"don't find out!" ????

[cicely_m]

my 3 month old has eczema-- probably considered a mild/moderate case, but the doctor recommended antibiotics for it. however, when i asked her about causes, and whether i should go to an allergist, she said vehemently, "don't find out! it's not worth it at her age!" huh? she wouldn't even talk about it any more. this makes no sense to me-- wouldn't it be better to find and control the source???

[kjbrown92]

that just seems silly to me. For instance, my DD gets eczema only when she eats corn, sooo she doesn't eat corn. Look, ma, no eczema. Of course, we had to do an elimination diet to determine that, but it was so worth it to have the eczema gone, she started sleeping through the night (instead of screaming through the night). How can the doctor say it's not worth it? Is it a regular allopath doctor, and she just wants to medicate it? I swear I'm getting to the point where I think the regular doctors just dispense prescriptions. And I've been a big believer in allopaths!

[changingseasons]

I agree- that's crazy!!! Why wouldn't you want to find out the root cause, rather than just treat the symptoms? And if it IS a food allergy- antibiotics will just make them worse by damaging the gut even further. Of course, if abx are needed, then you should do them. But for a mild case it seems kind of silly.

[tanyalynn]

I think your doctor is incredibly unhelpful, but maybe she just doesn't know much about allergies. If she thinks the only thing to do is avoid and wait and wait and wait and hope they get better, she may see a very low success rate. The folks here have a lot better luck with avoidance and digestive enzymes and probiotics and stuff like that, and it seems like the earlier the problem shows up (eczema, allergies, whatever), the more the enzymes and probiotics are important.

[Chinese Pistache]

That's a really upsetting reaction to have from a DOCTOR! I would find a new ped, first, and then, I'd start an elimination diet. 3 months is usually too young for allergy testing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't figure out the allergens with other means. I kick myself every time I think of how long I waited to figure out what was causing my dd's allergic symptoms (from 8 to 15 mths). I was in denial for the longest time, attributing her problems to anything but allergies (I mistakenly believed that if you had no family history of allergies, it couldn't be allergies). Anyway, your ped's advice is so off. We've had two peds and both had advice about elimination (albeit, not complete, but they didn't completely ignore the importance of identifying allergens).

[Handsomesmomma]

Oh that really makes me mad!
My son has suffered since he was the same age and we are still trying to get it under control. We only found out five months ago that he is allergic to several foods and have removed them from his diet and he is still suffering daily. I believe it is also dust and or mold too, but I digress.
Your ped sounds very unhelpful and trust your instinct on this one momma!
If it does not seem right investigate it fully
Good luck to you and I hope it all turns out well

[cicely_m]

update-- i had to see the allergist myself yesterday, and while i was there i showed her dd's eczema and she sent me for a RAST test and single allergen tests. (said they would do scratch tests in another few months.) unfortunately, we had a hell of a time getting the blood drawn-- poor baby! might be a zombie-- blood just didn't flow!!! but after a few tries, they got some blood, which should be enough for some tests. so we'll see!

[elanorh]

Our Ped and allergist both told us that tests are really unreliable when babes are under 12 months, actually even under 24 months. They said the gold standard is always whether there is a reaction when that food is eaten.

So, take test results with a grain of salt. You could have false positives/negatives. If baby's eczema clears with an elimination of dairy/soy or etc., then that's your answer regardless of the test results.