Are you or a loved one suffering from eczema? Hopefully our story about eczema and food allergies will be of help and give you hope that there are answers.
Autism, food allergies, Asperger's Syndrome, eczema, and chronic fatigue are health issues that my family has dealt with over the past 12 years.
And over the years I've repeated a number of stories to friends to
- connect with others about our life
- share what might help others as they battle similar issues.
This is one of them.
It's the story of how our son's eczema basically terrorized our family for the first year of our life with him.
And how we beat it. With God's help.
This is that story.
It was a very tough road, but I hope our trials and what we learned are a blessing to someone else.
For long time readers of my blog, you know that my oldest son has Asperger's Syndrome and life threatening food allergies.
As a result, we have gradually transitioned to a whole foods, special diet menu and to non-toxic personal and home care products to lighten the toxic load on all of us – and on the planet.
While I really love sharing recipes (like Healthy Almond Joy and Homemade Chocolate / Carob Chips), kitchen tips (The Easiest Way to Peel Garlic), and DIY recipes (like No Streak Glass Cleaner) that make it easier for all of you to clean up your life and diet, I really want to also share from my heart.
Stories about this health journey – where we've been and where we are now.
Because we are real people and so are my readers. And by learning and sharing together we can help each other navigate this path towards greater health.
Our Journey of Eczema and Food Allergies Starts
To that end, I am sharing with you our story about my son's life threatening food allergies and eczema.
Here goes.
My oldest son was born at home in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
His birth was rough, but amazing. And that's another story that I will have to share at another time.
Things started out well.
He nursed well, taking to breastfeeding like a champ.
I still remember our first nap together – mother and son. lying close. myself sleepily drinking in the newness and bliss of motherhood.
But all of that changed about 3 months later.
We knew from the beginning that our son was “intense”, but he soon became basically an insomniac.
I wrote about sleep struggles in my post on “Natural Sleep Help for Children (and Adults)“and so you know we've dealt with sleep issues in our home for a long time. However, this was really out of control.
Basically, things got so bad that my son wouldn't sleep for more than a half hour at a time.
And at nighttime he would only sleep for 10 of those half hour stints at a time. (Translation – 5 hours of sleep disrupted 9 times.)
Mom was a complete mess.
We tried everything.
- Tying his crib next to our bed in sidecar fashion
- Having him sleep in a bouncy seat with the motor turned on
- Putting him to sleep in his car seat so he'd be surrounded by tight cushions
I was even in the market for a gadget that you attached to the baby's crib and it would make it feel like the baby was riding in a car.
But the reviews weren't consistent enough to justify the price on our then $13,000 per year income. So I passed.
I was at the end of my rope.
No sleep and a very irritable baby makes for a rough life :-(.
Then my son developed what we and his pediatrician thought was cradle cap on his head and eyebrows.
We tried several natural treatments, but it just progressed all over his eyebrows and then down to his cheeks and beyond.
So we were referred to a dermatologist who told us that he had eczema and was itching terribly.
(After hearing this, my husband and I remembered that our son would lie on his back in his crib and rotate his arms around in a strange way around his face. Now we knew that he was itching horribly and trying to scratch himself. Oh the pain of parenthood–to know your child has been suffering and you didn't know it and had done nothing to help him.)
The prescription for topical steroid cream came and we filled it.
And on went socks on his hands when he slept to prevent him from scratching himself.
(Part of that was to prevent infections and part is because eczema has an itch / scratch cycle that is important to beat. The more your itch, the more you scratch, and so on…. Stop the scratching and some of the itch goes away. Or so they say.)
My son's skin was gorgeous for awhile, and he slept fabulously, but once we were done with the prescription, the rash rebounded and we were back where we started. With itching and sleepless nights. And the warnings on the cream's insert were pretty frightening :-(.
We did what we could, but I was basically losing my mind.
Eventually, my son had a rash all over his abdomen, back and even his legs.
His cheeks were oozing a crusty, yellow goo, and he would stick to my arms when he nursed.
Finally, one day, in desperation, I called Chicago Children's Hospital and asked for an appointment with their head allergist.
What I got was horrible news. They were booking out 3 months in advance. I fell apart on the phone and told her that I honestly didn't think I would make it 'til then.
Graciously, somehow, she got the department head on the phone and a few minutes later I had an appointment.
I got a prescription during that appointment.
Not for another cream, but for hard work that paid off.
I'll be sharing that “prescription” in Part Two – next time.
More Healthy Living Topics that Might Interest You
– Autism, Anxiety and a Real Miracle
– Why I am Thankful for Autism
– Special Needs Children – A Sign from God
– True Freedom on the Fourth – an Autism Story
Has your family had to deal with eczema and/or food allergies?
Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seaniz/2114708830/
Hello,
Thank you for sharing your story. My daughter is currently 4 months old and was diagnosed with eczema by a dermatologist when she was 2 months old. When I took her with her pediatrician first be just prescribed steroids (helped the first time for a few days and the. Stopped helping) to help with the dry and irritated skin and he said that most babies have sensitive skin and she would get better. Our family has been struggling for the past two months with my babies eczema because despite all the different natural treatments we have tried and all the money we have spent there has been little to no positive results with her eczema. She itches a lot specially at night and bleeds when she scratches if I don’t catch her hands on time. What natural daily moisturizer would you recommend? Also, I will need to get on the same diet you did to see if it improves her skin. Thanks.
