excema gone (he's 4 now)

I hope you find a way to get her sorted - and this should definitely include finding another doctor by the sounds of it! I thought steroid cream should start when the excema is inflamed - not weepy.

Good luck Lynny - keep us posted

alux · 17/10/2005 19:15

dd's eczema was just getting bad enough to weep when I took her to the gp. got a hydrocortisone cream which helped loads. now I only use it in the itchy spots and regularly (at least 3 times a day - slather her in almond or olive oil then coat her with sudocreme straight on top - all over. the oil thins out the sudocreme so it goes on quickly and without irritating the areas. I have only discovered the sudocreme method.

I badgered and stuck to my guns when I took her to the gp last. I am just starting to wean and want not necessarily to find out exactly what she is allergic to but to eliminate the usual suspects so that I don't have to fret about whether this or that is irritating her. eg there is a lot of dairy allergy and intolerance in my family so I want eliminate or confirm if that is one - or not as milk comes in so many foods I may offer or make.

try to get across to your other gp that you want to see a paediatrician or allergy specialist to rule out possible allegens in addition to finding out what baby is allegic to.

lynny70 · 18/10/2005 07:13

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Janbo25 · 19/10/2005 10:34

I actually use "guardian angel" from virgin vie, my friend told me about it who suffers from really bad eczema and she reckoned it worked better than any steroid cream plus it's all natural and I must agree it works wonders.

lynny70 · 21/10/2005 10:45

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Bridge1001 · 21/10/2005 11:37

aveeno cream and bath soak worked for my two. you can get it on prescription, and although my dd's have virtually outgrown it now, I still use regurlarly. When it was bad, i still used steroid cream, don't think it can be avoided if it gets weepy

lynny70 · 21/10/2005 21:32

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shrub · 21/10/2005 21:36

have you tried sk cream? if you look up on old threads 'sk cream' i have gone into more detail and how to order it. or you could google. found out about it through susan clarke - author of 'what really works for kids' also sunday times health columnist
.

lynny70 · 21/10/2005 21:47

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Chandra · 21/10/2005 22:31

Linny, I very much understand your frustration, Ds had severe eczema and it was hell for months. I was also furious about GPs not sorting the condition sooner, at the HC not being enough, at not being able to find out what the hell was DS reacting to.... so, having been through all that I'm going to be totally honest with you.

It's terrible to see our children getting red, then itchy, then full of cuts caused by scratching and finally the skin weeping with infection, but unfortunately every child is different and eczema is different in each case, so you will need to keep trying different creams until you find "the one" that suits your baby.

The HC only helps to stop the inflamation (redness) before it evolves to a worse stage (mentioned above), it won't cure eczema, it only sorts a symptom. The only thing you can realistically control to prevent the redness (or flares) coming back after they have been cleared is to keep applying emollients. If the one you are using doesn't work try another and another until you find "the" one. My personal ranking of the creams I have tried is the following: Aqueous cream - E45, Hidrous cream, Diprobase, Lipikar Baume, Aveeno, Eucerin 10% Urea. Being Eucerin the stronger.

BAre in mind that until you find the right emollient for your baby you will need to apply any emollient she is on as many times as it is needed (when DS was at his worst we covered him in Diprobase at every nappy change, but once we changed to Eucerin we went from 8-9 times a day to 3). You can get Aveeno and Eucerin in Boots for around 7 or 8 pounds for a 200+ml bottle. If you can afford it, get a bottle and if it works, you can try to convince your GP to prescribe them, mine did.

One of the most frustrating things about eczema is that the baby may be covered in rashes and scratching his skin off but by the time you arrive to the GP it all has magically disapeared and then they think you are over reacting! (AAAARGGHHH!!!). My advice would be to take pictures of it for the doctor to see. But bare in mind that, as disturbing as they are, rashes are only a first grade eczema, and in those cases the best thing is to keep things simple (HC + emollient) and wait for it to improve, it certainly does in most cases.

DS only got refered to a NHS dermatologist after we took him to see a deramatologist privately who assesed the severity of DS's eczema. Even then, the first time I saw the NHS dermatologist she told me DS's eczema was not really that bad, but when I showed him DS's cot sheet covered in blood (he had weeping and bleeding patches from head to toe which became worse at night), I got a year pass to see a NHS dermatologist without the need to be refered by a GP.

In terms of products for the bath, DS responded better to Oilatum Plus (Regular Oilatum didn't help at all, nor did Balneum but, as with emollients, the fact that they didn't work for him , doesn't mean by anymeans that they have not been perfect for babies suffering of similar intensity eczema).

In terms of food, my first impulse was to blame the introduction of formula, so I started trying different ones (including soya formula, which, seeing things in retrospective, I regret very much as DS is now allergic to soya, and believe me, most things that come in packages contain it, even bread). So, I would follow the suggestions of the GP in terms of feeding.

Hope that helps (and that I have not crossposted, I have been writing this for 40min )

Keep posting

Chandra · 21/10/2005 22:39

P.S. Linny, there's an Allergy topic in mumsnet, you will find lots of info about eczema in it. HTH

Sarahx2005 · 21/10/2005 23:23

I use Calidou on my daughter, it's worked amazingly well, I actually bought it from someone on mumsnet. I didn't want to go down the steriod route and it wasnt working very well either. I've been using it a couple of months now and she's 100% better.
Sarah x

lynny70 · 22/10/2005 09:34

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Chandra · 22/10/2005 10:08

Linny, if you have started the course of antibiotics please continue, otherwise Jessica may start to develop resistance to them.(In other words, if you don't finish the course of antibiotics you are only "teaching" the bacteria to be stronger).

What antibiotics do is to cure the infection and therefore help you to break the eczema cycle, once the infection is cleared keep applying the emollient regularly and the HC as directed.

Sarahx2005 · 22/10/2005 16:30

I agree with Chandra, you should always finish a course of antibiotics, it's really really important.
Sarah x

lynny70 · 22/10/2005 23:08

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Chandra · 23/10/2005 00:38

I'm not sure why he/she prescribed them but as far as I know there are other skin problems that look like eczema and are actually bacterial infections, would it be possible the GP was trying to discard that possibility?

How is she doing tonight?