8 Months-chronic severe eczema

[PeonyJen]

Ok, I've been occasionally lurking in this forum for the last several months, but I never post. I keep praying that I can correct everything on my own.
Ha.

History:
Our firstborn son had severe eczema and a peanut allergy. He's ultimately grown out of that.

Second son is 8.5 months old. At 3 months, his seborrhea spread south and covered his face. I deliberately eliminated gluten from my diet, and he cleared up, but the eczema returned. At 4 months, he tested positive to eggs through a skin prick test. I added gluten back into my diet.
At 6 months, I eliminated gluten again, and the eczema cleared AGAIN, until I ate some candy, and it's been back ever since.
I am free of: gluten, citrus, chicken, dairy, eggs, peanut, tree nut, seeds, chocolate, soy, and sometimes corn...and recently, yeast.
I am not rotating foods. I am overwhelmed. I am sad. I eat potatoes, millet, broccoli, ham (hello nitrates), Terra Chips, grass-fed beef, salmon, rice noodles, mother's milk tea. Um, I think that's it. Oh, I just discovered olives. Yippee.

The eczema is primarily on his face and scalp, and itches TERRIBLY. It oozes, bleeds, itches all the time. I've become depressed and generally stay home, whereas we've otherwise always been active.

I've tried a variety of natural and herbal and prescription topicals to no avail, but really, that doesn't matter at this point. I need help finding the cause of this crap.

Supplements for him: enzyme, Carlson's fish oil, FloraBaby probiotic, dye-free Benadryl
Supplements for me: EPO, fish oil, enzyme, biotin, selenium (probably don't need that), and recently ran out of OptiZinc.

My milk supply is down, because I don't eat much, so have been losing some weight. I can't give him solids, because I don't know what the heck he is reacting to.

I have samples of various amino-acid and hydrolysate formulas, but he won't drink them. Then again, we haven't been trying very hard.

I took him to a GI doctor this morning for some stool and blood tests, including RAST, which I know might not be much help anyway.

I would suspect Leaky Gut, right?
Where do I go from here? Although, I love breastfeeding and do not want to stop, I also want to stop so that I can accurately pinpoint reactions from solid feeding him and start eating normally myself.
Looking at the Leaky Gut thread completely overwhelms me. It scares me, because nothing I do works, and I just have this fear of venturing into something completely new yet not seeing any results from more effort.


Seeking advice.

[Chinese Pistache]

s It sounds like you really need them. There is a lot going on with your little one. It's very likely that leaky gut is a problem, but you have to figure out the allergens, too, because continued exposure to them damages the gut.

Here's what I would do. Start over with a total elimination diet. The simplest (imo) is Dr. Sears'. http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041200.asp

If there is anything in your diet now that would give me pause it would be the potatoes (nightshade family is a common allergen), ham (it contains corn derivatives, like dextrose and lactic acids), and the Terra Chips (IIRC, they are fried in sunflower oil; for seed allergic people, that can be a problem). Oh, and I just noticed that you don't avoid corn completely. That would be my first suspicion, personally (it's what my dd is allergic to, and before we identified it, she had horrible weepy, scaly, peeling eczema up and down the back of her legs and under her arms).

I'm curious about the ingredients in your ds's enzyme and probiotics. The choices can be very limited when you're avoiding dairy, soy and corn. I just googled FloraBaby and I can't find out what the inactive ingredients are, but it says it's "pleasant tasting." I would be wondering about a corn sweetener of some sort, like maltodextrin.

[jplain]

Florababy is just probiotics plus FOS, which gives it a very slight sweet taste.
It has no fillers, additives, etc.

The enzyme may have corn in it though. Most do, including Houston Nutraceuticals.
I'm pretty sure Enzymedica makes corn-free digestive enzymes.

Edited to add: how are his stools? My two year old can't tolerate oil supplements right now. They give her terrible diarrhea. They might also have worsened her eczema, but I'm not sure about that. So instead I'm taking extra oils, and I hope she'll get enough from my breastmilk.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by jplain

Florababy is just probiotics plus FOS, which gives it a very slight sweet taste.
It has no fillers, additives, etc.

The enzyme may have corn in it though. Most do, including Houston Nutraceuticals.
I'm pretty sure Enzymedica makes corn-free digestive enzymes.

Edited to add: how are his stools? My two year old can't tolerate oil supplements right now. They give her terrible diarrhea. They might also have worsened her eczema, but I'm not sure about that. So instead I'm taking extra oils, and I hope she'll get enough from my breastmilk.

