Eczema

M.Holloway

Patronus wrote: »

Thank you. Yep, using the hoover and cooking can be a nightmare. I am going to see him and will explain that I want to see a dermatologist for allergy tests as well as for advice on my skin. Thanks again.
:beer:

That's exactly what you should do!

If you're having such severe problems then a GP should really refer you onto a dermatologist.

There is always the option for a private dermatologist if your GP is still giving you the run-around.

Another way could be to move GP's to a different borough as they'll hopefully be governed by a different PCT and will have a different ethos towards referrals. Not all GPs offer the same treatments!

Savvy_Sue

a different GP within the same practice may be willing to refer.

scottishpurplefairy

It is such a nightmare living with eczema, people just don't understand how upsetting it is and how much it breaks down your confidence I haven't had a really bad flare up for a couple of years, but at the moment I have a red dry moustache and flakey bits on my eyelids - this is a good day for me! For me a bad flare up means having to take time off work.

I second the Protopic suggestion, I find it more effective than steroids. One really annoying thing with it though is that if I use it on my face it sometimes gives me coldsores :mad: I think this is a rare side effect. Also if you drink alcohol when you have been using it your skin heats up (I just cope with that side effect as it is just annoying rather than makes the flare up worse :beer:) It is also not suitable for use under gloves / restrictive clothing (I realise I am not really selling it well here but it is really good).

The main thing with dry eczema is to moisturise moisturise moisturise all the time, not just a couple of times a day but as often as possible, hourly if you can. I try to use different moisturisers as my skin seems to "get used" to them. Try to get free samples to see which ones don't irritate you, I find commercial products better than most prescription stuff (L'Occitane and Clarins are my favourites but not very MSE! Tescos Wisdom range is also good, and some of Boots own brand stuff) For my body Palmers Coco Butter do a sensitive version that I find good and I can also use Vaseline Intensive Care.

Also, avoid really hot or really warm showers / baths. I use Dermalo (on prescription) bath additive and have a lukewarm bath with only a few inches of water (immersing yourself is a bad idea). Even if it hurts, you have to keep it clean or bacteria gets in through the cracks. Always moisturise the moment you have towel dried (pat don't rub) as water totally dries your skin.

Some people find that holding a bag of iced peas or similar helps with the itch, I find nothing helps with the itch! False nails can help a bit because a) they are more blunt than real nails so less likely to tear your skin and b) you subconciously don't want to damage your pretty nails :rotfl:

Finally, if you can get oral steroids (cortisoidal not like body builders take lol) they are like the holy grail for eczema sufferers. Unfortunately doctors (rightly) don't like to prescribe them because they have loads of side effects if you take them too often and they are only a short term solution. However, clearing it up can help you get back to a state where you can maintain it better. When I had them I couldn't stop looking in the mirror, it was like looking at a different person!

Sorry for the long rambling post, I don't know if any of this will help, it is just my experience.

scottishpurplefairy

gardenia101

.My DD suffered terribly as a small child. It started within days of weaning at 5 months (but my GP insisted it wasn't food related) & we had years of wet wraps, various moisturisers, sleepless nights - I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The only thing that made a difference for her was Protopic (which had just come out at the time & we had to get it from a dermatologist). Within days the itching seemed to stop, which gave her skin a chance to recover & repair. We also continued with moisturisers & the odd wrap if needed. Think we only used it for a few weeks continuously - long time ago now though.

8-9 years later she still gets the itch behind her knees & the skin gets dry if she doesn't moisturise but it is so much better now. The other areas that used to flare up have all disappeared & she doesn't even need to moisturise most of those patches either.

She finds Aveeno products help with the itch too.

I do limit how much dairy & wheat she has as she gets an upset stomach & wheezes if she has too much (but it still isn't food related according to same GP :mad:).

I found this website to be really useful too, & got a few trial samples from them. Best wishes.

Lum

From the sounds of things, your GP is an idiot and you should get a new one. That said most GPs don't understand eczema properly anyway*.

What does your dermatologist have to say about the allergies? Did they do a patch test.


* Last time I made that statement on another forum, I got flamed by someone who is a GP who then later went on to stay, in reply to someone else "Whenever I send someone to a dermatologist they come back on such a confusing array of creams and tablets and stuff I've never heard of".

jackieb

My son has been in hospital for 5 days because he had a bad reaction to a patch test last week. They said an all over body and face reaction probably happens in about 1% of cases. Still haven't had the results though as his skin erupted everywhere.

nanamoo

my son was really bad with his eczema when he was younger, poor mite was covered head to toe and an aromatherapist suggested chamomile oil, it was mixed with sweet almond oil as the carrier and (touch wood) he has hardly had any problems with it since, he has a small flare up now n again with only a tiny patch on his face or in the crook of his elbow

before that my doc had tried so many diff creams, lotions and bath oils etc without any luck, within a couple of weeks of using the chamomile oil his skin was almost 100% clear

GlasweJen

My dermatologist told me that when i shower I should first wash my hair (polytar), then wash my body (dermol), then my face (can use regular there lol), then close off the water flow and rub baby oil into my skin before getting out, patting dry then it's a layer of emollient, then the steroids where they're needed, then the wrap clothes (bandages, a white cotton t-shirt and cotton undies) then my regular clothes.

My eczema is a lot better since doing this and also from wearing the gloves for at least an hour after the creams go on.

yertiz_2

My eldest son , now 21, developed angry red spots (ezcema) all over his chest and stomach around the age of 1 when he was weaned after breast feeding. He also had bouts of diarrhea. GP prescribed hydrocortisone cream which we were reluctant to use at such a young age. The local health food shop recommended Aloe Vera Gel, 100%, which we used 2 or 3 times daily and only bathed him in Aqueous Cream, no soap. Within a week the redness had subsided significantly and had started to heal. We then set about finding out the cause and read loads of info books. Finally we substituted cows milk for soya milk which kept it under control. It also turned out that the cows milk was causing the gastro problems.
Now and then he still gets slight ezcema, seems to be if he is stressed, and he only uses soya milk on cereal. He has learnt also to keep his skin well moisturised.

Savvy_Sue

GlasweJen wrote: »

then the wrap clothes (bandages, a white cotton t-shirt and cotton undies) then my regular clothes.

mercifully no-one ever suggested extra layers to DH: I think he'd boil!!!

yertiz wrote: »

He has learnt also to keep his skin well moisturised.

I've got to say that whatever else you do, finding and using the best moisturiser and moisturising routine for each person's skin has GOT to be the way to go. That, and somehow not scratching the itch, are the two top tips for eczema.

DS2 has a very mild tendency to eczema, but I'm sure it would have been much worse had it not been that about the time he started drying out I read in Exchange (the NES magazine) about strategies for breaking the itch-scratch cycle. We were able to teach him to stroke his skin rather than scratching it.

I breastfed all 3 boys, and he's the only one affected. Interestingly, while I was breastfeeding him I was part of a study to see if excluding cow's milk from MY diet affected eczema and asthma outcomes.