Remington’s Story – Parents Speak Out About Allergic Contact Dermatitis – Benefits of Being Patch Tested
“Is that contagious? A question we have been asked throughout my son’s life. I am sure many people with skin issues have heard frequently! Our son is just shy of three years old and has been battling a skin issue since he was a few months old. Once he turned a year old his skin began to get worse. As months continued it even worsened, soon it was to the point that we could not take him out. Doctor appointments weekly sometimes multiple doctors appoints in a week. Specialist after specialist nothing was working. He was diagnosed with eczema at just 6 months old. We were first prescribed over the counter medications. But as he continued to get worse something else needed to be done. Once he reached a year old we were sent to an Allergist. They performed a skin prick test on his back. They found him to be mildly allergic to dog. The allergist changed up his medication yet again.”
“As the months rolled by he was not getting better, if anything he was getting worse. We were finally sent to a dermatologist. There they performed a blood test on him to find allergies. Yet nothing came back positive except for dog. They continued to treat him as if he had “eczema” at one point he was on three different steroid creams. We would rotate Zyrtec, Benadryl and Attarax just to try and relive his itch. Our nights became nightmares are sleep became nonexistent. There were endless hours of tears. Nothing we did would work. NOTHING! We were hospitalized for 5 days. He also had a staph skin infection. Even the bleach baths weren’t working at this point. Our son was prescribed prednisolone so many times in 6 months that he reached his peak for oral steroids and the doctors would not prescribe him them again. I honestly felt like I was feeding my child medications for no reason. The flare ups became worse and lasted longer. It was truly a nightmare! Once we reached the max limit on oral steroids his dermatologist decided that it was time to start an immune-suppressant. This was something we were completely against. We felt his immune system was already weak and we were not willing to go this route. We wanted a second opinion. We changed his pediatrician; we needed a new set of eyes.”
“The new pediatrician did a complete blood work profile on him. His live vaccinations titers came back as if they were not existent. He was given a booster then had his levels checked a few weeks later. They came back normal, so the route of having an auto immune disease was out. Still getting new creams and ointments nothing was working. At this point we said we are done with steroids. We went all-natural. We were doing herbs and using only coconut oil on his skin. It seemed to be working but then it was infection after infection. After 4 months or so he wasn’t improving. He was one of his worst flare ups we had to go back to the dermatologist. We couldn’t put it off anymore we had to give it a try, we had to give our child some type of relief. We did it. We put him on cyclosporine. He was going for blood work weekly to start. This medication is used in transplant patient and monitoring of kidneys and liver function are needed while on this medication, his levels needed to be checked frequently. At first it seemed promising he seemed to be doing slightly better. We thought we were seeing the light at the end of a DARK tunnel. But then it hit, yup you guessed it – another flare up. This time worse than the last. He was at the doctors 3 times in a week. Eight different medications – it was heartbreaking. What am I doing wrong; I asked myself this question so many times. I didn’t understand why wasn’t anything working. I knew something I was wrong I knew this wasn’t just “eczema” I knew it was more!”
“He was on cyclosporine for about three months; usually this clears up something with eczemas fairly quickly, but not us. That’s when I decided it’s time for another set of eyes. I contacted at Children’s Hospital which was three hours from us. I scheduled and appointment but it was 6 months out. Our pediatrician called them on our behalf because he wanted him to be seen as soon as possible. We got in the next week! As soon as we got in the room the dermatologist looked at him and said has he ever been patch tested for contact allergens, he needs to be patch tested. She knew right away he had a contact dermatitis rather than atopic dermatitis. We had the patch testing done. Mind you we have to drive a total of 6 plus hours there and back, but we went through with it. We NEEDED answers. Leaving that doctor appointment I felt a sense of surety, I honestly felt like we were achieving some. I felt a sense of relief. My husband took our son back down on Friday. We had his final read on Monday. GUESS WHAT – our son tested positive for 3 different allergens. He was positive for propylene glycol, compositae (asterace), and sesquiterpene lactone. Finally we got answers, because he was patch tested! So the reasons the all-natural route did not work was because it had sunflower base in it (sunflowers are in the Composite family and contain sesquiterpene lactones).
He is allergic to florals and herbal things. The reason the cyclosporine did not work may have been because it contained PG, but also because he was unknowingly being exposed to his allergens. Also two of the steroids as well as moisturizers he used contained PG. After he was patch tested, we had to clean out our house. I went home and got rid of everything. If it smelled it was removed to prevent further damaging his skin. I love the scentsy smelly things, but they were gone, no if and or buts! I went through all the cleaning supplies I had checked every label. We took him off all medications and ointments. We put him on an ointment free from PG. We had a game plan. Within a week we could see a difference. It was amazing. We are now on a normal bed time routine. We actually get sleep, it is a miracle. His hands, feet and face still have healing to do but it is manageable and I know we can do it. If it wasn’t for Patch Testing, I don’t know where we would be right now. Patch testing has truly given my son the gift of being able to be a child again!”
- by Travis & Jessica Musser
- Infographic by Peter Gust
Parents Speak Out About Allergic Contact Dermatitis (ACD) is a special category in the Dermatitis Academy Blog where passionate parents reveal a personal look their family’s journey in dealing with ACD and the benefits of being patch tested.
Please visit our home page HERE for more information on allergic contact dermatitis. Please share this post in order to create awareness for this seldom considered, but highly relevant disease process.
