Removed #1 Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 That's right Eczema, I hate you, and I'm not even afflicted by you. We've gone through so many possibilities and...no. No it's not allergies...it's not our detergent...we don't have hard water...it's not the lotion...it's not the baby bath...it's eczema. BAH Poor Baby Guy has horrible Eczema...I've delt with it before, and my oldest son had a mild case of it...but THIS...this is fail. Everywhere his skin touches itself is affected, additionally we can't hold him without a shirt on for more than a couple of seconds because his skin breaks out where your fingers cause it to sweat. The kicker...is except for his diaper area...he is diaper rash free... I feel so bad because at this point we've done everything short of steroid creams and emu oil. I'm opting for the emu oil attempt first. There is a place in town that MAY sell it. The catch? Their office door reads: Hours: By appointment only. Then doesn't give a number anywhere. I don't what an appointment...I just want to know if with all your hippie new age lets massage your feet to cure migraines stuff (could work...dunno, haven't tried it) if you actually sell this product. It can't be stinkier than what we're using now...which is made a slight improvement but it is slight. Benadryl helps with the itching, but doesn't improve the skin. Eucerin (suggested by doc) and the other products we've tried that are for "babies with eczema" have been met with failure. There was a huuuge improvement when I took him into a chlorinated pool, but he HATES cold water...and the nearest heated pool is about 30 minutes a day and runs me $17 for half an hour of time. This isn't even mildly relaxing because I'm holding baby and constantly keeping toddler in the shallows of things...which she objects to severely. His upper gums are swollen in addition and it seems he's prepping to cut his top teeth at some point...can't feel anything getting ready to cut through yet but lord is he moody on top of all this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Less than 24 hours after the Pool: Before the Pool: It is looking better overall and it will start to...and then the humidity in the air will change, the weather will shift just a little and we're back to square one...The doc originally chalked it up to him being allergic to sweet potatoes. Guess whose been off his favorite for I think a month now with no significant improvement? I don't think he's allergic to sweet potatoes. He has red patches like that everywhere...his cheeks, his neck fat rolls, his ankles, wrists, calves, and behind his ears....I just feel so frustrated because I hate seeing him so uncomfortable, and I hate going to a doc for solutions only to get medicinal guesses. ARGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seppun Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Our son has bad eczema as well (he's just about to turn two) and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to tell you that the steroid cream is the only thing that has helped. If you're worried about it, just get the script and only use it on really bad patches. It clears even the nastiest stuff up in a day or two. Try removing foods from his diet for a week at a time (unfortunately with breast feeding that means removing it from yours, too) Wheat has turned out to be the culprit for our son, gluten free lifestyles are a bit easier now than they used to be, thank God. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII using Tapatalk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Our son has bad eczema as well (he's just about to turn two) and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to tell you that the steroid cream is the only thing that has helped. If you're worried about it, just get the script and only use it on really bad patches. It clears even the nastiest stuff up in a day or two. Try removing foods from his diet for a week at a time (unfortunately with breast feeding that means removing it from yours, too) Wheat has turned out to be the culprit for our son, gluten free lifestyles are a bit easier now than they used to be, thank God. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII using Tapatalk. Yeah I've gone to nothing BUT breast feeding...and I've started eliminating things from my diet. There was a really interesting study in a pediatrics journal about eczema and chlorine. It's really the only reason I thought to try the pool when we went...the results were amazing...so much so in fact that they stopped the study and allowed the placeebo group of children to partake in the treatment so they could have some relief. I brought this up with our family care doc and his response was, "I haven't read that one...I'll have to look into it." Without any sort of follow up. He's still fairly certain its the sweet potatoes...*facepalm* We're having improved results with chlorinated water and Johnson's Natural baby lotion, but we're still giving him benadryl at the doctors request for the itching...It's got his cheeks down to where they're just rosy looking rather than painfully oozing....the worst part of his outbreaks are easily his leg pits/ backs of his calves. These start to improve if I put tights on him or leggings ment for little girls (*sigh* he will forgive me...as I haven't taken any pictures of him in such a state) so his skin can't come into contact with himself. I'll start to look into a gluten free diet and see how that does....I don't actually eat very much in the way of it anyways...but I'm grasping at anything at this point as I really hate seeing him so miserable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutsibe Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Steph, as one who has suffered from eczema her entire life, off and on, I sympathize with you both! I think my parents used a chlorhexadine solution on me when I was a kid, but don't think it's available any more... As an adult, I haven't found much in the way of over the counter stuff that's very effective - will have to try to remember chlorinated water! I have found the Emu oil to be more effective than most things - can you order it over the Internet, if nothing else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerad Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 My mother is a nurse, well before she was a nurse she was telling