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April 30, 2008 at 3:13 pm #50985AnonymousInactive
Hi everybody,
I wanted to share a little of what’s been going on with my oldest son (Baron) lately, so maybe it would help someone else.
He’s almost 3 yrs old and has had problems with dairy since birth. As a newborn, he could not tolerate dairy in my diet – he would have mucousy stools, painful gas, loud constant grunting, non-stop screaming, and terrible reflux. When he was about 2 months old, I cut dairy out of my diet and saw dramatic improvement. In hindsight, I think milk protein intolerance was about 80% of his problem with plain old GERD only being about 20%. With Prevacid added later, he was a perfect baby who slept great, and thankfully he did not have soy protein intolerance at all.
Toward the end of his first year, I started giving him a little cheese here and there, and he seemed fine with it. I even weaned him from breastmilk to cow’s milk around his first birthday, and we thought it was successful. But after a little while we started to realize that dairy was still affecting him, but differently now. I think I was only looking out for those early milk protein intolerance symptoms (tummy troubles), so I was slow to realize what was happening. His new symptoms were excessive bm’s (like 5 or 6 per day instead of his usual 2 or 3, but not diarrhea), and insomnia – he took FOREVER to fall asleep at naptime and bedtime, and he couldn’t stay asleep long. However, he didn’t seem to be in ANY pain from the dairy at all…when he would wake up early from a nap, he would just lie silently in his bed and try to go back to sleep but couldn’t. He was also outgrowing the GERD at this time, and weaned off Prevacid without one relapse.
So when he was around 13 or 14 months old, we cut dairy out of his diet again, and the symptoms disappeared. We believed that although he had outgrown his milk protein intolerance, maybe he was still lactose intolerant. For the life of me, I don’t remember any runny nose or congestion when he was on whole milk for those couple of months, but maybe I missed it somehow? That is why I didn’t suspect milk allergy.
So we continued dairy-free, and being on this board for my second refluxer I started to read about milk allergy. A couple of weeks ago I decided to do a trial of Lactaid milk, and within 5 minutes of drinking it, Baron’s nose started running. The trial only lasted a few days, and although there wasn’t anything unusual with his bm’s this time, he did not sleep well – the insomnia was back. So we went to the allergist for testing, being pretty sure now that it was not lactose intolerance after all. The results showed that he did indeed have a “very strong” milk allergy.
I just wanted to share our experience so maybe it will help someone else. Also I wanted to say thank-you all SO much for the wealth of accurate information you share! Without this board I doubt I would’ve ever really figured out what was going on. I have learned so much about reflux and food intolerances/allergies. And I apologize for passing along mis-information in the past about my son being lactose intolerant – I really hope I didn’t mislead anyone with wrong info!
A few final questions…I’ve read that milk allergies are often outgrown. Does anyone have experience with this? When did you/your child outgrow it? Baron’s tests also revealed “strong” allergies to turkey, rice, and shellfish – but he has had all of those foods in the past with no apparent problem (then again, I wasn’t looking!). Anyone else have a similar experience?
Thank you!
April 30, 2008 at 8:49 pm #51003AnonymousInactiveWOW!! Goodness. Isn’t it amazing how things can totally go under our radar when they aren’t the classic symptoms? I have been wondering about Cooper with his MSPI, we have been on whole milk since March and he has had a runny nose pretty much since January, but it was much better on Zyrtec until the pollen hit and things are even better now with the addition of Singulair. He definately has seasonal allergies (watery red itchy eyes when we go outside) so I am conflicted. He doesn’t get worse if he has more dairy or less so I don’t think it is a milk allergy as the congestion is the only symptom… but goodness makes you wonder. I have heard of kids outgrowing milk allergies, but I believe it was by the age of 3… but maybe there is still hope. I think Cooper has a chicken intolerance/allergy.. not sure which, but he has insomnia when he eats chicken so I haven’t given him any in many months… so Turkey is possible and I know many people with shellfish allergies.. not so many with rice issues.. I am glad you got some answers and I hope things get better soon. Cooper’s mom2008-04-30 20:50:00
April 30, 2008 at 8:57 pm #51005AnonymousInactiveI’m still wondering about Dagney too. I think we’re going to go ahead first with the dairy-free trial and see how that goes. She’s often congested and has never had very formed poops. She will poop right after breakfast & lunch, and, although it’s not diarhea or runny, it’s not usually a formed poop either, which I thihnk may be sign of something. That’s always been the way it was, so I never though much about it before, but now maybe it is a sign? I hear her now & then quietly do a little bit of a refluxing, but she’s only really on hidden dairy still. We’ve never put her on cheese or milk. Once in a while over the last few weeks we’ve given her a bite of cheese, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference. We’ll see!
