Two Hours of Sleep a Night for Years, and What Changed for Sula

Hey team, welcome back to the eczema kids podcast. Today's episode is one I've been so excited to share with you because I already know that you've done everything right and it's still not working.

And you're researching exima and you are buying all the creams and buying the foods and trying all those things and spending a lot of money. You're the most natural minded parent that your child is still scratching through the night.

If that's you friend, I really want you to hear today's story. Stephanie is a mom of two girls and she has lived that life. She's an artist and lives on a lake in rural New Jersey and was already the healthiest person in her circle.

But her youngest Sula started showing redness at just 9 months and by a year and a half none of the natural creams were even touching her eczema. Stephanie did what anyone would do.

She went to the pediatrician and she got steroid creams and then she saw three dermatologists. And then, she finally got in with one of the only pediatric dermatologist in her area and that person just rolled their eyes every time Stephanie brought up food and just wanted to move Sula to biologics and Stephanie didn't feel comfortable with that.

So she went the natural route and she spent two years with a naturopath that she really liked. And they did all the expensive tests and they took out food after food, after the food.

She got a little better, but never better enough until one day her natruropat just looked at her and said, I have nothing left in my toolbox to try. This is after tens of thousands of dollars, friends, and this was after Stephanie averaging two hours a night sleeping for years.

four years, and she went up and down her stairs 10 or 15 times a night every night. And then the moment that really shattered her heart, she did all this selflessly.

What actually crushed her was when her daughter looked up at her and asked, is this something that I'm going to have to live with forever? And thankfully, Stephanie found her way here.

And today, Sula is seven and a half, and she no longer has eczema on her body. She comes home from school and laces up her roller skates and flies around the house.

In Stephanie's words, she just gets to be a kid now. I'll be honest with you, Sua's road took a little longer than most because she's been sick for a really long time.

There was a lot going on under the surface there, but Stephanie will tell you it's the only thing that's ever worked. And it wasn't because she tried harder, she couldn't try harder.

There was nothing left for her to give. But we built a plan that worked for Sula. We built her up first, and then we did some targeted testing once her body was resilient enough to handle what would come next.

And Stephanie had somebody walking beside her every step of the way. That's what the new eczema elimination method is built to do, friends. It starts with a one-on-one conversation with you and me.

And from that call, I build a personalized plan for your child, for family, your routine, and for what will actually start to move the needle in your children's case.

It lives in their own private healing hub. From there, you get six months of weekly live healing hour calls in small groups with other parents. Plus, they can send me questions anytime in between.

Most importantly, their plan changes as their child heals and grows and things come up. Life is lifey. Don't you know it? unlimited lab reviews while you're inside the program.

And testing is never required. I only recommend a test when it's actually going to move the needle and the lab bills you directly. We only do it when we know the results are going give us some really important information.

So I review every result and then I adjust your plan from there. Plus, a six-piece healing box shows up straight to your door as soon as you sign on, and that's full of organic products made specifically for eczema-prone skin.

And you get 20% off of everything in the exema kit store for as long as your in program. So the program is 24.97 friends, but with the holidays coming and the travel and treats and family gatherings and well-meaning advice, I want you to be supported right now.

Get ahold of this before the new year starts. You need support the most when things are really hard. That's when you need somebody in your corner. So for a limited time, use code HEALINGHOLIDAYS, all one word, when sign on to the eczema elimination method.

and you'll receive $500 off plus two and a half bonus months inside the program. That's eight and half months of support, a full customized plan that adapts with you, that adopts your child.

Skincare, you have me in your back pocket for $2,000 for 1997. And in our time together, we will crack this eczema case, the one that's plaguing you every single night and every day, and robbing your joy, robing your of their childhood.

So this offer ends October 31st. You can find the link in the show notes or head over to the brand new AxmaKids.com and use code HEALINGHOLIDAYS for $500 off.

This is The Time Friends. I'll support you through the holidays and there will still be fun. Some people worry about… you know, starting before they have parties and things coming up.