Enzymedica is corn-free. Good to know about Houston's, though. I thought they were corn free, too.

[Benji'sMom]

Just wanted to add that my DS' eczema is not food related at all and isn't helped by elimination diet. Did your doctor discuss that possibility? (I mean soaps, lotions, laundry detergent, things like that, that could irritate the skin. We even had to get rid of all our carpeting.)

[jplain]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

Good to know about Houston's, though. I thought they were corn free, too.

They use corn-derived maltodextrin as a carrier for the enzymes. To get that info you have to question them very carefully and get the right person on the phone, because many people have been incorrectly informed that Houston enzymes are corn-free.

[karin95]

I agree that you want to make sure you're actually free of small amounts of the foods you're trying to eliminate. the probiotics - are they milk based? We use one that's grown on something random...i forget what...because all the others were grown on milk or soy or fish.

You might want to try eliminating fish (the fish oils) and see if that helps. We used Evening Primrose Oil when we wanted some omegay-goodness.

What prescriptions have you tried? What we found worked great for our son's weeping eczema was 1% OTC hydrocortisone *cream* twice/day AND OTC triple-antibiotic ointment twice/day (at a diff. time than the steroid). Our pediatric dermatologist told us that his face was red and oozy and gross because it was "super-infected". We did the antibiotic on the gross parts and the steroid on all the eczema, and he was free of active eczema within a week. It took much longer for his skin to heal and look smooth and normal, but he wasn't itching anymore really quickly.

We had the CAP-RAST done, as well, and are on a TED (since July) trying to determine if he has other allergies, because we never reached baseline without the hydrocortisone. Though now we're down to 1/2% OTC once/day and 1% once/day.

Good luck and I hope your babe finds relief soooon! That was the reason we broke down and went with the drugs, because our son was so miserable.

[Abylite]

Sorry to hear about all your son's problems. I can relate to a point. 5 months now of eczema, cradle cap, etc.

I'm so hungry all the time! Haven't started solids yet.... gave up dairy, soy and it helps. Haven't been as good with the other stuff. But he's not too bad as long as I esp stay away from dairy and soy.

I use OTC steroid cream when he flares... and I've tried almost every eczema cream out there....no luck except with

Triple Cream...sold at BRU, CVS...etc. I love it. I lube him up 2-3 a day...it's greasy but absorbs pretty quick.

Its a bummer all this skin stuff...I nursed my DD for 18 months...no problems..

[Wugmama]

Too sad and overwhelmed myself to offer much other than

s s s s

to you and your little one.

Some of these thread scare me as well.

~Tracy

[pokeymama]

Someone told me on the ED while Breastfeeding support thread that RenewLife (FloraBaby) is rice-based.

*hugs* I've ecided I need help with my diet (we have eczema, watery/mucousy poop, and waking between sleep cycles) and am seeing a nutritionish tomorrow. *hugs* We are in the middle of bad itching and it's so hard to watch them. We're trying Aveeno ointment for the itching.

[nalo]

Enzymedica...how does one know which product is right? I assume for a 9 month old I would need to take it, not give it to her?? We don't have eczema, just mucous poop.

[sylvana]

Does Mother's Milk tea have fenugreek in it? If so, I would try eliminating that. My daughter eczema would flare up terribly when I was taking fenugreek. Fenugreek is in the same family as peanut.

[hipmummy]

We had the same issue. It was nothing in my diet beside egg and egg only. We had to use a steroid cream. Mometasone and after three day's it was gone. Both my ped and I are very anitsteroid but ds was in bad shape. We figured out the flare ups were after ds's vax's. So we stopped. I rarely think it is caused by what we are eating and there is a lot of new evidence to back up this claim. Also look into one of pp's suggestion of your laundry detergent. Make sure anyone that hold your ds has their clothes washed in the same safe soap. Ds's execma acted up when anyone who used anything scented or with fabric softner. Unless it was free and clear he would react. I would have blankets ready for anyone who touched him or shirts. If you do use a convential detergent then you may need to stip your clothes with borax and rinse with a vinegar in the fabric softner section. I find that 99% of the calls I get regarding "allergies" are more environmental than food. You need to eat what makes you happy and healthy. Of course everything in moderation. Good Luck

[ElliesMomma]

:

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by hipmummy

I rarely think it is caused by what we are eating and there is a lot of new evidence to back up this claim.

Eczema in general? Because that is one of the most common allergic reactions to food in children.