May 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm #51022AnonymousInactiveHmmmm, thanks for posting this, Paula, but, like the others, now I’m wondering even more about my kids. Ben definitely had problems with dairy as an infant, but he’s been drinking milk (not much) for a few months now. No classic symptoms of allergy, but some of what you have posted makes me wonder. He is still nursing a bit though, as he really doesn’t like milk much. His sister has issues with constipation that I have always wondered if they relate to milk.
I think I’ll ask the pedi about it next time we go.And the turkey and rice allergy really are surprising… so much for the TED, eh? And I thought those two foods were generally safe. Crazy!Bensmama2008-05-01 14:35:52
May 2, 2008 at 12:07 pm #51044AnonymousInactiveWOW! I just saw this. Thank you! You really make me want to get skin prick testing done for my kids now more than ever. We had RAST, but I know the results are wrong. You “know” deep down when something is not right.
Oh and I am not “glad” per se to hear about the rice and turkey allergy. But it makes me feel less “nuts” now to hear that Landen (and one other users son- Ben) are not the only ones with issues with Rice! Landen’s worst symptoms ever where when we tried giving rice cereal in his younger days AND when we trialed rice milk. And it’s supposed to be ‘safe’…not so much for us!thanks again for this info.May 2, 2008 at 12:30 pm #51046AnonymousInactiveThanks for sharing this with the group Paula!
Over the last few months I’ve found out how dramatically foods can affect our kids negatively in more ways than just GI. Runny nose, congestion, allergic shiners, sleep problems (frequent waking or trouble falling asleep), chronic ear infections, rashes/eczema, behaviour issues, etc.May 3, 2008 at 1:45 pm #51059AnonymousInactivePaula,
I have a few questions about Baron’s allergy testing.
Was he on any allergy medicine like Zyrtec or Benadryl and if so how long did they tell you he had to be off of them before testing?
How long did your testing last?
I was talking with one of my friends whose daughter recently had it done and she had to be off her Zyrtec for 10 days and her appointment went on for 5 hours…. And this is the doctor we would be seeing unless we went elsewhere so I am just curious as to what you went through. Thanks.
May 3, 2008 at 6:59 pm #51063hellbenntKeymasterMay 3, 2008 at 8:52 pm #51065AnonymousInactiveLaura thanks for the link. I wasn’t around much when that post was going on due to my computer being down and I don’t think I ever saw it. I am so conflicted. My mom and dh both think I am crazy with this whole milk thing. We are going to the beach in a week and will visit my mom and she thinks we should see how Cooper does then (change of air quality etc) and then when we go for our 15 month check up on the 19th if he didn’t get better at the beach then ask for it. I see her point as he has true seasonal allergies (the pollen here is horrible and seems to be getting worse, everything is that nice shade of yellow/green) so we will have a better idea when he is at the beach with the nice sea breeze… I hope I am overreacting, but that mommy instinct just keeps kicking in.
May 4, 2008 at 2:11 pm #51078AnonymousInactiveNaomi, one of the major symptoms of Kaelyn’s milk allergy was constipation.
