If your child had infant eczema, did he/she end up with actual allergies?

[Jennifer in MI]

My ds - now 10 - is our one with the AWFUL food allergies.

 

He started off at 4 months with TERRIBLE eczema. I have pictures - bleeding cheeks. HORRIBLE!!! He was completely breastfed. Natural birth - NO drugs. Cloth diapered. Natural cleaners, etc. We delayed vaccines on him, just in case. NO solid food until 7 months. Around 8 − 10 months, his hands and feet started bleeding - eczema. We had bloody footprints and handprints all around the house.

 

At 13 months, he got ahold of a peanut butter lid that fell on the floor after our oldest made a sandwich. His face BALLOONED!!!! We took him to the ER ASAP. Referred to an allergist. Yes. He was allergic to peanuts. AND, eggs, chocolate, treenuts, soy, eggs, etc. I don't even remember all of them. It was horrible.

 

Took all that out of our diet (and mine - he was still nursing - talk about a guilt complex!!) - his eczema was fine! Two years later, he outgrew all but peanuts and tree nuts. His dinner that night? Shrimp and chocolate!!!!

 

Fast forward a couple years - his lips start swelling randomly. He gets hives randomly. It was HORRIBLE! We spent a lot of time in the ER parking lot - just in case. He got new allergies!!!! Sweet potatoes, barley, and rice! WHO is allergic to THAT!!!???

 

We're a couple years past that. He's outgrown rice. We're waiting to hear about the most recent testing. He's praying he's outgrown peanuts and treenuts. Poor kid. I don't see it happening.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Jennifer in MI

[LibraryLover]

I have never stepped foot in a chick Fil A! lol No other allergies but trees, pollen, dust mite dust.

 

My allergy child bf for 8 mos excl, but the others were bf excl for longer. Only the 8 mos excl one has allergies! I do not get it. The youngest was about a year before she ate food. She has never had a single does of an antibiotic, and has a stomach of steel!

 

The Eares, Eyes, & Nose surgeon says he has narrow nasal passages, and recommends surgery. That's a hard thing to consider, but we wonder if it would end it all. Who wants to be on Zyrtec forever??!!

 

The new studies are actually showing that our holding off on solids and high allergenic foods are creating more allergies! :001_huh: Who knows if the studies will turn out to be valid, but I read an article about it in our Children's Hospital magazine.

 

**For peanut allergies, don't even walk into a Chick Fil A which fry their food in peanut oil. :glare:**

Edited February 9, 2011 by LibraryLover

[meena]

Both of my ds's had eczema as infants. The older had it primarily had it on his cheeks and around his elbows. It went away when he was around 18 months old. He hasn't had any skin issues since. The younger had a much more severe case, but it was mainly on his legs and feet. His started to lessen when he was close to 4 years old but still had flare-ups. Now that he is 5, he finally has completely clear skin but given how bad it was for him, I'm still watching for any recurrence.

 

Neither of my sons have allergies or asthma. They are also very healthy and are rarely sick--any sickness they do get usually doesn't progress beyond sniffles. I have read about the link between eczema and asthma. Also, my DH has tree-nut allergies. Because of these factors, I've kept an eye out for an possible problems stemming from their earlier eczema issues and am thankful not to have seen any yet.

[RanchGirl]

my eldest had eczema as an infant and toddler and around 12-18 months was diagnosed with egg and peanut allergies (no skin or blood test necessary at that time, we were able to definitively determine the allergies from his symptoms - vomiting and hives). He outgrew the eczema, but not the food allergies. He also has seasonal allergies. His eczema was worst when being outside in the spring/summer which is when he now has seasonal allergy symptoms (congestion/runny nose).

[Guest momk2000]

Dd had eczema as a baby, is allergic to peanuts (breaks out in hives), and also has seasonal allergies. I developed eczema about halfway through the pregnancy and still break out from time to time.

[Breezy]

My 8 year old have horrible eczema as a baby, but has no allergies or food sensitivities at all now.

[DaffodilDreams]

Dd had eczema and does have allergies.

[katemary63]

My DD9 had infant eczema on her face, hands and feet for about 4 weeks.

