Eczema and food allergies

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34 posts
LheaJLove
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:33 pm
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by LheaJLove on Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:06 pm

Re: Eczema and food allergies

Yes, eczema breakouts can be worsened by foods.

For me: Caffeine and Citrus produce almost immediate reactions.

For others: Dairy and Soy are thought to be pretty strong irritants as well.

Each person just has to pay attention to what their body is telling them.

Jimbob
Posts: 336
Joined: Thu May 08, 2008 9:00 pm
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by Jimbob on Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:57 am

Re: Eczema and food allergies

Hi James, I haveuar only just seen your post as not been on this forum for a while as been really busy. James is particly sensitive to dairy, wheat and oats. James is also allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, olive oil, chicken, beef, fish, stoned fruits, tomatoes, grapeseed oil, oranges and egg. Peanuts, tree nuts and egg have only been found by RAST tests and his scores are high so not in a rush to test them. James has not had these foods yet so its not like we are taking them away from him. The other foods on the list we have actually triailed and he failed each one of them seperately. It is hard having such a long list to deal with but it is possible. James also has other symptoms of allergies with most of the foods like stomach pain and mucousy bowel movements.

Kelly

sarahuws
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:53 pm
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by sarahuws on Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:18 pm

Eczema and diet

Hi all,
I am 29yrs old and have had eczema since I was around 2yrs old. Up until about 4 yrs ago my eczema was in the usual places i.e. elbows, behind knees and joints. But in the last couple of years I have never seen it so bad, with rashes literally everywhere on my body. My dermatologist said I had urticaria as well as eczema, unfortunately they couldn't help me - I had blood tests and allergy testing but nothing really showed anything. I cancelled holidays abroad because I felt so ugly.

Three months ago I decided to do a proper self diet test (I have tried before but not seriously). I eliminated dairy and eggs from my diet, and miraculously within a week my skin had never been so good. I couldn't believe I could wear anything I wanted instead of polo necks and long sleeves. It's sometimes difficult to follow this diet because nearly every food contains milk or eggs, but knowing what caused my rashes it's worth it. I do believe that diet is extremely important concerning anyone's skin. Elimination diet takes a lot of patience but to have normal skin it's well worth it. I am going to visit a nutriotionist in a few weeks to have advise about my diet.

If any eczema sufferes have not tried to change their diet, please do. Living with eczema is VERY distressing and I hope that everyone will find their cure. It took me 25yrs to know what caused it.

Good luck

Puddleduck
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:49 am
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by Puddleduck on Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:26 pm

Re: Eczema and diet

Hi there,

I'm so happy for you that you've managed to find what triggered the eczema and can now avoid the problem.
You highlight an important point, which many doctors choose to ignore unless their specific allergy blood tests highlight a specific trigger: those blood tests are not always accurate!

Sadly, it's not until people have a more widespread and serious problem that doctors will suggest cutting out allergens such as milk, eggs and wheat.

I've been through the battery of tests years ago and was finally advised to cut out milk, eggs and wheat during a whole body flare that deprived me of sleep for months and like you, had me restricted to polo necks in summer! When I returned to the same doctor 7 weeks later with improved skin, even though he had advised the change he would not admit that it could have helped...

I'm on a programme of nutritional supplements (prescribed by a nutritionist, whom I pay) as well as dairy free and reducing wheat, partly for eczema but also for another condition to keep in controlled. Also, it's important to have guidance from a qualified nutritionist to make sure you don't lose out on essential nutrients if excluding certain foods.
i only wish more dermatologists really took this seriously and sent patients to nutritionists who prescribed supplements. Dermatologists have only a tiny amount of training in nutrition at university (a few hours!) and know next to nothing about what the skin really needs!
If avoiding milk and dairy, you will need to make sure you get enough B vitamins, protein, vitamin D and calcium from other sources.

JulieR
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:17 pm
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by JulieR on Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:09 am

Re: Eczema and diet

We have found some excellent supplements that have helped save my daughter's life. Hers are only about $10 a month and mine are about $20 a month so they are very cost effective but with having to cut out some things from her diet I believe it was helpful to get supplements into her body. We also eat nutrient rich foods that are organic.

We also eliminated harmful substances from our home and she has been doing amazingly well for several years now.

Nobody needs to suffer with this disease when there are so many beneficial ways out there. It's just a matter of getting educated even through the trial and error phase.

We're here if you need anything.

