Out of control excema!

[nick&jonmom]

I was wondering if anyone has a remedy for excema (while figuring out which foods are the culptis)?

My 3 1/2 yo ds is scratching himself raw and barely sleeps at night because he is itching ALL the time; it's driving him and the rest of us all crazy! Though my 8 yo ds has severe allergies and I know what they are and how to avoid his allergens, I feel lost with my lo. I have taken him off dairy, but because he has excema still everyday I'm tyrng to figure what else it could be, maybe corn, he hardly eats any wheat, and then from there I'm lost unless it's something obscure that's in the foods he eats, but he eats such random things, that have very differing ingredients.

Anyway, the only thing we've done for his excema is a tepid bath in the evening followed by eucerin cream, but it's not helping. The one time I put cortizone on it he screamed that it burned for a long time until I finally washed it off. I'm thinking of taking him to the doctor but the creams we've had in the past for big ds never really seemed to do much, with the exception of elidel which is now off the market.

Any help would be soooo appteciated!

Thanks!

[WuWei]

Coconut oil at night. Epsom salt baths. Baking soda baths. Lavender essential oil in the bath water. (each of those separately )

Pat

[Mama Mko]

Corn is Alexander's eczema trigger. It's in a lot of things. (Febreeze has corn, many dog foods have corn, many many soaps have corn, corn starch, corn syrup, etc etc.)

We give him Zyrtec for night-time itching. Aveeno Advanced Care lotion has helped us TREMENDOUSLY. We use Method body wash or Aveeno body wash and both have worked well.

Good luck.

[Chinese Pistache]

Does he eat soy products and eggs, in addition to corn? I'd probably do a trial removing those foods, along with wheat/gluten and dairy at the same time. I would think you'd see some results in a week (oh, and keep the dairy out while you do the trial). Then, after his skin clears, add each food back in one at a time (every 4 or so days or until you see a reaction).

The only lotion we've had success with (in soothing, not eliminating eczema) is Vanicream. You get it at a pharmacy, though you don't need a prescription. We give daily baths, that are long (15-20 min to really soften skin), with soap only a couple times a week (we use California Baby unscented body wash), followed by the lotion.

Personally, I wouldn't use coconut oil because you don't want to develop an allergy to it. And with already broken skin, you have to be that much more careful about the potential allergens that come into contact with it.

[WC_hapamama]

Eczema is not just caused by foods. For my kids, environmental allergies (dander, pollen, dust mites, mold, certain fabrics), weather and stress are triggers for their eczema.

FYI, Elidel has not been taken off the market. Both it and protopic have been given black box warnings, which means it should be a medication of last resort that are used for short term only.

My oldest son had awful eczema at that age, that persisted until he was 6, and short, 2 week bursts of protopic were a life-saver. These days (he's almost 12) he just has minor flares that short bursts of triamcinolone acetonide cream takes care of.

With severe eczema, anything medicated, astringent or that contains alcohol burns like crazy.

Consider trying wet wraps... my 6 year old daughter also has eczema, and the wet wraps really helped us kick the worst of it.

Something else you may want to look into is to make sure that your child's eczema doesn't have a secondary infection in it... with my kids' eczema get infected, it's impossible to clear it up, even with topical steroids until the infection is gone.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

Eczema is not just caused by foods. For my kids, environmental allergies (dander, pollen, dust mites, mold, certain fabrics), weather and stress are triggers for their eczema.

.

This is true. Because of our experience, I immediately think food allergies, but it may also be pollen/grass, etc. related. My dd in fact began reacting to grasses this summer and her legs can get quite rashy/scabby if we aren't careful. That said, without a proper food trial (that shouldn't take long, especially since constant bad eczema is more likely to be related to a food that's eaten often as opposed to a more irregular one, like shellfish), I wouldn't rule out food just yet.

[lily7]

You could try Florasone. And then what worked best for me is Natralia cream, you can buy both on iherb.com.

Some people also use bleach baths, I don't really am a big fan of this, but I know every time I had to use it for stains and had contact with it on my hands, my eczema would really get way better, so I know it works...

[mtn.mama]

Our food related eczema triggers were corn and garlic, FWIW.
And contact related eczema triggers are "fragrance" and formaldehyde.

Vitamin D, zinc and EFAs have really helped calm her skin in addition to removing triggers.

When she had a severe outbreak this week, causing hundreds of blisters on her hands, we soaked her in raw apple cider vinegar and then coated her with lavendar oil in water... and it worked wonders.

I can't believe how fast it healed.

HTH!

[ASusan]

triamcinolone acetonide in cetaphil cream is what we use (low dose steroid cream) for eczema that is itching.

If itching is disrupting sleep to a significant extent, I no longer hesitate to use benedryl. We've used it about 4-8 times.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by ASusan

triamcinolone acetonide in cetaphil cream is what we use (low dose steroid cream) for eczema that is itching.

If itching is disrupting sleep to a significant extent, I no longer hesitate to use benedryl. We've used it about 4-8 times.

