figuring it out

Randi - posted on 12/02/2008

Thank you. We eliminated eggs and tomatoes for a while gave them to her again and no reaction. Her excema is gone, for now, we'll see what happens when it flares again.

Gina - posted on 12/02/2008

It sounds just like my daughter...she too is allergic to everything reacted to 19/19 scratch test food and environmenal....good news though she is now 5 and her eczema flares are getting so much better. She finally sleeps through the night with no zyrtec. Just had her at the allergist and her casein, egg, and peanut allergy were all down. She may even grow out of the peanut allergy! I think time may be the best answer. I know how you feel. Hang in there. We never eliminated any foods from her diet except peanut and tree nuts..we did switch her to soy milk and laid back on the dairy. I think dairy was a major trigger for her. Good Luck

Randi - posted on 11/22/2008

We have had the test, she's literally allergic to everything.

Amy - posted on 11/21/2008

My son had sever eczema and I was able to controll it with a cream called Cerave. You can only get it behind the pharmacy counter (no precription needed though) because of its price ($17). Try the tub of cream, not the pump lotion. I have only been able to find it at Target and Walmart and they are out of it all the time. They will order all call you when it comes in. It came highly recomended by my son's allergist and he said that it is what some nat'l board of allergists recomends. When ever it starts to flair up again, I put the cream on and it's gone in a 2 days. My son also has a very severe milk allergy and after eliminating milk from my diet (I was breastfeeding) the eczema cleared up a bit more. Each break out now, after removing the milk from his diet, is not as sever as it was before the milk. Also with the clothes, try double rinsing the load and I know this sounds yucky, but with vinegar (not every time!) too. Vineagr cuts through everthing!

Also, my son's eczma would show up 2 days after I would have a meal with heavy milk (like cream based pasta, etc).

Try having the allergist do a full allergy prick test to determine the allergens.

Randi - posted on 11/21/2008

she's on allegra 2x a day works better than dallergy that she was on.

Thank you all so much!

Sarah - posted on 11/21/2008

We have the same issue. Zyrtec at night definitely helps - and during the winter months I give her oatmeal baths. We've never been able to get rid of her eczema by eliminating foods (we've tried and tried). I do find it flares up when she's sick, stressed and around environmental allergens. We make sure she's bathed often (just not with soap, and not more than 10 minutes), we use vanicream to keep her moisturized, zyrtec every night, fragrance free everything, and wash her bed clothes and regular clothes often. She still has it, but it's in check, and not horrible.

Marie - posted on 11/21/2008

That is REALLY hard if all she can eat is chocolate and strawberries without having a reaction. I have since thought of something else. My boys' allergy/asthma specialist put them on Zyrtec at night to stop the itching. If you scratch eczema, it just makes it itch more. And of course, if you are 3 yo, you just scratch it all the more! So, my boys take the Zyrtec (5 mg, which is one tsp) every night before bed. I have noticed they wake up less and their skin is generally better. It also seems to help with their allergy symptoms some during the day. I know we all hate to resort to meds, but -geesh!- you get to a point that you have to help them somehow! And, this is common sense, but my kids' specialist said if you are not noticing a lot of difference in symptoms, stop giving it to them!

I know I haven't been much help, but just know that I know EXACTLY what you are going through and it is EXTREMELY frustrating! Eczema for sure and even allergies is one of those diagnoses that they seem to say, "Um... good luck?" when you ask how to "treat" it. Hang in there!

Randi - posted on 11/21/2008

yup, we've done that.......

Tricia - posted on 11/20/2008

Eczema doesn't have to be a food allergy. It can be environmental. I think that doing the dye free fragrance free laundry route is great. Also, remove any pets--it is hard but a HUGE thing.

Randi - posted on 11/20/2008

It's so frustrating. She is literally allergic to every food they test for except chocolate and strawberries! So, I can't eliminate everything! It's crazy.

Marie - posted on 11/20/2008

With the eczema, I am sure you already have, but I switched to everything fragrence and dye free- bath soap, laundry detergent, etc. I am an air freshener fanatic, but I have tried to cut down to using it only when necessary. Even touching carpet or grass with bare skin causes my boys to flare up. The food was harder. I only know that soy makes it worse in my 4yo. Other than that, I haven't noticed much of a correlation. Good luck finding her trigger! I know how long it can take and how hard it is!

My 2 yo has a lot of GI distress. He had bad reflux as a baby, so I am still trying to figure out if it is allergy related of an actual anatomical issue, ets with his bowel. He has started complaining that his stomach hurts at times and is very gassy. I guess you could use the gas relief drops in the baby aisle for her. I think if you ahve removed all foods that you know she is allergic to, the only other thing to do is keep a food journal and see if you can pinpoint any other allergies she may have. Even that is hard because I have heard that they can react up to THREE DAYS after eating the food!

I know exactly where you are at! I feel I am having the exact same struggles with my 2yo. If you find anything that works, let me know!