My 8 month old son, Jack

[jacksmommy21]

Hi, my name is Sara. My son Jack is 8 and a half months old and he has had severe skin problems since he was only days old.

He has extreme breakouts of eczema all over his body, sometimes he can't even move his arms or legs without them cracking and bleeding. We discovered he was allergic to all milk at about a month old, even my breastmilk when I don't eat any dairy. Jack gets a terrible stomach ache and then vomits around a half hour after drinking it. We've avoided everything dairy, switched to soy formula, and do a complete body lotion every diaper change. We have tried every lotion you can think of, been to numerous doctors, and haven't had any success. He is miserable most of the time. We use Ivory Snow for detergent (using as little as we can), Aquaphilic for lotion, and Aveeno unscented Baby Soap. As you can imagine, all these things cost at least twice what normal baby lotion and soaps would cost, which normally wouldn't be a big deal if my boyfriend and I weren't both 19 and in college. Jack is on a normal schedule, except for being hard to keep asleep because of the itching. We have been considering that the source could be allergy related, because when we took milk out of Jack's diet, his skin did clear up a little.

If you could help us with anything, any new suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!!
Sara and Jack

[jacksmommy21]

Thank you for everything. He's been to the dermatologist here in Dakota Dunes, SD many times, all of which his skin was pretty clear, so they didn't do much for him :( He currently has strep throat, so his skin is absolutely terrible (as it is whenever he gets sick). He goes back on the 23rd of May. If the doctors there don't refer us to an allergist, we will probably have to make our own appointment and wait a few months to get in. I will definitely keep you updated. Thank you again for your concern! :)

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
First of all you have to identify the triggers to which your son is allergic. For this allergy testing has to be done extensively.  Diagnosis of allergy can be done by skin ***** tests and patch tests. In this a little amount of allergen is injected into the skin of the forearm by a doctor. The skin is closely watched for signs of a reaction, which include swelling and redness. Confirmatory diagnosis is by blood tests (RAST).

There are certain other non-pharmacological measures which are equally important in treating atopic dermatitis. These are lubricating the skin frequently, avoiding harsh soaps and cleansers, preventing scratching or rubbing whenever possible, protecting skin from excessive moisture, irritants, and rough clothing, maintaining a cool, stable temperature and consistent humidity levels, limiting exposure to dust, cigarette smoke, pollens, and animal dander & Recognizing and limiting the exposure to allergens.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.