 

At age 9, she still have eczema on her hands in winter only. She also takes OTC children's Claritin for chronic fluid behind her ears and frequent head aches that the ped. says is caused from alergies. The Claritin takes care of it. She has no other alergy symptoms at this time. I am concerned though since my oldest DD, my Dad and I all have asthma.

[Needleroozer]

Yep. My dd is severely allergic to dairy, chocolate, and peanuts. Also has issues with wheat and other grains, though not as severe as the other allergies.

[Rhonda in TX]

DD had eczema and was diagnosed with food allergies at age 10 or so. (nuts, peanuts, fruit, latex) We got her eczema under control when she was 6 by changing detergents, so I'm not sure of the correlation. We discovered the food allergies when she told us that eating fruit made her face itch. She has never like peanuts or peanut butter, so no allergic reaction showed up there before testing.

[Paintedlady]

Ds had terrible eczema as an infant, bad enough that we ended up at the dermatologist office at 4 months. He seemed to outgrow the eczema by about 18 months.

 

He was diagnosed with fairly serious allergies/asthma at age 4. He's been on daily medication for both for 6 years and although well controlled, if he misses a dose we know it by about 5pm b/c he starts coughing and wheezing.

 

ETA: He doesn't seem to have any food allergies that we know of.

[Quad Shot Academy]

I have never stepped foot in a chick Fil A! lol No other allergies but trees, pollen, dust mite dust.

 

My allergy child bf for 8 mos excl, but the others were bf excl for longer. Only the 8 mos excl one has allergies! I do not get it. The youngest was about a year before she ate food. She has never had a single does of an antibiotic, and has a stomach of steel!

 

The Eares, Eyes, & Nose surgeon says he has narrow nasal passages, and recommends surgery. That's a hard thing to consider, but we wonder if it would end it all. Who wants to be on Zyrtec forever??!!

 

Sorry, the peanut comment was for the OP. I think she said something about peanuts.

 

I honestly think it is just genetics, dna, the brain or something. I don't think anything causes allergies, eczema or asthma that can be so easily fixed in most situations. *I am sure there are exceptions though.*

 

We did have our oldest's adenoids removed and it was well worth it. If your allergy child is exceptionally smart read the book, The Einstein Syndrome. There is a theory that smart children's brains take up more space for thinking, leaving less space for eyes and the immune system, which is why smart kids really do have more allergies, more asthma, are sick more often and need glasses more often.

[Tess in the Burbs]

one did/has food allergies, one did not. both had the skin problems though as babies.

[Tullia]

Yes; my son is allergic to milk, peanuts, and at least one antibiotic. He's also got other auto-immune issues, seasonal allergies and always has lingering coughs after colds or flu. I also avoided foods with ingredient lists more than two lines long even if there were no known culprits. There is a family history of allergies of various types but this kid seemed to get a little bit from everyone in the family :confused:.

 

When he was an infant/toddler we got relief from using an air purifier, changing furnace filters often,limiting bathing and hand washing, using dye/fragrance free products and avoiding anti-bacterial soaps/toothpastes (anything containing triclosan). YMMV, but when he got old enough to play outside he started to improve. Sunshine, fresh air, and dirt seemed to help. None of his problems have disappeared entirely, but they're manageable and he's otherwise very healthy. He says that eating lots of olive oil and avoiding too much hand washing keep his skin in good condition.

[TravelingChris]

Back when my middle one had such bad eczema that I had to take her to a allergist/dermatologist, he informed me that there is a triad of medical problems that are often together and they are very hereditary. They are eczema, allergies, and asthma. All three are thought to have something to do with the immune system- I know asthma is now considered an autoimmune issue and I think that allergies are also basically due to an overactive immune system.

 

I don't have any idea whether eczema is common in AA children, but I do know that asthma is. We are the typical family where it is definitely genetic. My first one was almost exclusively cloth diapers, no milk until after one year after two weeks of dairy formula. We did not introduce highly allergic foods until after one year with the exception of wheat earlier. My second was on cloth diapers until we figured out that that was worse than disposable diapers. She also was started with dairy and switched quickly to soy when she had issues. She needed to be on very big doses of a stronger antihistamine since she was so incredibly itchy. She is 17.5 yo and this week, we are revisiting the whole eczema and itching issue. It does not help that she is severely ADHD. Then my last one never even had dairy formula, she went straight to soy. No help with eczema, but big help with gastro issues.

