DH has terrible eczema - new to us, general advice needed!

[insicknessandinhealth]

My DH developed eczema after he had a terrible allergic reaction to lamotragine, an anti-epileptic, in November last year. It makes his skin itch all over and patches are at their worst on the areas of the body that are most heated. He is quite inactive as he's recovering from a stroke 5 years ago (left him with lack of feeling/movement on his right-side) and he can't get into a bath - we only have a shower.

It seems to have flared up very badly at the moment as he has a chest infection which caused his temperature to go up. We are basically slathering Double Base cream and steroids on the worst affected areas. Neither of us are getting much sleep! And with my DS bounding in somewhere between 5-6am each morning I'd quite like to improve our nights in whatever way we can.

Is there anything that sufferers use regularly lifestyle-wise like washing detergents/fabric conditioners that seem particularly good? Any shower gels (at the moment use E45) shampoos etc that seem better than others? I have ordered some Bria cream after reading about it to see if that helps. There has got to be an alternative to steroids and he is on a cocktail of other medications already and I would really like to find some sort of natural solution to this!

Thanks for your help.

Avoid E45 - terrible for ezcema - contains lanolin which makes ezcema worse.

Oilatum for the bath is good for day to day, and can also apply small amounts whilst in the shower also.

I find the Sanex range of stuff really good, but different stuff suits different folks, so it is a bit of trial and error. I avoid E45 as has already been said and also use warm rather than hot water as if the water is too hot it dries out the skin.

I always tend to use the sensitive skin/hypoallergenic ranges of unknown stuff, but as I've got to know what's okay and what's not and then I tend to stick to it! (I LOVE doublebase, but I know it doesn't suit everyone)

Oilatum is good too. For a natural option you can also tie some oatflakes up in muslin and add to the bath, that works quite well for some folks.

Have your tried wet-wrapping on the worst bits at night? (I've never done it on myself but it worked wonders for DD when she was a baby/toddler and her ezcema was really really bad)

Ask for a referral to a dermatologist.

There is eczema in my family and have seen what they can offer- he could have immunosuppresant creams which are not steroids ( eg Protopic) or even oral meds such as antihistamines to help the itching.

He should also perhaps have skin prick tests to see if it is contact dermatitis, or atopic.

Avoid bio washing powders and go for something skin friendly- and avoid fabric softeners which leave a residue in the clothing or bedding.

Obviously all cotton clothing, bedding etc is better.

Have you thought about looking on the Eczema Society's website for ideas and information?

Go to lush and ask for a sample of dream cream.

It cleared up my child's eczema / psoriasis (doctor wasn't sure which one!) I've also heard great things from other friends with their children too.

Also try oats in the bath, bit messy but lush recommend this. They sell muslins of oats that you chuck in but we used to just chuck a handful in and rinse off.

Brands such as Eucerin, Aveeno and Avene are aimed at skin with eczema.

Oilatum also make a shower gel which we get on really well with, DS has it for showering after swimming. Have also got on well using aqueous cream as a soap replacement, but not a moisturiser. IME it can be trial and error finding what's best for you. We can't use diprobase, e45 or cetraben here as either DS reacts or my hands do as I apply it to him. Johnsons baby shampoo is awful for his skin too, and the only suncream he's ok with is a Garnier kids spf50, others we've tried make his eczema flare. Infacare shampoo for eczema is good.

Forgot to add, we swear by Doublebase but have been known to apply it 6 times a day when his skin is very sore.

obviously its flaring up due to the strain of the chest infection, its that sort of overload that can tip ezcema over.

is it possible to wash his hair seperately? the shampoo running down his body will further dry his skin.

also, he needs to drink LOTS of water, people with ezcema are dehydrated , throw in the chest infection on top of that, so drinking water will help long term.
i wouldnt worry about the steriod use, thats improved dramatically since my childhood!
have you tried anti dustmite bedding, and boil washing the bedding.
as skin once sensitised can react to other things etc.

although i love the simple idea of natural, in my family its the natural stuff that is worse....( for e.g have got ezcema all over my legs from a recent beach holiday. the sand and sea just burned me....)

still, how many times are you slapping on the moisteriser?
i would go for at least 5 times plus a day for a flare up.

ezcema is such hell. hope things improve.

Sounds like he had the same reaction as I did to lamotrigine (bloody horrible reaction, was in hospital for a week).

I had excema badly for about a year afterwards, but my skin has recovered now. I found E45 itch relief cream combined with a daily antihistamine tablet (hayfever pills, particularly Cetirizine hydrochloride, and Tesco own brand are very cheap but do the job) worked better than anything else to relive the itch.

