It HURTS!!!!!!!!

[WisconsinChick]

Actually, I used to have athsma and eczema and it totally cleared up when i stopped eating dairy.

 

[mangled]

Luv - have you tried Elidel? It may be the uber-expensive cream you tried.

My little girl has HORRIBLE eczema, and Elidel is the only thing that'll clear her up out of a bad out break.

I know the troubles you're dealing with. I also soak her in a tub of Aveno Oatmeal bath a couple times a week. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!! Dry skin in the winter sets hers off terrible.

Em

 

[willowcol]

Humm, I am not sure if I would let them give you Elidel. My Grandsons doctor gave us that, then called a few weeks later and said not to use it on him anymore as they are not sure but it had been linked to cancer somehow. He said until they knew for sure not to put it on him anymore since it was only tested on adults and if there was a problem it could be worse on young children. That was 2 years ago so maybe it has changed but I wouldn't use it unless I researched it alot.

Edited to add: plan old vasaline, a good coating in the am and another in the pm helps alot too.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Yes, Elidel, that was the uber expensive cream. We tried it when it first came out and it honestly did nothing. At that time (he was so little) I would tape him in jammies at night. A damp cotton pair followed by a dry pair with tape at the wrists and ankles. Thankfully, my doctor KNEW and recommended exactly what I was doing. It was all that would work.

When he was allergy tested he was VERY young. They debated back and forth over what age they should do it. Honestly, I think I need to have it done again.

 

[silkiechicken]

Good luck. Eczema sucks. My little brother had it so bad, that when he was born, skin was already falling off his fingers. My mom tells me that when she first held him, it was like his fingers were falling apart. Now that he's about to be 21, it's mostly just scars and a little bit on fingers, joints, and neck.

I have a bit too, but luckily, it's just on my fingers. The fact I wash hands about 20 times a day b/c of lab and pets, doesn't help. I'm addicted to my tube of hand cream and medicated tube of stuff. Sometimes I just have to close my hand to have the skin over my joints just crack open and start to bleed... and it's always upsetting when it occurs at the top of my fingers near my nail bed and my nails grow out bad. And I really like growing out my nails...


For us, just growing out of it made the most difference. Western and Eastern medicine couldn't fix it, just treat it.

Good luck.

Edit:

My brother had his hands wrapped up tightly too... he ended up rubbing his hands together so hard he'd rub apart the socks and mittens seperating them within a week or two, and then end up rubbing off his skin under the socks... I've also done the same. It's a royal pain!

 

[mangled]

Well, holy poop! I never knew it had been linked to cancer!!

Hmmm ... may have to do some research.

Thanks for the heads up!! We only use it for extreme flare-ups, but still ...

Em

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
Yes, that is really all that worked with my brother. He just finally got better. The docs have suggested that at about 15 they think he will clear up a LOT but I see such a marked improvement over just a year or two ago. Hopefully we don't have that long to wait.

 

[willowcol]

FDA Elidel Warning
After Elidel was approved in December 2001 reports of cancer among patients using the cream began to surface. On January 19, 2006 the fears that Elidel could be linked to cancer were confirmed when the FDA issued a black box warning that said the cream may be linked with lymphoma and skin cancer. A black box warning is the strongest warning the FDA can issue.

Found it, sorry if your doctor never told you.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:

OH MY!!!!! So glad we barely used it.

 

[silkiechicken]

I personally wouldn't worry too much about those types of warnings. They do most to cover their rears more than anything else. If advil and Tylnol had to be FDA approved and certified as a "new" drug, they'd never make it to market.

Not sure how the drug works, but cancer is a result of increased cell division and a mutator phenotype. If your skin is constantly regenerating because of it's condition of falling apart, that's half of the recipie for cancer. If the drug is one that increases the rate of skin regrowth and repair, that just makes that half of the equation stronger. Kind of how only about 20% of "heavy" smokers get cancer due to their smoking. It's the exposure and a genetic mutator phenotype.

That said, heading warnings is good and if it doesn't improve the condition, I'd stop using it.