And there will be more fun and laughter if you are a student here because you'll actually have some rest and some solace in your soul because, you, know you're gonna actually do something about this problem.

and I want you to enjoy your holidays so you have more bandwidth in you, to do the fun things rather than just deal with an itchy, scratchy kit. So check that out.

Ximekids.com. Use that code. Get $500 off. This is the cheapest, most effective way that you can deal this problem. And I can't wait to see you on the other side, friends.

Alright, let's hear from Stephanie. You're gonna love it. Is your child struggling with itchy nights and endless flare ups? I'm Andra McHugh, mom of four and host of eXima Kids.

Here you'll find natural solutions that actually work so you can heal your children's exima without steroids, without the overwhelm, and finally see calm, healthy skin again.

Let's get into it. Hi Stephanie, welcome to the show. Hi Angel, thank you so much. I am so excited to have you online because your story has been so remarkable and you have just come such a far away with your daughter, Sula, who has dealing with the full body eczema for years.

And today you're here to share what the other side looks like. So I'm just so exited for today's conversation. Thank you for being here. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me and for doing what you do.

I say it all the time and I'll say again, I cannot thank you enough. My pleasure. It's so fun because of stories like this. And before we get into Sula's story, would you mind introducing yourself and telling us a little bit more about your family?

Sure, my name is Stephanie. We live in northern New Jersey, out pretty much in like a rural. Everything is about 30 minutes away from us, apart from a couple of stores.

state land all around us. So there's lots of moisture in the air everywhere. And who knows if our eczema started when we moved here? I don't think it did.

But, you know, it was like, is that the timing? She was about nine months old, but we love it here. Our kids live outside. We have great community around Yeah, and that's we have two daughters.

They're pretty close in age, so is the youngest. And I work for myself. I'm an artist and my husband does lots of different things, but mostly he is a project manager for an electrical company.

It's perfect. I love that. It gives us a really clear picture. So take us back to the beginning of this eczema story, because that's what everyone listening is so curious to hear.

When you think about those years of full body exema, what stands out the most to you now? What was that experience like? I mean, just so confusing and so hard and like a roller coaster of like, maybe this will work and maybe, this is it.

And just trying so many different things. It was years. Like, I look back at baby photos and I'm like, oh, it did start when she like I could see a bit of redness on her, you know?

And I wonder if that was the start of it or if there was something else from this photo, who knows, but it was a problem that we, that the quick like Google search and natural minded cream I can find was not working from the time she was one and a half.

And that's when we started to go to our pediatrician and, you know, they right away gave us steroid creams, which I didn't use for a long time and just told, maybe we'll just, I'm going to use this cream and I am going use that cream.

And I mean, overall, we spent so much tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Which you don't have, right? Which we don' have. Exactly. Yeah, but a roller coaster of just maybe this work.

Oh, this is working a little bit. No, it's not working, you know, and then we did use the steroids. We went to three different dermatologists in the state before we got into one of the pediatric dermatologist.

There's only three pediatric pathologists and stayed in New Jersey. And we go into won and she You know, she has to like believe what she believes. And anytime I mentioned food, you know her eyes would just roll.

Well, there just is no study that shows any proof of any correlation, and I can't wait to send her photos. This is the before and this is after. This was what we did.

Yeah, but we, you know, it really, she wanted us to go on to Pixent. She wanted to do a bunch of different things and we just wouldn't. You know, but what she was giving us was we were trying and I was just like, this is not working.

But I really didn't know what else to do. I. Was so stuck and trying to figure things out. And then a friend heard you on some other podcast and sent that to me and was like this, you know this woman has like really easy to implement strategies.

Like you should listen to this. And now, you know, people are just like, wow, this is so like this such a difference, because she's seven and a half now.

And so everyone around us is known about what's going on. They've seen and you just been, I feel so, everyone feels so bad for her. Yeah, and it's like one of my great joys to be like I found the mom.

I found the mama figuring it out. No, because you figured it and you did it. And you put in the work. But I want to know what were nights like? What did nights look like.

