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Elimination Diet - Page 2

post #21 of 39
3/4/02 at 8:47pm
Hi Kanga,

Yeah, we got a prescription for the elocon. The literature says don't use it on anyone under 2 years old, which was freaky since dd was 3or4 months shy of 2 when we got it. It's an ointmenty stuff. I don't know how good it is for itch relief right off the bat, they gave it to us because we wanted something that would make the eczema go away after 1 or 2 applications, instead of having to put cortisone on 3 times a day for a week.

We were doing well, and now her skin is awful again, the worst it's been since we moved (from Boulder, CO) to Eugene. I'm not sure what did it this time, since we took her off nighshades completely. She did have bananas, which have always made her constipated, so maybe she's allergic to those too. Or, she did get into some bee and flower jasmine soap, and rubbed it all over herself. (I don't ever actually use soap on her, except to wash her butt. I don't even shampoo her hair, just rinse it out and brush 100x/day with a soft baby brush. She's got lots of hair.) Also, dh switched from almond to soy milk, and she had some. We don't really eat a lot of non-fermented soy stuff.

Also, also, I haven't given her bitter tea for a few days, maybe that really helps. I'll let you know if giving it to her this time makes her clear up again.

The poor thing, I bathed her to hydrate her skin, and then put our regular lotion (the kiss my face) on her, and she screamed bloody murder, ow ow ow. I broke down and did the Cortisone today. We like the Cortisone 10 plus moiturizers. It's a cream, not an ointment. Other kinds have seemed to not work, or to bother her.
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post #22 of 39
3/5/02 at 8:04pm
Hera, I hope your babe is doing better. Our ds is finally starting to show some improvement. I think that it is the dairy and fructose that bothers him so much. He gets a rash all over his face anytime he eats sweet fruits. The ointment our doc gave us was also for kids over two and ds was about 9 mo at the time. She said that it only said not to use it on kids so young because the drug companies don't want to spend money researching the safety of products for kids. She reasured us that she had several patients using it and it worked fine. Needless to say we don't use it much at all.

What are nightshades? A class of food?

Let me know if the tea helps your dd.
Take care
post #23 of 39
3/5/02 at 9:16pm
It's not getting worse anymore... so that's better. I'm glad you are finding some answers, too. Dd has had a hard time with things like mangoes and peaches, that are sweet and acidic, citrus too.

Nightshades are tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and chilis. Also, poisonous stuff like Belladonna.

Your doctor sounds so reassuring.....
post #24 of 39
3/18/02 at 10:26pm

update

Hey, I've been out of touch for a while and just wanted to see how all our babes are doing with their eczxma. Mine looks like he's finally taking a turn for the better. We are still doing no dairy and avoiding sweets and wheat... but what seems to have finally sent him on the road to healing is running the humidifier in our room at night. Every night. He still scratches at his skin at night, but if I can get him lubed up and into long sleeve cotton pjs quickly, he doesn't do to much damage. Also if he's having an especially itchy night I give him some anti-histamine... only have done this three times in the past two weeks. My hope is that once his skin is healed it won't itch so much and we can keep it healthy with persistent moisterizing.b
post #25 of 39
3/20/02 at 3:51pm

Excema diagnosis yesterday

My son was diagnosed with excema yesterday. He's 9 mos. old. Poo.

Luckily, it doesn't seem to be itchy, so that's good. I plan on buying small samples of lots of different creams, lotions, etc. to see what might work for him. Last night I lubed him up with Vaseline, since that seems to help my own dry skin.

I can experiment a little bit while he's not itchy. I guess I'll also keep a diary of what he eats to see what might trigger reactions.

I have been giving him all organic and using cream and soap sparingly, but apparently it still wasn't enough. So I'll eliminate fabric softener sheets.

I seem to see a lot of posts warning against Cortizone cream and steroids. I'm pretty new at this, so can anyone fill me in on these issues?
Thanks,
Rebecca
post #26 of 39
3/22/02 at 11:53pm
I know the frustration of eczema well! My son started with it at 3 months and was soon covered from head to toe. I tried elimination of dairy, then wheat - to no avail. Luckily, we went to Children's Hospital Boston and saw a wonderful dermatologist who was not at all pro-medication. But he did order a RAST allergy screen and thank god he did! We found out that our son is allergic to dairy, wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts, oats, barley and fish. These tests were followed with some skin prick to confirm. Luckily, armed with this information we are totally prepared for any allergy emergencies now. So, I urge you to see an allergist/dermatologist -- screen for one who won't just give you cortisone creams and antibiotics!! We now follow the following regime religiously and my son has clear, comfortable skin...

