Really Severe Eczema Will Not Go.

[Davypops]

I've had eczema on and off mildly over the years (am 60 now) and it always seemed to have been triggered by a stress situation. A year ago I had a couple of very stressful events. It flared up and has got worse even though I think I've reconciled the stress with myself.
I've been reading the Q & A's here and there are a couple of alterations I could do relating to diet. My diet/food habits haven't altered for many years.
My question is, do allergies develop that weren't there before?
Is the difference between bio and non-bio washing liquid a VERY important one? I can alter that easily.
My G.P. has prescribed Protopic 0.1% which has nothing during the last 3 weeks. Betnovate helped only slightly. I had a steroid course prescribed by a dermatologist q year ago and it went about 50% down then came back.
The biggest factor in flare ups seems to be friction of clothes when walking/sitting (eg. on a bus - friction rubbing from the movement) lying in bed when there may be a crease in the linen causing a "pressure point".
I am at my wits end and will try anything. Looking at the red weeping patches now, they are all where friction occurred, (pockets in trousers against the skin/round the shoulders from a jacket etc) And of course you try not to touch/scratch them but they settle there - where the friction was.
Diet is the only thing I've not thought of. Does drinking alcohol matter too? Really would appreciate any advice to try. Thank you.

[MadMen]

With regards to diet, I would suggest cutting out cows milk.
My daughter had it really bad, and on the advice of a doctor, we cut out cows milk altogether. It helped a huge amount, and she now just has a few little dots appear every now and again.
I use a basic over the counter cream for it, which works really well. Hang on a minute and I'll go and get the name of it....

[MadMen]

Right. Got it.

Ok, this is just an Aqueous cream, but it has added calamine. I just got it from Boots, at the recommendation of the chemist, and it's the first thing I've used on her that has really made a difference.

Some neighbors have a small child that suffers with it really, really badly. Her whole body is covered with it and she scratches it so badly that she wakes in the morning with the bed clothes covered in blood :-(
They've also cut milk out of her diet, and seen a huge improvement. It's such a simple thing, but it seems to make a big difference.