Oh, horrible. I mean, I think on average for probably three or four years I got maybe two hours of sleep because, you know, she was sleeping more but she ended up in our bed for a quite a few years, usually she would fall asleep in her bed and come in.

I didn't allow that for a long time because I don't sleep well. We've tried co-sleeping and it never worked for us. Like my husband and I just don' our energy, like we just couldn't ever sleep.

Um, I dunno how people do it. we've been a firm no on co sleeping ever. that just never worked, you know? So, it's either me and our bedrooms are on different floors.

So it was either getting going up and down the steps like 10 to 15 times a night or then finally, okay, come in our bed. But that didn't help me sleep anymore because she would just, she will be sleeping, but she'd start itching.

My brain would wake up to hold her. Yeah. It was years of that. I'm just starting to recover. You look really good now. There's no, like, under eye circles.

Like, you look great. Thank you. I mean, all of this had to just have been really affecting her ability to be a little girl, yeah? Yeah, completely. You know, I think completely, and it still is.

She went to such a better place, which she… I see it. Yeah, I don't know, she she has this like, okay, i am different and I can't do I Can't eat all these things and she's like the kid you want this to happen to because she is so I Don't, know she so mature.

She was born and i was just like this is an old soul She's an awful, you know and She understands and as much as she might get tired of it. Sometimes she like I want to do this if this, is what's gonna help me she understands You know the lead graph vacation right away which is the biggest indicator of future success, right?

That's what the marshmallow studies all about. You can eat this marshmallow now, or you can have two later. And the ones that you delayed to eat the two, later, they tracked their financial capacity and their just general happiness over life.

I'm not sure how they track it, but 10 out of 10, it's the kids that were able to say, I'll eat them marshmallows later that just did better throughout their lives in every area.

And this journey, you know, before we met you, I was very, very natural minded, Very organic, out of most people I know. I knew the most, but I like meet you and I'm like, Oh, no, only this much.

And now I, know so much, and just all the different ways. Like we ate so clean, like you say all of the time, right? All of your people, we eat so, clean and we do all these things, But I've learned so you know, past year.

And yeah, I don't know like, you she knows that she's going to be a step ahead in terms of food and even my other daughter is extremely picky. It's definitely like she has like an emotional thing with food, and control and she wants to eat bread and cheese and sugar.

But she also looks like she knows how to read ingredient labels. And she's, you know, even though she was like, Oh, I would love to eat these Sour Patch Kids.

She's like I know the Yelmer brand is better because I looked at the labels, they'll be so much better off and they know it already. Oh my goodness, you've given them such a leg up on life, not to mention just the actual time and money that it takes to go to all these extra appointments that they're not going to have to do, right?

They're, they are not gonna have do that in their teens and in there 20s and their 30s. I mean, what a gift. It's just incredible. And when you were going through all this, I just want to know like, What was that experience for you?

How much like mental space, did eczema just take up in your day to day? I don't know, I want to say most of it. I mean, it worked and I, you know still cared and we still had our life, but yeah, It affected our daily life in a massive way for years, years and years.

You know? And it was, just the constant just like, you know, like it's not working and she's just, you now, and it just got to the point because it would be like, okay, we gotta do this, We gotta, do, this.

We got, to do. This, You know? And she would just be, am I gonna have to, Do this rest of my life? You, know and just with such, it was with, such heartbreak.

That's it. It's exhausted heartbreak is the life. And that's just not a good life, it's not the place to be. Like you said, you're already so naturally minded.

You're the healthiest person that you know. Your child is still suffering in that way. That level of I don't know. It feels like a true test, right? Yeah.

A real endurance test and a, and true a test of, I mean, how far can you go as a parent, which of course is to the end of the earth, luckily. So, you had to do it.

You had go to end to earth. And I'm sorry for that, but I am so glad that it's so much better now. When we talked and you started implementing all the things, what were the first things that you've started to notice like, oh, things are starting to get better.

