My severe Eczema is ruining my day to day life! Help.

Skin, nail and hair health
21

A different approach to eczema treatment:

I started eliminating gluten from my diet around a year ago. I used to suffer reflux on a daily basis and take lots of anti-reflux medication. After going gluten free with my diet, my reflux along with other symptoms disappeared completely. I have to admit my energy levels improved amazingly, and as a consequence of my diet, I'm eating healthier now and it's all good now.

My 9 year old daughter started suffering terrible dermatitis 2 years ago which I have tried to manage with all sorts of medicated creams. Homeopaths, GPs and dermatologists have seen her without reaching any conclusion except prescribing more creams. However, I eventually realized that wasn't taking me anywhere. So I took my frustration to a new GP and asked him to order some blood tests to find out about my gluten intolerance just to confirm that I was gluten intolerant.

Following my visit to this "open-minded" GP, I mentioned to him my suspicion that my daughter may be gluten intolerant or celiac (at this point, I've already read enough paperwork and research from specialist doctors around the world). So he did, because he understood my desperation as a Mum.

In the mean time I put my daughter on a GF diet at the beginning of November 2015. After just 4 days of following the diet strictly, her skin improved dramatically, from severe eczema to a clearer skin. Still long way to go, but it seemed I was on the right track! However, her skin has continued to improve much to my relief and the whole entire family and her skin looks almost clean after 2 months.

Back to the blood tests and they arrived last week and they confirmed she is celiac. What a relief! At least I got an answer to my frustration. Being Celiac means that her life will change forever. No more normal foods loaded with gluten, no lollies, ice creams, biscuits or chocolate amongst others. These days it's easy to find these products in a healthier version, just have a look to the big supermarket chains and you'll find that the healthier food aisle is getting bigger and bigger, including all sort of healthy options for people with food intolerances.

I couldn't let this opportunity pass without recounting my personal experience on this forum. I've read about other parents’ experiences with their kids suffering, especially with skin diseases and after what I've learnt and experienced, I just want to pass the message to those who are going through the same frustrations. Best wishes in your journey.

Ana xx 

22

Tom if you are still out there and suffering. Please try this. After suffering as you are for many years a chance encounter with a skin specialist changed things for me,I was having an awful flare up and he came into the room SMELLED my hair and prescribed me a shampoo (apparently people with eczema produce a type yeast that can cause flare ups) I have not looked back. It is called nidrodal 2% use it as directed even on your eye brows and lashes. Also I use lactos free milk I think it helps

23

Sorry it is called Mizoral 2%

24

Hi, would you update on your child? Is she still off gluten, if so, is she still free of eczema? Best of luck

25

Hi, my daughter is still on a GF diet , it will be a long life commitment for her as she is coeliac. Her skin has improved exponentially since she strictly started her diet last November. No new flare ups, just moisturiser at least 3 times, she also carries a little QV cream with her everywhere.

Although, Hot days are an issue and make her skin feel uncomfortably warm, a cold pack solves the problem and it helps. The redness goes away within hours. Before starting the diet, once her skin got pink rashes , there was nothing to do and it just turned redder in matter of hours and then the eczema was almost uncontrollable, just Advantan relieved a little bit. Now somehow it seems to be under control.

We had advice from the Gastro, allergist and Pedistrician that she won't required an endoscopy as she is already on that diet. Genetic markers for coeliac were recommended as it is an inherited condition.

Her allergist says her gut will improve within a few months and her skin will take a bit longer to heal as long as she continues strictly her diet. I'm happy now that I know the major cause of her illness, diet itself is not an issue as my cooking and dining out is full of fresh ingredients as possible, fruits, veggies and protein are part of the menu. Occasional GF treats make her feel there's no need to be ashamed of her condition. On saying that, her self steem has improved as well. If you have any question please don't hesitate to contact me again.

Thanks for asking, .ana

26

Thank you. I am so happy for both of you. I know how heart breaking it is to watch your child suffer. I am trying that with my boy along with cutting down on meat and adding organic fruits and veggies and anti-inflamatory herbs and plants. Look into Manuka honey from New Zeland. It has 10 times more antimicrobial agents, or so they say. Thank you and Good luck!

27

My daughter had eczema for a few years on her hands and around her mouth. I have tried lots of treatments (cortisone and others ointments prescribed by doctors). All this treatments were useful for a short period and after that the eczema reappeared and the previous treatment were no longer useful.

