Hi,
I have a 2 year old son with severe eczema which was originally diagnosed at 3 months of age as severe seborrheic dermatitis, but has turned into something much worst with the overuse of topical steroids. My son has went through severe withdrawal effects since we withdrew him 8 months ago to the point where his skin has peeled off in large layers leaving his entire body completely red & raw. We are now at the point where we can't use any moisturizers on him & believe me we've been through them all caking him in creams & Vaseline 10+ times a day. He appears now to be sensitive to everything. Can anyone tell me what type of fish oil is best & how much a 2 year old will need to treat severe eczema? 1 thing that we have found useful is Botanical Aloe Vera Shampoo. We've been using it in his scalp ever since the withdraw from topical steroids & he hasn't had any flareups & rashes there since & his scalp was really bad. We now know that creams & ointments only suppress symptoms & can eventually cause allergies if used too much. Please only experienced parents respond. We are not interested in anymore topical creams or ointments. We're looking at supplements now. We've been to over 10 doctors & none of them know what they're dealing with. All they keep prescribing is antibiotics for bacteria & fungus.
Yes, we have had over forty allergy tests done & he is only allergic to eggs & nuts. We have tried eliminating all kinds of stuff from his environment. Mind you he was only on formula when this all started & only spent 3 months on cow milk formula before switching to soy. Seborrheic Dermatitis is not usually allergy related. It has something to do with hormones & yeast. My second son had the same rash, but not as bad. We didn't use any steroids just Vaseline & his disappeared by 5 months of age. One last thing... this rash never bothered my son or itched until it spread into his scalp at 11 months of age. His pediatrician chose to put him on a daily steroid compound at 2 months old only because his neck was irritated, but unfortunately we didn't know what was in the compound until we realized that we couldn't cold turkey withdraw him from it.
Thanks everyone for all of your advice. We now have Amir's ezcema under better control with the Melaleuca products that Mimi recommended. He's taking a natural multi-vitamin, Omega 3-6-9, vitamin E supplement for a deficiency, and Renew lotion which seems to be helping out alot.
if using aloe vera gel is working for him, then use that. excema is usually
irritated by anti fungal and anti bacterial creams, but aloe vera is neither of these things.
K. h.
Hi J.,
You're right! The doctors don't tell you what you need to know. Ezcema and most all skin problems are systemic. They come from the inside out. The best thing to start with is a GOOD, absorbable multivitamin/mineral complex. (I can send you some info on one of the chewables I think is best if you'd like.) His immune system is out of whack and you need to start at the basics. There are so many things in our diets and environment that break down the immune system and we all react differently as things build up in our system.
I hate to tell you this but Vaseline is toxic. It is a known carcinogen and is actually banned in Europe. Aloe Vera and/or Melaleuca (high grade tea tree) oil in a lanolin oil base can be used topically but will only assist in his comfort as the healing comes from the inside. Using soap on his little body will exacerbate it as well. Try a glycerin bar. It cleanses but is not harsh. Non toxic laundry detergent will help also. Make sure it is not simply "non-toxic" for the environment but for people too. That's a common thing in most stores. Read the labels.
There are several ways to build the immune system. If you want to go this route, PM me and I can get you some more info.
God bless!
M.
Im so sorry that your dealing with this!!! I can imagine how frustrated you must be feeling. I wanted to respond to ask if you have had him tested for any food allergies. You probably have. My little girl was dx with dermatitis and nothing helped. So I took her to the allergy doc and they found an allergy to soy. Once we took it out of her diet (including the soy preservatives) she cleared up within weeks. Her doc was wrong. But it did look alot like dermatitis though. Best of luck to you!
Just a quick reply to the comment below about Vaseline being banned in Europe... It isn't, at least not in Germany. I can walk to our local Kaufland and pick up straight Vaseline, and petrolatum is included in many other products such as Melkfett and Penaten. According to Wikipedia, petroleum jelly works only as a barrier and isn't absorbed by the skin. Petroleum jelly with zinc is recommended by Fukaya for use during steroid withdrawal if skin needs a little lubrication (http://homepage2.nifty.com/mk45/ad/drmoto_sw.htm and http://www18.ocn.ne.jp/~steroids/eng.html).
