Now they say DD1 isn't allergic to anything!!!

[eastkygal]

Her allergy testing this year has come back that she isn't allergic to anything. They did a stratch test, injections, and blood test, as well as tested her immune system and swabbed her nose, throat, and eczema sores. None of the tests showed she had an allergy. Before it was dairy at a +1/7 and dog at a +7/7. So my reaction was... why is her eczema still so bad? It's not any better. The new allergist said it is called "intrinsic" eczema meaning "she just has it and we don't know why". But, this confirms to me the "why" of the eczema all along. A reaction to vaccinations. The first spots developed over her injection sites of her 6 months shots. He said she has fewer glands under her skin to help it stay moisturized and simply has very sensitive skin that triggers an immune response to whatever. He said take precautions as you would with any person who has sensitive skin.

Now I have 3 rx to keep her skin moist: Elidel 1% Cream, Hylira, and Triamcinolone 0.1% Cream that is mixed with Aquaphor.

They want me to stay away from corticosteroids now. The first allergist prescribed Loicoid Cream and Atarax (a sedative). This allergist said we will continue to keep an eye on her as she is a sensitive person and it can either become worse as she grows or clear completely. Her immune system response was only a 17, so he said that was good. He said usually it will be in the 100s with someone with allergic eczema.

I want to throw my hands up in :. But, it has been a year that we have been treating her as a child allergic to dairy, so that is hard. He said that there is no reason to keep it from her anymore. We eat traditional foods, so that will make cooking much easier for me. It is just hard to reconcile it in my mind. I don't know whether to celebrate yet or not.

[Wugmama]

Is this for your younger baby? If so, I strongly, strongly urge you not to use the elidel. Get online and research it. I wouldn't use it for the older child either, if I were you. But you should at least inform yourself. Obviously the doctor didn't warn you about the serious side effects (surprise, surprise).

Is dairy the only thing you had removed from her diet? It is my understanding that there is no accurate test to show if someone is intolerant to certain foods. I'm not familiar with the tests and results you are talking about. But I will say that based on my own experience and the experience of others I've read about, I would seriously probe on my own (elimanating the top 9 allergens from the diet and keeping a food diary) before giving up on the diet to control the eczema.

I hope you can get to the bottom of it! I really believe that eczema is a symptom of SOMETHING, not just a disorder you just get, and that it needs to be figured out and healed from the inside out. But I certainly don't know everything and my beliefs are colored by my own experiences.

good luck! Keep us updated!
Tracy

[eastkygal]

The Elidel is for my older DD. She will be 4 in August. I have heard the bad things about it, and I plan to research more before slathering her with it. We have done everything natural including elimination diet. Her eczema never got any better. She has had it consistently since she was 6 months old. Her hands are scarred, as they are the worst of it.

I know there is a cause. That's why I can't really celebrate. But, I honestly don't think it is food. Neither DH nor I have allergies, and no one in the family has eczema. DD2 has no allergies either. I truly believe it has been caused by vaccination damage. She had no trouble before that.

We have tried the following natural and/or more natural products to help control her eczema:

Weleda Bodywash and Lotion
Calendula Scent Free Soap
Rescue Remedy Cream
Scent Free Shea Butter Lotion
Renew Lotion (Melaleuca)
Koala Pals Wash (Melaleuca)
The Gold Bar (Melaleuca)
Homeopathic Skin Cream

While we had noticed mild improvement with some of these, none of them helped much at all.

Next in line I have coconut oil to use. I really prefer things to be paraben free and otherwise chemical free, but everything people recommend for her has them. Eucerin, Aquaphor, Cetaphil, etc... for OTC stuff. I haven't used any of these. DD is miserable with this and I have to help her somehow. If it means more or new rx, I'm prepared to deal with it I suppose. Though the cancer risk with the Elidel makes me nervous.

[kjbrown92]

I wouldn't write off food as a cause yet. Since intolerances don't show up on traditional "allergy" tests and a lot of eczema seems to be caused by intolerances. Does that mean she "outgrew" her dog allergy as well? I didn't know kids could do that. Gives me hope for DD1 and her cat allergies.

[eastkygal]

The dog was supposedly the worst allergy. She showed no reaction in any of the three tests including, scratch, injection, and blood.

