Excema = Allergy?

E.-
I had the exact thing happen to me and my baby. He was about 2 months when he developed excema all over his body.
He was diagnosed with a milk protein intolerance ( different from a milk allergy) so I assumed he would have allergies as well. We had him tested- both blood test and skin test ( I work at a hospital and have some pulls- because normally they dont test quite so early) and he is not allergic to anything. Some babies just have excema not related to anything else.
There is a blood test that the allergist can do to determine if the child is at risk for asthma as well- and my child was not.
My allergist also reccomended using Vanicream along with the crotisone cream her prescribed. You can get vanicream on the National ALlergy center website ( that is the only place to buy it) It works great. After using it for 3 months or so his excema is so much better- also after we used it for about 1 week we no longer had to use the prescription medication. The Dr. that we saw that was willing to take some action was Dr. Andrew Singer through U of M health system. I can give you his contact info if you would like, he is great.

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My 9 year old has had it since he was born and it's always worse this time of year because of the weather. My son's isn't allergy related.

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My daughter had excema that began at 2 months old. At 7 months we found out that she was allergic to wheat and began to avoid that. At 1 we found out the additional food allergies of peanuts, eggs, barley, and gluten. Her pediatrician said that excema sometimes is an indicator of potential allergies, it just turned out that she did in fact have multiple allergies. If you're breast-feeding, you may want to try an elimination diet but that can be really hard on you (trust me on that one) but you'll definitely want to take it slow with introducing new foods to him in case of a potential reaction, and keep Children's Benadryl on hand, just in case. Hopefully your son does not have any food allergies or asthma (my niece, who is 1 month older than my daughter has horrible excema, yet she can eat whatever she wants and is completely healthy otherwise), but just in case he does there are wonderful support groups out there with a wealth of information on asthma and allergies. If you have further concerns, you may want his pediatrician to refer you to an allergist but they usually don't want to do allergy testing until children are at least a year old and 2 years old for environmental allergens. Best of luck to you and your family.

I just had my 3 year old daughter to the Dr last week, because her Eczema will not clear up. She was on Elidel until they said it could cause cancer. The Dr said it was fine to use, but I decided not to. I then found Avenno Baby lotion for Eczema. It worked great until the temp here dropped to the single digets. Her skin got really bad then and I took her back in. The Dr now told me to use Mimyx, a new cream that is amazing!!! I love it! I also still use the Aveeno all over her body, steroid cream on the stops, and the Mimyx where around the areas where the rash is bad. I will say that Emma does have asthma, but so does my son, my husband, and myself. Emma and I are the only ones treated for asthma, but we all just have mild asthma that flare up due to allergies.

Dear E., I had awful excema as a child. My son had excema too. My Ped suggest two weeks at a time taking things out of his diet to see what was the trigger because usually excema is a food allergy but soaps and other things can aggervate it. His trigger was milk as soon as a switched him to soy formula he never had a problem. He is ten now and only breaks out when he has too many milk products otherwise he is fine. He does not have asthma.My third child has it too she is 7 months I switched her to soy too. She hasnt broke out since. Good Luck M.

My son had this very bad when he was about 2 months old until 5 months old. His ped. sent him to a dermatologist. He told me to use hydrocortisone cream 0.5% on the excema and it was gone in about 1 week. If you do decide to use it make sure you only use the .5% though. My son was so bad that it was going down his face and arms and legs, and his head and back was covered. I now keep that stuff handy just incase something pops up again.

Hi,
My 5 yr old has had Excema since birth. We took her off milk and didn't really see an improvement. She has had allergy testing and all were negative. It's not too bad in the summer but in the winter it's all over her body. I've tried all sorts of lotions and the only thing that actually worked was Elidel.
But, then they said Elidel could cause cancer. So, I stopped using it. But a Dermatoligist just told me she'd still use it. I can't use Cortosone on her because of her having the Excema all over. Right now I'm smearing her up with pure Vasiline, it's worked better than an other loition. Although, she's a little slippery and water beads of her. Oh, and it's not too easy to get out of her dark clothes either. Good Luck!

