It is a while since I last posted on here.
Why? Well, my little boy is no longer itchy. Which is great news!
That’s not to say that eczema has completely left our family, but, it’s such a vast improvement that life is barely recognisable from before. Over the winter he’s had a few small patches of very dry skin that can take a while to sort out and he still has cream on twice a day as usual.
Our world has changed dramatically
- We now sleep through the night(!). His skin started to improve at the end of 2014 so we’ve had over a year now of sleeping through the night. For the first time since he was born we could finally count on being well rested, less stressed, and all round healthier and happier
- I don’t spend all my life in pharmacies or on the phone to doctors. We now use Aveeno Cream and Diprobase Ointment and Cream on a daily basis which are all available without prescription – which has made my life so much easier and a lot less stressful and time-consuming
- He is virtually off steroids. We still keep a weekly use of the cream from Dr Aron that does contain a diluted steroid cream but we are now using this in tiny quantities. Compared to being on potent steroids almost constantly, this is a relief
- No more waiting for appointments with dermatologists who never seemed to give us a decent answer for why our world was turned upside down or a real solution to help us all get through it. And no more scary treatments being offered to us that we had to investigate and debate (I am so glad we didn’t end up going for the two that we were being pushed towards!)1
- Now he can wear clothes more than once, his bedding is not full of cream (and skin! and blood!), the laundry is a lot less stressful and a lot more manageable. Our clothes are also not covered in oily smears from bedtime cuddles
- He goes off to play in his room for ages on his own without us having to keep an eye on how much skin he’s scratching or picking off
- Going swimming on a regular basis looks like a real possibility
- His skin looks and feels lovely!
Why has it happened?
Well, it’s hard to say exactly. Yes, we tried the Dr Aron treatment and yes, we did see quick results and a noticeable improvement right away. It gave us the respite we were so desperately seeking and made life much better in a short amount of time. But even last summer he was still flared up on his arms.
More than likely it’s that he’s finally at that magic age that we dared not even to dream about. When your life is consumed with an ill child it’s hard to have faith that simply by growing up, their own bodies might actually stop the horror he was being put through every single day.
The magic seven years is the one that you hear about when your child is 3, 4, 5 years old and every well-meaning person you meet has a story about a child they knew who had eczema that magically cleared up when they were seven. Now it looks like our son is one of those lucky ones too.
I’m hoping that as he grows up, he’ll forget about how bad his skin was. I hope he’ll forgive me for being tired and stressed and thoroughly worn out during what should have been the special and fun toddler years. I hope that those memories will also fade for me and Husband.
I hope that the experience has made us all stronger, that he will remember that you should never judge someone by how they look and that love and persistence will get you through the worst times.
Of course, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed as we’re reaching pollen season that this lovely trend will continue. In the meantime, I want to enjoy every moment of healthy skin and sleep while I can.
Sadly, his allergies are much harder to simply grow out of so we still have those to deal with on a daily basis with school, childcare, eating out and general life. You should see some more blog posting here soon, but (fingers crossed) not about eczema.
To any parents reading this who are suffering right now, do feel free to get in touch as I haven’t yet forgotten how bad it is and will still try to help where I can.
Faye says
Hi there
Thank you for this article, which I’ve just read with tears rolling down my face! Because it all rings so very true and I’m sorry that you all have been through this. I sympathise first hand. Our eldest son is 6 and a half and in the middle of a very bad eczema flare up and I stumbled upon your site whilst looking for an alternative duvet that might be the ‘magic’ one. Thanks for sharing your experience and best wishes that everything continues in the right direction for your son xxxx
MyItchyBoy says
Hi, the last year where he has been mostly free of eczema has been a revelation. It is like a weight lifted and a whole new world has opened up. I sometimes remember the nights of getting up several times, washing the bed sheets so many times a week, the creams, the mess of his skin and how sad he was. Eczema is a truly horrible condition that is so hard to deal with on a daily basis with very little let up for not just the person suffering but those around them too. He still has nights where he is ‘itchy’ and we still have a pair of the cotton gloves handy but I am grateful for the change in his skin every day. I hope you manage to find a solution to the duvet. It’s horrid constantly checking everything in your child’s life to see if it is the one thing that will help them. You have my every sympathy. It’s tough and remember that – it helps to remember to be kind and compassionate to yourself as well. Best wishes x
louise boyse says
Thank you for your blog, I remember reading it when my daughter was a baby and have just found it again while “researching eczema bedding”.
It gives me so much hope, my daughter now 2 1/2 has been sleeping in my bed since 3 months old. She has terribly eczema, asthma and allergies.
She does not get more than 2 hours sleep without the itching/cream requests cycle starts. We have tried everything and visited several dermatologists but never find much improvement to the “itch”.
We understand there is not a magic cream but would just once like to be well rested. I worry for her when she starts school as she only sleeps around 8 hours which is very broken.
I will continue through your blog for further advice and suggestions. Its nice to read thoughts from someone else who understands hows tiring the conditions of eczema can be. Although i am sorry you have experienced this as well. Fingers crossed your “itchy boy” keeps improving.
MyItchyBoy says
Hi Louise,
I hope your little one is not suffering too much in the heat. Breaking that cycle is the hardest thing. Have you looked into allergies at all? They are so often combined with eczema and if you can identify a cause it can really help. We found that stone fruits for example (dates, avocado, plums, cherries, etc) really set his eczema off, but it was only by chance that we discovered this. There are so many triggers though it can be hard to go through them all. I hope your daughter improves soon.
Jaimielee says
My little girl is 3 I still haven’t had a full nights sleep since being pregnant with her. It’s an absolute shame on her. I just hope we are lucky too.