As some of you may recall, I've been on methotrexate since 2008. However it was helping only partially and I was suffering from side effects. Reducing it didn't go so easy, as my body reacted to the lack of drug - the atopic all came back, full-blown with edema around the eyes, scratching all the time, the works.
Prof. B, when he saw me, said I should go back to the methotrexate. But he also knew I was in USA and he pulled out a name of a famous doctor from Oregon. Dr. HN was a pioneer in the field of atopic dermatitis and has seen it all. We decided to go.
Dr. HN's treatment was nothing I'd ever heard of. He took all my bath oils out ("You might've developed contact dermatitis") and made me bathe in plain water. Immediately after the bath, while the skin wet, I applied a steroid cream (betamethasone) on the entire body - including face(!). I did this twice a day for two days.
At this point I was willing to try anything so I gave it a shot. Believe it or not, it worked. The skin was nearly entirely clear at the end of those two days. Once that happened, I started tapering the creams (with Dr. HN's instruction) down to once a day, every other day, and so on until I now put it on twice a week. The face, neck and breasts get protopic (a non-steroidal, immunosuppressant cream), also twice a week.
I also added UV therapy, on which I won't write today.
Bottom line - my skin is clear, without systemic pills that kill my liver and who knows what else. While I'm not thrilled at the thought of putting steroids on, at least I'm treating where it hurts - the skin. And it's working! It's been four months now and my skin is clear as can be (except for my scalp - that's a matter for another post).
8 comments:
Hi,
I just found your blog and wanted to thank you for doing it. I have a 4 month old that was just "diagnosed" with atopic dermatitis. I put that in quotations b/c the doctor who did the diagnosing was in the ER. My sons PCP was not doing anything about my son's skin. So finally after it got so bad (it covers his entire scalp, face, and neck now...and well you know what it looks like in addition to all the little nicks he gives himself from scratching) I just took him to the ER and I haven't found another pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis yet. I've just started doing research and I haven't read much of your blog yet, mostly b/c I'm overwhelmed with all the info and ramifications. The ER doc didn't give me much info about it, just said i need to follow up with his PCP immediately and to use Eucerin in the mean time. However, after reading the backs of just about every bottle of lotion in Walmart I'm really discouraged. I've pretty much tried everything with the main ingredients as Eucerin already and nothing has helped. My son's eyes got an infection and the drops that the doc prescribed have helped but it seems not much can be done to relieve his skin.
I'm still breastfeeding so I'm kind of overwhelmed with the thought of the effect of food allergies and don't have any idea where to begin changing my diet.
Any advice on what I need to do immediately would be welcomed.
Thanks,
Discouraged Momma
Dear cathryn,
Sorry to hear your son is suffering so badly.
Don't base your treatment just on your son's primary care provider - demand to say a dermatologist, he or she will know what your son has and what to do.
Eucerin is not real treatment for atopic dermatitis but it does help raise the moisture level of the skin. A dermatologist will likely prescribe some kind of steroidal cream which is the only appropriate treatment for a young child. In addition you should try to give him baths in warm (not hot) water and put cream on immediately afterward, while the skin is still wet. This allows the skin to absorb the creams much more strongly.
I don't think you should worry too much about your diet - definitely not before you see a dermatologist. Your son could have any number of allergies, not necessarily food allergies but also environmental. He may be allergic to dust mite (very common) or any number of plants and pollen. What I'm trying to say is right now you need to focus on treatment, not prevention.
I really really hope this helps and that your son feels better. Feel free to keep in touch and ask me any questions.
Best wishes,
-Shiri
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I will start putting cream on him while his skin is still wet. We saw a new pediatrician last week and she confirmed it was a topic dermatitis on his face and scalp, but turns out the rash on the rest of his body was contact dermatitis from the laundry detergent. Since changing detergents most of his skin has cleared. He also had a skin infection on his forehead. So after a round of antibiotics he has looked much better the last few days. One other thing that seems to be helping some is the baby care set from Arbonne, which I only recently heard of. The oil especially seems to work best for clearing up the flakes and the lotion and wash are extremely mild without any dyes, fragrances, chemicals and all that.
We have a follow up appointment Tuesday so I will ask to be referred to a dermatologist.
Besides just dusting and cleaning how do I get rid of the dust? Do you think I should get and air purifier?
Thanks so much for the advice :)
Hi Katie,
Yes, detergents are definitely an issue - I use a baby-sensitive detergent, and no softener or dryer sheets at all.
As for the dust, try to get all dust-collected items out of his bedroom. Any pillows, sofas, etc. should be outside of the sleeping area. No rugs if you can help it. Then you can cover his mattress, blanket and such by special dust-mite covers. My allergy doctor recommended AchooAllergy products since they are specially made to have a fabric pore size that is literally smaller than dust mite. Most air purifiers will not get rid of the dust that has settled into surfaces and that's where most of the dust mite lives. I'm not saying they're not effective - they might be - but probably more for asthma and inhaled allergies than skin allergies.
Hope this helps, and remember, I'm not a doctor so don't substitute my advice for your dermatologist visit. :-)
Hi,
You might want to check out this news release. This drug free option might help with your current regemin
http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2011/14/c4398.html
Thanks for reading my blog at http://atopic.blogspot.com Shiri. I am so happy to see you have not blogged for a year. Does that mean your skin is still well under control? Brilliant if so. good on u.
Yes, I too, like u, have found a way to finally have back complete control over my weeping maddening skin.
For me, it is thanks to following the instructions in the small but powerful book called The Eczema Solution by a wonderful woman called Sue Armstrong Brown. I got it off Amazon years ago and never looked back.
Gary
P.S.
In the UK and Ireland I have found Aqueous cream to be a really really great moisturizer to apply on top of the steroid ointment twice a day. And it is pretty cheap at 6 dollars for 500 grams.
Oh and now, and for the last three years I have been trying like crazy to work on curing myself of chronic 'tendonitis in the shoulders'. It is as if after finally curing myself of eczema after 40 years, my body said, "Oh dear, what am I going to get Gary to worry terribly over every day now. I know. I have will send out false pain singles of tendonitis to his shoulders."
Ironically, the itch of eczema is also a false single sent out by the brain to your skin to say you have to scratch it to remove whatever irritant or bug that is on top of the skin.
My body makes my laugh. LOL :)
Hi, I wonder if you'd mind posting my video on Seborrheic Dermatitis: this really works for everybody so far, even the most severe cases!
Please see for yourself in the comments
So it's literally very valuable for all those affected, and it's time to spread the word..
Thanks,
Mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE5VxgFlMig
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