My kiddos w/ eczema have standing perscriptions for triamcinolone acetonide in Cerave. We can't use cetaphil due to tree nut allergies.

When my kiddos w/ eczema were toddlers and preschoolers, I had no issues with using benadryl or Atarax to reduce the itching and sedate them a bit. They always got really itchy when they were tired, and honestly, letting them claw themselves raw was worse than giving them the medication.

Once we got the food allergies identified, we realized that while yes, that was causing some of the eczema, that the environmental allergies were much more of an issue.

[laralee16]

My grandother used to use this for her ezcema.

http://www.bayercare.com/Domeboro.cfm

I have not used it, so I can nto stay how helpful it would be, but ti is a thought

[riomidwife]

Epsom salt baths followed by castor oil and neem oil, or baths with castor and neem oil. The neem is really excellent for skin troubles.

[nick&jonmom]

Originally Posted by ASusan

triamcinolone acetonide in cetaphil cream is what we use (low dose steroid cream) for eczema that is itching.

If itching is disrupting sleep to a significant extent, I no longer hesitate to use benedryl. We've used it about 4-8 times.

Yes, benedryl, only problem is my lo one, (I'm guessing here) seems to have that paradoxical effect: he gets really restless and has a hard time falling asleep and wakes often (more than he usually does anyway). I did give him zyrtec last night out of desperation and though I'm not sure if it helped much with the itching he did seem to sleep better then on benedryl, if that's possible???

We go to the doctor today and hopefully will get him something that will help. Since his excema is so much worse then it was several months ago I suppose what some of you have suggested, that it may not only be foods he's reacting to. He has had mild excema for a long time now, but has gotten so much worse that it must be pollen or grass or something. Then what though, just daily antihisitmines?

You al lhave given me some wonderful remedies for excema and so I will strat to try them out and fimd what works best for ds! Thanks so much!!!

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by nick&jonmom

Yes, benedryl, only problem is my lo one, (I'm guessing here) seems to have that paradoxical effect: he gets really restless and has a hard time falling asleep and wakes often (more than he usually does anyway). I did give him zyrtec last night out of desperation and though I'm not sure if it helped much with the itching he did seem to sleep better then on benedryl, if that's possible???

Ugh. Some children DO respond to Benedryl by getting more excited.

This from the Dr. Sears website

Give 0.5 mg per pound every 4-6 hours. (See dosing chart) The package doesn't give a dose for under 2 years of age and we don't recommend use under the age of one. The package also gives rather vague doses (one dose for a 2-6 year-old), often resulting in under-dosing. I prefer to calculate the dose by the child's weight. The dose is about 0.5 mg per pound of bodyweight (or 1.25 mg per kilogram). For example, a 25 lb child would get 12.5 mg (25lb X 0.5mg/lb = 12.5mg). This is exactly one teaspoon of liquid or one chewable tablet. This dose can be given every four to six hours. Hint: the dose for Benadryl and Acetaminophen (Tylenol) are the same for the liquid or chewables, i.e. if a child gets one teaspoon of Tylenol, then his dose of Benadryl is also one teaspoon.


SIDE EFFECTS/SAFETY

Antihistamines can cause drowsiness, dry mouth, and sometimes, upset stomach.
Instead of drowsiness, some children will have an opposite effect and get "revved-up". This is more of a nuisance than a medical concern.
Antihistamines can be given with any antibiotic, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, decongestants and cough suppressants.
Should not be given for Croup (dries the air passages).

I'd put the link here, but I think it would take you to a sign-in page. You can google "benedryl, side effects, children" and it's about the 4th link down.

[franklin907]

we have been battling severe eczema with our LO for the last year. Recently, someone posted Dr. Kenneth Bock's book "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics" and this has been an amazing resource for me. I was at the point of feeling like nothing would ever work for us, we've tried everything and anything we've heard of to do topically to no avail. But as a result of this book, I decided my son had a yeast overgrowth. Our doc doesn't "believe" yeast overgrowth occurs, so I found a doctor who does. We just had our appt. with him this week and it was wonderful. He put my son on both nystatin and diflucan for candida and gave us his info on an elimination diet. He also put him on digestive enzymes, in addition to the supplements I already had him on- Vitamins C, D, and E, zinc, B6, EFA's, and probiotics (which he majorily increased the dosage- 50-100 billion vs. the 5 billion we were giving him). The elimination diet consists of eating rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes/yams, lamb, rutabagas, pears, cooked carrots, and cabbage. I'm afraid I'll jinx myself, but in the last three days, I've already noticed a difference. The diet has not been hard for us, either, but ds has so many allergies/intolerances that his diet is majorily limited anyway. Topically, we are doing eucerin and then aquaphor at night, immediately after eucerin and the bath. There is lanolin in them and we were told to avoid because of that, but there were our last resort and have worked really well! I highly recommend checking into the yeast overgrowth, though, and Dr. Bock's book. Good luck, I know how challenging severe eczema is and I am just so hopeful someday soon we will be done with it!

