Would like Help for Son with Eczema Problems

Our daughter had severe eczema as an infant, and our ped. ordered allergy tests, which revealed a life-threatening peanut allergy at 15 months, fortunately before we fed her peanut butter. (she was probably sensitized in utero or while breastfeeding). Definitely see an allergist and get both a skin prick test and a blood test, called the RAST test, which measures allergen-specific IgE antibody levels.

You might be able to control the eczema by identifying underlying allergens. We were told to give her frequent baths, and to use eucerin cream (not the lotion, but the Crisco-like cream), as well as a prescription steroid cream. Before you get a prescription cream, you can try something like cortizone 10 cream. Also, use cetaphil to wash with, not soap. Meijer has a cheaper generic version of cetaphil. We found that wearing all cotton clothes helps, and we switched from Tide to Arm&Hammer free detergent. Tide is the harshest detergent out there.

There's also prescription elidel and protopic that you can try, but we don't use those anymore.

Our daughter is 6 now, and still gets some patches of eczema now and then, but it's much less severe than when she was a baby. Don't know if it will go away completely, just have to wait and see.

Also--ask your doctor about giving him a probiotic supplement. Some formulas now have probiotics (Nestle Good Start Natural Cultures, and I think Similac is making a probiotic version as well). Probiotics have been shown to help mitigate eczema--and they're totally safe.

My 3 yr old has had a mild case since birth. First, stop giving him a bath every night. This actually makes it worse. We skip two nights in between baths. So if we give them a bath on Monday, we bathe them again on Thurs. We use the Aveno baby wash, shampoo and baby lotion. Our doctor prescribed a cortizone creme and we usually only apply that after bath time. It is prescription but you may want to try a little of the OTC stuff. You don't need dreft as long as you use the All Free. And make sure you do not use softener or a dryer sheet. My doctor said the dryer sheets are actually worse than the detergent. Your doctor will probably say he is too young to be tested for allergies and probably won't want to put him on Zyrtec this early but you could ask.

Good luck,

C

Hi M........Your poor little guy!! I had eczema when I was little, and I believe mine was from food allergies. If it were my child, I would try Melaleuca products. They have an awesome lotion called Renew, which is great for eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions. They also have a wonderful laundry detergent that doesn't have formaldahyde in it, like Tide and some ofthe ones that you buy at your local store. Melaleuca has so many safe products, especially if you have little ones. I am a Melaleuca customer, I don't try to push their products, I just believe in them.
Maybe someone here can help you get set up with them, if not, I can help.

It sounds like your little guy is very sensitive. I would definately ask your pediatrician about getting him to an allergist.

Good luck, I hope you can get him (and you) some relief soon. I know it's frustating. Keep us posted!
J.

Your ped should be able to order your son hydrocortisone cream that is stronger than what you would buy over the counter. The colder weather/dry air always seems to irritate it. Put gloves or socks on his hands at night to prevent him from scratching, leading to scarring. Aveeno oatmeal baths sometimes sooth also. Good luck to you and your son.

Hi M.,
Both of my daughters have eczema so i know what your going through. My oldest has been on many different creams, lotions. etc. I use dreft for washing her clothes, I tried the ALL baby stuff and it makes her break out worse. Now for my youngest daughter who is 9 months old I have found a bath soap and cream that works wonderfully. It's called Gentle Naturals by Disney and it is actually called baby eczema cream and body wash. It is expensive but very worth it. Make sure what your buying bc there are a few products and they look the same. Any questions feel free to ask. I do know what your going thru. Also i am a distributor for VEMMA and it is supposed to be great for your skin as well.

I so feel your pain. My 2 yr old daughter also suffers daily because of eczema. We had a blood test for allergies (IgG antibodies) which showed an allergy to over half of the 88 foods. We avoid the major triggers, but there must still be environmental and emotional triggers we don't have all figured out. We have seen our family doctor, a dermatologist, and a naturopath. She also gets a lukewarm bath every night with Miracle Soap II with moisturizer and sea salt. It seems to be the best I found. She also takes supplements including acidophilus, fish oil, Can-sol (ant yeast), digestive enzymes, and Glutagenics (liver support). She is refusing half of the supplements at this point so not sure what to do. I also smear her down with Coconut oil several times a day which is great for skin issues. We also wash her clothes in Dreft and no fabric softner. I'm switching now to Shaklee's brand detergent and house cleaners. I also just bought a shower filter to filter out the chemicals in her bath water. Recently I joined an online eczema parents support group (www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/eczemaparentscircle ). We are trying to avoid the use of steroid creams (hydrocortisone) because of long term effects of skin thinning. Protopic doesn't seem to help. Email me if you have more questions: ____@____.com .

M., my daughter also went through this when she was younger. She had milk allergies and seasonal allergies. She was and still is allergic to fragrances (including things like candles and soaps and lotions). We never tested her for these...just paid attention to her triggers (she also has asthma). When she had breakouts of the eczema we would use a prescription cream that is steroid free...it is called Elidel. That seemed to help her. She is now 7 and has outgrown the eczema (but still has dry skin) and actually outgrew her milk allergy. Though she still can't use anything with fragrances. I wish you luck and there is hope that your son will grow out of this:)