May 4, 2008 at 3:12 pm #51082AnonymousInactiveBeth,
To answer your questions —Baron isn’t on any allergy meds like Zyrtec or anything, but no one at the allergist’s office ever mentioned that he’d have to come off allergy meds before the testing.The entire apptmt lasted about an hour. The allergist talked to us for a few minutes, asking about symptoms and deciding what to test for. Then the nurse came in and did the testing — she pressed two panels (total 20 needles) into Baron’s back while he sat on my lap facing me. I was told to hold his hands in front of him for about 20 minutes to make sure he didn’t scratch or smear anything. At the initial prick, he screamed and then just seemed really uncomfortable like it was itching really bad? He kept asking me to blow on his back, poor thing. But he does not handle ANY doctor’s visits well at all, so it might not be so bad for Cooper. Anyway, the nurse came back in after about 20 minutes and noted the reactions, and then the allergist came back in to discuss. Certainly not 5 hours, yikes!!Good luck!May 4, 2008 at 3:22 pm #51084AnonymousInactiveFor Ben’s skin prick testing, he needed to be antihistamine free for a couple days before hand (I can’t remember if it was 3 days or 5 days). Ours was a long visit, but just because the allergist was long-winded and I think she liked to hear herself talk! She took a thorough history and family history, asked tons of questions, etc. Then the nurse performed the test. She did the pricks on the inside of Ben’s arms (between the elbow and wrist) one at a time, but she was very quick about it. I think he was surprised by what she was doing and didn’t really have a chance to react or complain until she did his second arm, but it was done pretty quickly. It was obviously uncomfortable though. Then they had us wait about 20 minutes before reading the results. Then we waited again for the allergist to come back so she could talk to us some more. All total, it was about 3 hours for us. Thankfully it was a pediatric allergist, so they had lots of toys and I’m glad I brought a snack and drink for Ben as well.
May 4, 2008 at 9:19 pm #51100AnonymousInactiveI keep going back and forth on this allergy testing, but I had a epiphany today. I don’t think it’s milk or soy for dagney, but I think it’s TOMATOES! Does anyone else have problems with tomatoes? I finally put 2 and 2 and 2 together and realized, moreso lately, that whenever she has tomatos, she ends up with yucky red messy poops. She even wakes up the morning after having tomatoes with gross poopy diaper. Not so much mucussy, but messy, and I showed my dh today, and he said how it was “seedy”, which I never realized either. How can I have been so stupid?? Poor little thing has a raging diaper rash now too from it, so I ran out to get Triple Paste tonight, which will hopefully do the trick tomorrow. We have pasta and tomato sauce all the time–we’re Italian and Dagney LOVES it, so it’s a major staple gone, but we can just give her buttered pasta and sauce-free meatballs. We’d been doing dairy-free since Friday, which I suppose I’ll continue, but I’m adding no tomatoes now and we’ll see where that goes.
My doc said the food trial was the best test, but the skin prick is the more reliable of the two. I think we will do that now, maybe towards summer more, just to be sure. We had an appt which I cancelled, and the scheduler said that Dagney would have to be antihystamine-free for 5 days before the testing. I’m sure Dagney has seasonal allergies too, so I’m hoping June may be a little better to go Claritin-free than right now. It’s been just terrible today, I had stopped the Benadryl and was just doing Claritin, but she was such a mess today, that I started the Benadryl again.May 4, 2008 at 9:30 pm #51102AnonymousInactiveDenise,
i think I remember Therese’s daughter Alana having problems with tomatoes. She isn’t on much anymore, but you might want to pm her. i think her name was evergreenie or something like that. Good Luck. I hope it is tomatoes and not dairy/soy, tomatoes are much easier to eliminate than dairy/soy.
May 4, 2008 at 9:34 pm #51103AnonymousInactiveYes, now that you mention it, I think Alana did have tomato issues. I don’t know why it never hit me before! I’ll try to PM her. Thanks!
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