Please Help - DS has eczema

[mamabear18]

DS is 9 1/2 months old and has had eczema on his face, hands, and tummy for aboout 3 months now. Before that I had received 3 courses of antibiotics for mastitis. We tried various probiotics which seemed to improved his digestion but not the eczema. We've been off dairy, gluten, tomoatoes, and a host of other foods, but still no improvement (although my biggest challenge now is keeping it out of his mouth, everytime I turn around he's eating something he shouldn't). We're working with a homeopath and a chiropractor for some ideas, but they are slow going (homeopathy worked wonders for my daughters eczema, but ds's is worse and therefore the process is very slow).

Mainly I'm looking for some ideas to give my dh. DH and i disagree on how to handle the situation. DS gets a lot of comments from the public. The eczema on his face is pretty tough to miss. Everytime someone makes a comment, dh is on me about putting steroid creams on him. I really believe we need to find the trigger and am afraid of ignoring the eczema and having bigger problems hit us in the future. I also feel that if we start the creams now, it will mess up the elimation diet I've been working so hard at.

What has worked for you? Has anyone used steroids and had results? Did the rash return after stopping the steroids. Or have you had to find the cause? Please help, I'm on an emotional rollercoaster with all of this. Thanks so much in advance.

[calebsmommy25]

I'm sorry you are going through this. We have been battling eczema too. We did resort to a prescription cream for a little while, but I didn't notice that much of a difference, so refused to use it any longer. The angel baby lotion seems to calm it, but the flare ups come and go with no apparant rhyme or reason.

I hope you and your family soon find out what is going on. I know it is so difficult. *hugs*

[frontierpsych]

DS was on an oral steroid for his for 3 weeks. It helped, but it came back as soon as he was off it. So far we've discovered he's allergic to dairy and bananas. He's 10.5mo now, and clearing up a little bit-- his skin is actually mostly smooth instead of rough and scaly, though it still doesn't feel like other babies' skin. It used to be all over scabbing and peeling, but now it looks more like dry skin with small patches of eczema.

[frontierpsych]

CeraVe works really well as a moisturizer. You have to get it in the tub, though, not the pump, that stuff is thinned out with alcohol, IIRC

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by mamabear18

I really believe we need to find the trigger and am afraid of ignoring the eczema and having bigger problems hit us in the future. I also feel that if we start the creams now, it will mess up the elimation diet I've been working so hard at.

What has worked for you? Has anyone used steroids and had results? Did the rash return after stopping the steroids. Or have you had to find the cause? Please help, I'm on an emotional rollercoaster with all of this. Thanks so much in advance.

I've gone through the eczema rollercoaster 3 times. Once for myself (I still have occasional flares), once for my oldest DS, and once for my daughter.

In all honestly, I think it's more important to bring the eczema under some kind of control, even if it's using medications, than finding the triggers. It was a lot easier to find the triggers once their steroids helped clear up their skin some.

[mamabear18]

Thanks so much for the replies. It's always good to hear there are others out there going through this too. I'm feeling frustrated because his skin was looking so good for a couple of days, better than it's been since this started and then something seemed to have set it off and suddenly everyone's on me to do the steroids. The rash seems to be improving again, I just have to get him through the itching. Anything that helps alot for the itching? We've tried many creams. Salt water compresses and baths help sometimes.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

In all honestly, I think it's more important to bring the eczema under some kind of control, even if it's using medications, than finding the triggers. It was a lot easier to find the triggers once their steroids helped clear up their skin some.

How so? If the meds are clearing the eczema, how can you identify which of your eliminations is working?

FWIW, I've used steroid cream before, so I'm not opposed to it at certain times (like when you're dealing with a bacterial or fungal infection, too), but to just "control" it on a regular basis? I'm not sure how that would help get to root cause.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by mamabear18

Thanks so much for the replies. It's always good to hear there are others out there going through this too. I'm feeling frustrated because his skin was looking so good for a couple of days, better than it's been since this started and then something seemed to have set it off and suddenly everyone's on me to do the steroids. The rash seems to be improving again, I just have to get him through the itching. Anything that helps alot for the itching? We've tried many creams. Salt water compresses and baths help sometimes.