The fog is lifting a little bit. I mean, things got worse before they got better and, you know, we were prepared for that and we knew that. And it was in the summer and it very much like, oh, maybe, just the intensity just lessened and I felt like the entire time, our entire journey from when she started getting better, was like this cyclical, it was an oval, you know?

It would be like, two steps forward, one step back, on step forward two, steps back. We would just kind of go through this and we still are, like she doesn't have any eczema on her body right now.

She still has obviously some gut issue thing with the things we've talked about recently, but it's the entire time. She was so sick for so long. I think we did really well with implementing.

There was some time, some things where it was like, oh, we haven't given the regimen exactly as we need to. But pretty much we were really good. We really were.

Yeah. I wonder if we have mold that we haven't found in our house. There's a lot of moisture going on in your house everywhere outside. So it's little bit like we're not able to move, we are not be able renovate, or not like able do these things to fix our environment.

And so I wondered if it is also just taking so long because we still combating something here. We did do testing on Sulub and we found some pretty extreme, you know, there's some, a There was a lot of things going on with her laps, and she was also so much healed because her skin was getting so better, but her sleep still wasn't.

So I was like, okay, let me see if we can nail her sleeve down, then see. And then we did, But then it still was just in this cycle, you know, just going forward slowly, Yeah, so then we tested and so happy and, you know, wished I had done that once earlier.

But you did everything you can. You still worked it and got really great results. And then You know, we don't always want to wait that long, but it worked.

I mean, like the part of the way that we structure things is like we're just doing everything to Neutrify the body to bring down that systemic inflammation so that when we do do testing and then ultimately antimicrobial work, they are resilient enough to handle it.

If you start there, one costs a lot, sometimes not necessary, and then the results aren't as great because you haven't done the groundwork, you have not laid the foundation yet.

And that's when you walk into a naturopath's office, It was a few years prior to meeting you. That's exactly how we were. Yeah. The sequencing is so real.

You can't skip that stabilization step, that resiliency step which is more than a step. It's multilayered. But yes, we eventually did testing and a lot came up.

I'm really glad we did. And you're working through it. All this while, You work. Your husband works. Sula goes to school. I mean, talk to us about that experience.

Has this been a livable, doable plan for you? Has it been worth it? What are you asking? Of course. Can I say more than 100%? No, what your plan has, so we did, for I'd say a year and a half to six and half, we went, spent the money on all the creams, all that.

I had family members being like, I saw this on Instagram and bought it for you and me doing the same thing and just trying so many different things, trying many so different elimination diets with her.

And then we went to a naturopath, who I love and who was so helpful. And we did all the tests, all of the very expensive tests. We got a lot of concrete information back and we had done the food inflammation tests and took out everything that she was.

reacting to and then it still was, it was a little bit better and we did this and did that and it just was never good enough to really do any of the herbal detoxing.

She was just never at that point where our doctor felt like she was strong enough. So it got to the point that she felt terrible but I don't have anything else in my box.

to try here, you know, and that was like about five or four or five months before I met you. And, so that time, she suggested a couple of different people that she thought maybe there's this person near you and there was this And so I was spending time reaching out and just seeing what else I could do.

And then we met you. For me, it was really hard to implement. I felt like for months I'm cooking and I mean the kitchen cleaning or cooking for like eight hours a day, like multiple times a week.

I think that's just me. But I also have like, you know, my other daughter won't eat anything that her sister eats. It's like we've got that emotional thing going in and if I make something for Sula, her It was a lot and I would go back and do it in a heartbeat.

It did it. A year ago, she had eczema, luckily not on her face or her ears, nowhere here. Everywhere and everywhere almost at the same time. Her body was not covered completely 100 percent of the time, but most of time it was in some form of really intense or just red.

But I mean, it was really hard. And yeah, and it just affected her every day. She's a really smart kid, she's really interested in things, but she just would sit there and just be itching.

It's like she is not able to pay attention and definitely started to affect her attention span and everything. Maybe you told me this when we first started working together.

I didn't realize that you had that experience at the naturopath and my heart just goes out to you because Yeah. That's just how it feels. It's like I am with the best of the, best, right?

