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I don’t have my son Eo’s eczema “cracked” yet for a recovery regimen the way I have for my daughter Aubby’s gut dysbiosis/malabsorption issues, but I wanted to include this tab for the sake of the good resources I find as I go.

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Diet Affects Eczema Flares

Although I’ve already had a Pediatrician tell me eczema is subject to the weather, and Dermatologist and an Allergist have told me that eczema flares are random, I know from careful observation and experience that my son’s are greatly influenced by diet.

How did I narrow knowing that down? For those who’ve been through this blogsite enough, they’ll have noted that Aubby has an extensive list of synthetic corn derivative food and chemical intolerances. So even before I encountered my son’s needs, pets, immediate sources of artificial fragrance, and the “Top 8” allergens were already ruled out (except for fish, which I quickly realized was a problem when he was about five months old).

While sifting eczema support groups, a more reliable source guide made itself known: The Eczema Diet: Discover How to Stop and Prevent The Itch of Eczema Through Diet and Nutrition by Karen Fischer.

Vitamins For Eczema

The following photo is an eczema flare following barely a taste of a bone broth:

  • Left: 11 Jan 2021, 6:58PM — severe flare from bone broth, which acted badly sunburned, and then cracked and wept, and had alligator skin.
  • Middle: 13 Jan 2021, 8:36AM — after starting Vitamin A on Jan 12, alligator skin calmed and I haven’t seen or felt that texture since we started it.
  • Right: 16 Jan 2021, 10:50AM — after starting the Mary Ruth brand Lymph Cleanse tincture and Gut Restore, less inflammation and swelling and behavior is more relaxed.

So, although it did not affect the frequency of flares, what I learned here is that Vitamin A made the alligator skin he used to get go away. What Vitamin A supplement did we use? Pure Therapro Rx Vitamin A+D3/K2.

I mention Vitamin A, but Ecological Formulas Vitamin C has also made a visible difference.

Some Eczema-safe Personal Care Products To Start With

To see a bigger list of clean products, check out Aubby’s Clean Brand Picks.

Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW)

I’ve spent years digging into gastrointestinal information for my daughter’s sake, but then my son needed my help. After looking into eczema for a while, a support group member mentioned Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW).

The member who mentioned TSW led me to the story of Isaiah Quinn and his mother’s search for answers on the blog Isaiah Quinn: topical steroid withdrawal. Reading her journey gave me context to understand Eo is following that course, and my family is about three-fourths of the progress of her first post about it. I have been walking that back as fast as I can, thanks to information on TSW to guide me.

TSW occurs following a bout of eczema that topical steroids appear not to be able to fix. Rather than resolve, the original eczema worsens and appears to “become” severe eczema. The following video (28 minutes) is an excellent, researched explanation of this phenomenon that needs greater awareness.

Credit: “An Overview of TSW (Topical Steroid Withdrawal): Exploring corticosteroid addiction and withdrawal from a medical and patient perspective” by Dr Heba Khaled BDS BSc (Hons)

Another big thing(!) is that in January 2021, the National Eczema Society and British Association of Dermatologists made a joint position statement on Topical Steroid Withdrawal.

Just in case the link ever ends up disappearing, here’s a copy of both pages:

(Page 1)
(Page 2)

Although not championing TSW approaches (#5), this Statement does recognize that TSW occurs. That’s important, considering mine and others’ experiences with skin professionals is its dismissal as “rumor”. But in the UK, it’s clearly now recognized by the National Eczema Society and British Association of Dermatologists.

One other thing of note is that the Statement says TSW comes after long-term use. Per others’ experiences in the support groups I follow, and my own experience with my son, TSW can also occur even after a short period of use in a susceptible individual. In my son’s case, I was told I “wasn’t putting enough on” even though I used a full tube over three weeks, three times, over the course of about six months. “You’re just not doing it enough,” our Ped kept saying. As if I lied. He had the same tone when I reported to him of the third time that my son was reacting to some part of vaccine ingredients because his eczema exploded yet again in the 45 minutes to 2 days following.

What The FDA Said About NSAID Use And Kidney Problems In Babies

I realized something recently. How very lucky I am that Eo was born living, and has survived. But now I also understand that kidney function was impacted. So like Aubby’s liver, I now race to Eo’s kidneys. I need to find kidney supporting supplements.

Looking into it, the FDA’s stance on NSAIDs during pregnancy does not currently include low dose aspirin due to it being low dose. After reading this, I feel they are gravely mistaken to exclude it in pregnancy.

The timing of when and how I weaned off of it explains why Eo had low fetal activity leading to induction. Also, I had to go against my birthing center at that time to get CBC so I could figure out why my blood pressure was pushing too low on the low dose aspirin combined with fish oil.

Both low dose aspirin and fish oil lower blood pressure. My experience, once I weaned off the aspirin, was that fish oil was absolutely adequate, and likely/should have been used in place of low dose aspirin use.

Further, NSAID use can lead to salicylate intolerance.

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