Our Path to Recovery

Our eczema story started when my daughter Daniela was a four-month-old baby. At first a minor rash, it developed over the next five years into a severe case of atopic dermatitis. Before we found a treatment that worked miracles, we tried the following: numerous steroid creams, antihistamines, oral steroids, antibiotics, emollients, wet wraps, anti-scratch mittens, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, patch testing, light treatment, and a number of creams, lotions, and oils to control her skin condition.

If you are parenting a child with moderate or severe eczema or you have it yourself, you know that this condition is not a minor rash as some may perceive it but an all-consuming illness affecting just about every aspect of life of the sufferer and their family. When our daughter was "in the thick of it," here were some of the conversations our family had daily:

"She can't go to the pool, because her eczema gets worse..."

"Please, don't let her touch that cake, she will be insanely itchy."

"I feel like we slept two hours last night because she could not stop scratching."

Medical professionals claim there is no cure for eczema. My daughter's now smooth and healthy skin proves that treatment without the usual mix of steroid creams, antihistamines, and antibiotics is possible and actually works. 

Listed below are 4 key steps we took on Daniela's path to healing:

1. Finding the cause of eczema

During Daniela's eczema years, we visited numerous dermatologists, allergists, and other specialists. All visits went in a very predictable way - the doctor briefly examined her skin, prescribed steroid creams, and antihistamines to curb the inflammation and itching, and the visit was finished quickly. Undeniably, my daughter did not respond to this “cookie-cutter” approach. Doctor Silvia, a certified functional medicine practitioner was the first doctor who did not limit the treatment to addressing only the symptoms; she searched for the cause of Daniela's eczema.

During our initial consultation, she took an extensive medical history reviewing my daughter's past and present health problems, while asking detailed questions. Consequently, she was able to identify the root of Daniela’s eczema and ordered a set of extensive personalized blood tests relevant to her health condition, including immediate and delayed allergy blood tests. Although Daniela had gone through basic allergy blood tests in the past, the results from the tests Dr. Silvia ordered were significantly more detailed and provided crucial information we were not aware of before. This was the key to her successful treatment.

It is important to state that while I am sharing my daughter’s success eczema story, her treatment is not to be applied to everyone suffering from eczema. Each eczema patient has a different health history and blood test results. Therefore, a personalized approach by a certified functional medicine practitioner is strongly encouraged.

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2. Taking blood tests

Daniela underwent the following types of blood tests:

-  Blood tests relevant to overall immunity

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- Blood test for immediate allergies: testing reaction to basic items such as dairy, fish, eggs, wheat,  peanuts, pet dander, mold, etc.

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- Blood test for delayed allergies: testing reaction to more than 300 items including various foods and food groups such as sugars, food preservatives, food dyes, chemicals, and mold. Unlike immediate allergies, which appear moments after being exposed to the allergen, delayed allergies occur many hours, days, and even weeks after exposure, making them extremely difficult to track. The delayed allergy tests use a technology that allows the laboratory to observe immune reactions of specialized white cells just as they occur in the patient's body. The reactive items adversely affect the body's immune defenses, which can provoke inflammation. This inflammation manifested in Daniela's body as eczema.

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For more information on Delayed Allergy testing click here

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3. Reviewing the results

Daniela's test results showed a reaction to a number of items.

Immediate allergy results showed significant reactions to environmental allergens and several food items. These results were not too surprising, as similar results had shown in the past. However, they revealed one important thing: when comparing current results to the ones from previous years, it was clear that her condition had worsened. Not only had she developed allergies to new items, but her allergic reactions had intensified, in some cases by 10 times. Therefore, her condition had grown more severe over the years and most likely would have continued to decline.

Delayed allergy results showed a number of allergies unknown to us previously. The delayed allergy tests are not recognized by conventional medical doctors as being of clinical value, however, for Daniela they turned out to be a huge step forward.

Positive reactions included common foods such as sugar, honey, apples, and also food preservatives (BHT and sodium benzoate). Interestingly, BHT and sodium benzoate were ingredients in her antihistamine medicine as well as her moisturizing creams she used daily. She was, therefore, reacting adversely to a medicine that was prescribed by her doctor and supposed to treat her eczema!

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4. Eliminating all reactive items from Daniela's diet and environment

Since continued exposure to allergens over the years aggravates immune system function, all reactive items were to be avoided for at least three to six months, depending on the severity of the reaction. The science behind it states that avoiding these reactors reduces the burden on the immune system and restores the body's ability to repair. Avoiding reactive items can break the never-ending cycle of impaired defense and repair, allowing the body to start the recovery process while supporting its own cellular repair mechanisms.

The recovery plan included:

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- Dietary changes. Her already strict diet had to be restricted even further by eliminating all reactive items completely, including any foods with food preservatives. We also eliminated all processed meals and aimed to feed Daniela with freshly made food, increasing her intake of vegetables, fruit, and good-quality protein.

- Making a custom-made antihistamine at the compound pharmacy that did not contain her reactive items: sugar, and sodium benzoate.

- Avoiding contact with dogs and cats for at least six months. This meant that we had to find a new home for our beloved miniature schnauzer, not knowing whether it was permanent or temporary.

- Avoiding soaps, shampoos, lotions, toothpaste, and laundry detergents with fragrance, harsh chemicals, and her reactive items. We switched to mostly organic cosmetics for sensitive skin, a natural toothpaste with no dyes, and fragrance-free laundry detergent.
 

- Starting a personalized regimen of nutraceuticals.

Nutraceuticals are generally referred to as supplements. They are derived from food sources with extra health benefits in addition to the basic nutritional value found in foods. Daniela’s personalized nutraceutical plan included vitamins and minerals, fish oil, and probiotics, which helped to return her immune system function back to normal.