Hello Monica, I’m so sorry that you are going through all of this! And sorry I didn’t get back to you right away. I’ve been swamped and lost access to comments for awhile.
So every one has different skin, but I have to tell you something interesting. I was hearing a lot of ladies telling me that they have tried so many things for their kids, but the Beautycounter Baby products worked better than anything for their littles’ skin. So I would personally try that for now. This is the link to my site: https://www.beautycounter.com/adrienneurban?goto=/product/baby-daily-protective-balm
I would love to hear if you feel it supports her skin. I’m going to personally start using it on my face at night as an overall moisture sealer on top of my regular nighttime moisturizer.
Hope that helps. I would ask your doctor about the diet before you do that to make sure that he or she thinks that’s a good move for you.
Hi Adrienne,
I know this is an older post, but just have a few questions. My son, now 5, has multiple allergies; dairy, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, (except almond), peanuts, and others. Within hours of birth, he had terrible skin. At about 3 months, his skin improved somewhat. But after a persistent rash on his cheeks and sometimes other places on his body, he was finally diagnosed at nearly a year with allergies. So, I just expected that his eczema would disappear with all these foods taken from his diet, but no, we continue to battle eczema. We been down the steroid road, which helps, but really concerns me in the long term. As a family, however, we have not eliminated all of the forbidden foods from our diets, and I’m wondering if that possibly we are contaminating my son. I’m wondering how your family deals with eating/not eating the foods your child is allergic to. It seems from your story, you simply eliminated the foods causing the allergic reactions, and your child’s eczema cleared? Or did you have to do additional things? Thanks for any insight from your experience!
I’m sorry you are dealing with this. Yes, when we removed the allergens, his skin cleared. For a long time they were out of the house but later his allergist said we could bring them back in. I know when he got too many carbs he got eczema. So candida appeared to be the culprit: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/what-candida-is-how-to-know-if-you-have-it-and-how-to-ditch-it/ Hope that helps. I should write more about it.
Thanks much! I try to limit his sugar intake, but with his diet, he does have a lot of carbs. I find that snacks are particularly difficult as he’s not fond of fresh fruits and vegetables. Is there one snack that you feel good about always letting your son eat that wouldn’t be carb laden?
I feel your pain. Yes, we have several:
https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/green-bean-chips/
https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/no-bake-coconut-delights-sugar-dairy-egg-and-grain-free/
https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/homemade-coconut-chips-like-dang-brand/
Those are the current favorites. We also make my flax bread and put toppings on it. The photo is terrible. I’m working on redoing them right now: https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/focaccia-flax-bread/
I hope those help!
Thanks so much for your help!
You are so welcome!
Thank you. This is us now. We were just at the pediatrician today! My youngest is 10 months and has never slept through the night. Some diet changes have gotten us up to an hour at a time but he goes from out cold to all out screaming. He doesn’t have eczema but his two older siblings do, one fairly badly and the other has sensory issues so it may be all related. We’re going to keep working but knowing other parents have survived this stage helps do much.
Oh no. I am so sorry. Have you tried an allergy elimination diet like I did? Typically yes, I would think that sensory issues would be related.
Looking forward to reading part 2. Both kids have it & have been on meds for yrs, I would love to get them off meds and on natural remedies.
I hope you can figure something out :). Did you find part 2?
Awaiting part two! Our 3 year old has suffered from horrible eczema since birth all over his body. I’ve done so many different treatments and limited diets for him but we still can not get it under control. Kills me to see him suffer so. Our other son has autism, so your title hits so close to home. Thank you fir sharing any insight you may have to help us 🙂
Such a touching story. It is definitely Gods work that helped you in this situation. Also, it is wonderful that you did not back down til you got something done about this horrible situation for your baby.
I’m so glad you’re sharing this. Our youngest has a similar story. After her first couple weeks it seemed she only slept for 20 minutes at a time. She would be up all night itching and fussing. We resorted to late night cartoons with distracting music and my husband would basically hold her arms still at night because she was giving herself skin infections from scratching. Serious food allergies too. It’s been a long road with a couple serious set backs, but we’ve got her on a diet and herbal/vitamin supplements that have finally given her a good summer at 6 years old. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your story!
The rest is at a link at the bottom of the post- check it out :).
I’m Eczema suffer and nearly 40 they only thing that stops it is certain foods weetbix porridge Marmite being the main trigger trail and era also omega 3 found in white meat chicken pork fish… I was given and old wives tale book medical one found it to correct in many things i reacted too. Also grass and enzymes in clothes wash powder etc.. i found things with Zinc base either drops add to drink once a day got rid of it you can get it in a cream as well nappy rash cream pintsole in soap and liquid works at bath time. It not easy but it can be worked around also and sheets blankets that sweats and under wear stick to cotton stay away from lainelen oil found in sheep wool oil found in many creams and wool as this will make things worse.