What anti-seizure med is he on now? I'm on Gabapentin. Topamax was another one I had crappy side effects with.

Oh, and Oilatum bath liquid is wonderful to bath in. Really helped. I know E45 cream has lanolin in, but having had the reaction the OP is talking about (it's a common side effect of lamotrigine), I just wanted to say what helped me the most.

I'll say it, and say it again- there are more recent options to steroids.

Topical immunusuppressants are available from dermatologists.
These do not thin the skin and can completely suppress ezcema.

Obviously there are contra-indications and your DH might not be able to use them, but as he is so sick generally, it's well worth asking your GP for a referral.

Wow, thank you for all these responses! So helpful. Sounds like trial and error is the way forward. Will also keep at it with the GP. We are there so often with all of DH's various medical conditions I think I should set us up a bed! Sometimes (sigh) just another thing to fit in.

Yep I'm particularly interested to find a shower gel and shampoo that works, yesterday he had a shower and said it was between agony and ecstasy on his skin. Good point about water being too hot, and re other antihistamines. Piriton doesn't seem to be having any effect whatsoever. And dehydration eragon, good point he doesn't drink enough anyhow.

CouthyMow that is really interesting! DH had suspected DRESS syndrome and was also in hospital for 10 days. We were wondering whether the reaction was all to do with this as he has never had anything like this before. His speech therapist whose son has skin problems says she thinks it takes the skin about a year to get things 'out of the system' as it were. We are really hoping that it isn't a permanent thing. I feel so much for anyone that suffers this all the time. Life is such a struggle anyhow and add this on top we just can't cope with it! He is now on Lamictal (Keppra) as his neurologist mentioned good success with post-stroke epilepsy - and so far, no fits since beginning of Dec 11, fingers crossed.

Personally, I love Aveeno. I have some shower gel by them, and various creams and oily creams. It goes into my eczema patches lovely.

I also use an SLS free shampoo, as I have an itchy scalp. I mention this, as a previous poster mentioned shampoo running down his body might not help.

It's simply a matter of finding what works for him.

A referral to a dermatologist would be a good idea, if you can get one.

Yep, suspected DRESS syndrome here. I still get flare ups when ill, even 8 years down the line, but tbh now it's just small patches of flakey skin, and nicking DS3's Oilatum cream solves it very quickly.

I hope your DH's skin clears soon, by a year it had all but solved for me.

Keppra is what my Neuro wants to add as an adjunct to my Gabapentin, but my PCT won't allow it. (My Neuro is out of PCT as we don't have one at all). I'm fighting this, as I'm not seizure free, and probably won't be, after almost 9 years of it.

I'm glad your DH has been seizure free for 7/8 months, epilepsy is a bastard.

I'm very prone to eczema, here's what I use: ecover liquid non-bio NOT the powder; no fabric softener; Paul Mitchell baby shampoo (also use on my kids, doesn't destroy my hands) & The Conditioner (says to leave in but I rinse it); weleda creamy body wash; clinique on my face. We use ecover cleaning products as they seem to be the most mild.

If the eczema gets really bad, cracked etc, he might need and antibiotic cream as well. I found the biggest change came from switching laundry detergents and shampoo. Takes some time to find the right one but so worth it!! Hope he can get some relief soon.

Just wanted to add, it's also best if everyone uses the same products--if you are using body shop extra perfumed smelly shower gel (which I'm sure you don't but you know what I mean) your dh will be breathing it in when he showers. If you change laundry detergents, wash all bedding, towels etc and hang out in the sun.

That's great, I'm going to print off all these suggestions now and get hold of these things to try. CouthyMow, sorry to hear you're not getting anywhere with Keppra. We are singing its praises everywhere at the moment. DH also on Gabapentin but for different reasons - it's to treat his R-sided neurological pain. They increased it as an anti-epileptic when he first had seizures, to double the previous dose, but it didn't stop them. I hope you get to try Keppra at some point. We have moved too from our original treatment hospital, fortunately had no problems getting any of the drugs the neurologist suggests. Good luck!

has anyone shown you how to apply the steroid cream? (sorry if that sounds patronising)

thin layer of steroid, leave it half an hour then layer on the moisturiser

I find sanex the best shower gel, and it can be used on the hair too -better with luke warm shower

I really struggle with washing powder so everything gets washed twice, once with washing powder to get it clean, then again with no detergent to get rid of the detergent
I do this with DDs bedding, towels and clothes

yes to the antihistimine but take it as though it's a medicine at set times and let it build up in his system

and elastic bands to distract fingers when he is itchy