Talking Allergies

My daughter has eczema and now that Protopic has had a Health Canada warning we've been extremely vigilent on trying to tame any flare ups. I thought I'd post some of the triggers we've discovered in case there are of some help for other sufferers out there.

1) Sodium lauryl sulfate -- common ingredient in soaps, detergents and shampoos. Finding a soap that doesn't contain SLS has certainly helped

2) Mineral oils -- often part of moisturizers but applying it on any of our children ends up in severly drying their skin out

nothing earth shattering but just sharing.
j

HI.

I just wanted to mention about the whole Protopic thing as my son has ezcema and that stuff was amazing. Since the Health Canada thing came out I've gone to talk to his dermatologist to get more information. I have since gone back to the occasional use of the Protopic once I had all the facts around the warning. I wanted the info right from the horses mouth sort of speak. I would suggest talking to the dermatologist regarding the warning as the media has blown it out of porportion a bit.

I have also found that Emu Oil works wonders to keep his skin moist as well. I can almost control it by using the oil.

I've also found that Aveeno baby lotion worked well.

Anyway, good luck .....ezcema is such a frustrating thing, especially in the spring it seems.

I think that it's up to the person to decide if you can live with the eczema or with the risks. I have never found anything that could take out the facial eczema resulting from my milk allergy except for protopic. Since my allergy is under control, I haven't had to use it in a couple of months, but I would personnaly not hesitate to put it on if I had another flare of eczema... but not for the little daily stuff that can go away with everything else on the market. Personnal opinion of course.

Mylène

One of my sisters has eczema flare ups from time to time. My other sister's naturopath had mentioned that coffee is a "mild toxin" and that it can exacerbate eczema. So my sister with the eczema--who is an avid coffee drinker--decided to cut the coffee to see what happens. She saw a noticeable improvement in less than a week so she figures that she will go off coffee for a month and then reintroduce it in small amounts. (She *loves* coffee so at this point she can't imagine going without coffee entirely.) As far as she knows, she isn't allergic to coffee or anything, although I suppose that this would be another possibility.

I have no idea what is causing my daughter's eczema She's allergic to tree nuts (outgrew a dairy allergy) but the eczema only started recently. I don't even know where to begin trying to track down her triggers. Her paediatrician prescribed hydrocortisone 1% and that's working, but it seems everytime one patch disappears, a new one pops up somewhere else on her body.

That sounds like my sister when she was young. Nothing seemed to work very well--cortisone creams helped, but not that much. Her fingers were always swollen and covered with cuts and she had eczema all over. She didn't outgrow it completely, but she is much better than she was. One odd trigger for my sister--she had (and still has) trouble with any kind of plastic. Even wearing shorts to school was problematic (her legs would break out from contact with the seats). When preparing food and washing dishes she can't wear vinyl gloves.

I FOUND THE CAUSE!!! Yay!

She's been eating these cereal bars (Raisin Bran cereal bars) since before her nut allergy diagnosis. I thought I had thoroughly read the ingredients but I guess I didn't or maybe I was lax since she's been eating them for so long. I happened to pick up the box last week and almost immediately noticed "ALMOND FLOUR" near the bottom of the ingredients. Duh!!! I threw them out ASAP and her eczema is gone! I can't believe I didn't notice it before - I was so sure I read the ingredients on the cereal bars very carefully.

Luckily she's pretty bright for a three-year old. She cried when I told her couldn't eat them anymore but when I explained that they had nuts in them and that's what was causing her rash, she said "oh okay" and hasn't asked for them since then.

My daughters eczema was quite problematic a few months ago, prior to knowing of her chicken allergy. We cooked it in the house, but she did not eat it (because she did not like it ), and I am pretty sure her food was not coming into contact with it.

Since I suspected it, we stopped cooking it in the house, and her eczema has cleared up considerably. I heard elsewhere that being around allergic foods while they are cooking can trigger eczema from the smell, even though a person is not consuming any of it. It really seemed to be the case with my daughter and the chicken.

She also aggrivated it by scratching, and always attacked her lower back while she slept. I bought a bunch of one piece pjamas at superstore, they actually currently have them in size 2 - 3x ( they usually only have up to 24months ). They have eliminated her scratching her lower back, and it has cleared up too. She currently wears a 3, but I plan on stocking up on 3x as well, since these are really hard to come by.

I have had eczema since as far back as I can remember and I will be 47 on my next b-day. I had eczema all my life, still have it. In the mean time I have become anaphalaxis to peanuts and all tree nuts. I recently read an article in Chatalaine Magazine, written by Gwen, the editor of Allergic Living Magazine. It was so informative and as if reading about my self. You should read the article. So many questions are answered.

Also, I read that studies have found that a positive connection is being recognized between youngsters who suffer from eczema, and later develope life threatening allergies.

I was 35 years old before my first ana. reaction and diagnosis. Go to figure!

When my sister was an infant her eczema once flared up when my mother broke an egg near the poor kid. The egg didn't get on my sister---it must have been a reaction to airborne protein particles.

I have had it since birth as has my youngest brother. Yet my eldest brother and our middle brother has never had the eczema. Any ideas re: why? I am second born and my brother last born in our family. Yet we are the only ones to suffer. I am ana. to nuts and peanuts and as far as I know he is not allergic to any food types.

I would have to blame genetics. My oldest daughter is only allergic to peanuts and nuts, and has outgrown the majority of her eczema. My youngest daughter is allergic to milk,eggs,chicken,playdoh,cats,dogs and I'm sure some other environmental, as well as continual eczema.

My youngest is a red head, my oldest is not. Genetics can vary greatly between siblings. It seems that red heads are famous for being sensitive. Since having an extremely sensitive red head, i have noticed that in almost all comercials for "sensitive" products, such as laundry detergents and body products, the actors in the commercials are almost always red heads even though only 2% of the north american population is a red head. Red hair is scattered throughout my family and my husbands, and all family members with red hair have asthma or have outgrown food allergies. My sister in law (of no blood relation) is red, and allergic to strawberries, kiwis, and very sensitive to body products. It would be interesting to know who else who posts here is a red head, or who has allergic children who are.

If I were to have another child (no I am not planning one), I am pretty sure that any allergies or sensitivities would be the result of genetics. If the child was born red...I would be scared.

Does any one or Doctor really know what causes it.?

I was wondering if its possible for Eczema to be restricted to one portion of the body. THe reason is that my boyfriend shaves his head at regular intervals and on his scalp are large circles of very dry skin which is very worrying. I thought it was dandruff at first, but it seems far to hectic to just be that and he is convinced that it is Eczema.

Is there anything that someone can suggest that could help to alleviate this?

I was hoping someone else out there would be able to recommend a reliable product to 'curb' eczema. Tryed many presc. products , nothing seems to work quite well. One product that does seem to work , I am cautioned that it causes 'Thinning of the skin', .
Turns out to be correct.