Dear E.,
I have had many people in my business tell me how much mangosteen juice has helped with their eczema, even when the steroidal creams, etc. did not. The particular brand of juice I use is completely natural with no added preservatives or anything. I can give you names and numbers of people who have tried this natural treatment on babies. e-mail me if you would like the info. ____@____.com I hate seeing babies get drugs if they don't have to! Sincerely, M. S.

don't worry, my daughter had excema for the first year of her life. Now she is 3 and the excema is gone, except in the winter when dry sometimes the excema will show up a little. I just make sure that I put Cetaphil lotion after bath. I think excema is just from dry skin, and sensitive skin. My daughter does not have any food allergy at all and I don't think it could develop asthma. My ped did say that sometimes excema can last up to teenager.

Hi Erica, My daughter had eczema so bad hen she was little I swore she was allergic to water! Evertime she got out of the bath she was always irritated more. I took her to dr.'s and determologist's and they all gave me pers. creams and samples to "try". I then took her to a place called Holistic Alliance. The women did an analysis on her and said she was lacking in sulfer! The reason is her body was reacting to a lack of a natural substance and the creams were only treating on the surface not solving from the source. She is now 10 and has hardly any signs of eczema. If she gets a spot she pops a couple of the tablets and it's gone. Hope this helps.

I'm currently in college going for my Associates degree in Medical Assisting and I just recently did a little research paper on impetigo. I know impetigo isn't excema, but they are basically caused by the same things, one of them being allergies. I would take him to an allergist and have him tested for different types of allergies.

I'm not sure if it could cause asthma. I do know that dust can cause asthma. My 12 yr. has asthma, but hers is due to cold air.

Hi E.,
My daughter and I have both dealth with excema. I had it behind my knees as a child. My 5 year old has grown out of it now but when she would break out I used Eucerin creme. I even used it for diaper rash, it works the best. Here's a site to learn more about it.
http://www.eucerinus.com/
I do agree with your ped, that your son is fine but if your really concerned research online or get a second opinion. If theres anything I know its that when a mother worries, she needs an answer to relax.
Good luck to you!!

Hello E.,

My son was my allergy baby and very sensitive to things. My advice is get a referral to a pediatric allergist. That is a start. I can tell you from my experiance with my son is. Eczema can be triggered by stress, allergies and fragrances. I also took my son to a Dermatologist, because he was getting empatigo. I only used Fragrance free soaps,mostly ivory and we still use it. I was told only use Tide and no fabric softner sheets. You can use fabric softner but fragrance free. I would not allow people with a strong colgne or perfume to hold him. My son has allergies to medications to, plus environmental. Yes he does have Asthma but I am not sure if there is a link.

If you are not happy with your Ped. Dr. Response and you feel it needs more attention then ask for a referral. I would try avoiding fragrances and see if that helps. Let me know how things are going.

L.

Hi!!
Both of my oldest children have eczema and it was an allergy. Our doctor told us that we have to use a special kind of laundry detergent and soap-one with no dyes or perfumes and we have to make sure that we wash everything before they use or wear it. We use Lubriderm Advance Therapy lotion. Our doctor also gave us a prescription of Dermatop. We use this whenever we see a flare up and it goes away quickly. My ped never relied on how well the kids were behaving in order to heal their eczema. I am not sure what to think of that. I would maybe get a 2nd opinion? Good Luck!! I hope this helps.

Hi. My dd has always had eczema as well - had it when she was born and she is 5 and still has it. It does often go hand in hand with allergies, but the two do not always run in conjunction. Your child will not develop asthma because of this - they are two totally different bodily reactions to allergens. My dd has sensitive skin in the first place, and has allergies to tree nuts, dust, cats, and tree pollens. We use a bit of hydrocortizone cream on it, and that A & D lotion - another mom recommended it to me and it works great. We also only use Cetaphil on her skin - no soaps, no detergents. Unless your child has any other allergy symptoms such as spitting up, vomiting, loose stools, chronic coughing, other rashes, etc. I wouldn't worry about it too much for now. You can seek a pediatric allergist, but testing is not usually recommended at that age if no other symptoms are present.

My daughter also has eczema and it has been difficult. We have a wonderful doctor. I will email later today with his number

Hi, I have not had a child with this but my niece had it very badly when she was a baby and into her toddler years. It was pretty much on her entire body. She is now 10 and very rarely gets a small patch of it. She does have some seasonal allergies but not any to dairy or dust and she doesn't have asthma. Her doctor was the same as yours and didn't have any real answers. The doctor did tell my sister that as long as she put the cream on it it probably didn't bother the baby at all because her nerves aren't mature yet, I'm not sure how true it is but she was a very happy baby. I guess after seeing my niece I'd say just take the doctors advise and don't worry to much unless it becomes bothersome to the baby. Good Luck.