I have decided to prepare myself an ointment (I am chemist). She applied this ointment on her hands every night before going to sleep, and it is now under control. The skin is a little bit dry, but by applying this ointment things are under control. She depends on this ointment but is the most efficient treatment we have tried so far.

If you want, I could send you a sample and test it, you only have to pay for transportation.

You can trust that this ointment is made in safe conditions and contains natural ingredients. 

28

Hi I have a product that works like a miracle it's or in ally from South Africa it is unbelievable can send before and after picture message me if interested it heals the worst skin conditions

29

Hi I have a product that works like a miracle it's or in ally from South Africa it is unbelievable can send before and after picture message me if interested it heals the worst skin conditions

30

Hi Tom,

have you ever tried coal tar ointment or coal tar based soaps. I too surrered pain of eczema for years to the point were I couldm=nt bend my arms because of the dry inflamed skin. But i tried 5% coal tar ointment which you can get from chemist or through a GP. after just two weeks of using the ointement my skin began to really clear up and within 4weeks the eczema had vanished that was 5years ago and I havent had a flareup since. People actually tell me I have nice skin and some even say the wish they had my skin. If theyt saw me five years ago they wouldn't have said that. 

31

Hi everyone,

My boy starting a massive flare up last November, and was put on hydrocortisone 2.5%. For months he had no or little result. The poor boy, 16 yo, went thru hell and back for months. I insisted on blood allergy test, having an uphill battle with all doctors from the pediatrician, to the dermatologist. He would use the ointment and see some improvement, but then he would have new ones pop. It was like the inflamation had to come out from somewhere, if it wasn't from the old spots, it would show somewhere else. It kept traveling up to upper body, face, and inside eyelids. I won the battle and they ordered a immunocap allergy blood test. A week later the results came back. No allergies to gluten, wheat, nuts, but severe allergy to shell fish, and dust mites, and carpet. One coworker said that she had the same thing, and she was almost immediately rid of the whole eczema symptoms as soon as she had the carpet removed and had wood floor installed. Please look into everything. Meds, acupuncture, herbs, homeopathic stuff are all temporary bandaid. You need to find out what the cause is, or you are going to go in circles for years. 

On another note, the dermatologist had already said that the hydrocortisone was not strong enough to help him. She put him on betametazone. Within a few days he had relief. So far, he's doing so well, he is tapering it down. I plan on changing the carpet to see if we will see complete results. I will post again in a couple months. I thought I should share the test and the results to shed some light. I hope this helps at least some of you. Don't give up and explore different things to find the cause, and not just triggers. Good luck!

32

[shay0708] ★2

shay0708 tomtennant11 • 8 minutes ago

Hi everyone,

My boy starting a massive flare up last November, and was put on hydrocortisone 2.5%. For months he had no or little result. The poor boy, 16 yo, went thru hell and back for months. I insisted on blood allergy test, having an uphill battle with all doctors from the pediatrician, to the dermatologist. He would use the ointment and see some improvement, but then he would have new ones pop. It was like the inflamation had to come out from somewhere, if it wasn't from the old spots, it would show somewhere else. It kept traveling up to upper body, face, and inside eyelids. I won the battle and they ordered a immunocap allergy blood test. A week later the results came back. No allergies to gluten, wheat, nuts, but severe allergy to shell fish, and dust mites, and carpet. One coworker said that she had the same thing, and she was almost immediately rid of the whole eczema symptoms as soon as she had the carpet removed and had wood floor installed. Please look into everything. Meds, acupuncture, herbs, homeopathic stuff are all temporary bandaid. You need to find out what the cause is, or you are going to go in circles for years. 

On another note, the dermatologist had already said that the hydrocortisone was not strong enough to help him. She put him on betametazone. Within a few days he had relief. So far, he's doing so well, he is tapering it down. I plan on changing the carpet to see if we will see complete results. I will post again in a couple months. I thought I should share the test and the results to shed some light. I hope this helps at least some of you. Don't give up and explore different things to find the cause, and not just triggers. Good luck!

33

Hi Tom,

My story is very similar to yours. Saw many doctors and dermatologists up until I was about 25 all of whom gave me creams, bath oils etc (the usual). They all said that it was highly unlikely that my eczema was caused by an allergy or a food intolerance.

At the age of 25 out of desperation I went to see an accupuncurist (A former GP who said he was tired of peddling drugs for the pharmaceutical industry). He told me my condition could be due to my diet.

I went on a very strict diet excluding many common allergens i.e dairy products, eggs, tree nuts, sulphides (food additives) etc and after 2 months of this, my skin completely cleared up.

