Excema - how should I treat it?

[AngieL]

My 15 mo daughter has got quite a lot of excema at the moment. She has got a large patch on the side of her face near her eye and it has become infected. She has an immune deficiency and the doctor has now given her oral antibiotics.

He hasn't really told me how I should be treating the excema though and it is weeping and bleeding. Do I put any cream or anything on - I can't use the hydrocortisone at the moment. Should I cover it up, to stop dd scratching it?

Any advice would be great. TIA.

[donnie]

David Atherton rocks !!!! I am really happy to hear people's good news stories as only us parents who have really been through the hell of a child with bad eczema can really know what it's like. We were also prescribed propaderm by Dr Athertpn, but I am very interested in protopic. Last year before we had been to Gt O street I did lots of internet research when it had just been approved but I don't think it was actually available here yet. I am really happy that it has worked for some of you.

[bunny2]

Protopic (tacrolimus) is now licensed here for children over 2 y/o. We were prescribed the adult strength for Ben and have used it with no ill effects to date. www.talkeczema.com has more info. Protopic is wondeful, the only problem is that, due to the cost, the NHS is reluctant to prescribe it.

[wiltshirelass]

It is expensive, but actually my GP in n Wilts says he will prescribe it (haven't taken him up on that yet as I still have stocks). And if not, although it is £80 a tube or something, it is so effective that we have only used one or two in the last year, a very small price to pay considering the difference in her quality of life!

[Hebe]

WILTSHIRELASS - I have just read your posting of 13/4 which was really helpful and informative - I am using Oilatum as prescribed by my GP on my ds and am applying hydrocortisone cream on top of this which, according to your consultant is not effective at all! Is the product you recommend available over the counter? Is this what you would use instead of Oilatum or E45 cream? (I also use that, which you do not recommend either). Thank you so much for this useful info.

[AngieL]

Just a quick question. Does eczema get worse if you are ill? My dd has got a horrible cold and temperature and her eczema has got much worse, just when I thought I was getting it under control. Her face is a mess and she seems to have lots of little bumps under her skin as well - is this the eczema?

[Wills]

AngieL my dd was diagnosed with German measles at 6 wks but in the end it turned out to be eczema. Every time she even gets even a small slight temperature her eczema gets really bad and I am now used to getting the calpol and the E45 cream out at the same time.

Hope that helps

[batey]

My dds skin definitely gets worse if she's ill/run down and tired. She too gets what we call sandpaper skin, kind of bumpy all over. It does ease fairly quickly once she's well/has some decent rest. HTH.

[bunny2]

Yep, ds' skin gets bad when he is ill. At the moment the insides of his fingers are really cracked, swollen and bleeding. We are using fucidin H and antibiotics but ut is getting no better. Has anyone any ideas? Ds cant play properly or wahs his hands without them hurting

[anniethenannie]

I have been reading all the messages about all the children with eczema- please take a look at Elenas Nature Collection - a natural range produced by a nurse who runs an 80-90% success rate with all her advice -samples are available for a £1.00- cheap at half the price! Our family life has totally changed since discovering it!
www.elenascollection.co.uk

[AngieL]

I might have to check out the elena's collection stuff, because things have got much worse now.

I don't really know what to do and I don't think my doctor does either. My dd has got a chest infection now and the eczema on her face has gone totally mad, it is infected and weeping. She looks so awful, I can't really believe it. She has just started her 4th course of antibiotics, lets hope they might work.

My GP has written to our consultant at the hospital to get us an urgent appointment. It is so difficult for me to know what to concentrate on - is the eczema so bad because of her underlying immune problems or is it just bad eczema? Don't know what to do next.

[robinw]

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[Podmog]

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[bunny2]

robinw, we have had allergy testing - RAST tests were done (blood tests) and allergies identified were milk, dairy, soya, wheat, chicken, eggs and nuts. A 6 month exclusion diet followed (nightmare) and made no difference whatsoever to ds' eczema. WE were then told by a paed that the tests were of no use at all and should never have been done! Now ds follows a diet including all the above but, 2 years later ds has been rushed to hospital twice for adrenaline following severe anaphalatic reactions to food. He is going to undergo more tests, this time skin prick ones. DOnt have much faith in allergy testing so far but I will let you know if these ones prove more use..

[AngieL]

Hi Podmog - they have just started her on augmentin. Shes's had amoxicillin, cephalexin and then amoxicillin again (because of the chest infection). I really thought it had started to improve but as soon as she got a bad chest it flared up worse than ever.

I'm hoping that we will here back from the hospital fairly quickly but if not, I will certainly get on the phone and speed things up.

I'm finding it difficult putting the emollient on her face for a couple of reasons. One, she just wriggles so much I can barely keep hold of her and two, I just hate the way it feels, it just doesn't feel like skin anymore, it makes me cringe.

[robinw]

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[bunny2]

Hi Robinw, we have been referred to allergy specialists nad they will decide whether or not to give ds an epipen. Th whole thing terrifies me, its one of the reasons I am hesitant about ds starting nursery.

[Eowyn]

Can I just ask, re nut allergy, I am allergic and want to get DD tested but is the only way to do this via the doctor? I mentioned it when she was born & they didn't seem very interested but no way will I risk giving her some to find out.
I did read something connecting it to eczema ointment, but can't remember details, I also have eczema but she doesn't...

[robinw]

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[bunny2]

Eowyn, Some creams (perhaps Sudocream, not sure) did contain oils derived from peanuts and this is what is thought to have caused the allergy to nuts in so many children. IF you suspect a nut allegy do you avoid chocolate and biscuits? Ds eats lots of things with warning labels (may contain nut traces etc) but has had no reaction at all. My suspects are celery, pine nuts nad (specifically) cashews. We will see what the tests show.

[bunny2]

RobinW, how would IgE levels be tested? Re the epipen, we were told it could do as much damage incorrectly administered as it could not to have one, that is why we have to wait until a specialist decides whether to prescribe one or not. I would like to have one to hand, I carry Piriton everywhere but am not convinced it would help in a very severe reaction.

[Eowyn]

I don't bother avoiding foods that have the "may contain traces of nuts" warning, as everything seems to nowadays. I only let dd eat things that I know I can eat, tho I don't know how bad my reaction could be as I'm always careful & have never been tested, just always known most nuts make my mouth & throat go strange & last time I accidentally ate one I was wheezing horribly for 2 hours.
Anyway, will speak to Dr, it was Christmas that was worrying as all the relatives who are normally so careful seemed compelled to put out plates of peanuts so I had to worry all day...

[robinw]

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[robinw]

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[robinw]

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[bunny2]

thanks for the link, I agree, our GP may need a bit of retrainig. We are seeing a specialist in a couple of weeks so I shall investigate further, get my facts straight and insist on an epipen.