my son is almost 4 and he was diagnosed with excema when he was about that age... along with that, he became allergic to many foods, and asthma came too. the doctors i see, dont like to take it seriously, but excema is so painful for my child, i have to hold him down to put medican on it. it's so bad on his rear, that his whole bottom bleeds from him scratching at night. i've used aquaphor, which works ok, but they gave me some steriods.... which isnt working at all. allergies and excema dont always come together or when you get one it dont mean you'll get the other... but when a child has something like that, their immune system is prone to things like that. i hope this helps. i try to lather him up in vasline at night and that usually helps keep him misturized, but when i use lotion, it seems to "burn" him. i found out before he was one he was allergic to eggs... he was even breaking out to noodles and things that have eggs in it... we had to find a birthday cake that used no eggs when he turned one.. nows hes allergic to eggs, anything with tomatoes (from bbq chips to ketchup, to goolosh) allergies are tricky things, and now i have to carry an epi-pen in case of reation. i would take him to a allergy specialist.

Hi E.,
My son and my daughter both have the same thing and he has to be lotions all the time. I mean when you get out of the shower and in the evening and especially in the winter because is skin gets to dry. The aquaphor (i myself didn't like it) but the Lubriderm. Its awesome expensive but awesome and the off brand is just as good also you can use the GOLD BOND unmedicated it awesome also my daughter uses some medication the Peds gave her and it clears up rather quickly.Ask you doctor and maybe your sone could use it TRIAMCINOLON 0.025% CRE FOUGERA. we use to us elidel but theres something in there that may cause cancer or something and ELIDEL is a GREAT but the whole cancer thing no we'll stick to the other one. Good luck i hope it works out and just remember the paper and heat make it worse in the summer time and the cold just dries him out. Either way we lose.
Good luck with school and don't give up!

You need to be concerned. I would check with another doctor to make sure your baby isn't allergic to the food you are eating. My friend who's baby is 6 months old just found her baby girl is allergic to milk, wheat, nuts, and a whole lot of other foods. And it was transfering from her to her baby who always had some sort of a rash. To be safe I would keep pushing to find out. Just because your baby is eating, sleeping and playing doesn't mean he isn't allergic to something. If you are using formula you may need to switch to a lactose free or soy based one. I would not let this go and would definatly look at all the options.

My son has had eczema since he was about 3 months old his reacts more if he takes a bath with me and the soap that i use irritates his skin even the cold weather i believe has a little to do with it. My son also has breathing problems and has to use a breathing machine 1 - 2 times everyday so eczema and asthma i believe come hand in hand most of the time.....not also

My daughter started with excema after she turned 2 and started drinking regular milk. The DR. kept saying she was not allergic, but when I stopped the milk and went back to soy the excema would go way. So I keep her off all milk product and continued the let her have the soy.

No problems until she was around 5-6yrs old when my husband and I devorced. It came back. For a long time I couldn't figure it out. I thought she was sneaking foods that had milk, but later found out that the family life with the new stepmom caused stressfull situations. It would always flare up red and irratated after every weekend.
That stress factor was also confirmed to me by an adult that suffered with excema.

Also sweat can cause breakout. It's very important to keep the skin clean and moisturized.

Hi! My son also had/has excema. He too first developed it around 3 months which was last winter. I know that it went away completely in the summer, and didn't return until the weather turned cold again a few months ago. Excema is hereditary in my husband's family, so they have had lots of experience dealing with it. Cortisone/steroid creams are supposed to be the best for clearing it up, but in my experience you have to be extremely diligent with it and use it several times a day to get it under control. I have also used Gentle Naturals excema cream with Calendula in it. Calendula is basically ground up marigolds, but it works wonders. You can get a more expensive calendula at stores like Foods for living or Better Health. I've also used Vitamin E oil directly on the spots. This too is very effective, but can stain the clothing.
I hope this is helpful. If your dr. isn't giving you the answers you are needing, I'd seek out a second opinion. We also see a Chiropractor on a regular basis to help with this. Let me know if you need a reference of one. Good luck!
S.
18 mo old and baby due in May

i dont know if you have a Costco Warehouse where you live but there is this stuff called Amlactin that works better than cortisone or aquaphor and Costco sells a big bottle of it. Also use dye/perfume free laundry detergents and softeners. my son is a little over a year old and he has it. i have been using this stuff on him and it really helps. Also i have never heard of it being an allergic thing or asthma related. some babies are born with it.