On Friday, I took Eleanor to see an allergist. She was diagnosed with eczema awhile ago by her doctor, but we just wondered if she was allergic to something that was making her scratch her skin so much. She scratches her arms and legs constantly and switching to fragrance free soaps and putting lotion on (when Eleanor would let us) has not helped much. A nurse friend of ours suggested having a scratch test done, so that led to our visit on Friday with Dr. Tan. When Zoe was a baby, Dr. Tan was her pediatrician, so I was familiar with her. Dr. Tan was able to test for 8 different possibilities of what Eleanor could be allergic to. One of the tests done was for a cat allergy since Eleanor's eyes water and get red whenever we are at my parents' house where there is a cat. Eleanor was also tested for milk, eggs, wheat, feathers, dust-mites, and a few others that I can't remember. Eleanor freaked out before the test was done, just like she does before she gets a shot. Another nurse had to come in to help hold Eleanor down because Eleanor was not cooperating and I was not leaving until the test was done. Eleanor felt a quick pinch on her back and then we cuddled for 15 minutes as we waited to see how her skin would react to the tests. We found out that Eleanor is allergic to cats, which we suspected, and she is also allergic to dust-mites. She is not allergic to any of the food items that she was tested for and Dr. Tan confirmed the eczema diagnosis. She recommended a dermatologist who specializes in eczema. I want to do more research on the internet for eczema before we go see another specialist...if we see the specialist. I know eczema is pretty common, so I'm sure many of you have experience with it. From our experience, we have not been told of a way to eliminate the eczema and the urge that Eleanor has to scratch, but rather we have been given advice of what lotions to use on the areas that she is scratching. Many of the lotions sting Eleanor's skin, so she won't put the lotions on. I've given up trying to get Eleanor to put lotion on because I'm tired of fighting with her about it. Dr. Tan suggested using Vaseline. That sounds disgusting to me, but I guess it's worth a try.
Eleanor had her 6 year birthday picture taken after her doctor's appointment. It was long overdue since her birthday was in May! Her picture came out very nice, but I think Eleanor was still bitter about the scratch test, so she didn't have much fun during her photo shoot. We got her picture done just in time to start the new round of birthday pictures, starting with Kate in about 3 weeks!
Zach and Eleanor were fooling around later on in the day on Friday and Eleanor's new earring came out. My mom and I tried putting the earring back in, but part of her hole was closed and Eleanor has no tolerance for pain, especially after her scratch test. I took the other earring out because Eleanor decided she didn't need earrings until she is older. I think I'm more bummed about her earrings than she is.
Eleanor started feeling sick Friday evening with the sore throat that Emily has had. The perfect ending for a super bad day!
4 comments:
Oh I'm sorry. Lucy had it really bad when she was a baby. There is a Rx that you can get called desonide (I think) and it works well on the affected areas if it's patchy.
Dove soap (or no soap, I can't remember the last time I used soap on the kids, their skin can't take it) and long daily soaks in warm baths help a lot too.
As soon as she's out of the tub and dry we grease them up with Aquafor ointment (looks like vaseline and won't sting) and then follow up with Eucerin cream.
Actual "lotions" are good for maintenance but not so much for healing. You definitely want the thick greasy creams that are sold in a tub for that. And they shouldn't sting at all. They are greasy, but it's a short term thing.
Once she's all healed up, Cetaphil cream (also in a tub) and Aveeno creams (in a tub) are great for maintenance. I use them too because I have pretty dry skin. They get it from me.
It's pretty under control here in Maine, but once we move to the desert it's going to be crazy.
Oh yeah, you can't wait long after the bath, if you wait longer than 15 minutes you've missed your window.
Poor Eleanor. :( Lots of people in my dad's family have eczema, including him and Alexa. How did they fix it? They moved to the tropics. Haha! Before that though, they used LOTS of Bag Balm (sold in a tub) all winter long and whenever it flared up in the summer. You could also use things to soften her bath water, like milk, oats, salts, etc. Oat baths are probably the easiest, and cheapest. One cup or oats or so should do, and you just blend it until it's ultra fine and powdery. One cup or so should be plenty for her bath, but you really just put in however much you think you need/want. You can find a lot of recipes for things like milk baths, etc., all over the internet.
I'm sorry Eleanor had such a bad day!
Leif has eczema too... when it flares up, we put hydrocortisone cream (1%, OTC) on the patches for a few days, it works wonders. Maintenance, I agree with the Cetaphil cream... although we ran out a long time ago and I didn't buy more because it is expensive! I guess I was hoping he was growing out of it, but in the summer (pool chlorine) and mid-winter (dry, cold) it acts up... I should probably get some more, just yesterday I saw his ankles were all red/scaly again (bad mother). I also try to put vaseline on areas that seem extra dry or itchy, etc... he hates that, but I think it really helps.
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