Talking Allergies

I could not find a previous topic that was directly about this. I thought it would be a good idea to put our ideas about how we treat and prevent it together in one area.

My daughter has flared up again...not as bad as when we used the baby dove...but she is itchy and has "allergy shiners". My friends daughter has allergy shiners too...and we figure it is from "snow mold" since both girls problems started the day the snow began to melt. Does anyone else blame snow mold every spring for their kids problems too? We had the same problems last spring as well.

Also I had to tell everyone with kids with eczema that I went shopping in "the city" (saskatoon) and at "Childrens Place" they had really thin, 100% cotton, long sleeve shirts for girls for $5. I bought a ton. My daughter scratches if she has short sleeves, and we like long sleeves because they keep grass and other plant allergens off her skin and other food allergens in public places from contacting her skin. Also we prefer to have her wear long sleeves outside in the summer so we can avoid constantly applying sunscreen and bug spray burns the eczema...but is necessary to prevent bug bites. The long sleeves are the best solution...we can just bug spray the shirt, and limit the sunscreen to hands and face. I was really excited to find shirts that were thin enough to be cool enough to wear outside this summer. She can also wear them under the numerous short sleeved hand me downs from her sister that we had been getting no use of.

I was trying to find a topic to post this under - so I hope you don't mind if I tag along with you Saskmommyof2.

We were recently introduced to a cream that has worked wonders on DD's eczema. My understanding is that it's fairly new to Canada since the first few jars we used we got from a friend with a relative in the States. DD can have horrible outbreaks and she'll scratch until it's well past bleeding. For bad outbreaks like that we do use a Rx but this cream has really helped keep her skin almost normal.

It's Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Cream. It comes in a Tub and I've we buy it from Walmart. It does contain Shea Butter though (as well as Oatmeal & Menthol), Seed Butter, and alcohol so not for everyone. Before this we tried so many other things. Everyone said Eucerine, but it didn't do a thing for her skin. This stuff has been amazing for her.

Mygirlsyd, No I don't mind. I was hoping to "pool" eczema related tips.

I really like aveeno products. We have only recently started using them. I bought the baby wash, which seems a bit too scented for my youngest. Why baby products are more scented a lot of the time seems so stupid to me. I guess people like their babies to have that "baby smell" aka scented bath products.

We have been using the bath oil and the itch relief body wash for handwashing. I bought the itch relief bath soak, unscented of course and the only ingredient is oatmeal. I have been sprinkling it in the girls hair, letting it soak, and rinsing into the tub to soak with the remainder of the packet (it comes in 8 packets/box). It cleans their hair well, (the oil was too oily, they both have long hair), and leaves it fairly conditioned. I like that they can bath without any chemicals. We have been using aveeno lotion once out of the tub. The youngests skin is doing better, I have also been giving arius because the snow mold is making her skin and eyes really itchy.

Saskmommy,
You nentioned arieus for your girls. My son is also really flaring up right now. How long have your kids been on it and did it take some time to really kick in. I have my little guy on reactine and atarax. I tried arius in the past but it did not seem that effective for him, and now I am thinking maybe I did not try for long enough.
There is a medication used for asthma that is now being used to treat allergies as well but I can't think of the name. My allergist had talked about it last time I had my son in and I was looking to talk to anyone that may have tried it.
Stephanie

We had been using the arius "as needed" and "as it flared up". It seemed to not be working so we tried giving arius once a day and redosing every 24 hours and not waiting for her to have symptoms again. We have been doing so for about 4 days and It seems to be working well now. At about 23 hours since her last dose her typical eczema spots will redden again, but disappear when she is redosed at 24hours. We have not been letting her get itchy again since she will scratch like crazy and damage the skin to the point that we are working on healing sores and scratches. We give it to her at 6pm so it is working well over night.

My daughters both have cold urticaria (cold enduced hives) and our dermatologist has recommended dosing with arius/claratin or reactine 3 hours prior to swimming. He says it takes a while to be digested, absorbed and working. It makes sense to me to redose for seasonal allergies so that it does not completely fade away and have to start over with symptoms... which by the dermatologists logic would take 3 hours to be working fully, and personally my daughter can cause a lot of damage to her skin in 3 hours if she is itchy.

My pharmasist recommended arius or reactine or claratin over atarax since atarax only lasts 4-6 hours and will not be enough overnight without a 3 am redose. Also, the atarax causes drowsiness during the day.

Now, I am just wondering how long I should do this for. The whole mold season? We are just loving symptom free days. I would hate to stop and have her "redamage" her skin that has finally healed.

saskmommy -- how does your daughter's eczema seem after swimming? Do you think the chlorine in the pool could be contributing to it? Our city's water system is very heavily chlorinated (it would smell like you were in a pool when you'd run a bath). My husband's skin on his face became constantly red/blotchy/bumpy and Ethan's eczema (although mild compared to others) would also flare up. We went out and bought a shower filter to cut down on the chlorine (I'll run Ethan's bathwater with the detachable shower head). My husband's skin cleared up, we noticed an immediate difference in all of our skin.

