What do I do now to help ds? TED or testing?

[Karamom]

My ds has had severe eczema for almost his whole life (2.5 years) We have tried ED's several times and have never seen any improvement. The last ed being a few months ago where we removed all the top allergens for 6 weeks and nothing happened at all that I could tell let alone getting anywhere near baseline. I would have kept it up for longer than 6 weeks but I was very pregnant at the time as well as breastfeeding him (so I was on the diet as well) and I just couldn't take it anymore.

He is no longer breastfeeding so now it should be a little easier but I feel like the next step would be a TED and I'm not sure I can do that to a picky 2.5 year old. I'm afraid he would starve! Has anyone else done an extreme diet like that with a small child?

I'm wondering if getting some sort of allergy testing would be helpful but I'm not really sure where to start with that. None of our dr.s has ever suggested the idea. Where do you go to get it done? What kind of tests are good/accurate? How much will it cost? We are on a tight budget and ds does not have insurance right now but I would be willing to pull the money from somewhere if it would help the eczema. It makes me want to cry just looking at him and feeling at a complete loss as to how to help him. It gets really bad and keeps him up at night scratching.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you.

[mamafish9]

Poor little guy!

When you pulled the top allergens, did you pull corn? (That's not in the top 8 allergens list, but it is a top 5 intolerance, and I've heard it linked to eczema in a lot of cases).

Also, what are you using on his eczema? Often there are allergenic ingredients in the creams and stuff...

[Karamom]

Yes, we did do corn. We eliminated dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs, soy, corn, nuts, fish and shellfish.

I have tried all different things on his skin. Probably at least 20 different lotions and creams as well as just coconut oil and just olive oil. Nothing made a dent.

I've also used many different kinds of laundry soap currently we are using Charlie's soap with no results and we usually just do plain water for baths.

[Karamom]

I forgot, we also took out artificial colors and flavors.

[mamafish9]

Phew, you've worked really hard at this, I'm sorry you haven't seen any results .

There are moms with a lot more eczema expertise who will hopefully check in on this.

[Theloose]

How about nutrient deficiencies? I saw a folate/B12 deficiency cause eczema in dd, and molybdenum deficiency caused it later. Folate is in lentils, legumes, leafy greens, chicken liver, and you need B12 to absorb it. And a large portion of the population can't use folic acid in supplements effectively. B12 is in animal foods, but if beets turn your pee pink, you're likely not absorbing it due to low HCl. Molybdenum is used by plants for nitrogen fixing, so lentils and legumes are a great source.

some of my notes:
www.detoxpuzzle.com

[Karamom]

I do suspect some sort of nutrient deficiency but I'm not really sure where to start with all of that. I'm mean there are so many things the body needs how do you find out what your missing? We have recently switched over to traditional foods instead of the SAD so I've been really trying to eat nutritionally dense foods and make everything we eat count but DS is a very picky eater so I have not been able to get as much into him as I would like.

Where do I start identifying deficiencies? I know I am low in D so its likely he is also. I've heard of the beet test but kinda confused by it. Do you just eat beets and then look at your pee?
Thanks!

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by Karamom

I do suspect some sort of nutrient deficiency but I'm not really sure where to start with all of that. I'm mean there are so many things the body needs how do you find out what your missing? We have recently switched over to traditional foods instead of the SAD so I've been really trying to eat nutritionally dense foods and make everything we eat count but DS is a very picky eater so I have not been able to get as much into him as I would like.

Where do I start identifying deficiencies? I know I am low in D so its likely he is also. I've heard of the beet test but kinda confused by it. Do you just eat beets and then look at your pee?
Thanks!

pretty much, yeah that's all there is to the beet test.
www.eatingcultures.com might give you a place to start for the deficiencies. I know it's totally overwhelming at first. Ask a bunch of questions, and we'll help as much as we can.

[WC_hapamama]

I remember one of our pediatricians mentioning that a zinc deficiency can cause eczema too.

Which allergens did you pull on the TED? What kinds of things did he eat a lot of while on the TED?

Also, is there a possibility that he may have a secondary infection in his eczema? When my kids with eczema were that age, secondary infections in the eczema were always a problem... and the eczema won't go away while it's infected.

Have you tried wet wraps at all? Those really helped my dd a lot.

[bfw0729]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

Also, is there a possibility that he may have a secondary infection in his eczema? When my kids with eczema were that age, secondary infections in the eczema were always a problem... and the eczema won't go away while it's infected.

Have you tried wet wraps at all? Those really helped my dd a lot.

How do you know if there is a sec infection? How do you treat it? Also, how do you do wet wraps? Sorry for taking over this post, but I too am dealing with a 2.5 year old with severe eczema.
Thanks!