provenance61 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Our daughter is 4 1/2. She is Chinese but has always enjoyed milk and dairy. Especially cheese and yogurt. For the last 6-8 weeks, though, she's had persistent runny stools. So we just had a number of tests -- xray, stool, and blood. The last of the tests came back today, and the blood tests indicate a milk allergy. NOT lactose intolerance, which I have always understood many Asians have. But a MILK allergy, which means she's allergic to the proteins in the milk (And in any dairy product, and also milk products are used in many processed foods). Our doctor indicated she should avoid milk but may be able to have some up to tolerance (whatever that means). The thing is, we've never tied it to when she takes in milk. And although she's been off milk products for several weeks now with only an occasional slip, the stools have remained -- maybe she's still had some milk protein in the other foods she is eating? She does seem healthy in all other ways, not losing weight or anything. No rash or other allergic symptoms. Anyway, if anyone is familiar with milk allergy and questions to ask, books to read, and any other source of info--would you please share? We are a bit concerned as we've never dealt with food allergies before. Thanks! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmama Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I hope others chime in, as my food allergy experience is with foods other than milk. However, to get you started, I recommend Living Without magazine and getting a milk substitute called DariFree (powder form). This way you can make many things that call for milk in it. Reading labels will become a part your new life experience. :grouphug: Hope she feels better soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 http://www.mspimama.com http://www.refluxrebels.com (they have a page for MSPI) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My sister is allergic to dairy. She has found lots of decent dairy replacements. There are lots of things made with soy or coconut. You definitely need to read labels. Lots of bread has dairy, for example. Look for the various forms of dairy: http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=37 :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My son had a severe allergy to dairy for a few years. Milk has to be labeled in plain English on the package (in the US, don't know where you are). Even butter will list milk, and not just cream. It is a pain in the beginning, but it will soon become normal. Last I checked, regular Oreos do not have milk. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennsmile Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Crazy chocolate cake is awesome for birthdays or any other time you need a cake. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murmer Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I know it seems like so much at first to go completely dairy free but once you are there you start to realize that it really is easy. Earth Balance is completely dairy free, Silk yogurt is dairy free, Oreos are safe (and a great special treat) Duncan Hines seems to be completely dairy free. In addition I have found that I can just substitute soymilk in any recipe asking for milk and Earth Balance for all butter. The hardest part is reading every single label but milk must be listed either bolded or within the contains section. It can take up to a month completely 100% dairy free to see a difference. Go Dairy Free is a blog that has some great recipes and info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My son was diagnosed with a milk allergy at 3 months. We did skin testing at 8 years and he's still highly allergic. Sigh. Food Allergies for Dummies has been one of the best books I've read on living with allergies. It'll give you some good information and possibly some questions to ask your allergist. FAAN is a good organization for food allergies. There may be a support group near you. Have an allergy action plan and practice. My son developed a nut allergy and had an anaphylactic reaction at age 5. We were so very lucky that he knew symptoms of allergic reactions and that we had the plan and the Epi-pens. Before that anaphylaxis, we only knew of his dairy allergy. Enjoy Life has safe chocolate bars and chocolate chips. Earth Balance is good for cooking. Read labels and read them every time you open a new package. Product lines do change. Prior to the nut reaction, our son's worst reaction was to bread. Avoid bakeries. You do adapt. It does get easier. :grouphug: Feel free to PM me with any questions. The cookbooks that I use regularly are: The Milk-Free Kitchen What's to Eat and What Else is to Eat You can also see what cookbooks your library has. These do have some good baked goods :) And from a prior poster... we used to use Silk, but we can't now that they make almond milk due to possible contamination issues. Also, some soy yogurt uses dairy as a starter culture and it can be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatYoung17 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I know it seems like so much at first to go completely dairy free but once you are there you start to realize that it really is easy. Earth Balance is completely dairy free, Silk yogurt is dairy free, Oreos are safe (and a great special treat) Duncan Hines seems to be completely dairy free. In addition I have found that I can just substitute soymilk in any recipe asking for milk and Earth Balance for all butter. The hardest part is reading every single label but milk must be listed either bolded or within the contains section. It can take up to a month completely 100% dairy free to see a difference. Go Dairy Free is a blog that has some great recipes and info. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 http://www.godairyfree.org has lots of good info, especially their Dining Out page. You can do this! It's tough, but definitely doable. It just takes some time to find alternatives for your family. I suggested avoiding fake cheese if you can help it. All soy cheese has casein (milk protein), so it's off limits, and Tofutti is..well, let's just say I find it unacceptably nasty, LOL. There are good dairy-free frozen treats made by Rice Dream and Turtle Mountain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'd suggest giving her a probiotic for a few days. Though you've removed the known problem (dairy), she may need a little help restoring gut flora before she can get back to normal stools. If you have a probiotic on hand, try that one first, after checking the label for dairy. If you don't, my favorite is Culturelle. It is usually easy to find, and plenty of research has been done on the specific organism it contains (Lactobacillus GG). However, the original Culturelle has trace dairy, so don't get that. Look for the box that says dairy-free, or the children's version, which is also dairy free. I recently saw the children's version at Walmart. Other places to look include Vitamin Shoppe and Whole Foods or other natural grocery stores. If you can't find dairy-free Culturelle, be careful about choosing something else. It is very difficult to find completely dairy-free probiotics. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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