I'm giving DD dairy today to see what happens. She has been completely dairy free for well over a year. I should see her symptoms worsen soon if she is intolerant. They did a blood test for egg as well to see what happened and neither showed a reaction. No foods showed any reaction on this round of testing, and only dairy showed reaction in her first testing and then only +1. I know intolerances won't show, so I am curious.

[Wugmama]

What did you eliminate, and for how long? My now 20 month old was at one point almost hospitalized for eczema that was so severe, open, weeping and all over her body. When she was 4 months old I did 17 days of only eating turkey, rice, zucchini, pears, yams, olive oil and sea salt. It didn't make a dent.

After doing a lot of gut healing measures, I was actually able to stop wheat and dairy only and see an improvement after about 6 weeks. At that point I was raving to an allergist that she looked "so good". He finally said to me in a serious tone, "She has serious lesions". From that point, as she became clearer, it was easier for me to tell when she reacted to something. It took until 2 weeks before her first birthday to be completely clear.

Now we know she is allergic or intolerant of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, corn, potatos, tomatos, peppers and peas.

She is my 3rd child. Neither myself nor my husband, nor our other children have food allergies. No one in our extended families do either, except one aunt who gets a rash when she eats strawberries.

Nothing topical will help. I know, I think we tried just about everything. What did work the best though was too different things that both had a lot of zinc in them. One was clay based, the other rosewood or something. Both seemed to sooth immediately, and also help heal, especially if we goof up and she breaks out again, it seems to go away faster with the zinc stuff. Like it took me forever to learn all the sources of corn (dextrose, xanthan, etc) so even after we figured it out she would have accidental exposures.

I just really don't want your lo to suffer, which is why I'm sticking my nose in here.

You can see my dd's hellish year here. We would take pics on her "good" days. That is why there are a lot of pics in the beginning (at 6 weeks she was to a dermatologist who said he had never seen one so young with such severe eczema. I asked him if it could be something I was eating, he told me, and I quote, "There are no such thing as food allergies. Eat what you want").

http://www.vimeo.com/1878314

Alethea's first year. (Just in case you watch it, yes my older dd cut her own hair).

~Tracy

[Chinese Pistache]

Another one here that says proceed with caution. Allergy tests don't identify intolerances. You'll need to do an elimination diet/food journal and/or IgG or ALCAT testing. Neither dh nor I have allergies, neither does our extended family. MY oldest child has no issues. The next has mild dairy issues. My 3rd has many food reactions. My last has some food reactions. There seem to be MANY reasons why and genetics is by far the smallest (imo). Was she only dairy free? Did you look at other foods?

[eastkygal]

We did dairy, wheat, soy, egg, but no more than a few weeks at a time. It's been a long time ago. When I was at my wit's end I took her to the allergist for the first time.

I'm so through with this and I want to believe what they said. I want to believe that it isn't an allergy response and we can be done with that sort of thing. I don't think I have the wherewithal to do anything further. I just want it to go away... but I know it won't on it's own.

[Wugmama]

Believe me, while I *do* get down about all the foods we have to forego, all I have to do is take one look at that pic video, or remember the bloody socks, and I'm SO MUCH HAPPIER. It really is worth working through, even though it can take a really long time and be difficult. It isn't easy though. But I'd really suggest you give the ED a try, and especially look into some gut healing. If you already to NT, you are probably pretty good in that area.

I'm reminded of a saying on saw when my mom was dieting, "Nothing tastes as good a thin feels".

Well, I have to say, "Nothing tastes as good as an eczema-free little one feels!"

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

We did dairy, wheat, soy, egg, but no more than a few weeks at a time. It's been a long time ago. When I was at my wit's end I took her to the allergist for the first time.

I have a friend whose daughter had awful eczema, and the culprit was corn. Also, did you take out each of those things separately, or all together? I took DS off dairy, and no change. Took him off wheat and dairy, tried to add dairy back in, and now his reaction is obvious. I think that if you haven't gotten all the reaction foods out, then you might not be able to tell if one food is a problem.

I so understand you wanting to be done. Sometimes I wish for a magic wand, just for a couple of hours!