Can milk intolerance cause ear problems?

[skatty]

Leorah had severe MSPI as a baby through my BM but by 12 months was able to tolerate yoghurt and a small amount of cheese. At 16 months she started on cows milk without any of the old gastro problems she used to have, however we have had non stop problems with fluid in the ear, bad hearing and infections in the last year and only now am I starting to wonder if it could be caused by dairy  It is wierd as up until a year her hearing was very good and she was talking and understanding well (as in I could say what do you say to a dog/bee/snake or whatever from her favourite book and she would make their sound and had words like mumma/dadda/ (ba)nana) and then suddenly she wouldn't answer questions and stopped talking which was scary time but we put down to her being mobile so concentrating on other things. Has anyone had a LO with an imtolarnce that effected the ears? We have switched her to rice milk again as milk is mucous forming anyway but could it actually be the cause and if so is there any way to find out?

Thanks, Katt.

[skatty]

Oh No look what I found 

Do you ever wonder why some kids get lots of ear infections, often resulting in multiple doses of antibiotics and eventually tubes in their ears? Why don't the antibiotics ever completely solve the problem?

Ears require drainage by the eustachian tube, which opens into the back of the throat. In young children this tube is not fully developed and is very susceptible to being blocked by inflammation. Anything that causes inflammation can block the eustachian tube, resulting in a warm moist breeding ground for bacteria in the inner ear.

Antibiotics kill the bacteria, temporarily, but they don't change the inflammation of the eustachian tube or the breeding ground. This is when placing a tube through the tympanic membrane is recommended. These don't solve the inflammatory problem either, but they do get the drainage going.

The real cause of the problem is the inflammation of the eustachian tube. Usually this inflammation is caused by a food allergy, most often dairy. Children generally drink and eat a lot of dairy. Invariably it's the very first food introduced into the diet.

A milk allergy is by far the most common cause of ear infections. Removing dairy from the diet will usually result in complete resolution of this problem. However, occasionally further food allergy testing is required to determine the source of the inflammation.

Good job we are seeing an ENT on Thursday, this could be written about L, she has the tubes and still gets infections 

[rinajack]

I was just coming on to say that recurrent ear infections can be a sign of dairy intolerance....good luck with the Dr

[skatty]

Thanks, I have been searching the net and we are definitely stopping the cows milk but it should be ok for her to have the odd sprinkle of cheese, yoghurt or milk as an ingredient. I really hope this can stop her ear problem once and for all, she had 3 back to back lots of penicillin and the last infection still didn't clear until she had ear drops 

[Mydreamcametrue]

Poor thing.  Let us know what the ENT says.  Also if you are not doing probiotics, I would because of the amount of antibiotics she has been on.

Hugs Wendy

[skatty]

Thanks Wendy, I have just started the probiotics up again yesterday. I wonder how long we will have to wait to see if stopping the milk works  We have the doc tomorrow so I hope he is as good as everyone says.

[em_here]

Oh hugs to you and Leorah, hope the ENT appointment goes well xxxxx

[skatty]

Thanks Emma 

[Mom to M&M]

Just saw this and YES, definitely sounds like milk intolerance. MSPI can often change forms - causing something like gastro issues as an infant but something different (in this case, ear infections) as a toddler and even behavioral problems as well. Let us know what the doctor says but I'd definitely cut out the cow's milk and severely limit even yogurt, cheese, etc (or switch to soy yogurt and the like). Good luck!

[15milner]

thanks for that - that's really interesting to know.  Andrew's had 4 double perforated eardrums since May and 5 (or is it 6 lots of antibiotics) and 3 lots of eardrops.  touch wood, we've been clear for the past 5 weeks.

Our GP prescribed me infant otrivine nasal drops.  Andrew's ear perforations always followed a couple of weeks of snotty nose and a cough and early wakings.  He asked what I was doing to treat the nasal congestion, since the nasal congestion sort of sits in the tubes and there that becomes the breedign ground for infection and then causes the perforated eardrums as that the only way the gunk gets out.

so, a couple of weeks ago, he got a snotty nose for a couple of days... gave the drops for a couple of days to help dry out the nose and ..... no ear problems yet.  Had to start again with the drops today.

Question then... if it could be an allergy - is there any way I could work out if it was dairy or another cold?  could an allergy cause a slight flemgy cough do you think.

sorry to hijack, but trying to find answers myself.

Alex

[Mom to M&M]

Alex - a milk allergy/intolerance can definitely cause congestion which then leads to ear problems too. Best way to truly tell is to eliminate ALL dairy for at least 2 weeks and see if the symptoms clear up.

[15milner]

Karen

sorry to further hijack this post .... Andrew has only been 'like this' since he turned 1, he's been having normal cows milk since he was 8months on cereal etc and is still bf.

