Stop topical steroid abuse!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

kline goes to the pool and the park, amazing!!!

week 21

kline has had the best week in months!!he is still flaring but he is getting breaks like we have never seen!  He did start a supplement drink for the moringa tree, it is called zija, and i really believe it has helped with his progress in the last 11 days!  it is perfect nutrition that gives the body what it needs so it can heal itself.  I hope that it will help other red skinners as much as i believe it has helped kline!


kline skin is also looking very good! and he is sleeping most nigh 10-12 hours!!!  hopefully the itchy bastard leaves us slowly but for good!!!




his "boob" got really raw this week and he got a lesion on is hand, but both are healing well!

sleep well my itchy friends!!!  xoxoxo Loren

2 comments:

  1. oh hun . . . I am very, very concerned for you and your son. I haven't read everything on this blog but from everything I'm seeing and reading I'm assuming you haven't found a good dermatologist yet who will speak to you about bacterial infections, light therapy, wet suit therapy, and bleach/oatmeal baths. I was born with eczema myself (28 years old now); always used steroid ointment triamcinolone (which is a relatively safe one and has low percentage of steroid actually in it). my eczema grew under control when in my teens and was like I didn't have it anymore. in my early 20's I moved from a very dry, hot climate (Albuquerque, New Mexico) back to my home state of Seattle, Washington which is very wet, humid, and cold. within a year I had developed mysterious lesions on the bottom of my feet, which grew into deep cuts in my toes and spread to my whole body as the years went on and doctor after doctor kept misdiagnosing it. finally I got in to one of the best dermatologists in Seattle who educated me about bacteria and eczema. basically, we all have basic staph and strep bacteria on our skin 24/7 -- it doesn't matter how clean or hygienic you are, it is just a fact of life. normally, sunlight kills this bacteria. when you have eczema which causes open sores, it is now a way for the bacteria to enter into the skin causing an infection. not meaning to scare you too much, but this is how serious that can be. the infection can move into your bloodstream, causing you to become septic and infect your organs and possibly die. I nicknamed it "skin sick". it makes the eczema INVINCIBLE. it may still slightly go away, get better, and then flare back up, but it will NOT go away. trust me, I was skin sick for 8 years. since I moved from a place where I was in the sun all the time that's why I never experienced an infection in my eczema until I moved to Seattle and wasn't getting enough sunlight anymore. I was miserable, pretty close to suicidal at that point. this dermatologist told me how basic antibiotics like Cephalexin will stop the infection, but you ultimately can't have any open sores or you will just get re-infected. he also told me about light therapy. light therapy (phototherapy) is where they put you in a booth that lights up with UVB (which is the most narrow band of light from the sun and the safe band; UVA is the one that causes skin cancer and is dangerous) rays. it's kind of like a tanning booth. it kills the bacteria that's on your skin (even MRSA which my staph infections eventually developed into) and rapidly heals wounds. I've been doing it for about a year and a half now and haven't had a deadly flare up since, it has literally saved my life. I've also been on antibiotics that whole time (much, much safer than steroids). they also used to give me steroid shots for my flare-ups and I haven't had to have one of those since. the other thing they told me about is what I nicknamed "wet suit therapy". another problem with eczema is that dry skin makes the itch/scratch cycle continue so it HAS to be moisturized. continued . . .

    ReplyDelete
  2. from the pictures I am seeing of your son, this is my initial reaction: he has a bacterial infection and his skin is WAY too dry. what they have me do, is I put my triamcinolone on (if you are against the steroids at all that's perfectly fine; you can still use a medication-free ointment like Vaseline, just as long as it's an OINTMENT, not a cream) and then a wet t-shirt and pants. over that I put on this oversized vinyl track suit-looking thing, which basically locks in the moisture. I admit it's very uncomfortable, but after wearing it for 2-3 days ALL of my lesions heal up. they actually first started doing this on babies so I know it would be safe for your son, and I might mention that I see children in the phototherapy area all the time too so that is also OK for children. so, to recap (sorry, so much information when I don't even know you and you're probably like, "What the hell, lady?! but I truly hope you're still reading and at least learning this information even if you don't want to try it): antibiotics, some kind of moisturizer, phototherapy, wet suit, and then finally the last two pieces of the puzzle. the last two things I have to do is take a bleach bath whenever I have open sores for the purpose of helping kill bacteria on my skin (once again something they did on babies so I know it's safe for children) by putting 1/2 cup of bleach in a full bathtub and soaking for 15 minutes or so. it does not hurt if you're not fully flared, but if you are then it will sting a bit. make sure to douse him in water afterwards. the last thing is take the bleach baths 2x a week and in between, buy Aveeno Oatmeal bath and a good coal tar shampoo (I use T/Gel brand). put one packet in a bathtub filled with warm water and add some coal tar shampoo which gives a cooling soothing effect on the skin. the purpose of doing this is to combat the dry skin and it feels really good. well I've typed a book so I'll let you go. I hope some of this helps you and your little boy -- I feel for him, I really do, I've been there so much. I'm so thankful I finally met the right people who educated me about my eczema much better than anyone ever did before and I have my life back now.

    P.S. PLEASE be weary of the herbal and holistic approach. eczema is unfortunately a very manufactured chronic illness meaning it is genetic, not symptomatic, and there is no complete cure. anybody or thing who tells you that you can do this, this, and that to cure him is giving you wrong information most likely because they want to sell you something. often times people with eczema have a compromised immune system and have allergies like hay fever as well as asthma (they call it the big 3, I have all 3 myself), so they are extremely sensitive to herbal things and they can often make them worse or even fatal. I had a friend who passed away from trying a product someone sold them so please, please just be careful with that stuff.

    ReplyDelete