Julie

alfieandme
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:48 pm
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by alfieandme on Fri Apr 03, 2009 2:33 pm

Help with persistant eczema and allergies

Help! I would really like to make contact with some other people who are in a simular position to talk and get some advice. I am feeling a little 'out on a wire'. I am at a complete loss as to why my little boy has this persistant eczema and wonder what could be causing it.
I have a 16 month old who has had eczema since he was 2 months old. His eczema now appears consistantly as swollen red angry patches (like wood) all over his legs and arms. He has peristant eczema over his face. It is swollen, raised and angry.
His skin is managed with steriods and emoillants. We are seeing a consultant dermatologist and a homeopath. He has RAST tests and has come up positive for nuts, cats, milk, eggs, soya, banana, wheat. He is reactive to citrus fruit, strawberries, celery, onion, tomatoes, raw apple, smoked fish. He has been on Neocate formula for over 4 months.
I am at a complete loss to know what to do. Our consultant tells us to use steriods, but as soon as we stop the eczema comes right back. Our homeopath is at a loss to know what to do as she has never seen anyone like my son!! He does not seem to be making any positive progress.
We have excluded all of the above foods from his diet.
Perhaps there is someone out there who has been through this / going through this and can give me some tips on what to do!
I also find that he skin gets very irritated when we go to playgroups, ball play areas - but if I stopped this then I would have nothing to look forward to and he would have a very sheltered existance.
None of my friends totally understand, and although I do not want to wallow in self pity, it would be nice to talk with someone who can understand all involved.
Thank you
Rebecca

ironchef
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:02 am
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by ironchef on Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:03 pm

Re: Help with persistant eczema and allergies

Hi Rebecca,

I'm sorry you and your son are going through this. I grew up in the same fashion as your son. It's terrible for him and excruciating for you as his mother. My skin was managed by steroid creams and antihistime shots as well.

In my 33 years, I've learned:

- steroids only worked temporarily.
- Protopic helped but then caused me to get a viral infection on my hands.
- Give your son plenty of hugs, empathy, and emotional support. It's so tough growing up feeling like everyone is staring at you. My mother pushed me to overcome by insecurities by signing me up for regular group activities - swimming, skating, ballet. I helped me have the courage to succeed despite my shortcomings. And being busy distracts you from scratching. Swimming helped alot actually. It helped to dry up the red, angry patches. And the exercise makes you feel good. It may hurt at first when you enter the water, it smarts, but then you end up feeling free in the water and having fun.
- Evening Primrose Oil help me significantly (2 tablespoons/day or more)
- Renew Life Acidopholis (50 billion)
- Glaxal base with 20% glycerin right after bathing
- Having friends that looked beyond my skin condition and loved me for who I was.

I hope this helps even a little. Hang in there... *hugs*

Jimbob
Posts: 336
Joined: Thu May 08, 2008 9:00 pm
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by Jimbob on Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:54 pm

Re: Help with persistant eczema and allergies

Rebecca I really feel for you. It is so hard to watch your child suffer with this condition. My son is now 4.5 years old and I could have wrote your post myself when he was around the same age as your son. My sons eczema got that bad that he would not sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time and also he would bite his arms if you even left himairy, eg, alone for just a few seconds. We had to have our son sleep in our bed so that we could hold an arm and a leg each to stop our son from destroying himself. James was unable to eat food or drink formula properly as he was so intensly itchy that he could not stay still long enough and would also start screaming hysterically. We had been to 3 different dermatologists at this point and was told it will get better in time and is definately not related to food allergies. When Ja,es was 10 months he had started loosing weight as he was not sleeping and not eating anywhere near enough so we rang our friend who is a paediatric nurse and she had us meet her at A&E at the hospital where she works. We were given piriton to try to help James sleep and we also got a referal to a paediatric consultant there who specialises in eczema and allergies. When he saw James he was convinced that his eczema was so severe due to food allergies so had RAST tests carried out on him. He also changed James' emollients and had us try 2 different ones at the same time, one for left hand side and one for the right hand side. He also gave James vallergan as the piriton had not really made much difference. James tested positive to dairy, egg, wheat, peanuts, nuts, chicken, oranges, soy, fish, beef and oats. Once we had removed these from James' diet his eczema did calm down after around 2 months and this helped us identify other triggers. James was admitted to hospital 6 times due to eczema flares and infections in these 2 months and he also had 2 cases of eczema herpeticum which he also had to be admitted for. We also did wet wrapping which helped his skin improve once all his allergens were removed from his diet.

I am sorry I have waffled al lot. James' eczema is a lot better controlled now but does still have quite bad flares. It is mainly due to enviromental triggers and contact allergies now though and we do seem to be able to get control of it quicker now.

If you want to ask me anything then please don't hesitate and I will try my best not to waffle to much.

ironchef
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:02 am
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by ironchef on Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:02 am

Re: Help with persistant eczema and allergies

Jimbob,

I don't understand WHY dermatologists DENY that eczema is linked to ALLERGIES!!! I find it so unforgivable. Sorry you had to go through all that....

Jimbob
Posts: 336
Joined: Thu May 08, 2008 9:00 pm
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by Jimbob on Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:49 pm

Re: Help with persistant eczema and allergies

I sometimes wonder if dermatologists deny food allergies are linked to eczema flares as that way you will need more conventional medication to treat the eczema than you would if you removed the foods form your diet. I know that sounds very cynical. I think seeing my child go through so much hell that could of been lessened had the dermatologists listened and tested him for food allergies has made me this way.

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