eczema help

[desamom]

I am trying to figure out the cause of my 11 month old DD's eczema. It started in early January. She's been eating solids since about 8 months old, but is mostly breastfed.

We've been doing an ED (cut out all major allergens) for her the last couple of weeks with some minimal improvement. Am I only going to see improvement if I also do an ED? I am dreading cutting out all that stuff and wonder what I will eat!

She did have an allergic reaction to eggs just over a month ago. Broke out in hives all over her face and eyes became bloodshot.

Her face seems to get worse with avocado and most recently, broccoli. Could that really be?? Those were the only two new things introduced a day or two before her face got worse the last couple times.

We were using Spectro Eczema Care Moisturizing cream on her face for a while, but just switched to Aveena Eczema Care (since we started the Aveeno, her face has definitely looked better but nowhere near totally cleared up).

Any thoughts/help would be appreciated. It is a most frustrating process trying to figure this out and we often have little sleep because she is scratching all night!

[Therese's Mommy]

Avocado is certainly a possibility. My lo is allergic to avocado. Have you tried banana? I think they might be related and my lo is allergic to that as well.

[KimPM]

Originally Posted by desamom

We've been doing an ED (cut out all major allergens) for her the last couple of weeks with some minimal improvement. Am I only going to see improvement if I also do an ED? I am dreading cutting out all that stuff and wonder what I will eat!

Her face seems to get worse with avocado and most recently, broccoli. Could that really be?? Those were the only two new things introduced a day or two before her face got worse the last couple times.

Yes, any food can cause a reaction, it doesn't have to be any of the top 8! However, if you are nursing her and you are eating foods she is sensitive to, then she will also have a reaction of some kind. It could also be something you ate. So yes, you need to either test for her intolerances or do some kind of elimination yourself. Keep in mind that you could eliminate the top 8 and she could still be sensitive to something else.

[sillygrl]

definitely, anything can cause a reaction. For me, I use a cream I found at the health food store called Natralia Eczema & Psoriasis treatment and it's been awesome.

[meadowgirl]

imo, the best thing to do is to make an appt with an allergist and get her tested. That way you know exactly what to avoid. The ED is way too hard for a breast feeding mom. It was for me anyway.

My son was tested at about six months old and showed a peanut allergy. He is also allergic to sesame. There must be something else though because he STILL has horrible eczema and he's two years old. I'm at my wits end! Nothing seems to work.

My newest discovery is Evening Primrose Oil. I only just started using it this weekend, but it seems to be helping. I give him a little bit orally and then I rub it on his skin as well. I also bought a cream at the health food store for babies that has Borage Oil in it. Borage, like EPO, is an Omega 3. If you google EPO and eczema, you can find a lot of information on it and why they think it works.

I had some success with chiropractic, but the chiro that he was seeing was VERY far away from us and it just got too hard to drive the kids there. I need to find a good local person and try again.

Eczema sucks!