Dairy Allergy

[Giraffe]

Joanne suggested my DD's sleep issues could be related to a dairy allergy. She gave me some indicators of the allergy - which DD has.

 

I'm a little freaked out and befuddled right now. I did a Google search for dairy allergy and just got info on baby formula and "she'll grow out of it". Well, DD is 3, not a baby, and I'm sick so maybe I'm not phrasing the Google searches right, but I need info on older kids and dairy allergies.

 

I know some of you all here are dealing with this - can you help me with where to get info, what I can do before we get to the doctor, what I should be looking for?

 

Thanks!

[Mom in High Heels]

Indy has a milk allergy. He's had it since birth and it was a PITA, but we're used to it now. He isn't lactose intolerant, he is allergic to the milk protein, which means he can't break it down. If he wants milk, he drinks rice milk. Now that he's older (8) he can tolerate milk a little better, but only in small amounts. If he eats something with too much milk (cheese, ice cream), he gets a terrible stomach ache and gas that will knock you over. He knows how much he can handle and generally won't eat more than that and it's only every now and then that he'll have some. The pain isn't worth it. You might try googling "milk protein allergy" and see if you can find anything that way.

 

I'd first remove ALL dairy from her diet. Give it a day or two and see if that makes any difference. If it does, odds are that it is the milk. There are loads of replacement options (though I'd go easy on the soy). Rice products are our choice, but there are also almond milk products. Good luck.

[Dana]

:grouphug:

 

A search of the boards may pull up additional ideas too.

 

Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) will have good information for you.

 

The best book I've read on food allergies (with good information) is Food Allergies for Dummies.

 

My son was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at 3 months old. He's 8 and hasn't outgrown it so it's looking less and less likely that he will. Many kids do outgrow dairy allergies by age 5, so there is still hope for you. But it's also possible to do just fine without dairy.

 

My son's symptoms were blood in the stool (very small amounts). He also never slept well as an infant.

 

Before meeting with your doctor, keep a food diary where you list everything your daughter eats and any symptoms you note. That can be helpful. Ask to be referred to an allergist who is good with food allergies with children. We first saw an allergist who gave us some incorrect information.

 

My son had an anaphylactic reaction to cashews at age 5. If it weren't for the dairy allergy, we wouldn't have had an Epi-pen and wouldn't have recognized the reaction. If you're prescribed an Epi, carry it and learn how to use it.

 

Write down all questions you can think of. Some you'll be able to find answers to online, but others you can bring and get answered at your appointments.

 

Our allergist says that skin tests and RAST tests (blood tests) aren't very accurate for food allergies. So that may not give a clear answer for you.

 

There are a lot of resources and there are more foods that are free of allergens. Enjoy Life is a brand that's good, so if you do need to make complete dietary changes, it's doable. (They even make chocolate chips!)

[Melissa in NC]

Practical tips of dairy allergies:

 

Earth Balance as a butter substitute.

 

Milk substitute:

Silk Soy Milk

Silk Almond Milk

So Delicious Coconut Milk

 

tofutti cream cheese and sour cream.

 

French Bread is usually is dairy free.

 

Papa Johns make pizza without cheese. Be sure to check the crust.

 

Explore this site. http://www.godairyfree.org/

 

Melissa

[Ellie]

:grouphug:

 

Doctors are not always helpful when it comes to allergies, especially dairy allergies.

 

The simplest thing to do is to eliminate dairy and see what happens. You don't even really need to substitute anything (soy, nut milk, etc.). Both of my dds were lactose intolerant, back in the day before anyone had heard of nut milks, and soy milk wasn't readily available. We just eliminated most dairy--no milk (which means no cold cereal, or drinking milk as a beverage), although some cheese seemed to be ok, and we used Nucoa margarine, which has no dairy.

[Harriet Vane]

 

I'd first remove ALL dairy from her diet. Give it a day or two and see if that makes any difference. If it does, odds are that it is the milk. There are loads of replacement options (though I'd go easy on the soy). Rice products are our choice, but there are also almond milk products. Good luck.

 

My ds cannot have milk. We don't know if it's an allergy or intolerance, though we strongly suspect intolerance. As a baby he spent ALL his time screaming and constantly wanted to bre@stfeed. Once I eliminated dairy from my diet he was a totally different baby.

 

The couple times he has accidentally ingested dairy he suffered a terrific stomach ache. One particularly large exposure left him in pain for three days, poor guy.

 

If a child is not having severe symptoms, that child may not realize that they are in pain because mild stomach upset may feel normal to him/her. There is a variety of types of response ranging from stomach pain to headaches to stuffy nose and breathing issues, etc.

 

You really will not know one way or the other without going dairy free. I disagree with what I've quoted above though--you've got to go dairy free for about a month before reintroducing. The body truly does need that much time to clear the allergen and heal. A day or two of abstinence will not tell you anything.