Would a reaction only come at age 12 months would you think and if I try cutting out dairy in his diet, should I do mine too since I bf him still 2-3times a day?  Would there be anything else that might indicate dairy intolerance?

alex

[Mom to M&M]

It could be a delayed reaction or just because he's probably now having so much more milk than before (drinking cow's milk is a lot more than used in cereal, etc). Or it could be unrelated to the milk. If it were me, I'd start by cutting dairy out of his diet only at first. You can probably keep it in your diet since he's been BF and you've been having dairy all along - maybe it's just that he can't tolerate large amounts of dairy directly. Other symptoms of dairy intolerance include constipation, rashes, sleeping problems, gas, etc but often LOs will only have one symptom unless they have a severe intolerance or allergy.

[skatty]

Oh wow so interesting, thanks for all the info, I just wished I'd realised long ago 

Alex has Andrew got tubes in his ears and still got a burst ear drum? I wrry about Leorah as the mucus in her ears is so thick it takes a long time to drain and causes a lot of pressure on her ears.

I am pretty sure dairy has something to do with this because she doesn't fit the typical child prone to ear infections, she was breastfed until 11 months and doesn't go to daycare and she had great hearing before she turned 1 and was talking early and the suddenly nothing!! I can't wait to see what the ENT says on Thursday.

[Mom to M&M]

Unfortunately, many ENTs aren't up on allergies/intolerances so don't be too disappointed if he doesn't help much on that front - you can always do an elimination yourself and see how it goes!

[Mom to M&M]

How did the ENT appt go?

[skatty]

Well you were right about him dismissing the dairy thing! He said there have been numerous studies recently that prove it wrong but we are still eliminating it! She has no infection at the moment but the last one has forced one of her grommets to start to fall out and it has a bit of fluid in it and that is causing pain and maybe some itching. We are being referred for an informal hearing test, they can't test such a young one properly apparantly and so they have people trained to work with kids using different sounds and looking for responses but he said she needs the grommet replaced first or she wont hear properly with her left ear.

Thanks for asking 

[rinajack]

Hugs.

Dairy intolerance is a hard one.  I am not saying your Dr is right or wrong, but I have seen research, for example, that says most kids with dairy intolerance will get loose stools.  Zara had dairy intolerance with hard stools - constipation.  There is another set of research that indicates that kids can get either.

So, I think the best thing to do is try the elimination, there is just too wide and varied range of symptoms for Drs to ever really be sure.

[skatty]

Thanks Rina I agree with you totally, I had to work out what was wrong with L as a baby myself by doing and elimination diet and my doc was quite embarassed when I told her my findings! My gut tells me it is something to do with the milk even if it is just that it is mucous producing, Leorah can drink s much milk and if you look at it cows milk is not mreant for humans is it so although it provides great nutrients it doesn't necessarily mean us with one stomach can be breaking it down as it should!

[rinajack]

I have seen it suggested that up to (I think, it has been a while) 80% of the worlds population has some level of dairy intolerance, most of it mild, and anecdotal.  Seems a huge claim to me, but who knows.

[em_here]

More hugs hun xxxx That gut feeling is what I go by, its hard when docs dont really seem to "get" it xcxxx

[Mom to M&M]

More hugs from me as well. Hope she feels better soon and that the dairy eliminations helps. What will you be giving her instead?

[Vicku]

Hi Katt!
Glad I found this thread as I'd been wondering how you got on at the docs. I think if a doc could miss it when L was an infant, they could well do again and I would definitely go with an elimination diet and see if things improve after a while.
The friend and collegue of my mum's who sells the Calcium powder told me that the calcium in cows' milk can only be broken down and absorbed by children under 2yo as we then stop producing a certain enzyme, so according to that research older children and adults don't really get any calcium from cows' milk. Here in Sweden people drink enormous amounts of cows' milk and still we have some of the highest rates of osteoporosis. Interesting!
So she says not to worry too much when cutting out dairy from a 2yo's or older diet. This powder though is great for any age, I've been taking it myself to recover from SPD, and if I start doing the elimination with Lois too I'll give it to her. She's got her appointment on Mon.
Hugs to you and Leorah xxxxxxx!

[skatty]

Thanks for yojur support everyone and sorry Viclu you had to come and find this thread, we had sucha  busy day yesterday!

Karen we are giving her oat milk instead, last time she had Rice Dream fortified with calcium but we had to order it by the case and pick it up in another town quite far away and it was so expensive ! We can buy organise rice or oat milk locally and 60p cheaper a carton which over a  onth adds up to a lot but doesn't have calcium but Vicku came to the rescue  The organic rice milk is so sweet even though it doesn't contain sugar so we switched to oat as Leorah drank cup after cup saying "mm yum yum, more!!"

It has surprised us but there is no liquid or infection in her ears now, it is the grommet that is casuing the pain so once that is put in again I will hope that is the end of these problems 

Thanks fo all the help 

[Vicku]

Sorry for being daft, but what is the grommet?

[skatty]

That's the ear tube 

[Vicku]

Aha, the ones they've put in.