doctors what's what in the office. Point, trust your instincts, you don't need a degree to tell when something is off. Of course continue with doctor visits when needed, but if you think he's got his head up his rear, well let him know he should reconsider, you are the client after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aronoiiel Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 having been suffering from it most my life I can totally sympathize but never has it gotten that bad poor baby Wish I could help in some way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seppun Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Oh, don't worry about the leggings, I have my son wear them for the same reason. Wait for sales at Baby Legs and they have lots of "boyish" leggings that are at least a little better. Aiden's eczema sits in around his ankles and his arm pits the worst, those fat rolls are impossible to keep clear, aren't they? I haven't paid attention to the chlorine, though I certainly will next time. I have noticed that Dandruff shampoo of all things brought some relief (tested this on myself, not him) but I have no clue what ingredient in there is doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollys_mum Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Sorry in advance for the long post but this has been a real nightmare in my household as well for the last 40 years. I too had atopic eczema until well into my teens and I then developed contact dermatitis - probably when, as a teen, I discovered cheap jewellery and household cleaning chemicals. My youngest son was also afflicted with it from about 3 months of age until his teens and he still gets the occasional patch now if he is run down. When he was a baby I had, like you, a real battle with it and I know just how frustrating and heartbreaking it can be to see your child in so much discomfort. On one occasion his was so badly out of control (70 per cent of his body) that I asked my parents to fill a 50 gallon water bottle with sea water from their local beach and drive it 300 miles up to me. I used half and half each evening in the bath tub and soaked him in it for about 10 minutes before letting him to dry off naturally (no towel). During the day I literally kept him in just a nappy and a 100 per cent cotton oversized tee shirt. At night, just a nappy, scratch mitts and a single bed sized sheet. Quite often I would get up during the night and turn the sheet so the foot end became the head end and was therefore cooler. I threw out the soft baby cot sheets and used Egyptian cotton only. The sea water helped dry up the ‘weeping’ parts of eczema (which was most of it) so that we could then address what remained, and for this I used pure coconut oil, and I’d use it like a daily body moisturiser all over the body. He was also on a prescribed antibiotic. I think it took about 2 weeks to clear it completely on that occasion. The idea for the coconut oil came about during a period when my own eczema was so bad on both hands that I actually had green pus coming out from under some of my finger nails. It had got that way because, out of sheer desperation to relieve the itchiness, I used a nailbrush and literally scraped the whole top layer of skin off both hands. My doctor was appalled at me when he saw it. I had, on previous ‘episodes’ tried prescription steroid treatments with only limited success (on tiny patches only) as well as over the counter creams and ointments, but I found that most preparations made my skin feel hot and more itchy so I accepted the oral antibiotics from the doctor and (on the advice of a fellow sufferer) just used coconut oil by pouring it onto the skin and carefully placing cotton gloves on. I had to do this 3 times a day and keep wearing gloves for about 3 weeks. Sorry for the dramatic details above, but I just want to get the point over that when you have infected eczema, your skin feels really, really hot and the itchiness is worse than a bad dose of thrush; it literally makes you want to rip your own skin off. Thus: keeping the body slightly cooler than is ‘comfortable’ is an absolute must. Be very careful with what emollients you use to address the dryness because many preparations actually trap in the heat, making the itchiness worse. The patch on your baby’s face looks slightly infected (shown by the little yellow crusty bits) so it’ll need treating with an antibiotic first. ‘Control’ is probably the key term here where Eczema is concerned since it is something that is likely to be an unwanted passenger for some time. Asthma, Eczema and Hay fever are, incidentally, all related. The chances are, if someone in the family has one of the above, someone else in the family with have one of the others. In the same way that certain chemicals, dusts, house mites etc can trigger or exacerbate an attack, Eczema will also have its own offenders. As others have said, you have to try and establish what things make it worse. In my case, I had to ditch any shampoo, soap, household cleaners etc with harsh chemicals. The cheapest ones have the least! Sadly, it could take a very long time to identify what works for your baby. For the moment you need to concentrate on keeping it under control as infected eczema will spread fairly quickly. Lastly, I know babies love their daily baths, but for eczema babies, even water can dry out the skin so try not to bathe so frequently at the moment (unless it is sea water). