Possible Milk Protein Intolerance??

[Spectra]

I am unsure if he has this or not.  My son has dry patches of scaly skin on his legs and arms (perhaps excema??) and is wheezy sometimes.  I read that an allergy to milk protein can cause this and sometimes using the Nestle Good Start helps as the milk protein is broken down a lot.  I tried him on it and though it helped his skin problems he developed a rash all over his torso and back and started screaming and crying when I would bring the bottle towards him.  He barely ate at all yesterday.  So I switched back to the President's Choice formula and he is eating better his skin is reverting back to the way it was.

[Jimbob]

If the President's Choice formula is cow milk based and your lo is better on that than the nestle good start formula where the protein is broken down then it would surprise me if she has an allergy/intollerance to milk protein. However as your your lo was experiencing some skin problems (possible eczema) on the regular formular then it is possible. I guess it is possible that the nestle good start has something else in it that your lo is more allergic/intollerant to than milk protein. It would be a good idea to look at the ingredients.

Kelly

[motherof3]

If he does have a milk intolerance/allergy then I would try a hypoallergenic formula like Nutramigen or Alimentum.  These have the milk proteins broken down and do help some babies.  The Good Start formula uses another type of protein, whey, but from what I have read and my experiences with MSPI's the Good Start doesn't help with a milk protein intolerance. 

Abby is MSPI and was on Nutramigen until 4 months and then had to go on Neocate b/c she was still bothered by the milk proteins present in the Nutramigen.  Neocate is amino acid based and is free of all milk proteins.

Andrea

[Mydreamcametrue]

Also keep in mind if you did a sudden switch, his body would need time to get used to a new formula. 

I would have done the same thing though. 

I agree with PP, if he is still having a rash and the wheezing I would try Nutramigen or Alimentum.  My personal choice would be Nutramigen. 

You could also try Soy Formula, but a lot of lo's that cannot handle milk cannot handle soy. 

Good Luck

[donna_issabella]

Hi there,

Just to chip in too, some formulas are "Partially hydrolysed -> partially broken down" like Nestle Good Start and then you get the others like Nutramigen and Alimentum as previously mentioned. These two are "Extensively broken down". In the UK there is another formula named Pregestimil added to the repertoire.

As Andrea said manytimes there is enough recognisable protein structure left for the baby to still react to and then you should switch to an Amino acid based formula. These formulas are made of the building blocks of protein, so babies get the goodness and can grow and utilise the amino acids to thrive, yet not have the problems with MPI (Milk protein intolerance). The formula that is AAB is Neocate.

As Wendy said, you can try a soy formula - I know there is quite a bit of controversy regards to soy milk as it has phyto estrogens etc. You will have to speak to your doctor about that. However if you decide to go for soy milk, about 50% of babies that react to MP can react to soy protein as well.

Many babies that are MPI have symptoms of reflux and that can cause many other issues including wheeziness and nasal congestion. Skin disorders make out quite a large proportion of the manifestation of MPI and may improve off MP, but may not necessarily resolve 100%.

Speak to your doctor and formulate an action plan. Your doctor might say it is just eczema and treat it as such. Why do you specifically think it is MPI?

Just to say, my sister's son had a very similar story to yours. He was breastfed but when they went to church she would give him a bottle of formula milk. He developed the most horrendous rach which the first time they thought was a heat rash. But when it happened again, they realised it must be the formula - she ate LOADS of milk and cheese products whilst BF and had no issues ( wish we were taht lucky!! ) So they changed to soy and he has been fine since. He is 19 months old though and everytime he gets any milk products in, his cheeks turn a bright red and it looks like he was slapped. ( which he wasn't, I hasten to add )

HTH to some extent.

xx
DI

[Spectra]

Thanks everyone, I tried soy and there is no difference in his skin or his congestion.  He also now has blood in his mucus in his, well, snot.  I thought it might be MPI because I did a google search on his symptoms (excema type skin, wheezy and congestion) and that is what came up.  I really have no idea, but am hoping for answers.  I just bought the Alimentum as I cannot get Nutrimigen here.  I also have a dr.'s appt on thursday so hopefully something will come of it.

[Mydreamcametrue]

I hope the Alimentum works out for you.  Did you get the RTF or the powder?  RTF is the only formula that does not have corn it it.  Just be aware though if she still has a lot of gas, the Alimentum uses Sucrose as the carbohydrate.  Some lo's that cannot tolerate lactose have a problem with sucrose also.  Google -  Carbohydrate Malabsorption, you will read about that.  Nutramigen uses corn syrup solids as the carb.  I think that is why some lo's do better with Alimentum and some with Nutramigen.

Your next step would be Neocate or Elecare, which both are Amino Acid formulas.  My doctor said that Neocate is usually tolerated by lo's that have milk allergies and Elecare for lo's that GI problems.

I hope your doctor can give you some answers. 
Good Luck

[Spectra]

I have the RTF, but I just went to the doctor today and she agreed it was excema, but prescribed a cream to see if that works first, even though I said it went away on a different baby formula... Oh well, guess I have to do the cream.  We'll see.

[Mydreamcametrue]

I hope the cream works for you.  Try it for a few days and if you still don't feel like something is right, then push for what your gut instinct tells you. 

[Jimbob]

If it improved with change of formula then I would want to go down that route personally. My son's gp did not believe allergies had anything to do with his eczema. When my son was finally tested at 11 months he had multiple akllergies one of which was dairy. When all of his allergens were out of his diet his eczema really improved and we were able to identify a few other foods he reacted to as it was very easy to see a reaction as his body was so much clearer than before. By all means try the cream but don't rule out the change of formula.

Kelly

[donna_issabella]

The only hassle is though, if you start the new formula now as well as use the cream, you won't know what the culprit is. 

[Jimbob]

How is your ds doing? I hope things are improving.

Kelly

[Spectra]

Well, I'm using the old formula so I know for sure if the cream is working.  The cream does work, however I cannot use it on his hands because he sucks on his fingers all the time.  His skin isn't all over smooth, but it is probably 95% percent better.  In a way I wish it wouldn't work because if it didn't my doctor was going to send me to a pediatrician at that point

[Jimbob]

What cream is it? I am assuming it is a topical steroid. I would say that if the eczema still flares when you stop using it then it needs looking into further as I would not be happy using a topical steroid everyday on a young child. We used emollients, topical steroids, bath oils and wet wraps at one stage. The topical steroid (1%hc) worked at first but then we began to get flares again. It ended that we were on elecon at one stage on James's body which is classed as potent. When James was 10 months we ended up in A&E with our son because we could not get him to eat/drink enough as his eczema was driving him crazy. He was not sleeping for more than 20 minutes at a time. We were given something to help James sleep and also refered to a paediatric consultant at the hospital. James was nearly 11 months when he saw the consultant and he said that the first thing he wants to do was have James allergy tested as he was certain that food allergies were the problem. When we removed all of the foods that James tested positive for his skin really improved. This helped us pinpoint some other foods that James was allergic to but had not been tested for. James is now 3 years old and his ecze,ma is under control.

Obviously this is what worked for us and food allergies might not be causing your son's eczema but I think it is important to try and find the triggers be it food allergies or things in the enviroment that way the use of steroids can be kept to a minimum.

Kelly

[Spectra]

Yes, it is a topical steroid.  I think it is an allergy because the excema disappeared when I switched formulas, but had to switch back because he had worse different reactions on the new formula.  I would like to get him allergy tested, but it's hard when my doctor doesn't think it is an allergy.  I stopped using the cream as I am suppose to once he cleared up.  Am curious now to see if it comes back.