[Joanne]

A classic read that may help is Doris Rapp's "Is This Your Child".

[Giraffe]

THANK YOU everyone who responded. I'm just getting back to the computer after a rather rough weekend.

 

DD has blood in her stool (small amounts), constipation, eczema, doesn't sleep well, is often sick (respiratory), and lives on dairy. I don't quite know how I'm going to do an elimination diet on her. I'm serious - most of her diet is dairy in one form or another. I think I'll get some dairy substitutes and see what I can manage for a week (I can't even imagine dairy-free for a month - or forever - right now).

 

And trying to get DH and my in-laws on board? Fuggedaboutit.

[Giraffe]

A classic read that may help is Doris Rapp's "Is This Your Child".

 

Requested at the library. Thank you!

[Dana]

 

And trying to get DH and my in-laws on board? Fuggedaboutit.

 

Have your husband come to an allergist appointment and ask clearly what will happen if your daughter has dairy.

 

I was nursing my son when he was diagnosed. I had potatoes and gravy (not thinking that dairy would have been used at the restaurant) and he IMMEDIATELY had blood in his stool. That was very clear for us.

 

There are cookbooks that have been helpful to me for making changes. Earth Balance margarine works great. Haven't found anything to take the place of cheese, so that's tough. If you do a complete dairy elimination, you'll have to have your husband on board. Again, ask the allergist what happens if you DON'T eliminate dairy. What might the repercussions be both short term and long term.

 

(At about a year, my son had a roll with a milk wash - we weren't thinking about bread as an issue and didn't read the labels. He had hives all over his body - looked like he'd been beaten. For us, it's been VERY clear when our son has had milk and it's clearly harmful. Your daughter's allergy may not be as severe.)

[Haiku]

My dd9 has a problem with casein, which is milk protein. It was evident from the time she was an infant in her projectile vomiting and being extremely fussy, so I stopped eating dairy when she was two months old. When she was 2 1/2 we started letting her consume dairy again. It took us two years to realize that she still had problems with it, as we were assured she would have grown out of it by that time. Removing all dairy from her diet when she was four did wonders for her mood and her intestinal function. We saw improvements within a week of dropping dairy from her diet. We are vegan now and have been for several years. Two or three times dd has accidentally consumed something with milk in it, when she has been with other people who haven't been vigilant in checking what she was eating (dd now checks everything herself) ... and we noticed issues right away!

 

I would just remove all dairy from your child's diet. Read the label on everything you purchase to make sure it doesn't contain casein or lactose. Don't expect a doctor to take you seriously. We have a fabulous pediatrician who is very interested in the diet/health connection, but other doctors we have seen have pretty much dismissed our claim that dd can't tolerate casein.

 

Tara

Edited January 17, 2011 by TaraTheLiberator

[Giraffe]

Don't expect a doctor to take you seriously. We have a fabulous pediatrician who is very interested in the diet/health connection, but other doctors we have seen have pretty much dismissed our claim that dd can't tolerate casein.

 

Tara

 

I don't expect my doctor to take me seriously, but I'm going to try anyway. He's a great physician, but doesn't know us well as we just recently moved to the area. I've got an appointment this afternoon as DD has had a terrible cold and nasty deep cough for over a week now - can't shake it.

 

My in-laws are all physicians and DH will listen to them (doctors) before anyone else. If I can get DD's pediatrician on board, DH might listen to me about a trial elimination of dairy.

 

If she's allergic, it's not severe, but I do think something's bothering this child. She's been like this her whole life, poor thing.

[Margaret in GA]

Indy has a milk allergy. He's had it since birth and it was a PITA, but we're used to it now. He isn't lactose intolerant, he is allergic to the milk protein, which means he can't break it down. If he wants milk, he drinks rice milk. Now that he's older (8) he can tolerate milk a little better, but only in small amounts. If he eats something with too much milk (cheese, ice cream), he gets a terrible stomach ache and gas that will knock you over. He knows how much he can handle and generally won't eat more than that and it's only every now and then that he'll have some. The pain isn't worth it. You might try googling "milk protein allergy" and see if you can find anything that way.

 

I'd first remove ALL dairy from her diet. Give it a day or two and see if that makes any difference. If it does, odds are that it is the milk. There are loads of replacement options (though I'd go easy on the soy). Rice products are our choice, but there are also almond milk products. Good luck.

 

I agree with everything said here except the part in bold. Over and over we were told by our doctors to take away dairy for a week or two and see if it made a difference. So we did and it didn't. It wasn't until we switched pediatricians when my ds was 4 that she finally said 6 weeks, not 2. And at about 5 weeks, sure enough, we noticed a huge difference. My son is now 11 and can handle some dairy in small amounts but it's still and issue and I'm guessing it will be for life. Good luck to you!

 

Margaret