Question for mom's with kids with Eczema...

[StaceyKim]

did you get them tested for food allergies?
if they had allergies to certain foods, did eliminating the foods help the eczema? if yes, how long did it take to see a change?
what foods are they sensitive to?


TIA

[Sarah1]

Stacey--

Audrey had quite a bit of eczema her first year. Nothing really severe, but just a lot of small patches here and there. I never had her tested for food allergies, but I never noticed any correlation between foods she was eating and eczema breakouts, and I paid very close attention. The only thing I ever noticed was that when she ate eggs, she would sometimes get a rash around her mouth. That was it.

She outgrew her eczema after a year or so.

HTH :) and hope you are having a great summer! :)

[Elilly]

DD had it behind her knees. I did not have her tested for food allergies based on the eczema but did so for her chronic diarrhea. She's allergic to eggs and shellfish. DS had it all over his chest. He was tested for food allergies b/c of his mucousy, green diarrhea and 1 1/2 lb weight loss. We have no idea what he is allergi to but it is at least milk soy and wheat.
Colleen's eczema is gone. Graham has flares that I cannot explain. He is now on an elemental formula as my elim diet (wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, egg, fish, and corn) did not work and he eats pears, bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes and rice cereal only at 10 months. All in all, he eczema has greatly improved on his new diet but it is still there at times. I would say that we saw a dramatic improvement within 1 week. We use a 1% hydrocortisone cream for his flare ups. HTH.

[lisams]

DD was diagnosed with eczema at around 4 months old. I eliminated dairy from my diet (breastfeeding) and about 2 weeks later the rash had improved. It was rough on me, and at about 7 months I tried a little bit of dairy (cheese) and she was fine. I started slowly adding back dairy into my diet and found that if I had too much (like a cup of milk and ice cream in the same day) that she would have a flare up.

Some other foods I eliminated were nuts and chocolate (again from my diet). I added them back in slowly and once again with the nuts if I ate too much she would flare up. She is over 2 1/2 and I still odn't give her peanut butter, we;ll probably hold off until at least three just because of her history of sensitivity to it.

I think she really outgrew it at around 12 months. She still gets itchy, red cheeks once in a while, but it goes away within a day. Usually it's the environment that causes the flare ups now, like being too hot, laying on a blanket that was washed with scented softener, etc.

I never had her tested for allergies, but was able to single things out by elimintaing the most common triggers and then slowly adding them back to see if the eczema would come back.

HTH!
Lisa

[Wife_and_mommy]

DD had eczema from about 3 months. Hers was in the crooks of her arms/legs and on her face at times. We used Elidel for a few months and I figured out after her first birthday that she's lactose-intolerant. She rarely has a breakout these days.

She does have what I consider chronic diarrhea, though, so I wonder if she's still allergic to something and that's how her body is dealing with it? She doesn't have shellfish or eggs on a terribly regular basis these days but I'll have to check with her doc. It does worry me sometimes that her poop is hardly ever solid.

Thanks for sharing your story! :)


Elizabeth

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Our second morsel due early February 2006!

[miki]

I didn't get any tests for DD. She only has minor flare ups when the air is very dry. I treat it with OTC hydrocortisone and a non-prescription emollient cream my SIL sends me from the hospital where she works. I didn't see any correlation between flare ups and food. She's not allergic to any foods. I still have flare ups and I'm not allergic to any foods so I didn't think allergy testing would be so revealing.

[StaceyKim]

Based on what you have told me I would definitely get your dd a skin test with an allergist. I was shocked at the things my ds was allergic too and he was VERY allergic (4's, when the highest is 5). He gets dry on the backs of his legs and the crooks of his arms as well as little patches on his trunk area.

HTH

[starrynight]

D's eczema is related to her milk/soy allergy. We didn't have to get her tested, we just did an elimination diet. With our insurance getting testing is very difficult for children under 5 so you have to do an elimination diet before they will allow testing if it's just for eczema, they only do them under 5 for hives, anaphylaxsis (I know I spelled that wrong) or if an elim diet doesn't clear it up.

After pulling all milk and soy out of her diet the eczema disappeared. It took a few weeks for it to be totally gone but it started to clear up right away.