[LittleIzumi]

Back when my middle one had such bad eczema that I had to take her to a allergist/dermatologist, he informed me that there is a triad of medical problems that are often together and they are very hereditary. They are eczema, allergies, and asthma. All three are thought to have something to do with the immune system- I know asthma is now considered an autoimmune issue and I think that allergies are also basically due to an overactive immune system.

 

I don't have any idea whether eczema is common in AA children, but I do know that asthma is. We are the typical family where it is definitely genetic. My first one was almost exclusively cloth diapers, no milk until after one year after two weeks of dairy formula. We did not introduce highly allergic foods until after one year with the exception of wheat earlier. My second was on cloth diapers until we figured out that that was worse than disposable diapers. She also was started with dairy and switched quickly to soy when she had issues. She needed to be on very big doses of a stronger antihistamine since she was so incredibly itchy. She is 17.5 yo and this week, we are revisiting the whole eczema and itching issue. It does not help that she is severely ADHD. Then my last one never even had dairy formula, she went straight to soy. No help with eczema, but big help with gastro issues.

 

Yes, my doc was surprised that dd5 didn't have eczema as she had food allergies & breathing issues every time she had a cold. Now we have the trifecta :glare:

 

Interesting on the Einstein theory as well, since that fits in our family too (dairy allergy dd already has glasses, lol, and other dd has the more typical gifted sensory/sleep issues & dye sensitivity).

[LibraryLover]

LOL Really? I have never heard that. He is the 'traditional' type (blows test scores out of the water etc) of braniac, but so is my youngest, and she is allergy-free!

 

What a crazy world.

 

We did have our oldest's adenoids removed and it was well worth it. If your allergy child is exceptionally smart read the book, The Einstein Syndrome. There is a theory that smart children's brains take up more space for thinking, leaving less space for eyes and the immune system, which is why smart kids really do have more allergies, more asthma, are sick more often and need glasses more often.

[Staceyshoe]

Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, but I wanted to share our experience. Hopefully this makes some sense in light of your situation. Ds2 had very slight eczema as an infant. I noticed it around 6 months, which was when winter started. I thought it was a little dry skin from the weather, but the dr diagnosed it as allergy-related eczema. When we eliminated the allergens, it did completely clear up.

 

He's now almost 3 and has multiple severe food allergies. (7 food allergies and needs an epi pen for 5 of them.) There is no family history of food allergy though there is some dairy intolerance in dh's family. The good news is that the statistics are decent for outgrowing a lot of his allergies. (Unfortunately nuts are not one commonly outgrown, though it's still possible. I know that's something you mentioned.)

[Rhonda in TX]

Should have mentioned... She's had pollen allergies since she was little. She's the only one of us who does.

[snipsnsnailsx5]

In our case - yes. My first son had HORRIBLE infant eczema. We had to tape socks on his hands at night, but even those wouldn't stay on that well. He'd often wake up with blood under his finger nails from scratching. :(

 

Finally we had him allergy tested around 1.5 yrs old. He had only a couple allergies at that time - cat and eggs I think? Then he was retested a couple years later and his allergies more then doubled.

His most recent testing - about 4 yrs ago (so he was about 7) - was horrible. He showed a reaction for every thing they tested him for except for a few of them. Those they did under the skin (because we were getting him started on allergy shots and they needed to find out all of his allergies) - and those reacted too. She he tested positive to ALL of them.

 

The poor kid was itchy all the time, congested all the time, often would get hives, and every so often would have his eyes totally swell up and out. uggh!

 

The allergy shots (only good for environmental type alleriges though) have really helped. His skin is WAY more clear and he doesn't sound so stuffy all the time. He had ONE bout of hives a few months ago...but no swelling up of the eyes.

[LittleIzumi]

Well, I had cashews for the first time yesterday (I was avoiding all tree nuts with the peanut reaction but I'm on the Candida diet for 3 weeks and that's pretty much the only thing that qualifies as a snack), and I had a lot, and his eczema flared up badly, and I kept having more today and it is still flared up. I know that's not conclusive but it's still :glare:. His eczema doesn't seem related to dry skin and lotion doesn't seem to make it any better, generally. It flares up quickly upon trigger and fades more slowly upon removal of the trigger much more like an allergic rash, just... eczema instead of hives or whatnot.