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormchaser09 Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have no advice at all, just wanted to say he looks a gorgeous wee boy and I hope you find something to ease things a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Steph, If you can't find the emu oil, there's a place nearby that sells it. I use it on my knees as it takes down the swelling in my arthritis. If you need me to get you some, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EightBelow Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Yeah I agree eczema sucks big time, I've had it all my life, sometimes I'm ok other times its been miserable for years on end. That picture you have posted of him, to me, it looks like his eczema is "infected" mine does the same thing when I'm run down with a cold or something. I get little blisters on the skin of my face then if scratched holy war breaksout. I have to really sit on my hands not to scratch, as molly's_mum said, the skin at those points is really boiling up - or at least feels like it. I found that coldsore cream helps only when it hasn't totally flared up,you have to catch it early. With him being a baby you'd have to watch him as I guess he can't tell you yet when he knows it's happening. It really does feel different to "normal" eczema. When mine goes berserk in this way and I haveto go see the Dr/GP I usually get given antibiotics, but once when I saw an emergency out of hours Dr, she gave a course of antivirals and it cleared up in hours not days. Which lead me to experiment with a tube of coldsore cream. Regards to chlorinated water, I tend to avoid the local swiming pools as it bloody stings lol but then again from what you've said it makes sense to some degree. My little daughter has it bad in the classic places, crooks of arms and knees, so we may both go swimming soon to try out your findings for ourselves. Sunlight is free, and also helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Steph, If you can't find the emu oil, there's a place nearby that sells it. I use it on my knees as it takes down the swelling in my arthritis. If you need me to get you some, let me know. I'll probably be in touch this week if I don't end up ordering it online. Sorry in advance for the long post but this has been a real nightmare in my household as well for the last 40 years. I too had atopic eczema until well into my teens and I then developed contact dermatitis - probably when, as a teen, I discovered cheap jewellery and household cleaning chemicals. My youngest son was also afflicted with it from about 3 months of age until his teens and he still gets the occasional patch now if he is run down. When he was a baby I had, like you, a real battle with it and I know just how frustrating and heartbreaking it can be to see your child in so much discomfort. On one occasion his was so badly out of control (70 per cent of his body) that I asked my parents to fill a 50 gallon water bottle with sea water from their local beach and drive it 300 miles up to me. I used half and half each evening in the bath tub and soaked him in it for about 10 minutes before letting him to dry off naturally (no towel). During the day I literally kept him in just a nappy and a 100 per cent cotton oversized tee shirt. At night, just a nappy, scratch mitts and a single bed sized sheet. Quite often I would get up during the night and turn the sheet so the foot end became the head end and was therefore cooler. I threw out the soft baby cot sheets and used Egyptian cotton only. The sea water helped dry up the ‘weeping’ parts of eczema (which was most of it) so that we could then address what remained, and for this I used pure coconut oil, and I’d use it like a daily body moisturiser all over the body. He was also on a prescribed antibiotic. I think it took about 2 weeks to clear it completely on that occasion. The idea for the coconut oil came about during a period when my own eczema was so bad on both hands that I actually had green pus coming out from under some of my finger nails. It had got that way because, out of sheer desperation to relieve the itchiness, I used a nailbrush and literally scraped the whole top layer of skin off both hands. My doctor was appalled at me when he saw it. I had, on previous ‘episodes’ tried prescription steroid treatments with only limited success (on tiny patches only) as well as over the counter creams and ointments, but I found that most preparations made my skin feel hot and more itchy so I accepted the oral antibiotics from the doctor and (on the advice of a fellow sufferer) just used coconut oil by pouring it onto the skin and carefully placing cotton gloves on. I had to do this 3 times a day and keep wearing gloves for about 3 weeks. Sorry for the dramatic details above, but I just want to get the point over that when you have infected eczema, your skin feels really, really hot and the itchiness is worse than a bad dose of thrush; it literally makes you want to rip your own skin off. Thus: keeping the body slightly cooler than is ‘comfortable’ is an absolute must. Be very careful with what emollients you use to address the dryness because many preparations actually trap in the heat, making the itchiness worse. The patch on your baby’s face looks slightly infected (shown by the little yellow crusty bits) so it’ll need treating with an antibiotic first. ‘Control’ is probably the key term here where Eczema is concerned since it is something that is likely to be an unwanted passenger for some time. Asthma, Eczema and Hay fever are, incidentally, all related. The chances are, if someone in the family has one of the above, someone else in the family with have one of the others. In the same way that certain chemicals, dusts, house mites etc can trigger or exacerbate an attack, Eczema will also have its own offenders. As others have said, you have to try and establish what things make it worse. In my case, I had to ditch any shampoo, soap, household cleaners etc with harsh chemicals. The cheapest ones have the least! Sadly, it could take a very long time to identify what works for your baby. For the moment you need to concentrate on keeping it under control as infected eczema will spread fairly quickly. Lastly, I know babies love their daily baths, but for eczema babies, even water can dry out the skin so try not to bathe so frequently at the moment (unless it is sea water). Yes I've cut back baths a great deal, trying not to keep the house too warm...another thing that makes this harder is that I'm allergic to Aloe so anything with that in it I can't apply without gloves. The patch on his cheek is improving but it's still not going away. Control is so frustrating as the doc really does think it's all about the food he was eating...Was putting tripple antibiotic on it but it wasn't making any difference... Yeah I agree eczema sucks big time, I've had it all my life, sometimes I'm ok other times its been miserable for years on end. That picture you have posted of him, to me, it looks like his eczema is "infected" mine does the same thing when I'm run down with a cold or something. I get little blisters on the skin of my face then if scratched holy war breaksout. I have to really sit on my hands not to scratch, as molly's_mum said, the skin at