[StaceyKim]

Hi Sarah,
How are you holding up? You only have a few weeks to go! I can't wait for you!

Lola had Yo baby around 6 mo and got a breakout around the mouth. I took her to the allergist and sure enough she was allergic to milk. She was tested recently and she is definitely outgrowing the allergy but I need to stay away from milk for 6 months until we test again.

Michael has had eczema since birth but I have noticed that it has gotten worse (except not on his face anymore!) in certain areas. He is constantly scratching. I eliminated the food, so hopefully I will see a significant difference in a couple weeks. The garlic is the hardest part of the whole diet! They don't label it on ingredients..usually says "spices". Ketchup has garlic in it too!

Talk to you soon!

[StaceyKim]

we knew he was allergic to mustard and bbq sauce
and if anything got all over his face (like icing from a cake) he would get hives
i had no idea that the eczema was related until i got him tested!

[Elilly]

Stacy,
What all is he allergic to?

[StaceyKim]

He is allergic to:
garlic
eggs
bbq sauce
mustard
turkey
peanuts

his allergies are not life threatening (at this point) but we are avoiding exposure so he hopefully grows out of it!


eta: if he gets certain foods on his face (ketchup, anything with food coloring in it, jelly, etc.) he gets a hive or hives

[Sarah1]

It's frustrating. Audrey still gets really small patches of eczema on her inner thighs. I have no idea why...fortunately it doesn't seem to bother her much. When it does I just use a 1/2% cortisone cream w/aloe. Let me know how Lola's next test goes...and I will keep you updated on Baby #2's arrival...just a little over 2 weeks to go! :)

[chlobo]

dd used to get small patches but its really bloomed in the last few weeks. We are taking er to the allergist on the 24t. Hopefully he can help us figure out a cause.

[SummerBaby]

Stacy-

This is really timely for us, as my DD (who has had eczema since 2 months) has been getting hives occasionally and I can't figure out what is causing it. I had no idea you could be allergic to garlic or spices! That might explain some of our problems as she always gets hives at lunch, which is when I feed her a baby food "dinner." Did the allergist ever test for garlic, or did you figure it out on your own?

Val
Mom to Madeline
7/28/04

[proggoddess]

DD had some eczema and also some "fish scale skin" as the allergist put it. She was tested at 11 months and she is sensitive to dairy, wheat, sweet potato, but *not* sensitive to dust mites or soy. We also think she is sensitive to eggs and raspberries. Since she has not had hives, just intestinal issues, the allergist said most likely she is not truly allergic to these foods, just intolerant and she will grow out of them.

The eczema responded very well to Elidel, but like everyone else here, we try not to give it to her too often. Hydrocortisone also works well. She had medium outbreaks last year, but only mild ones this year. The avoidance of food has helped somewhat but not completely.

[hellokitty1]

Sydney's had and outgrown her allergies but we still deal with eczema and in fact, it feels like it's getting a little more inflamed around her arms, opposite her elbow. I've seen her scratching in her sleep so I think i need to get the Elidel prescription filled. But those of you who use hydrocortisone - does that work just as well? Should I try the OTC stuff first? And what is the proper percentage to use?

I was also wondering if Elidel is bad when exposure to sunlight is high? i know some of those skin cream type medications don't work well in sun. One more thing, do your kiddos alos have splotchy patches from the eczema as a result of being out in the sun?

Sorry for hiijacking.

[StaceyKim]

My doctor said that eczema gets worse in the heat.
hth

[StaceyKim]

I think based on the fact that he got hives from chinese food, bbq sauce and mustard-the doctor checked for a garlic allergy. Who knows though. I had to answer a bunch of questions and then he tested what he thought was relevant. We tested for 16 things total and of that included the high allergens that most ppl have if they have allergies.
Good luck and keep me posted on things

[Elilly]

We use 1% on his body and 1/2% on his face if needed. For us, it works better than the elidel. Being in the pool and in the sun has helped Graham's eczema. Sorry to muddy the water!

[proggoddess]

The allergist told us that the hydrocortisone is to relieve the immediate itching, but the Elidel would diminish the eczema patch. So when it was really bad, we'd put on both. She's stop scratching and the rash would heal then the Elidel would make it so it wouldn't break out again.