Eczema- wwyd?

biblionerd

The pedi made me feel kind of crazy today so I wanted other food allergy people's opinions. Dd is completely covered- almost head to foot literally in red disgusting patchy eczema. It's horrible.  It started slower and we tried aquaphor and cerave and neither touched it. So she gave me a rx for prednisolone and a topical eucerin/menthol/hydrocortisone mixture. She said to keep her on this hydrocortisone lotion for as long as it lasts-head to foot- and she'd call in a refill if needed. I asked about milk and soy allergies and she just dismissed it. Ds has allergies but never eczema related. She said that babies just get eczema and to see what happens first. I'd rather NOT have to deal with HA formula, but she's miserable and I guess I just want to do everything I can to help her. Is it totally out of the ordinary to switch to HA formula to see if the eczema goes away? Or do you generally just keep treating the eczema and see what happens. I mean it is so bad that she called another dr in for a second opinion. It just seems like so many steroids for such a little baby. 

shotzie

My DD2's eczema cropped up after I was already dairy and soy free. I was really surprised! Just a bit ago, I decided to stop eating nuts and now her skin is 99% clear. I do think it's worth a shot to see if there's improvement with HA formula (or diet changes if you bf, but it sounds like you ff). The derm prescribed hydrocortisone cream, but like you, I was hesitant to give LO steroids. I think it's worth trying other options to see if they help first. Also, if you want to try a different cream, we use Vanicream. It's in a big tub with a pump on top. The derm recommended it and we got it at Walgreens.

goillini823

I think it's totally worth cutting dairy and soy out and see why happens. DD ha horrible eczema as an infant. When she turned 10 months and self weaned we discovered she was allergic to milk and eggs. Once we got rid of that her skin improved dramatically. Shes almost 4 now, and it had been 2 years since she had a major flare up. She is having some some flare ups recently, but also lots of symptoms of environmental allergies. It seems as though her flare ups are now seasonal.  We bathe her in Epsom salt when it gets really bad. That tends to help a lot. 

Lil Kate

Our LO was totally covered in eczema that was open and bleeding @ 3 months old.  My pedi dismissed allergies until I finally refused to leave without a referral to an allergist at his 12 month appt.  They never took me seriously with severe, eczema, vomiting, gass, runny nose, ear infections.  Turns out he had egg, soy, peanut allergies, and a milk intolerance.  We have to use steriods on his skin when he has bad flares ups ( we see a ped. dermatologist and we actually use pretty stong stuff but she is confident the amount we use is ok and not much is absorbed into his systme because the eczema is pretty thick).  I would use the steriod for a few days to give your LO some relief and then try to manage it with oatmeal or epsom salt baths as well as moisturizing like crazy.  we use vamicream and aquphor.  His eczema improved greatly when the allergens were removed but we still battle flare ups.  I think it is a good idea to also start to remove dairy and if it doesn't get better than remove soy too.  I think 1 at a time is better to see which makes a difference....removing soy is so restricting that I wouldn't do it unless removing dairy soesn't work.  GL

penguinem

Switch! My DD had this exact same issue at this age. Pedi had me cut out dairy and it improved immediately. When we were ably to get a blood test we found out wheat, nuts, eggs, corn, and a few other things were an issue and it cleared up almost completely. I just avoided allergens while BF. she still has eczema at age three but skin break outs for her were surely food related. You may need the steroids to clear this up so I would do both, and you can always try regular formula again in a month or two.

HappyMama30

I tried to go dairy free and it made no difference to my daughter's eczema.  She outgrew it eventually, and I did have to use an RX treatment to clear up the terrible, red, oozy patches.  It was so terrible.  My pediatrician suggested we could try to eliminate dairy, but she basically said that it was a small percentage of babies that would actually be affected by dairy coming in through their mother's milk. 

I know it is terrible now, but you little one will most likely out grow the eczema.  BUT, my daughter now was a walnut allergy.  No one can ever know if it is related to her eczema as a baby.

Rachel*Neocate

IMO I would definitely try a hypo formula... are you FFIng now?  What are you using?  THere is a BIG correlation between food allergies and rashes/skin troubles:

The connection between milk protein allergies and skin rashes blog entry:https://bit.ly/mSnwiR

I think it is good to explore all treatement options and switching to a hypo formula (or going on an elimination diet if BFing) is one course of action I wouldn't overlook.  

DS3 has several food intolerances and one of his symtpoms was ezcema, and with soy he would break out into a hive -like rash.  So I've seen it firsthand with my own son. 

Read this story too about a LO with ezcema like you're describing, his was food related:

https://www.neocate.com/blog/neocate-faces-rj/

Hang in there!!!

biblionerd

Thanks so much everyone. She was on similac advanced but was really fussy at feedings, so we switched to similac soy (ds was milk intolerant, but did fine on soy). That's actually when the eczema started. She seemed better on the advanced so we switched back, hoping the eczema would go away, but it didn't and ended up worse. She's on day 3 of her prednisolone treatment. They have prescribed a 12 day course with topical eucerin/menthol/hydrocortisone and both of those together are zapping it pretty quickly. I've decided to just go ahead and see the treatment through and see if we can at least get her skin in better shape. Then when (if) it comes back I will have her write for a hypoallergenic formula. My sister works at a children's hospital and one of the staff drs there told her that's what he would personally do as well. Fingers crossed...