New User with 2 years old and severe eczema!!

[toone2003]

Hi I have never used a forum before and so very new to all this!!

I have a 28 month old who has had ezcema since he was 7 months old when he was treated for an Egg allergy. Myself and family have been struggling to help our son since then...his skin has only got worse over the past 2 years as it started smalla dn is now all over from toes to head and is red, sore and is now infected. We are under the allergy clinic and see an eczema nurse but for the past month he has been getting worse at night so the lack of sleep is getting very stressful!!

We have removed all pets from our house, brough new washing machine ad use NO detergent, running a egg, wheat, gluten, dairy free diet, we use epaderm, diprobase, aveeno, poyltar shampoo, protopic (which works for a while but VERY STRONG) and have the cotton confort clothing for night and now even during the day as I cant go out even to do shopping and he has been wearing scratch mitts for past 18 months...nothing has made his skin any better....infact its getting worse!! I have seen GP so many times and now we had to take him to hospital as his skin has started to smell so we saw emergency centre and they said within 48 hours if no better then we will have to hospitalise him.

I am starting to go crazy with this as its effecting my whole family and now my job...does anyone know of any specialist doctors or centres that I can ask to be refferd to...just going round in circles...any words of wisdom would be great as most of the things I have tried I found on internet!!

Thanks

[yorkie2703]

Hi Toone
I am sorry to hear your son and family our suffering. It is so stressful to have a child with eczema and allergies. It impacts so much on family life.

What test have you had done? Blood test? Skin prick Test?
Was the wheat, gluten and dairy confirmed as an allergy or our you doing diet on the information you have researched online/books etc. The reason I ask I was convinced my daughter had allergies to foods so I was going to exclude dairy but her test showed she had allergies to Soya not dairy. My daughter does have allergies to wheat but not gluten but she pretty much follows a Gluten free Diet without wheat starch. She also has allergies to Melon, Kiwi, Beans, Pulses, Nuts, Airborne, tree, honey, pomegranate, Grass and we our continuing to find more.

Do you find he reacts to certain creams, emollients, steroids – My daughter reacts really badly to epaderm and diprobase the only stuff we can use without a reaction is Aveeno,

Do you wet wrap? Have you been able to get from your GP Tubifast suits/Dermasilk

I found with my daughter the cotton eczema clothing use to make her skin worse. I only use the dermasilk and tubifast as PJs now.

Children are different with their allergies and eczema. What works for one doesn’t work for another? I would spend hours searching the Internet for a cure. I was so desperate to find a cure (everything has a cure surely). As far as I am aware there is no cure you just have to manage it or if you’re lucky grow out of it.

I don’t have any words of wisdom, I am sorry all I can do is talk about is what challenges our daughter has faced with her eczema and allergies.

Our GP wouldn’t listen until I started to a diary of her day and took pictures. I was never able to see the same doctor as most of the time we had an emergency sit and wait.
After reading loads on here I soon realised it very much a postcode lottery to what your GP will prescribe, also referrals to hospital. It took 6 months for us to get the Dermasilk suits on prescription.

I know it is hard to joggle so much; I also have a son who has no eczema or allergies. It changes not only your son life but also the whole families.

Fiona x

[Marcie Mom]

Hi,

Which country are you in? I'm in Singapore and can't help with doctors recommendation but I feel it's best to see experienced doctors in hospitals, that see children and with a specialization in either allergy/dermatology/immunology. I don't recommend GPs or PDs who are not specialised, as they will be less aware of updates in this area.

Sorry to hear of bad eczema and you've surely taken care of many aspects of managing the eczema. I can think of what has worked well for my girl is:
1. A one-time oral steroid course prescribed by very experienced doctor helped her.
2. Swimming and applying chlorhexidine (anti-septic) to kill staph bacteria also helps.
3. Certain ingredients are top allergen, maybe re-assess the creams you use; the top allergens listed in my blog as ranked by a doctor, which I copied below for you are:
Perfume/ Fragrance
Preservatives
Parabens – Methyl, Ethyl , Propyl, Butyl Paraben
Propylene Glycol – 1,2 Propanediol
Lanolin – Lanolin alcohol, Wool Alcohol
Colorant/Dye
Conventional emulsifiers Decyl
Mineral oils
Paraffin
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate

[Anita1975]

HI Toone

I have absolutely no advice for you (useful i know!!) because i am going through exactly the same problems as you have described. All i wanted to say was that if you ever need to sound off at someone, Im here and i feel exactly the same hun x

[Jimbob]

Wat country/area are you in? We have a great specialist that is based at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital that I could send the details by private message if you live in Greater Manchester or Cheshire.

[dylan]

Hi Toone and Anita,

My story is exactly the same as yours but I have a successful outcome that had nothing to do with Eczema but everything to do with attitude and a willingness to change household habits.

[worriedmum2410]

Has anyone tried "skintoskin" range of clothing?

I saw them at the Pharmacy show at the weekend, but can't find many reviews online. I spoke to them and they said it was very new to the UK, just wondering if anyone has any experience or whether I should be a pioneer and try it!?!

[yorkie2703]

Hi
we haven't used skintoskin clothing before, do you know what it is made from?

We have bought various different types of ranges of clothing claming to be good for children with eczema but my daughter always did the reverse.
Even down to the breathable organic cotton she just reacted too. Every child is different your child might be ok. I have spent a fortune on clothing but now lucky I get Derma Silk and wetwraps on Precription which both work well under clothing.

Fiona x

[worriedmum2410]

Hi Fiona,

It seems to be made from Cotton, seaweed and Silver... Sounds Intriguing.

I just spoke with someone there, Graham, very helpful and explained that its very new to the UK and test results have been extremely positive!

Bought a baby-Grow and some socks, will come-back and let you know how it goes!

[yorkie2703]

Hi
Yes would be interesting let us know how you get on .
Fiona