We have not taken the youngest swimming in at least 2 years (she is only 3) primarily because of the eczema, but the cold urticaria is a DEFINITE contributer as well.. My oldest likes to go, she has mostly outgrown her eczema. We do not go often since the cold urticaria makes swimming a stressful experience for mommy. (we need a "stressed out' smiley.)

For those who are unaware, cold water could cause anaphylaxis for them. It has not happened yet, but relying on antihistamines, keeping the epipen nearby and monitoring the temperature of the local pools is not a fun experience by any stretch of the imagination. I prefer to take them bowling!

Does anyone find that Aerius makes their children hyper? I've been giving it to my son who suffers from seasonal allergies and he's just been wild...don't know if it's a stage or the medicine.

ethansmom---you've convinced me about the need for a chlorine filter. I passed this info. on to family members with eczema. the next time i move, i'm getting one.

Laurensmom, about the arius, it is not clear. I do not have my original package but I suspect food colorings in it...it is slightly orange so I suspect yellow and red food colors. See...

http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=418

Benadryll is clear and seems to be dye free... I have an unopened bottle of reactine which according to ingredients does not contain dyes. But arius is definitely a slight orange color.

laurensmom - my son also used to react to medicine, if it had yellow dyes in it - would make him extremely hyper - usually in a negative mood - he'd be crying uncontrollably - once even began flinging cups of water around, crying all the while. - I think it made him feel soooo uncomfortable and he didn't know how to get rid of the feeling. It drove us batty until we finally, by accident, discovered that he was super sensitive to yellow dyes. That was age 7. As he grew up we continued to use only clear meds - even penicillin at baby strength (white base) and had to double the dose, instead of using the yellow banana one for the older kids. He's now 20 and handles the color issue just fine - either he outgrew it or he just controls it. His youngest sibling (by 6 yrs) also reacted to yellow but not as severely - she's now 14 and shows no signs of hyperactivity. So check what's in it - it's likely something that's triggering his behaviour. But having said all that, our son also would become hyper when we had to increase his ventolin, so it could just be the actual meds.

http://www.californiababy.com/super-sensitive.html

Does anyone use their products?

Last year bug spray and sunscreen was aweful to my daughters skin, I was thinking of trying the california baby ones. Does anyone have experience with them?

We've only tried their bubblebath and it was nice -- the only thing I found was that you needed quite a bit to make the bubbles you'd like (obviously because they don't put in all of the harsh chemicals found in regular bubble bath) and it was pretty expensive. I think it cost us around $15.00 and we might have gotten around 7 bubble baths out of it...but I liked the product and Ethan's skin didn't have any negative reaction to it. It was just hard to justify the cost for a "luxury" item like bubble bath.
Just took a look around their site again -- the shampoos and conditioners look really good (sunscreen too!). I'd give them a try -- you wouldn't need to use as much as is needed with the bubble bath either so they're probably more cost effective.

I know there have been numerous discussions about kids who itch at night and can't sleep. My youngest daughter is unfortunately one of these kids. She does not itch much during the day, but will wake at night, or I will discover bleeding scratches in the morning from her "nightly attacks". I have thought of so many different things (the soap switch has helped) but the problem is still there, just at a lesser extent.

I bought some ecover laundry detergent, hope it helps, but the mystery is the night time itch that does not seem to occur during the day. I received a magazine from the health food store, about organic foods, vegetables and natural chemical free living...so it was right up my alley for enjoyable reading.

An interesting article caught my eye, and a went off in my head. The article talked about clothing that is chemically treated and the effects on the skin (and potential cancer contributers). For little kids, all pajamas are required to be treated with a chemical to make them fire retardant. A good idea from a fire safety point of view...but does it contribute to the itching of children with sensitive skin? I believe in fire safety probably more than most, my cousins were killed in a house fire when i was a child. If my child is suffering nightly due to chemically treated clothes...that is not good either. The itching tends to be around her wrists, neck, and waist (if she is in 2 piece pajamas).

I am thinking about having her sleep in regular (not pajama) leggings and cotton long sleeve shirt and see if it helps. I am already very cautious of fire safety (even have monitored fire alarm...and youngest daughter sleeps with a gate across her door until she is old enough to understand not to hide in the event of a fire) so the idea of going to regular clothes at night bothers me somewhat but it makes sense that the chemical fire retardant could be contributing to the itchy skin.

I find medicated tar ointment works the best for my eczema, though it is stinky! Eczema is weird. Different things work best for different people. I've experiemented with mine for years, and the tar ointment works the best so far so mine, though I don't know if it would work well all over the body.