Eczema, what is happening to our kids?

[Sandranyc]

My son is 2 1/2 years old and he suffers from eczema. About a year ago, his entire body was covered with eczema from head to toe. Every night he would wake up 2-4 times and scratch himself to the point that his sheets and pillow were covered with blood. It was absolutely devastating for my husband and I to see what he was going through. Like any other parent in this situation, we were on a mission and dedicated to find answers along with a cure. We went to so many doctors, dermatologists and allergists only to find out that my son was only allergic to mustard and eggs. How is it possible that he could only have 2 allergies yet his body was covered with eczema? We tried nearly 20 different cremes and came up empty handed. When the allergist said our last resort was steroids that is when our journey ended with traditional medicine and I became Dr. Mom as they refer to me in my office. I spent countless hours reading books, combing the internet, spoke to anyone who would listen and attended 2 seminars in NYC. Finally I came across a blood test called ALCAT that measured food intolerance testing! I was so excited until I saw the cost. It was almost $1,000! How outrageous that there could only be one test like this in the US and doctors have no clue about it. I continued on my mission and to my surprise I found a lab in England that measured food and non-food intolerance testing! This is it! I finally found what I was looking for. They test 300 food and 300 non-food items along with 80 nutrients to see what the body is deficient in by using DNA from the hair for a mere $95! www.testyourintoleranceusa.com  I was elated and angry at the same time that our country wouldn't offer such a test. I had our entire family tested and the results were amazing. As I suspected with my son, he was lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant and the list went on. The allergy tests never picked up on any of these intolerances yet these items were considered toxic to his body. We finally had some answers but my journey was just beginning. Next I found Pratima Raichur, an ayurvedic skin doctor in NYC. www.pratimaskincare.com She treated a friend of mine's daughter who had eczema and it totally cleared. The cool thing about her is that she has phone consultations so you don't even have to make the trip to NYC! I sent her pix of my son and we spoke. She told me to take him off dairy, gluten, red meat, citrus fruits, seafood, all nuts, tomatoes and anything acidic. The poor kid could barely eat anything! He was already off most of the foods mentioned yet I followed her instructions to the letter. She placed him on several different herbal pills and special oils for the skin including avocado oil and her own concoction of neem oil. She also makes this special "potion" from rare herbs in India that is stricly for eczema. Within one week of her treatment program, my son's body was 95% cleared. No one could believe the before and after photos since they knew how bad he was. It was a miracle and a blessing at the same time. My son began sleeping peacefully through the night again and was happy. It is so sad that most doctors have no clue about eczema and how to treat it. Their quick fix of slapping a creme on the skin and giving steroids is unacceptable. We as parents have to be our own doctors and get our kids well. Doctors thought I was crazy and they patronized me for my "out of the box" way of thinking but I am so glad I didn't listen to them. I stopped at nothing to help my son and now he is in a much better place.

[kjbrown92]

That's great. I never heard of that $95 test. I might do that for myself. I had the ALCAT test done for my two kids with food intolerances (they were only $500 each, which of course is still a lot). I had heard of the York one in England which was also expensive. Did you get the food and nutrition one?

[Sandranyc]

Hello Kathy and thank you for your response. I am very curious what you thought about the ALCAT test....did they meaure non-food items? Actually I had my husband, myself and my daughter tested for everything including the nutrition component. I was shocked at the results for my test because I am the one with the least "Symptoms" yet I had the longest list of intolerances! I couldn't believe it! It was well worth the money I have to say. To give you an idea of the test results, listed below is what came up for my son because I wouldn't want you to spend money if you don't have to. The allergy tests never picked up on the dairy or gluten but this test did and I knew in my heart of hearts that he had issues with these items. The doctors tried to make me feel inferior and that I was nuts to do this test but I have to tell you this test saved my sanity. I knew that I had to trust my gut and keep going despite the lack of support. Good luck and keep me posted!

Food items Food items found to show an intolerance

Apple

Bay leaf

Bread - Rye

Bread - Wheat

Cabbage - White

Cherry

Clam

Goat's milk

Gum Arabic Additive E414. Used in printing, paint

production, glue, viscosity control in

inks. It is main ingredient in soft drinks,

"hard" gummy candies such as

gumdrops, marshmallows and M & M's.

Herring

Jujube fruit Red Date or Chinese Date

Lamb

Laurel

Lettuce - Iceberg

Lettuce -

Radicchio

Mare's milk

Milk lactose This is lactose intolerance

Nettle

Oat flour

Red kidney bean

Sugar beet seed A seed of the sugar beet, often causes

allergies for farm workers

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Swede

Non food items Non food items found to show an

intolerance

Abachi wood dust It is a soft wood used in framing, particle

block and fibre board. It is also used in

boxes, crates, model making and some

furniture components. It is present in

plywood, sauna benches and artificial

limbs. A known cause of Asthma.

Casuarina -

Australian Pine

Common Silver

Birch

Epiccocum

purpurascens

Fungus

Granary Weevil An insect that attacks all small grain and

hard cereal, widely found in the UK

Lovage A spice commonly used in South

European cuisine

Lupin

Maleic anhydride Used in animal feeds

Mixed Grass

pollens (g3,4,5,6,8)

Cocksfoot, Meadow fescue, Rye grass,

Timothy, Meadow grass

Mixed Moulds

(m1,2,3,5,6,8)

Penicillium notatum, Cladosporium

herbarum, Aspergillus fumigates,

Candida albicans, Alternaria tenuis,

Helminthosporium halodes

Mixed Tree

pollens

(t1,3,5,7,10)

Box elder, Common silver birch,

American Beech, Oak, Walnut

Mixed Weed

pollens

(w2,6,9,10,15)

Western ragweed, Mugwort, Plantain,

Ribwort, Goosefoot, Lamb’s quarter,

Scale

Page 3 of 7

Mixed Weed

pollens

(w7,8,9,10,12)

Ox-eye daisy, Dandelion, Plantain,

Ribwort, Goosefoot, Lamb’s Quarter,

Golden Rod

Pityrosporum

orbiculare

Is a yeast fungus that causes skin

problems, can cause cradle cap

Silk waste Used as a filling in bed quilts and winter

clothing

Sweet vernal

grass

Swine serum

albumin

From contact with pigs

Timothy pollen A type of grass pollen

Nutrition

Deficiencies

See attached report for details on where

to find these nutrients, and what illness

and body areas they are associated

with. The information is given just as a

guideline not as a diagnosis.

Chromium

Omega 3 Fatty

acids

Vitamin C

Zinc

Gallic Acid

Page

[brennan]

This is very interesting!  Thanks for sharing.  Dd had eczema but it was easily cleared with a change of soaps/creams, I'm not sure if it was actually eczema or just sensitive, dry skin.  If I have future kids with this problem I will definitely look into these tests.

[Sandranyc]

I am so happy for you! That is great news! Information is powerful and helps us in making decisions so I am glad you found my journey helpful! Good luck to you!

[lovin2bmom2000]

yea!!! I love hear stories of people finding relief. This has been quite the journey for us, and I feel so bad that my ds has spent so much time scratching and so little time just being a baby and having fun.

So glad that you found something to help!

[Ramyach]

  Hai,

         My daughter have the same problem. I had talked patima and i got medicine for 1month. I will start using this medicine from tomarrow. How is your son now?. Are you still using that medicine. I wonder we need to continue?..How many months we need continue...your response really going to help me..