As a mom of a boy with eczema and food allergies, it is constantly an uphill battle. While we have gotten his food allergies under control by just avoiding those specific foods he is allergic to, you still never know if anything could be contaminated. Just this past weekend, we were in NJ eating at a restaurant. There was a person eating eggs way at the end of the table totally away from Zane. Zane must have somehow got a tiny taste of egg remnants, or perhaps it was just the smell of eggs, but he broke out in instantaneous hives. It is quite scary if it has not happened to anyone you know. We have an epi pen but we waited a minute or two to see if we had to use it. Lucky we did not, and his hives significantly decreased once he had benedryl in his system.
It is not an easy journey with a child with food allergies, but I personally have more trouble with his eczema. He is on prescription medicine for it- creams three times a day and a histimanine at night, but he is still suffering. We do go to the eczema clinic in Boston Children’s Hospital and noticed improvement with his eczema, but we are definitely not out of the clear.
I actually don’t know if we will ever be out of the clear with his eczema. He gets so bad that he makes himself bleed during the night. We have tried everything under the sun to control his itchiness, but nothing 100 percent works all the time. Yes he does wear footed pajamas, but even with these, he manages to scratch himself to the point of causing infections. I have noticed an improvement from 6 months ago, but we are still trekking along to see full improvement.
It is really hard to deal with a child with eczema, as well as food allergies. I always think he is suffering, but most of the time he is happy as a clam. I wish I could find a permanent cure and not have to deal with seeing his horrible skin day in and day out. I can only pray and wait-right?
Do you have a child with eczema? Do they also have food allergies? How do you handle it? Did you see it decrease as time went on?
TJ has terrible eczema on his hands and it only appeared over the past couple of years. He goes to the derm twice a year and has to apply a super strong steroid to keep it manageable. Its horrible. Sometimes he can’t use his hands at all. He is up at night with pain and its just horrible. They cannot determine the cause of it and at this point they think it may flare up with the change in seasons. Sorry you had such a scare with Zane over the weekend. From the look on his face in all the pics he is one happy little man! 🙂
We still see the allergist for Cort’s eczema. It always gets worse this time of year. Lots and lots of prescription creams for him!
Ben and Alex have it, too. As do I, never easy!
This time of year it really acts up.
Hang in there.
xo
You’ve tried all-natural remedies, mama? Not to throw too much crunch at you, but sometimes our bodies build up all kinds of immunities to prescriptions because of our strange cultural habit to medicate everything. The first thing that comes to my mind is coconut oil. Have you tried smothering him in coconut oil?
My niece had these allergies and I totally understand they are not easy, especially on a small child.
Averi and Charlotte had/have it. Averi grew out of it by age 3 and Charlotte still only has it on her face (the worst place-ugh) and it flares up and then goes away. But.. i’m hoping she grows out of it like Averi did. But with Averi, we had to do the whole 9 yards- meds, ointments, got rid of ALL shampoos, diapers, laundry detergent, etc. that contained any dyes or fragrances (they flare it up). have you done that with zane? i know how frustrating it can be, but i hope he grows out of it eventually… a lot of times, kids do… or it’ll become less and less severe as they age. hang in there!
oh, poor baby! I’m praying for you guys and hope he get some relief soon.
my daughter and I both had eczema. We recently found out we are gluten intolerant. So now with that out of the way we are eczema free and allergy medicine free!
My daughter had an intolerance to dairy when she was a baby. I know how tough it can be to find foods that they can eat. hugs
We are lucky that at this time neither kid has any food allergies. We did have a boy in O’s class who was allergic to peanuts, but his Mom was very up front with it and made sure to inform the whole class and again at O’s birthday party. She offered to bring his own food, but I promised her I would make it as nut free as possible. Since we ordered the cake from a bakery, they could not guarantee that it was 100% nut free – so we just made some extra cupcakes and most kids could pick between the two. It’s tough with allergies, but eventually it will be second nature for you and your family. Most people don’t mind avoiding something when it comes to the health of a child. As far as eczema, I have it a bit, but not to the point I need to do anything. Brynnleigh is showing signs of a bit of it, but like me, it’s not bad. Hopefully it’s something he will grow out of! Good luck.
My daughter had eczema BAD when she was about 7 months old. She would have bloody patches all over her arms and legs. We kept putting on her creme and it cleared up on its own. Now she’s almost 7 and she only gets tiny patches. I have eczema and psoriasis (have since I was a baby). There are good seasons and bad seasons. I have noticed that it flairs up when my seasonal allergies are bad. As for food allergies, my kids don’t have them but I do (lots of them). I am constantly reading labels. I hope it clears up soon.
I don’t have any kids… but I pray that his happiness continues and his allergies and eczema will not bother him 🙂
I once have allergy to certain food. But it heals as I grow up.
Allergies are annoying right? 🙁
I don’t have any experience with eczema personally, but I battle psoriasis. My dermatologist gave me a great shampoo which works wonders. Allergies are so difficult, I hope he outgrows it!
Oh man! Poor little Zane, food allergies suck!
ugh I can only imagine! My daughter dealt with it for just a short period of time when my youngest had dairy issues and it was awful! I hope you find relief for him soon!
Ugh! I can only imagine what you are going through. I hope his eczema gets better soon! Hugs!!
The poor baby. Terrible and frustrating. I hope it gets better. Hopefully the flare ups become less frequent as he gets older.
GAPS diet.
Oh! Poor Zane! My son and I have food allergies and ny husband has eczema. He doesn’t have it as severely as Zane does but he has found great relief with coconut oil (we use Nutiva) and I’ve heard good things about sunflower oil. We also have gone to no parben, sulfide and gluten containing soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents, spray aerosols etc. it sounds as if Zane is exquisitely sensitive to his allergens. Maybe a check of what might be in the cleaners he comes in contact with would help.
Hey Melissa! That must be tough dealing with food allergies and eczema. I was at a Shaklee conference a few weeks ago and one of the ladies that presented said her child used to have severe eczema. Once she heard about Shaklee, she switched over all her cleaning products (including laundry, dish soap, and house cleaners) from conventional cleaning products to Shaklee’s natural, safe and proven effective products. Her child’s eczema completely disappeared. Conventional cleaning and household, shampoos, etc. have so much “crap” in them that we don’t need. And the prescriptions that the doctor’s are giving you, might be making it worse. Anyway, that’s my two cents. Feel free to email me if you have questions. I love to help!
Dom has yucky ezcema and Logan and Charlie have it mild. I know the feeling of helplessness!
Hugs. Scarey food story, poor Z
I’m so sorry to hear about Zane’s allergies and eczema!! I hope it gets better for him and for you! Big hugs! Xoxox
Maria
Yep! My kids have it too! And it gets WORSE in the winter! Tony also gets it on his hands in the winter. It’s so bad. =( We feel your pain. I will say Drew’s was more extreme when he was younger, so hopefully Zane will improve over the next few years too!
Hey Melissa, I feel for you. I have never suffered from allergies and neither have my kids but I can only imagine how hard it is. I have a friend whose son had an egg allergy up until he was 7 and now he is perfectly fine with eggs. Have you tried goats milk soap for Zane’s skin? I have heard good things about that…
Poor little man, on the upside, he is always smiling, so you’re doing loads right by him. Lots of love to you guys xoxo
That is so hard Melissa! I can’t even imagine how tough it must be. Two of my cousins’ kids have peanut allergies and they have such a tough time. Thinking of you!