If you're not ready to eliminate more things or multiple things at once right now, can you keep a food journal just to see if any patterns arise? A lot of people eliminate things here and there with no improvement because they're dealing with multiple allergens. So, if you take out dairy with no improvement, then add it back in and remove corn, it won't do any good if you're child is reacting to dairy AND corn, you know? (Which is what happened to us.)

[kjbrown92]

My DD2 got eczema from corn, which we eliminated (among other things; but corn was the only thing she got eczema from). When I started giving her a probiotic which had citric acid (corn) in it, she didn't get eczema back. She got folliculitis and went through three rounds of abx before I figured out the trigger. So I have no doubt that if I hadn't eliminated corn from her diet, that she'd be much worse off now.

If the eczema started 3 months ago, was it when she started solids (perhaps around 6 months)?

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

How so? If the meds are clearing the eczema, how can you identify which of your eliminations is working?

FWIW, I've used steroid cream before, so I'm not opposed to it at certain times (like when you're dealing with a bacterial or fungal infection, too), but to just "control" it on a regular basis? I'm not sure how that would help get to root cause.

We've used the topical medications in short bursts... usually 2-3 weeks tops. When their eczema isn't infected, those short bursts work well to reduce or clear the eczema.

In my experience, if you have a bacterial or fungal infection in eczema, not even the strongest topical steroid clears it up.... I've BTDT with both of my allergic kiddos.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

We've used the topical medications in short bursts... usually 2-3 weeks tops. When their eczema isn't infected, those short bursts work well to reduce or clear the eczema.

In my experience, if you have a bacterial or fungal infection in eczema, not even the strongest topical steroid clears it up.... I've BTDT with both of my allergic kiddos.

No, I know they clear the eczema. The steroids work really well. But if your goal is to figure out triggers to eliminate them and not just eliminate the symptoms, you won't know what is working if you're using meds.

We've also dealt with yeast and staph (not recently, thank goodness). The steroid cleared the eczema, while other measures cleared the yeast and bacteria (vinegar baths, yeast cream, neosporin). With the eczema under control at the those times, the antifungals/antibacterials weren't as irritating.

[mamabear18]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

If you're not ready to eliminate more things or multiple things at once right now, can you keep a food journal just to see if any patterns arise? A lot of people eliminate things here and there with no improvement because they're dealing with multiple allergens. So, if you take out dairy with no improvement, then add it back in and remove corn, it won't do any good if you're child is reacting to dairy AND corn, you know? (Which is what happened to us.)

I am working on eliminating as much as I can. I started with dairy and gluten three weeks ago and have added more since, like corn, tomatoes, yeast, peanuts, citrus and others. So far, I just continue to add suspects. I've also been keeping a detailed food journal. I know I still have some highly allergic foods, like eggs and nuts that I have not eliminated.

Ultimately I want to stay away from the steroids. I feel like the weeks of journaling and eliminating will be thrown away. I also worry about how it will affect the homeopathy we are doing. I've been trying to explain this to dh and hope he will be patient. I feel awful for ds, but I feel this is the best thing for his future.

[mamabear18]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

My DD2 got eczema from corn, which we eliminated (among other things; but corn was the only thing she got eczema from). When I started giving her a probiotic which had citric acid (corn) in it, she didn't get eczema back. She got folliculitis and went through three rounds of abx before I figured out the trigger. So I have no doubt that if I hadn't eliminated corn from her diet, that she'd be much worse off now.

If the eczema started 3 months ago, was it when she started solids (perhaps around 6 months)?

You're right, this started around 6 1/2 months after starting solids, which he didn't eat much at first but then went on to wanting to eat crackers, chips, and other foods with mixed ingredients, which was my mistake. I found it much harder to introduce foods slowly with an older child around. This is also the time he started being mobile and he is one to eat everything he finds on the floor.
All of this leads be to believe a food sensitivity is very possible.

[mamabear18]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

No, I know they clear the eczema. The steroids work really well. But if your goal is to figure out triggers to eliminate them and not just eliminate the symptoms, you won't know what is working if you're using meds.

