Dairy and Eczema

I am not a doctor.  I don’t even play one on TV.  But these are my experiences.  I have a son – a super cute and cuddly little boy who’s got my heart in the palm of his tiny little wrinkly, dry, chapped and itchy hand.  Yes, he’s got eczema – BAD.  He’s had it since he was a baby.  I don’t recall when we noticed.  He was a breast fed baby and then transitioned to milk-based formula around 8 months or so.  He had dairy (whole milk) at the age of 1 (as directed).   He’s also a puker, upchucker, kid who likes to vomit (NO he isn’t bulimic).   He was always one of those babies that spit up.  (My daughter NEVER did).  So as he got older (he’s 3) and he randomly threw up – I just attributed it to the fact that he’s always done that.  Now, I should mention this isn’t something that happens everyday – not even once a week, its more like every 3 weeks or so.  He’ll wake up – say he has a stomach ache – throw up (A LOT) and then 10 minutes later is perfectly normal.

Yes, I’ve asked the dr about it.  But since its so ‘infrequent’ its been hard to explain more than “he’s probably got a sensitive stomach” or “something didn’t agree with him”.   I had asked the Doc about the dairy and eczema connection when he was little and got the “oh, you’ve been Googling again” look and was told there is not really a connection.  So – we went on our merry way.

In January, I was working with a personal trainer who put me on an elimination diet.  She does that with all her clients to make sure food allergies aren’t getting in the way of ‘weight loss and fitness’.  I LOVED how I felt and told my sister about it.   She tried the elimination diet.  And much to our surprise – her eczema cleared up.  (She’s had horrible eczema her whole life).  In March, I took dairy out of the picture for B (my son) as both dairy and gluten were a LOT to remove for a whim.  His eczema began to clear up.  No more eczema on his stomach.  I was sold!  But, then allergy season arrived early here in Colorado and his eczema got REAL bad.  I took him to an allergist in May.  He’s highly allergic to grass (enter Zyrtec) but tested negative for everything else.  I mentioned the dairy and then realized he hadn’t ‘puked’ since pre-March!  I mentioned that to the allergist too.  She put him on a STRICT dairy/gluten elimination.  2 weeks NO dairy or gluten.  Eczema = clear (thank you Zyrtec for the help).  After 2 weeks we could introduce dairy.  After 2 days – belly eczema began to return (first time since March) AND we had a random puke.  (random puke = not affiliated with illness and son was fine 10 minutes later).  After 3 days, eczema was getting worse and he began to have some ‘potty explosions’.  After day 4 – I couldn’t bear to continue him on the dairy.  Vomiting, diarrhea and eczema all returned within 3 days.  Dairy was gone again and his symptoms all stopped.

Now, he’s not “allergic” to dairy.  “Dairy Allergies” mean that if he has dairy he could die (or be sent to the hospital or need and epi-pen etc…)  I believe he’s “Dairy In-tolerant”.  HUGE difference.  He can ‘eat dairy”, but he’ll have to deal with not-so-friendly side effects.  (His momma, me, cannot/should not eat it either as I have not-so-friendly side effects too).  I also say “I believe” he is because there is no test for in-tolerances.  I’m an engi-nerd.  I like concrete data – so me seeing “he eats dairy and gets eczema” isn’t super concrete because of all the other environmental influences.   Did he get a hold of sunscreen that he’s allergic too?  Did we have a bad-grass day?  Who knows.  But I know he feels better and his eczema is under control without the dairy.   Does the Lactaid and Lactose free stuff help?  Not sure.  I don’t know if its the dairy or the lactose.  But – since he doesn’t mind.  He loves almond milk and coconut milk ice cream and all the other stuff – I’m not going to subject a 3 year old to my experiments.

So – moral of the story is….  Have you thought of eczema as a food allergy?  Try removing the dairy (COMPLETELY, not just skipping milk) and see if your eczema clears up too.  I read its the #1 ‘in-tolerance’ in people with eczema (but it might also be that way because i think its the #1 in-tolerance for everyone)