Eczema and autism

[runikka]

Good afternoon, hope everyone is having a reasonable day!

I just wondered how many of your little ones, who are on the spectrum, also suffer from eczema. Daniel has it, not severely, but it really aggravates him and, of course, we cannot stop him scratching. It more or less cleared up and we have been cutting down gluten and dairy recently. However, it seems to have flaired, particularly on his tummy and causes him some distress if he wakes during the night (scratching anything he can reach through vest/pjs). We are trying gluten alternatives and goats milk and I am worried he is having a more adverse reaction to those or detoxing somehow and this is a transition period. I am worried because he is such a quiet little lad that the eczema is causing him much more discomfort than we are aware of.

Anyone in a similar situation?

best wishes
kirsty

P.S. We have already eliminated soap from washing, use sensitive wipes to his bottom/face only and surcare washing powder (free from perfume etc).

Kirsty - eczema is the bane of our (and DS2's) life. He had it severely as a baby but it cleared up gradually between his 1st and 2nd birthdays. Then as soon as we started altering his diet, it flared up again and hasn't really gone away since, though it is much worse in the winter (cold wind + central heating). He gets it on his face, which is awful because you can't cover it to stop him scratching.

We have recently started a course of biomedical treatment with Mike Ash (Nutri-link). His view is that eczema is caused by an immature immune system, very common in children with ASD, and his treatment is designed to mature and rebalance the immune system and thus clear the eczema. It's very early days for us (only started just before Xmas) but up to a week ago it was much better - then we had a huge flare-up a week ago. It could be a detox reaction of course (which I'm hoping).

Things that have worked for us:
Oilatum in the bath
Unguentum cream as an emollient every night on his body and calendula cream on his face.
No central heating in the bedroom whenever possible.
Being very careful indeed with diet and avoiding triggers (for DS2, berries, soya, dairy, eggs, apples, tomatoes). He's gf too, but not because of eczema.
We have to use steroid cream sometimes - hate doing it - but it works for the worst flare-ups.

Sorry - long reply! It's something of a bugbear of mine - I honestly think if a fairy appeared this minute and said 'I can take away the autism or the eczema' I'd say the eczema. Hope some of this helps anyway.