Photo: KRISTI CHUN / CATERS NEWS
Initially, Chun recalls, the doctor told her that they don’t usually “jump to steroids,” but she still received the prescription in a “casual conversation.”
“There was no discussion or patient counseling about dangers of using it, potential side effects, how long you should use it for, anything like that,” the mom tells PEOPLE.
“I was breastfeeding, so I was on an elimination diet,” she says. “We were changing detergents, doing everything possible to try and find the cause of eczema.”
So she scheduled an emergency doctor’s appointment, and the practitioner recommended three days of oral steroids. Concerned about the other doc’s previous statement about steroids not usually being the first line of defense, Chun consulted with a doctor friend about the three-day treatment. She recalls that he said it was fine because the dosage would only last briefly.
“She was very casual in the way she prescribed it. She gave us more of what we already had and a prescription oil for his scalp,” Chun continues, adding that they used it on his whole body, including his cradle cap.
“Every time we’d bring him back, they’d say, ‘Okay, put more [steroid cream]. Put it on his torso, his legs,’ ” Chun says. “We’d ask about natural solutions, and she’d say, ‘We’d prefer not to because natural doesn’t mean it’s good or that he wouldn’t have an allergic reaction.’ ”
In Chun’s desperate search to find anything that would provide her infant some relief, she discovered wet wraps. The treatment calls for a layer of emollient directly on the skin, a wet layer of fabric, then a dry layer of fabric — and a conversation with a doctor if it’s used in conjunction with steroids. Chun says the doctor told her to apply the steroids before the emollient and then proceed with the product’s instructions.
“He’s this tiny little thing, and he would scream like he was being tortured,” when the mom applied the wet wraps, she says. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
After two weeks of the wet wraps — and a lot of searching online for support for her son’s condition — Chun discovered the condition topical steroid withdrawal, also known as TSW.
“I saw there was a pattern,” she says. “It got to a point where I could predict when the eczema would come back. At that point, I realized that he was reacting to the steroids and I’d have to take him off them.”
But they did stop using the steroids, and “it got even worse,” she recalls. “His whole body was swollen, his feet looked like balloons, his legs were huge, and his skin was very weak. He would bleed so easily.”
“Only within the past couple weeks has he been able to take a normal bath without screaming,” she explains. “He’s able to enjoy life for the most part.”
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For parents whose sons and daughters are struggling with eczema — about 13 percent of kids do — Chun recommends always getting a second medical opinion about how to treat the condition.
Chun also advisesalwayschecking the FDA warning label before giving a child any prescription or over-the-counter drugs, even if they’re handed over totally casually.
“Doctors often prescribe things thinking there’s no chance of addiction,” she says, “but clearly it’s not always fine.”
source: people.com
