02/12/2011 by spindlygiraffe.

My GP is horrified that I would take my son swimming.  He does everything and he tells me something is sore, or I notice it making his skin dramatically worse then I’ll not stop.

He always has a shower at the pool to wash off all the chlorine and other gubbins from the pool water.  A long time ago I noticed that he was not scratching much at all after swimming.  At that point I stopped putting anything in his bath water.  If it didn’t make his skin better, it certainly didn’t make it worse.  He is now back using dermol as a wash, but not filling the bath with any other emollient.

This morning James decided he didn’t want any epaderm ointment on his face.  I put some on my face encouraging him to put it on too.  When I had a shower a bit later, it was noticeable where I had put it on.  The water seemed to be sliding off.  I wasn’t convinced how clean I would be if I was covered in it.  Usually James just goes swimming (many pools don’t like creams on before the kids go in), then showers and then creams.  However, next time I will be trying the epaderm on the worst patches before he goes in.  Obviously I know how slippery it would make him and need to make sure his hands and knees can still grip so he’s able to pull himself out or I could grab hold of him if needs be.

Posted in General | 3 Comments »

02/12/2011 by spindlygiraffe.

Last week, coinciding with James’ birthday he was on prednisolone.  I got the call from school that he was very wheezy and went to get him.  I’m not sure if he is ‘officially asthmatic’ but he has been admitted to hospital, had several courses of prednisolone and several bouts of using ventolin regularly.  He’s not yet on a preventative.  His breathing never seems to get bad when his eczema is severe.

He was only on a short 5 day course of 20mg prednisolone.  It does help his eczema initially.  Previously on a longer course (for his eczema) he tapered down the dose from 30mg to 5mg.  As he was going to smaller amounts his eczema started deteriorating.  This time it was great as he came off the tablets but last night I noticed how much worse it has become over his body.

So for James, it seems to be that whilst on a good dose of the tablets it helps.  Then when he takes a smaller dose, or comes off, his eczema returns with avengence.  It’s great that he had a few days with only minor patches, but now it can be deflating.

Last night I went out with some of the mums from his class.  Whilst talking about chicken pox, one was saying how awful it was seeing their little one’s perfect skin all bumpy and how awful it was to touch.  I remember crying when the health visitor said nonchalently that ‘Yes, it is a little touch of eczema’.  Thankfully for many it may just be a little patch, but having grown up with it I was upset!  Now I love the days when his skin, or part of it, does look clear.  The frequency probably isn’t far off how many times people get chicken pox!

However, on a positive note, James’ face is clear.  It’s not got really bad on his face for a few months now.  The steroids helped too - his facial skin looks amazing.

Posted in Children and Eczema | 1 Comment »