[danielsmommy]

Originally Posted by riomidwife

Epsom salt baths followed by castor oil and neem oil, or baths with castor and neem oil. The neem is really excellent for skin troubles.

I was going to suggest neem oil as well. It has worked wonders for my dd. Her eczema got so bad it literally looked like her head was a helmet with severe itching. One night she was driving herself crazy for about an hour and I finally got up to put some neem on it, we had just gotten it from the herbalist, and within a minute of putting it on she was fast asleep and slept comfortably for the rest of the night! Seriously, it has been amazing for us. We just mix a few drops into some aveeno cream.

[Marlet]

Saw this on new posts. I don't normally post here but popped in to read and wanted to reply.

My BIL had horrible horrible excema when he was a kid. I'm posting so I remember to come back. I'll ask him and my MIL what it was that finally helped. They too tried everything. I wish I could remember the name of what they used (a cream I do believe).

The dr. they were using (now this was some time back as he's mid 20's now) mentioned that a lot of times excema can be estrogen trigged/based. My MIL can't remember the conversation any more since it has been such a long time but maybe that's something to look into. Maybe his natural estrogen levels are just higher than need be for his little body? Not sure if that's helpful to you or not. I just always remember that and that's the first thing I think of when I see these posts.

[Wugmama]

Definitely heal from the inside out, but while working on that do get this:

http://www.purnoisetier.com/en/produ...at%3D531241990

~Tracy

[Foodallergyfairy]

Originally Posted by nick&jonmom

I was wondering if anyone has a remedy for excema (while figuring out which foods are the culptis)?

My 3 1/2 yo ds is scratching himself raw and barely sleeps at night because he is itching ALL the time; it's driving him and the rest of us all crazy! Though my 8 yo ds has severe allergies and I know what they are and how to avoid his allergens, I feel lost with my lo. I have taken him off dairy, but because he has excema still everyday I'm tyrng to figure what else it could be, maybe corn, he hardly eats any wheat, and then from there I'm lost unless it's something obscure that's in the foods he eats, but he eats such random things, that have very differing ingredients.

Anyway, the only thing we've done for his excema is a tepid bath in the evening followed by eucerin cream, but it's not helping. The one time I put cortizone on it he screamed that it burned for a long time until I finally washed it off. I'm thinking of taking him to the doctor but the creams we've had in the past for big ds never really seemed to do much, with the exception of elidel which is now off the market.

Any help would be soooo appteciated!

Thanks!

I have a feeling it is soy allergy. I have had severe eczema since I was a toddler; I'm 28 years old now. I have anaphylaxis to peanuts, most tree-nuts and tofu/soy protein. I have severe eczema from anything soy related so I have cut out all soy derivatives as well. Soy is in EVERYTHING because it pretty much is the modern-day corn crop....even McDonalds and Burger King uses soy flour in all their buns and their cooking is filled with soy. I created a site to help people with this allergy....

www.mayashappyplace.com

click on peanut/soy derivatives on the right.
It is not just in foods...its in lotions, creams, bath products.....you have to start reading ingredients as this is one of the top allergens and it seems more and more people are being diagnosed with this allergy.
It could also be due to any foods he is eating that is 'made on equipment with....' so be aware of that.
As for skin...yes, coconut oil is AMAZING...but READ THE LABEL for soy or peanuts!!!! I went to buy some the other day and was aghast that it was made in a facility with peanuts!!! Found an organic tub of coconut oil by Jarrow Formulas that is PERFECT. DO NOT use Aveeno if you suspect soy allergy!!!! THEY USE SOY IN THEIR PRODUCTS! I'm very allergic to their line. Another great line to try is California Baby...the unscented lotion is what I use and you can find the brand at Target or Whole Foods. I also use Elocon cream which is prescribed (I forgot the generic name but your allergist will know). This cream is very good for the burn-victim type oozey, sticky rashes....I know how it is, believe me. I also take Atarax depending on reactions....if its extremely severe, my allergist puts me on low-dose Prednisone for a span of a week or so.
Also be sure to keep him cool...AC or fan on him at all times. If he sweats, whatever allergen is in his system will come through his pores, repeating the reaction or prolonging it.
Do NOT allow them to skin test or I think its a rast test for soy or peanut. If it is severe he can go into anaphylactic shock..this happened to me when I was two, even after my mom told them specifically not to, it was so rare they were stupid enough to need to see it to believe it. See if you can get a blood test to find out his IgE numbers for Soy and Peanuts (they are in the same legume family but some people are allergic to one and not the other). Have your doc add anything to the list you think he may be allergic to. I would suggest testing for the top food allergy culprits, peanuts, soy, wheat, dairy, eggs...etc. Also remember, that an allergy DOESN'T always show up in a blood test. I have a mild reaction to wheat and my blood test for wheat allergy came back negative as did almonds, which is a mild allergy as well.

I hope this all helps and if you have any questions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to email me at my email addy [e-mail]

Stay strong,

Maya

[WC_hapamama]

Aveeno products are a real problem for people with food allergies... many formulations contain both soy and milk products.

I've heard that Cocoa Butter works really well as a moisturizer too.