[nalo]

I hope a few of you come back to this thread. I am about to order enzymes from Houston Neut. but see that jplain found they have corn. Corn is not a known intollerance for DD and I am currently consuming it (keep in mind we are not at baseline and still struggling to find answers). Would it just be stupid for me to order these or would the benefit outweigh the potential risk, if she happens to have a corn intollerance? If I decide not to order these then what is the closest non-allergenic formulation to HN's Peptizyde??
FWIW, I am looking at Zyme Prime and Peptizyde for DD.

[joybird]

Doulamary~
You can get both Houston enzymes with cellulose instead of maltodextrin. They're otherwise identical. You'll see them on the website. They were formulated to be compatible with the SCD so there is definitely no corn or rice in them.

[chlobo]

pokeymama,

How was the appointment with the nutritionist. Was she helpful? I am considering seeing one as well.

Mary,

Not sure about the enzymes. I use Houston & have wondered about them as well. I'm considering switching to Enzymedia Digest Gold.

[nalo]

You can get both Houston enzymes with cellulose instead of maltodextrin

yeah, I have the cellulose (from coconut, by the way, for anyone wondering) ones in my shopping cart but the other option is rice bran. so...nowhere does it actually say maltodextrin which makes me not believe that it is absent in any of their formulations (meaning: if it said that in one preparation but not another that would be one thing but jplain says this info is not readily available about the products). I would have bought them already if it weren't for jplain's earlier statement. how can they not disclose something on their website/label? I guess I don't get it. I am personally not hugely concerned with it at the moment but I'll be pissed if I spend all this money on these enzymes only to find out we can't continue using them at some point due to an undisclosed ingredient, YKWIM?

[PeonyJen]

Hi ladies,
Thank you SO much for responding.
I got a little overwhelmed by your responses, had started reading some of the other threads here, and have been pretty busy with doctor's appointments and such!
Honestly, we're going to the doctor 1-2 times/week.
Dermatologist, pediatrician, chiropractor, GI Specialist, and allergist!

So, here's where I'm at, and I need some more advice.

Elliot's RAST came back positive to the following, and GI guy classifies his numbers as "severe".
Egg, dairy, peanut, soy. Mild to wheat and gluten and rice.
I had been avoiding all of those except for rice for MONTHS. Someone here mentioned that our FloraBaby is rice-based. Ooops! I'll be stopping that immediately.
He also has the gene to develop Celiac Disease.

Sadly, we cut out breastmilk COLD TURKEY 8 days ago. Sunday was very, very difficult. He screamed in agony for hours before taking an ounce of Neocate. Last week was emotionally difficult. I desparately want to nurse my baby. At 9 months, he is too young to be stripped of what he needs, and this entire experience has been traumatic. He has also lost weight and doesn't have that 'solid' feel that he once had.
But, his eczema is much better. On day four of Neocate, he started to clear a bit. The clearing isn't as dramatic as the allergist suggested it would, though. So, he could have a dust mite allergy or something. Or the probiotic. We have stopped the enzyme in the last 3 weeks. The eczema is still present and itchy, but it's not RAW AND BLOODY AND OOZING. This, folks, is a big accomplishment. This thrills me. You know what else is thrilling is finally having a huge stash of breastmilk in the freezer!

His GI doctor told me to keep him on the Neocate for 14 full days to heal his gut (to the end of this week) and then re-introduce breastmilk. He said that at that point, his eosinophil count would fall into the normal range. I love breastfeeding and want nothing more than to go back to nursing him. But, it scares me. We've been through absolute HELL. As I'm sure many of you have been.

The eczema has really only been on his face. The few patches on his body are mild and nothing to be concerned about. The face and hands have been the problem. Those are obviously the exposed parts of the body, so environmental sensitivities and/or allergies are a total possibility.

Bottom line is I want to know if I should continue on the Neocate (IF INSURANCE COVERS IT WITH ALLERGIST INTERVENTION). What would you mothers do? Most of you have babies with eczema. If your baby was 9 months old and you saw a change in skin after no ingestion of food protein, would you stop breastfeeding? Or would you continue on the path of breastfeeding whilst trying to heal your baby's gut?
I know I'm missing alot...the correct enzymes, healing myself, rotating foods, more supplments, etc, etc, etc.
But, I feel malnourished and stressed and depressed. If insurance covers this stuff, that's one more load off my mind, so that I can devote more energy to healing him. I do love breastfeeding, though. Love it. My first son weaned himself at 18 months, so I feel like I'm completely cheating this baby.

Please advise.