My advice, as difficult as it may be, is forget about all the creams and oils. Go on a very strict diet that avoids all common allergens and wait for 2 or 3 months and your skin may well clear up completely as mine did. I am now 50 and thankfully have relatively normal skin.

Best regards

Stephen

34

Hi Tom,

I feel your pain. I have suffered from eczema all my life. I would suggest getting allergy testing. I use to use Aveeno as well then all of a sudden I had a reaction.I took the test and come to find out I was allergic to oats which is in Aveeno, Plus a number of other stuff. Also allergy shots did help some. Try taking lot of omegas. My Derm doc suggested Clorox baths. Didn't work for me but you can try it. Also coconut or olive oil helps to soak in a tub. See a derm if you can. I hope this helps you. 

35

Hi, Dave.  I'm interested in knowing what limited diet you're following.  Would you be willing to share?  I'm in the process of trying to figure out what foods I'm allergic to as my dermatoligist thinks that my eczema is caused by something I'm eating.  Thanks so much.  

36

I'm so glad to read threads like yours. They show light at the end of the tunnel.

What else is in the soap or ointment? You mentioned 5% coal tar. Do you remember what else was in it? My boy has eczema, and we've tried dermatologists, allergists and all. No one has given anything but steroids. I would like to be specific about what I want when I take my boy to the doctor. Thank you.

37

Hi Dave,

I wa just curious of you were tested for gluten allergy? My next step is to drastically change my diet because I have tried everything else. I notice I have major ecza flares after drinking beer so my thought was to start with cutting gluten.

Thanks-Melissa

38

Breaks my heart to know so many people are suffering from this condition (including my own son).

​I watched an episode of documentary on CNN about this guy who does research on social issues and makes films.

​In my humble opinion, look into multiple things:

​1. Diet - cutting off gluten if you're not sensitive to it is a waste of time and delay in finding the real culprit. Blodd allergy tests are worthless. We did it and had no success. There is false positive/negative. Eat as pure food as you possibly can.

​2. Find an internal doctor who is willing to get past the SKIN. Skin biopsy might show the real issue. We are in this process.

​3. Look into chemicals around your own home. Cleaning supplies, body wash, detergents. Go over the bottles of any kind and read the ingredients, active and inactive. Fregrance is a generic term they use. It can be any one or combination of over 3000 chemicals. eliminate them. "Natural" doesn't mean anything. Read carefully. Search every chemical name/term. It's a paistaking process, but you do it once. Once you find a minimally created cleanser/etc, you're done. You don't have to do it again.

​4. Carpet.

​5. Throw away any steroid cream. My boy's skin was burned everywhere. He went through hell and back until he was rid of it.

Witnessing my own child go through this I know how hard this is.God bless you. I wish you all the best.

39

Hi there. We have this problem with my 10 yr old granddaughter. Exactly the same as you. A few weeks ago we were at the end of our tether, having tried just about everything. Myself,my daughter and granddaughter were all tearful. Then we met a dermo nurse of the old school. She said that although we had been given creams,etc. no-one had actually given us a proper regime. She promised that if we did exactly what she asked, she could change the condition. Fortunately, it was the summer holiday and my daughter doesn't work, so she was able to carry out the strict routine. Yes it did involve steroids, but applied correctly. What she showed us to do had never been to us before and she.said it was common for Drs and consultants to dish out creams indiscrimanently without advice. At first we were sceptical and it was hard to apply but after 3 days things changed and within two weeks my granddaughter's skin was transformed after years of misery and failed remedies. She sees the nurse every two weeks as the routine has to be adjusted as the eczema clears. Of course, steroids have to be reduced gradually but now it is a matter of maintaining the condition with moisturisers, learning how to deal with flare ups. I am sorry about the length of my answer. There's so much more. My feelings now are that sufferers need an honest,down to earth, experienced nurse who takes the time to explain about causes, correct application of creams and thorough monitoring of the condition

40

Diane, thank you for your post. Please don't apologize for length of post. If you can, please provide me more details. How you started, and progressed. I know that each person responds differently and each has a different level of severity. We can modify and experiment. My son's doctor said feel free not to come cuz I can't help you. He has lost most of the hair on hs leg. It looks and feels terrible. He is looking more and more sad. Please help by telling me what you did, and I promise you I would never hold you responsible. We are desparate. This was our 5th derm. (two allergists, and two internists). God bless you.