Elimation diet (all allergens -- it CAN be done, it just takes a while for results, about 4 - 6 weeks)

Skin regimen: Nightly baths with 1/2 capful Balnetar, followed by slathering with Hydrolatum (OTC -- get it from the pharmacist, though), and in rough spots Weleda Calendula Cream. Before he was under control we used HyTone and Bactriban (both scrips) -- it took about 3 months to get off these meds.

To help skin heal (this sounds crazy but it works -- my son was so itchy that he couldn't sleep so the ped tried this and it worked). After Balnetar bath and slathering (and I do mean slathering) with Hydrolatum put a warm wet sleeper on and cover with a dry sleeper. Do this until skin improves, then reduce frequency if you can (we still can't). Even if there is no itching - this can really help the skin heal.

Also, we always put socks on his hands at night so he can't scratch. Good luck!!
post #27 of 39
3/23/02 at 12:43am

T3Mama

your suggestion doesn't sound crazy.

Our ped pointed out that the only place ds doesn't have a rash is his diaper area because it is always humid there. So, actually your suggestion sounds good.

We also run the humidifier religiously. It really makes a difference (especially cuz it's so dry here)

I want to take ds to an allergist too, but I think I'll wait until he is 1 year. I'm not feeling too good about having him pricked tho.
post #28 of 39
3/23/02 at 1:10am
Is eczema always due to allergies? Does it depend on the location of the rash? do your children have other symptoms of allergies?
I'm asking because my 8 mo has a rash on his chest and a little behind his knees. The chest part corresponds directly to the drool/bib area. For awhile there, I had a hard time keeping him dry. At it's worst, it nearly looked like a burn. With cortisone and good lotions, and a little less drool factor, the rash is nearly gone. The skin doesn't look completely normal (a little bumpy and darker) and ds scratches sometimes.
I don't know if I need to start eliminating things or if this will heal itself with time. He is mostly breastfed so I'd have to do the eliminating and so far I haven't identified a pattern at all. I don't want ds to suffer, but if this is a mild case or not allergy related, I don't want to go through it.
What does this sound like to you? Can anyone help?
thankyou
Heather
post #29 of 39
3/23/02 at 4:03pm
OK...here's what I'm trying right now. I had been putting Vaseline on him until I could get into town (we live in a little village). So yesterday I went to the Natural Foods Coop in Sacto. and got some "Natural Value" detergent as well as some "Kiss My Face" olive and aloe.

Today I want to start keeping track of what he's eating so I can see if there is anyting that seems to irritate him. I really, really hoping he doesn't have a lot of allergies. I've kept him off dairy (except for the very rare taste of my ice cream), and he has had a few pinches of my wheat bread. So we'll see.

I looked at the fish and flax oils at the Coop but they are a little to expensive for us right now to get without knowing if he will respond. I wish they had some smaller bottles for samples or somehting.

I wish they had a little icon with crossed and hopeful fingers!
post #30 of 39
3/23/02 at 9:10pm
It took us about 10 days to notice a difference when eliminating something from the diet.

THe other day I ate some crackers (wheat) and now ds eczema is flared up.

sigh..
post #31 of 39
3/23/02 at 11:45pm
T3mama, It sounds like you found much more helpful docs than we did when we were going through that....

Just to check in, dd has been entirely off nightshades for a while and is doing much better, so I'm hoping that we've nailed the big ones finally. I think this gets better with age, too. Eczema gets dangerous sometimes I hear, especially when it goes along with asthma, and all those steroids.... But I think that we are all trying to figure out our kid's allergies, and finding gentle ways to treat the rashes. The big worries are when people just keep feeding the kids whatever they feel like, and use stronger and stronger steroids. It's a downward spiral.