My son had mild eczema until a little past age 2. It was not nearly as bad as your son's but it kept reoccuring so I removed dairy from his diet (he also had constipation all the time) and I started giving him about 2 ml of Nordic Naturals fish oil by mouth everyday. Its purified and tastes ok since he doesn't mind taking it in the syringe that comes with Motrin. He does not have eczema or constipation anymore. And his mood is much improved as well! As the other moms asked, have you had him tested for allergies? Sounds like he might have severe ones. I am sorry you are going through this. Try going to a holistic doctor.
poor baby :( i have had some experience with eczema, with myself and my son, although not to this degree. isn't it basically an allergy - induced condition? maybe it would help if you could figure out what his trigger is. i dealt with oozing, painful blisters on my fingers and under my fingernails for about 6 months before i figured out i was allergic to the soap in the bathrooms at my work. dyshidrosis. it's a kind of eczema. and both my son and myself get the regular old "patches of dry skin everywhere" kind. but it's not as bothersome so i haven't delved too deep into the triggers for it. i would look online for fish oil dosages by weight or by age, and go from there. it's pretty harmless stuff. or just take half the dose on the bottle and give to him. only thing is it's NASTY stuff so try to give it to him with a meal. otherwise he will be tasting fish the rest of the day. bleh. at least that's my experience. i figured out my trigger before i could really get too into taking it, so i quit because it was just gross. i have heard a lot of good things about it though. sorry i can't be of more help!
I am so sorry you are going through this. I once cared for a toddler for over two years that had the same thing, and it got so bad that sheets of skin would come off and leave her bleeding everywhere. She was on steroids and told that it was an environmental issue, and the mom spent a lot of time switching everything to cotton. They went through many doctors and ERs and finally ended up working with a holistic practitioner who saw that it was a allergy issue in her diet. They ran numerous tests and found out the toddler was allergic to many different foods. After a year of eliminating the foods, she now is doing great. I hope telling that story helps.
Also, I am not sure about the fish oil, are you going to use it topically or feed it to your child to help him?
That sounds heartbreaking. Our daughter had mild eczema when she was younger. We tried lots of things including the steroid creams and found that none of them worked. Finally we found a couple of things you might want to try.
Firstly, instead of the fish oil you might want to try flax seed meal. It also has the omegas and really helped my daughter. You can buy it in the flour section of many grocery stores or health food stores. We always fed a tbsp or 2 per day mixed in applesauce. We would instantly know if we missed a day.
Also, you might want to try zyrtec. It is OTC now and definitely helps also.
Wishing you all the best.
I have read that coconut oil is great for the skin and scalp and yeast. I have not tried it, but perhaps it is something that will work for your son.
Not sure if this is helpful but flax seed oil cleared up my daughter's eczema.... My mother was also able to control her psorasis via her diet. No red meat, I think no dairy, no wheat or very little. If you haven't already, you might be able to find good information in books like my mother did. She designed the diet based on what she read and her dermotologist was shocked when it worked. I know - last thing you have time for - more research. I'm sorry.
I know someone who used shea butter for her son when nothing else worked for his eczema and it cleared it up totally. Afterwards she began to be an importer for shea butter products because she so believed in its properties, Happy to provide more information if that can help.
Poor little guy - I feel bad for him (and you - trying to deal with that severity!).
Clearly topical things aren't working and you said you have had him seen by 10 doctors. I can only assume most were dermatologists?
My daughter has it too, but again, not as bad as your son.
One of my girlfriends took her severly effected son to a derm. locally and she was REALLY pleased with him. Debunked many ezcema myths and gave her excellent treatment advice. I will get his name and send you a message with it.
She (and now I) have the kids on Omega 3 oil pills. I don't know if you have a wegman's store by you, but they sell at least 10 different kinds of Omega 3's for kids. They have flavored oil pills that my son loves, chewy ones (like gummy vitamins), and liquids. Costco also carries the gummies sometimes.
I have also heard that drinking Aloe vera juice is helpful in eliminating ezcema in some people. You can probably also find that at wegmans (unless you know an Herbalife person).
My two have an odd form of ezcema on their faces. We went to a pediatric dermatologist--I know you say you have been to 10 docs but don't say what kind. My two actually had been prescribed two different steroids since they were very young, but I refused to use them every day as I was scared of that. It was 2 years of the pediatrician telling us to use the same stuff. So we went to someone else. I was very happy with the ped derm and the recommendations made. She is in the Tysons area if you are interested. She may be able to tell you about the fish oil. We do use a new type of Cetaphil (for atopic dermatitis) for bathing. It is a little hard to find but seems to be really helping in that department.
Cold water Omega-3's are the best. I can check a toddler dosage for you. Is he able to swallow capsules? I'm not sure if it comes in liquid form, but that would have to taste terrible! What laundry & bath products do you use? Might they be irritating his skin? You mention doctors - were any pediatric dermatologists? Has he had any biopsies done? My daughter was diagnosed with epidermolysis bulosa symplex at age 14 months, but it took a biopsy to get a definitive diagnosis & rule out a blistering disorder. Hope you get some clear answers and relief for your son soon. Good luck to you!
Ohhh, poor lil guy!! Could you use the aloe vera shampoo on his skin also, since it seems to be working on his head? Have you tried using straight aloe from a plant? Hope he gets better soon!