The most qualified person that I can speak to and they don't have the answer. And that's what I found as well. I went to so many different specialists and paid tens of thousands of dollars and no one, no, one knew what to do, allopathic or otherwise.

It's just, it's crazy because this is resolvable and 100% is from home. It is amazing because most people are just like, no, that doesn't ever go away.

I mean, how can you live like that? How could you possibly just swallow that pill and be like, well, my six-year-old is destined to live this for her entire life.

It's just not my baby. I'm mean that's not an okay thing to say and that it is still going on just baffles me. But I am so proud of you and your perseverance and of Sula because my goodness and I cannot wait to see the exceptional things that she does in her life because I, like you said, this has taught her to be, I mean, not just physically resilient, but emotionally resilient and, oh, mature and wise beyond her years and the label reading, all the things.

I means, what are the gifts that you think, even your eldest daughter, What do you thinks the gift are that this is brought to your family? I mean, perseverance, you know, definitely perseverance and understanding that little things today can lead to big things tomorrow, and down the line in a huge way.

That there's like, well, so many people out there that care, not ever give up. Just really just go for it and to go with your gut. That's a huge, huge thing.

As soon as I heard you, I was just like, this is it. And she understood that. She's very connected to me in that way. It's like, OK, we're going to do these things.

And we had already, two years prior, taken out so many things from her diet. After probably a year and a half, We started letting things back in because it was like OK.

Well, you know, were better, but we are not cured there. It is still there, so let's just start adding things in and if it causes an obvious problem, We'll keep it out." So we were taking everything out of her diet again.

And yeah, you know, at the time she's six and a half, but she was like, okay, let's do it. If you think it's going to help, then let do because she understood like this is not okay.

What you're talking about is we take out the inflammatory foods, and we don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to figure out which inflammatory food. There is a systemic inflammation problem happening if you are experiencing eczema.

We know this. we know that there are certain nutritional deficiencies happening. And so instead of dropping all that money on testing, let's shore up the diet.

It is limiting in processed foods. That is for sure. But yes, to most like real whole foods. Whereas when you start with food sensitivity testing, when the body is still so inflamed and things like celery and broccoli come out in addition to, you know, the known things, like gluten and dairy.

And then you are just, you just whittle, whittel, wittle until it's just impossible to feed them in a way where they're getting the nourishment and the, the protein and that the nutrients and antioxidants that they the variety of food that need to heal to move past this.

And so it just it is a rough go. It's a tough go, But my goodness, I mean, if you were to compare a day of her life when it was really bad versus now, what would you say that comparison looks like?

She's just a kid now. She is just like a free kid who just does her thing and she has fun. I don't know, like she comes home and she throws her roller reeds on and just whizzes all over the place.

Like, you know where, before she, she might do that, but she would be stomping and itching and like, and yeah, no, her, I mean she's just a kid now who would just like do everything that kids are doing and that's huge difference.

It's a huge different. How do you think this process has changed you as a mom? Oh, I mean, wildly. I've always been very determined and I have always known, you know, like when I want something I figure out how to get it, whatever I had to do.

And I always have been like that. But like, ya know I don't know and have kids and after going through so many years of not figuring it out and trying something like you're just my resolve just like and not seeping I became a shell.

And this, like coming through this process and especially like the past few months of like, okay, she's so much better so I can like focus some of my attention back on my health and storing up my reserves again.

And now, coming though this processes and coming out and I just like there's nothing that we can't figure out. I'm back to my old feelings but it's such a greater place still of Yeah, whatever it is, trust my gut and we'll figure it out and go from there.

And yeah, it feels beautiful. However, it's so great because, right, you're never going to avoid the challenges. Pain isn't inevitable, but suffering is optional.

It really is. But when you are going through it and your child is suffering in that way, that is not optional, so we're just trying to truncate that experience as short as possible and move on.

And it has been so fun to walk alongside you. You're such an incredible woman and such incredible family. So, so proud. Thank you for taking the time to share today and be so open and vulnerable with everyone listening today because they're in your shoes.

