Because drowsiness is a common side effect, antihistamines are often used in the evening to help a person restless from eczema get to sleep. Because of the same sedative effect, though, persons taking these agents should not drive. Two TIMs in development, tacrolimus and ascomycin, are steroid-free. Tacrolimus is likely to be the first TIM approved and available in the United States. Studies have shown that this new class of drugs will improve or completely clear eczema in more than 80 percent of treated patients, with an improved side-effect profile compared with topical steroids.
Studies are ongoing.
With this in mind, allergy testing is only helpful to people with eczema under specific circumstances. However, a positive allergy test is not the end of the investigation. To do this, the patient must eat the suspected food, and then the patient must be observed for a reaction. The adult is unresponsive to treatment If there is a suspected food allergy, the adult must also do a food challenge as described above to confirm the link between the food and eczema. In addition, both children and adults with eczema may develop allergic contact dermatitis from agents that contact the skin.