allergies? what allergies?

so conrad has really bad excema. this is no "oh he's a little itchy" rash, this is a whole-body, red, cracked, oozy mess. it itches, so he scratches & it hurts, so he cries. it. is. AWFUL.

we went in to the allergist last week for blood testing to see what he's allergic to (skin testing requires him to go off ALL his meds, including his reflux meds, which is not an option right now), & we got the results back today. he is allergic to...

drum roll, please....

nothing. yup, nothing. could have knocked me over with a feather. apparently excema can be its own cause. & in severe cases like con's, it is a virtual guarantee that he WILL be allergic, the allergies just haven't manifested yet. so we're re-testing in june, hopefully with a skin test, & until then, we're just trying to get his skin under control so he can be comfortable. so he's on a new steroid for 5 days, we're supposed to continue his daily 20 minute luke-warm soaks in the tub, followed immediately by a slathering of cream to lock in the moisture, & now, after his bath, we are to soak a pair of jammies, ring them out, dress him in the soggy jammies & then put dry jammies on top. he's supposed to hang out like that as long as possible, & it's supposed to help relieve the itching (the more you itch, the worse the excema gets, so half the battle is stopping the itch/scratch cycle), & help the steroids penetrate more deeply. so he's been chilling in sog-butt jammies since 5, & will be in them til bedtime. i know it sounds weird, but the doc says the wet-jammy treatment usually has really dramatic results, like better overnight results, so i'm hoping....