They're where you were a year ago. And yeah, you know, the suffering is so real and it's so great. If you had something to say with them, what would you say?

Do the method with Andra in a heartbeat. We have gone, it has taken us a lot longer than I think almost all of your other clients. So rest assured, probably most other people will not be as long as we are in this process.

But even if you have to be, it's the only thing that worked. And it is lifelong knowledge. It's not just like the fix for this. The fix is for everything.

Yeah, and it was worth it a thousand times over. in every way. Thank you. I'm so elated. This has been so much fun. You have made my month end. And thank you, thank so you much.

Yeah, likewise, I can't say it enough. wasn't that just beautiful friends? I adore her family and what stuck with me most was something Stephanie said at the end.

She said that for years she'd become just a shell of herself and coming through this, she's back. she is back to the mom who trusts her gut and who knows that there's nothing that our family can't figure out.

It's so empowering. That's what I want for you two friends, not just healed skin, I want you back to a functioning place where you can laugh and smile and have fun and enjoy your family again.

I felt the exact same way after I went through this work with my own kids. When your child is suffering like that, your life just can't be as full of joy and laughter as you want it to be.

And when they heal, you get to live again too. And her healing journey was not a straight line. Real healing hardly ever is. But she had a plan for the hard weeks.

So she wasn't panicking every time something shifted and she always had someone to message and to ask and I was in her back pocket through this entire journey.

It's just to help her see the forest through the trees and to tell her, here's what we do next based on what were seeing here. And if you've been at this for years, like Stephanie had, if have done the naturopath and the testing and elimination diets and steroids and you're considering biologics or you have already gone that route, I know you might be wondering if your child is too far gone.

Stephanie wondered that too. I wondered. And her answer was do the eczema elimination method in a heartbeat. Even if it takes longer, it's worth it a thousand times over.

Stephanie also said that this isn't just a fix for exima. It's knowledge that your family keeps forever. Sula and her big sister read ingredient labels now, and they make better choices on their own.

And Stephanie gives her girls a gift that will carry them through their entire lives. We know, thankfully, that eczema is not a life sentence, friends.

It's your child's body asking for help, a very specific kind of help. in all the realms, right? I mean, a full holistic wheel of eczema revolving health, and when your body gets what it needs and in the right order, it can heal.

And I want to talk about the holidays for a second. I Want you walking into Thanksgiving with a plan instead of a knot in your stomach, And i want the cookie trays and the relatives and travel to feel manageable this coming season.

And when the new year comes, I want you to be well on your way instead of starting from square one. So inside the eczema elimination friends, you get a one-on-one call with me.

You get personalized plan that evolves as your child heals, and you six months of weekly healing hour group calls. You get unlimited lab reviews, you get a six-piece healing box, You Get discounts, and you Get me, in your corner, In your back pocket, resolving this very big issue that you have going on in Your house.

So with code HEALINGHOLIDAYS, all one word, YOU SAVE 500 DOLLARS FRIENDS AND YOU GET TWO AND A HALF EXTRA MONTHS. That's eight and a half months of support for 1997. This offer is only here until October 31st.

Once November hits, it's gone. And if you're not sure it is the right fit, book a free alignment call through the link in the show notes or at xmakids.com and we'll talk it through together.

Or head to the brand new xmakids. com and use code HEALINGHOLIDAYS and doing such an incredible job, friends. Truly, if you're listening to this, I know you've done it all.

And I just want you to know, you don't have to figure this out alone anymore. I'd be honored to help your family get to calm skin and quiet nights, just like Stephanie and Sula.

So get on it, get in the method, let's fix this problem, and I will talk to you next week, Friends. Take care. Thank you for helping with my eczema. Love you.

Thank for listening today, friend. I know healing your child's skin isn't easy, but you're doing it one smart step at a time. If this episode gave you a little hope or a better night's sleep, leave a quick review so more exhausted parents can find exima kids and finally rest easy too.

Follow, share and let's help more kids heal. Take care.