Steroids

Ben's skin has looked so good these last few days that it seemed like a miracle. I thought it was a miracle.

My last post was about how Ben was scratching so bad that he bled. And he's had this one scab on the side of his face for months and months that finally went away as if by magic.

Only it wasn't a miracle, and it wasn't magic. It was steroid. Jamie put the Desonide that the dermatologist had prescribed on him without telling me. I didn't know until today.

I have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, I am glad that is working. On the other hand, I wonder if it's only a temporary fix. Will the eczema go back to being just as bad after we stop the course of steroids? Also, should we have tried this months ago, since it is working so well.

Ben has his appointment with the second dermatologist on Monday. Should we have waited till then? We've only had these steroids for a few weeks, so it's not like we could have started too much sooner? But should I have used them as soon as I got them?

Does anyone have experience with using steroids for eczema or skin flareups? Did the skin stay cleared up after the course of steroids stopped?

The Doctors

I woke up yesterday with a feeling of anticipation-- as if it was my wedding day or the first day of school. I know that sounds somewhat pathetic. After all, it was just a doctor's appointment. Only a doctor's appointment.

But we had been struggling with Ben's eczema for months, and I was hoping for--the impossible. A miracle cream to make it all go away or at least someone to sit down with me and talk to me about lotions, sunscreen, shampoo.

What I got was a 45-minute wait only to see a doctor for five minutes. When I asked about lotions, he said, "You're going to put him on something called Cetaphil." I'm not sure if he believed me when I told him that it makes Ben break out. When I asked about soap, he gave me samples of Dove for sensitive skin. But there's a difference between sensitive and supersensitive. Dove for sensitive skin still contains a long list of ingredients, all of which could be potentially irritating. The terms hypo-allergenic and fragrance free usually still mean break out for Ben. When I asked him what to use on Ben's head, he said, "Just use Dove. It's not like he's going on a date or anything."

Then, he prescribed a steroid. I said I was concerned about potential side effects. One side effect is potential thinning of the skin. He said, "Don't worry, Mom," and said he'd check back on him in two weeks. All that excitement, all that anticipation--for that? I was so mad. I had been condescended to. None of the stuff I wrote down about all the stuff we'd tried was even read. We got the prescription for the steroid, only to discover that it contains sodium laurete sulfate, a skin irritant. I decided that we would ask Ben's regular doctor about steroids when we went in today.

Ben's skin has been getting better over the last few days, although there are still times when he scratches himself until he bleeds. Burt's Bee's Thoroughly Therapeutic, which I discovered at the drugstore by accident, seems to be helping. I had read on the Internet that honey has healing properties and has been found to help heal difficult wounds. But I can't really put honey alone on him. It would make a mess. And, if I used a band-aid on his face, he would eat it off.

Ben's regular doctor said he doesn't think he needs steroids--yet. So, we'll keep putting lotion on him. And I have appointments with Ben's allergist and a different dermatologist next month. For shampoo, we may try Dr. Bonner's Baby Mild Castille Soap. I got it at the Natural Store today. It was nice to be able to take out all my frustrations by buying sweet potato chips, Glutino glutin free pretzels and shampoo.