A week in...

As the title suggests, we're one week into Jasmine's steroid use. The 1st three days went well, her itching gradually subsided to the extent that we thought any residual itching was almost more habitual. From the fourth day however it was apparent that our little monkey was indeed still itchy. The eczema was visable beneath her skin. Not in the usual rough skin, but a brooding, red layer, waiting to burst through.

Jasmine has a patch under her right eye, her cheeks are waiting to erupt and where the skin was smooth for the 1st three days is becoming rougher now we've reached the week mark. Her scalp is very itchy and tonight I noticed that where she had frantically scratched to the point of weeping an area on her scalp has formed a kind of cradle cap. :(

We are only using the steroid ointment once a day now. I think my biggest concern is that the Doctors will just recommend a stronger steroid - enter vicious cycle....

Well, we'll wean her off this batch of steroids gradually, and hopefully there will be no ill effects. Otherwise her routine is much the same. We tried the Cetraben emolient, though were not convinced. It seemed to make her itchier, though it was only a brief trial. Either way, we're back on Aveeno, with the usual homeopathic and flower remedy suppliments. She's bathed every other day, alternating between using Aveeno bath lotion and Himalayan rock salt.

guinnea pig

Jasmine has, at least in principle, been accepted on a trial. The trial is to assess whether the use of softened water would have any impact on her eczema.

Softened Water Eczema Trial

It's early days yet and we have yet to have Jasmine checked to see if her eczema is 'moderate to severe'. We also need to have an engineer out to see if they can even fit the softener. Either way, it's an avenue to follow. I must admit though, I am a little concerned as to the risks of the salinated water effect. More research required methinks.

On another note, we've received the latest batch of supplements from the kinesiologist, all aimed at tackling the candida and leaky gut and strengthening Jasmine's tummy.

We'll still be taking the flower remedy - Daffodil formula FF14 (one pill, morning and night). We'll also keep the New Vistas Microflora homeopathic drops (x4 drops morning and night) and the BioCare Acidophilus Plus (1/4 teaspoon with her evening milk). The new additions are New Vistas Baby Thrush homeopathic drops (x4 drops morning and night) and New Vistas Digestive Enzyme Liquescence homeopathic formula (1/4 teaspoon before her evening milk).

We'll see how all this pans out! Fingers crossed :D

Ooops

Our experiences seem to be shooting some holes in the Kinesiology theory. The evening primrose oil seemed to exacerbate Jasmine's itchiness in contrast to expectations, and creams supposedly negative towards her appear to have no outwardly ill-effect. ...then we have egg, a substance that Jasmine apparently had no adverse effect to...

We had gone for the weekly shop and mum and dad, having missed breakfast, sauntered on over to the cafe to satiate our hungry bellies. Seeing as we had sat down to eat, Jasmine naturally expected to eat aswell, and not content with her measly rice cake she beckoned pointedly towards our plates. Having confirmed with the chef that there was no dairy and things had only been cooked in oil we gave Jasmine a few mouthfuls. She munched away happily and we dutifully cleaned our plates and continued on with the shopping. Steph noticed a little flaring on Jasmine's face, but we thought that may have been a reaction to the cream coupled with the heat of the cafe.

Jasmine fussed throughout the shop, scratching away, she was in no way content to sit in the trolley. As the shop drew on the itching got worse and Steph had to take her outside to try and calm her as I was paying up. She fussed all the way home. At 1pm it was a little later than her usual lunch time and she could have been hungry. We tried feeding and she had just a spoonful before it was clear something else was amiss.


Her body was covered in hives. They started out as individual lumps, but were soon merging together to form a large expansive swollen layer. Unlike the earlier episode where Jasmine's face was more affected, this swelling seemed to concentrate more across her body, with only a mild swelling around her face. Thankfully there was no major swelling around her throat and mouth and her breathing remained as normal as you might expect.

We gave her a dose of Apis Mel (30c) and we cooled her off by bathing her in tepid water, followed by coating her in calomine lotion. She was still fussing, though less so, as we put her into a sleep suit and had calmed down massively by the time we had gone back downstairs (at roughly 2pm). She snuggled into my shoulder with barely any scratching and was soon fast asleep. I lay down on the sofa and let her sleep on me as Steph nipped into town to replenish the supplies of creams we knew Jasmine could cope with. I managed to get the travel cot made up downstairs with her still asleep on my shoulder and lay her down wrapped snuggly in a blanket and clutching her muslin.

She was so sleepy and a little emaciated with bloodless lips comparative to having awoken suddenly in the night. She would stir if I sat her up, but would protest and was clearly not herself. She drank well when offered (just water) and thankfully her breathing remained strong and steady.


She was still very sleepy come 5pm and following another dose of Apis Mel we called NHS direct just to get some advice. An on-call doctor called back shortly after and having run through Jasmine's symptons and history confirmed that sleep was probably the best thing for her, so long as the swelling didn't interrupt her breathing and her condition didn't deteriorate. The doctor advised keeping some Piriton syrup in the house should we encounter a similar flare in future.

Jasmine was showing a little more of her usual exuberance by 7pm and we gave her her rice milk and some pear slices before putting her to sleep in the travelcot downstairs. Despite sleeping most of the afternoon, she soon settled and was curled up against the side of the cot, reassuring us with her rhythmic breathing. We transplanted her upstairs a couple of hours later when we went to bed and she only stirred a couple of times in the night, and had to join us in the morning, sleeping on me from 5 till 6.

Other than a little remaining swelling she seems to be pretty much back to normality.

We won't be trying egg again for a little while!

eeeek

Well, day 2 of the flower remedy regime didn't go quite according to plan. Jasmine was up and off to nursery without hitch, even giggling when I dropped her off as she grabbed a play pram and went about amusing herself.

Everything was grand. Until 4.10pm. My phone rang, buzzing across the desk, displaying 'Nursery' ...always an ominous sign. I was dutifully informed that Jasmine had had a reaction and her face was very swollen. 10 minutes later I'm at nursery and barely recognise her. She looked like she'd gone 10 rounds with Tyson.

Despite her looks she was quite happy munching on banana slices, babbling away as if nothing were wrong. I was informed that as her face swelled she had started scratching frantically causing the gorging skin to weep and bleed. They had applied cold compresses to take the edge off. Her face was taut, as if all the skin had absorbed every bit of moisture it possibly could, It just didn't sound right that this massively swollen baby was happily chirping away.


This picture was taken 45minutes after the reaction had started, and thankfully the swelling had already started to abate. It doesn't quite do justice to just how swollen her face was, but you get the idea.

She had calmed a little more by the time we were home, and she managed another 9oz bottle of milk before bed. She seemed to go down ok, but stirred frequently due to itchiness, particularly across her shoulders and the top of her chest. It's kind of a vicious circle because the more she stirs, the more tired she gets, the more frustrated she becomes, the more the itch is exacerbated... Poor little soul. I'm just hoping she'll manage to pass out and get some rest.

We have decided to hold off the flower remedy for the time being. All accounts say this kind of reaction is rare, but we just cannot account for it anywhere else. We'll bolster her immune system with some probiotics and push on from there I think.