My daughter has bad eczema that occasionally flares up worse than normal. I can't find anything that might be causing the flare ups, everything has been consistent, except maybe her diet. Her most recent flareup happened after Valentines day. She doesn't typically eat a lot of chocolate, it's not her favorite, but obviously she got quite a bit of chocolate for thre holiday, so she has been having it for dessert every day for a week or so. I stared wondering if maybe it was chocolate that is causing her flare ups. Or maybe eggs (I had been serving a lot of egg dishes that week also). So maybe she gets flare ups when she eats too much of those foods too many days in a row. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, would allergy testing be a way to confirm this or just figure it out on my own? Because of the VDay relation thing I wonder about red dye also. (We don't typically eat a lot of candy and "fake" foods except when she gets them from school parties at this time of year.)
Peanuts. My daughter used to have the same thing and her only allergic reaction was eczema. Chocolate is normally produced in plants where other items with peanuts are made, so that might be enough to do it.
Defintely have her tested though to see what aggravates it.
My doctor says that allergies are present in 80% of eczema cases. My son still has eczema and has multiple allergies. We control it with topical meds and avoidance. Cut out what you suspect could be the culprit and see if it improves (but give it a few days to get out of her system).
You might also check to make sure you haven't changed any soaps, detergents, shampoos. Go free and clear on everything.
My daughter has CD and she has the worst eczema I've ever seen when she is exposed to gluten, besides a host of other symptoms. I think a lot of eczema is probably food related, but it very possibly won't show up on an allergy test because it's due to a sensitivity, etc. Even CD doesn't show up as an allergy.
Eliminate everything you suspect, let it fully heal, and then reintroduce those things one at a time (giving at least a week in between.) You'll get your answer!
Milk could also be an issue, that's a trigger for my son. Plus, you have to remember that in the winter it's going to be worse anyway.
We do have a prescription cream for my son that helps but honestly, Aquaphor helps the most. I slather him in it before bed and he always looks better in the morning!
My son has eczema. The areas flare up when he eats egg. He's two years old, and I haven't been willing to have him tested for allergies before now. I still don't know when or if I'll have him tested, maybe once he's spending more time away from us. For now, we treat his eczema and keep him away from the things that we know affect him. And we keep Benadryl and his Epi pen around. We haven't had to use the Epi. We have used the Benadryl.
I would suggest that, until you are ready to takeher in for testing, you do what you already know to do and that is ease her into anything new or rare and watch to see what happens. It could be any or all of those things. It could be a perfect storm combination that you may never figure out.
My youngest sister had terrible eczema on her arms until she reached adulthood. Testing and a diet of basically nothing but lamb and rice helped minimize it for awhile, then getting out of a high-stress home when she was 18 seemed to allow it to go away.
My husband used to get it on his hands. Handling paper seemed to make it worse.
In my experience, allergies can be triggered by an outside irritant or food, but emotional triggers can be important, too, and make the symptoms much worse. I think I have finally "beat" a lifetime of asthma by learning to deal with stresses implanted in my childhood. (Please understand that I'm NOT suggesting you or other family members have caused your daughter's eczema. Those stresses can come from all sorts of directions, possibly including the child's basic personality.)
My daughter's allergy tests at the age of 3yo showed practically nothing, but I know she reacts to certain foods like chocolate. She also cannot use anything with coco butter in it, nor can she have white chocolate. She also reacts to cantaloupe. She had many more food sensitivities when she was younger (she's now 11) but grew out of most of them.
I agree with keeping a food diary, and try an elimination diet, where you eliminate everything you suspect for a few weeks, then add each food in one at a time and see if she reacts to it.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/150473-what-causes-ecze...
I would take her to have the testing done as it will confirm the allergies. Leaving no doubt to if she is allergic to certain things or not. Good luck.
This actually helped me start my search on trigger foods for eczema as my hubby has one little patch!
Kim Kardation was stealing her sisters breast milk to put on the spots. It is suppose to help the flair ups.
My 7-yo daughter has eczema-like reactions from certain shampoos. There have been a couple of kinds that give her red, itchy spots--oddly enough, they are usually the more environmentally responsible shampoos. There is something in there that causes her breakout. We change to something else, and viola! Clears up in a few days. But I know that eczema can be food-related too. Same daughter gets red, raised areas on her face when she eats things with manmade citric acid (gummy snacks for example). Before you subject her to allergy testing, try eliminating one suspected food catalyst from her diet for a 10-14 days. If that doesn't clear it up, remove another suspect. Your doctor will most likely have you try something like this first. Good luck!
My husband has SEVERE eczema. He was tested for every allergy under the sun, and has no food allergies. However, his allergy specialist did tell him that eczema can definitely be caused by food allergies so if I were you, I would have her tested. With testing, my husband did not find a food-borne cause for his eczema, but we did find out he was allergic to a number of environmental allergens. Unless you have her tested, you won't know what to avoid.
There can be a strong correlation between eggs and eczema, according to my son's allergist. Try that first. Dry weather and running the heater a lot also cause flare ups in me and my son.
Yes, I belive that all ezcema can likely be linked back to something ingested.
- Milk
-Dyes
-Chocolat/Peanut butter
-Gluten
- yeast
-Juice
An additive or preservitave.
The list can be endless.. Either, remove the questionable items from her diet so all symptoms go away. Then re-enter the food chain for one item at a time. I would wait a week, see if the ezcema comes back, if not that food might be okay try another one.
You can get testing done. It may or may not show up. I know somone is sure thier child is eating something that is causing his ezcema, but they can not figure it out.
Keep a food diary and see if it happens when she eats specific foods. If you don't notice a pattern, then try an elimination diet. I would remove the biggest known triggers first.
It's not unusual for a food someone didn't appear to be allergic to before to start showing visible symptoms seemingly suddenly.
I would make it a point to talk to a nutritionist in cooperation with an allergist.
Both chocolate and eggs used to trigger my sister's eczema horribly. I would suspect the chocolate first since you say it isn't her favorite. A lot of times we naturally gravitate away from foods that cause irritation in our bodies.