We've also dealt with yeast and staph (not recently, thank goodness). The steroid cleared the eczema, while other measures cleared the yeast and bacteria (vinegar baths, yeast cream, neosporin). With the eczema under control at the those times, the antifungals/antibacterials weren't as irritating.

How do you know if you're dealing with yeast or bacteria? I know I've read alot about systematic yeast causing eczema, but am not sure how I might deal with this in a breastfed infant.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

No, I know they clear the eczema. The steroids work really well. But if your goal is to figure out triggers to eliminate them and not just eliminate the symptoms, you won't know what is working if you're using meds.

We've also dealt with yeast and staph (not recently, thank goodness). The steroid cleared the eczema, while other measures cleared the yeast and bacteria (vinegar baths, yeast cream, neosporin). With the eczema under control at the those times, the antifungals/antibacterials weren't as irritating.

I'm surprised that you'd use neosporin on infected eczema. We were specifically told to avoid neosporin and polysporin by both allergists we've seen, and a pediatric dermatologist. They all recommended bacitracin or rx mupirocin. Neither of my kids are allergic to neomycin, but they said something about sensitization to it.

Here's the deal with how we've used the meds in the past... we used them IN BURSTS, not continuously. We'd get anywhere from 1-2 months between those bursts of topical steroids where we could do the sleuth work on little eczema flares. It was easier for us to notice the changes when their eczema wasn't BAD all the time. Definitely easier to notice when a little patch got bigger, rather than when the big, bad patches just got itchier.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

I'm surprised that you'd use neosporin on infected eczema. We were specifically told to avoid neosporin and polysporin by both allergists we've seen, and a pediatric dermatologist. They all recommended bacitracin or rx mupirocin. Neither of my kids are allergic to neomycin, but they said something about sensitization to it.

Here's the deal with how we've used the meds in the past... we used them IN BURSTS, not continuously. We'd get anywhere from 1-2 months between those bursts of topical steroids where we could do the sleuth work on little eczema flares. It was easier for us to notice the changes when their eczema wasn't BAD all the time. Definitely easier to notice when a little patch got bigger, rather than when the big, bad patches just got itchier.

You're right, it was bacitracin, not neosporin. I tend to call all topical antibacterial creams "neosporin." Kind of like "kleenex."

Thanks for explaining more how you used the steroids and why. I wasn't trying to be argumentative. I was just really curious about how that would work.

[WC_hapamama]

With my kids, their eczema went from mild to really bad kind of quickly (within 2 months) when it first appeared, so our goal was to get them comfortable and then worry about fine tuning their diet to find food allergies, as well as figuring environmental triggers. Add in the fact that they've gained and outgrown allergies at the same time, and it keeps things "interesting" (not always in a good way).

My oldest kiddo is almost 12, and we've been dealing with allergies and eczema with him since he was a few month old. By age 7 he'd outgrown roughly half of his food allergies, and his eczema down to a few hot spots rather than large parts of his body.

DD is almost 7, and while she was showing signs of a milk allergy shortly after birth, her eczema didn't pop up until she was 1 1/2. With her I ended up doing a lot of unnecessary food elimination, which is why I tend to be very conservative about elimination diets now.

We've had a lot of trial and error with both kiddos.

I also have 2 kiddos (almost 10 year old DS2, and 3 1/2 year old DS3) who have had only minor eczema and seasonal allergy issues, but no food allergies.

[tanyalynn]

Have you considered adding in a hypoallergenic infant probiotic supp? And/or a less-allergenic probiotic food, maybe water kefir or kimchee (lots of ingredients, yes, hopefully none you're allergic too)? If you feel like the antibiotics were part of what threw your LO out of balance, maybe probiotics would be part of getting him back in balance.

No good advice on discussing it with DH. My DH (different health issues, and not as visible to the world as eczema) didn't push back at my solutions for my health and my kids' health, but one thing, for example, that was part of how I explained things to him was my enviro allergies and my depression. I've used meds at various points for both, and the allergy meds were okay, the depression meds worked well, but neither even attempted to address the underlying reasons for my allergies or depression. And now I'm at the point of wanting to figure out _why_ my body would not work correctly--I don't accept that it's permanent, I want to figure out what I need so that this stops. I think I explained that several times to DH, not because he objected to what I was/am doing, just so he understood.