My dd had the clear diaper area, too. I never thought to try a wet sleeper.
post #32 of 39
3/27/02 at 7:10am
My son is 20 months old, has had mild eczema for a while but has just gotten worse on the face...we'll be trying some elimanation on foods. But he also has small bumps on arms and legs, has had them since a baby, along with very dry skin...does anyone know what that is?

ALso, OLIVE OIL is great for the face of a baby with eczema. I dabbed some on ds's face last night at the worst spots and this morning they look 50% better. Very unlikely that olive oil will irritate a baby's skin.
post #33 of 39
3/27/02 at 12:47pm
I don't know what they're called but those little bumps do have a name. My ds has had them all over his body since birth too. I think it's like pre-eczema (for lack of a better term) but I do know that it's part of the eczema story.

I've been thinking about something that leafylady said in another eczema thread. It seems true that sometimes there are invisible itchy spots. My ds has no rash on his head now, but seems to want to scratch the skin off...

hmmm....
post #34 of 39
3/27/02 at 5:02pm
It is interesting reading all the info on excema. I need to do more research, but since so many of you seem like first hand experts, thought I might see if you know the answers to my questions...

My ds is 7mo and started breaking out with little red bumps at about 3mo. His face gets really dry and a little red. The dr. said it's excema. Is this what your ds and dd's rashes look like? My husband has it really bad, seems to be only in the winter. Dr. said it is inherited, is this true, does it mean that other things are not the cause (allergies etc)? The bumps seem to go away after a couple days, I don't want it to get worse, as dh's skin gets sooo bad. I guess I should try an elimination diet, I am nursing.

Any input would be great!
post #35 of 39
3/28/02 at 7:15pm
It is inherited, I had it, my mom had it (actually, she's having her first incidence in years right now!) my paternal grandmother had it..... All of these people and others in my and dh's family have other allergies too. I think that it is allergic, but the way the allergy comes out is inherited.

Try whatever you can think of! I really like this wet sleeper idea, tho it won't help the face much. All I know is, my dd is 2 and I am only now figuring out what sets her off. We actually moved from Colorado to Eugene, in part to get Ana out of the dry air.....
post #36 of 39
4/2/02 at 2:35am

eczema pajamas

There is a English company that makes mitten pajamas and shirts for bigger kids and adults. They also have leggings.

Their web site is currently under construction, but they promptly sent me a catalog.
www.purecottoncomfort.com/


We are looking forward to the arrival of the mitten shirt.
post #37 of 39
4/3/02 at 4:03pm
Does excema always itch? A doctor said my ds had it last winter, and he seems to have it again, but much worse. It doesn't itch though it burns when I put lotion on him.
A week ago I started massaging him with apricot oil. I'm not sure if it is helping. Does anyone know if it is ok to use the oil on excema?
post #38 of 39
4/4/02 at 11:03am
You may have heard that eczema is the 'itch that rashes' - with our ds he would itch primarily before the rash, then after the rash appeared it wouldn't bother him too badly.

In the beginning before I knew ds was so allergic to so many foods (and skin contact with some of them brings on a reaction) I used almond oil -- now I realize it was a big mistake. He is allergic to nuts!! Cold pressed oils can retain the food protein, so if there is a chance that your child is allergic to a food -- the oil may be a problem as well.

I realize not all eczema is allergy/food allergy related, but it might help to double check before using oils. The best product we've found is Hydrolatum (Children's Hosp Boston recommends it). We also now use Dove Sensitive Skin soap.

The other big help for healing for my ds was daily Reiki treatments.

Good luck
post #39 of 39
4/4/02 at 1:47pm
My ds ped admitted to us on our last visit that food elimination CAN be very helpful in treating eczema but he usually doesn't talk about it with the patients or patients parents because most people aren't WILLING to go thru all the effort to do it.

I told him that at the height of my ds eczema I WISH he would have told me and spared ds (and me) the agony of head to toe eczema.


Now ds is doing very well with a dairy, egg, and gluten free diet. He may outgrow these sensitivities, but for now we eliminate.

We just tried "baby therapy lotion" from Little Forest and it is wonderful. If you find a shop that sells it (like your co-op) they might give you a free sample.

I even like this lotion better than the shikai pediatric therapy lotion.

We now use the Little Forest therapy lotion with a coating of A&D on top.