those points is really boiling up - or at least feels like it. I found that coldsore cream helps only when it hasn't totally flared up,you have to catch it early. With him being a baby you'd have to watch him as I guess he can't tell you yet when he knows it's happening. It really does feel different to "normal" eczema. When mine goes berserk in this way and I haveto go see the Dr/GP I usually get given antibiotics, but once when I saw an emergency out of hours Dr, she gave a course of antivirals and it cleared up in hours not days. Which lead me to experiment with a tube of coldsore cream. Regards to chlorinated water, I tend to avoid the local swiming pools as it bloody stings lol but then again from what you've said it makes sense to some degree. My little daughter has it bad in the classic places, crooks of arms and knees, so we may both go swimming soon to try out your findings for ourselves. Sunlight is free, and also helps Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Atopic Dermatitis Decreases Disease Severity For those interested I believe that's the study published. Yes I thought the same thing too in regards to infection...doctor however disagreed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Just let me know..... Also (off topic) I have some Siberian Iris (baby plants) that I'm shipping out to you tomorrow........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Just let me know..... Also (off topic) I have some Siberian Iris (baby plants) that I'm shipping out to you tomorrow........... NEAAAAAAAAT!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EightBelow Posted May 1, 2012 Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 The patch on his cheek is improving but it's still not going away. Control is so frustrating as the doc really does think it's all about the food he was eating...Was putting tripple antibiotic on it but it wasn't making any difference... Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Atopic Dermatitis Decreases Disease Severity For those interested I believe that's the study published. Yes I thought the same thing too in regards to infection...doctor however disagreed Thanks!! That is a good read. Although not quite tempted to experiment with bleach just yet lol With regards to putting tripple antibiotic on it has your Dr never prescribed antibiotics orally? they wouldwork quicker to get rid of a flare up like that. Or like I said drop antivirals in the converstation, see if they wake up a bit. Eczema is a bitch, it really is trail and error as everyone is different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted May 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Thanks!! That is a good read. Although not quite tempted to experiment with bleach just yet lol With regards to putting tripple antibiotic on it has your Dr never prescribed antibiotics orally? they wouldwork quicker to get rid of a flare up like that. Or like I said drop antivirals in the converstation, see if they wake up a bit. Eczema is a bitch, it really is trail and error as everyone is different. Nope, he's prescribed benadryl (dephinhydramine) and eucerin cream for it, and when I took Guy in hi cheek looked worse than it does in the above pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EightBelow Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 Does it go kind of like this with these types of outbreaks from the "normal" eczema for his skin.. (sorry if the decriptions get a bit graphic but anyone who has seen this condition will know exactly what I mean) 1. slightly raised red area with possible spots/pimples 2. as above but with definate yellow spots/pimples puss filled looking things. 2a, if these get scratched it weeps colourless and really spreads the infection 3. All the remaing intact spots/pimples die off and become scabbed over 4. scabs fall off exposing brand new red/bright pink skin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollys_mum Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 Does it go kind of like this with these types of outbreaks from the "normal" eczema for his skin.. (sorry if the decriptions get a bit graphic but anyone who has seen this condition will know exactly what I mean) 1. slightly raised red area with possible spots/pimples 2. as above but with definate yellow spots/pimples puss filled looking things. 2a, if these get scratched it weeps colourless and really spreads the infection 3. All the remaing intact spots/pimples die off and become scabbed over 4. scabs fall off exposing brand new red/bright pink skin Start from where you are at right now- then work bakwards or forwards...I'm a bit confused as to what it is that you want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #1 Posted May 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 That looks pretty spot on with the exception of 2. There aren't any yellow spots or puss filled looking things...the weeping generally comes from the skin that starts to scab over, and then if it gets scratched rather than falling off we have the clear fluid oozing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EightBelow Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 That looks pretty spot on with the exception of 2. There aren't any yellow spots or puss filled looking things...the weeping generally comes from the skin that starts to scab over, and then if it gets scratched rather than falling off we have the clear fluid oozing Yeah he's scratching before they fill up so goes straight to weeping. There is also a point before 1. where you feel like you have pins & needles on your skin. But he's too young to tell you that yet I'm only asking as I've just gone through my first bout of this, where I had a largish outbreak on my neck and side of face where I didn't end going to the Drs. I had pins & needles/the odd stabbing pain on the side of my face in the evening before bed. Woke up at 4am and the side of my face had errupted. If I don't scratch the inital outbreak areas, it will go through the above cycle and die off in about 4~5 days leaving the pink new skin, so I still look like i've been out fighting or hit some tarmac coming off a bike It's not food allergies or anything it's pure suseptability to infection from the Staphylococcus aureus living on the skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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