Eczema and Autism ?

[willowthecat]

ds1 has been complaining about itchy skin for over a year now and we now have a diagnosis of eczema from GP. I know these 'Is autism linked to x y or z ' don't always lead anywhere but is there any kind of connection? Has anyone else got experience of this ?

DD2 has eczema and is being assessed for ASD. dunno if theres a link tho

My son had v bad eczema as a baby, and various food allergies.
He was diagnosed as being on the ASD spectrum at 2.
Some websites suggest there's a link and some not from what i've read. Also there must be thousands of people who have eczema that aren't on the ASD spectrum i guess. I have read a lot about stomach problems being linked though.
Maybe other people will come along that know more

I think you are right Violet that lots of common conditions occur together without there being a connection but on the other hand, I don't want to close my mind to other theories.

ds1 had pretty bad eczema from 18 months old, he was diagnosed with ASD at 3. It cleared up when he went nut/dairy/gluten free for 9 months & luckily hasn't come back since reintroducing those foods. Both dh & I had eczema as children though (as did nt dd1) so we weren't really surprised that he had it too.

My brother has eczema, I have mild outbreaks, as does DH. None of us has ASD.

However, I did read a paper once saying that ASD is linked to an immature and faulty nervous system/immune system so there often are co-morbids of other physical problems along with ASD so perhaps this is what you are thinking of?

The delay in nervous system development was, I recall, linked to common sensory problems in ASD where parts of the brain were not developing very fast which affected the entire body, not just speech and social skills.

I would have thought eczema was too common to find a link really?

Anyway, DS has AS and no eczema or any allergies, in fact he's not been to the GP in about 8 years, lol

There is a link in terms of treatment iyswim.
Omega oils are good for excema and also thought to help children with asd too.

I started ds2 on fish oils and his excemza disappeared.

I don't really give a stuff if people think it is or isn't linked. Omega oils helped both. Win win.

thanks everyone - would like to try fish oils as think they are good thing anyway but ds1 does not like the taste and is not fooled by any way of disguising it.

DS2 is being assessed for ASD & ADHD, and has eczema and asthma. Although DD2 has asthma (very high number of asthmatics in my family) and DS3 has eczema.

DS2 gets the fish oils every day, but they are orange flavoured and in a daily cup of orange juice. He doesn't notice the taste difference, although it makes it look a bit milky (so it goes in a cup with a cover )

DS is heading for a dx of AS and he doesnt suffer with eczema. My husband and daughter however suffer terribly but both are NT. What I do find is tiredness, stress and worries makes their eczema 10 times worse so much so I have seen my DH red raw from head to foot when he was working 90 hrs a week and everytime DD worries about a test at school and cant sleep the eczema rears its ugly head.

The eczema itself may have always been and underlying problem but could be brought to a head because of the anxiousness or worries DCs have with Autism? When my DD was small we used to soak her in a bath with a product called Oilatum which was basically a relaxing milky bath and my DH does take fish oil capsules to help his skin