Does this sound like an allergy??

[ardnamara]

Hi all,
I'm new to this board, having got some great advice on the reflux board a while back.  I have a 9 month old little boy called Alfie and he had reflux from age 12 weeks.  It was unsuccessfully treated with gaviscon, domperidone and omeprazole.  He is now med-free and has been for a few months.  Paed wasn't convinced reflux was causing the problems - NWs, screaming, arching back, but happy during day.  Paed felt it was behavioural and wanted us to trial him med-free - we haven't gone back because he seemed to be coping well, although he still arches and cries during milk feeds. 

A few months ago he also developed eczema on his face and it has been unsuccessfully treated with various cortisone creams.  We decided ourselves to put him on Nutramigen formula but this has made little difference.  We are trying a new cream at the moment so fingers crossed it works.  But, his bum also gets affected with a similar rash and the eczema on his face flares up after eating. In addition to all of this, at the beginning of Dec he developed bronchiolitis and was hospitalised a few times, he has had three chest infections on top of this in the month of Dec and we have just been to the doctor (a 3rd opinion) and each doctor has said same thing - that although asthma cannot be diagnosed until later, they all are very confident that Alfie is an asthmatic.  So he is now on more antibiotics, a steroid inhaler and a steroid cream.  As the Nutramigen formula made little difference we are going to trial a 'normal' formula to see if things get worse, but at the moment, our nights are hideous - he is awake crying within 2 hours of going to sleep and this goes on all night.  He wants to be fed, but feeding him generally means he wakes more later  We have a toddler as well and our marriage is really struggling under the strain of all this 
Anyway, can anyone shed some light on this for me, I'm not sure I'm even on the right board, but my instinct has always been that Alfie is allergic or intolerant to something, but I can't for the life of me figure out what.  I'm wondering if his NWs are behavioural and if we need to do PU/PD or something, but when he is really well (not wheezy) he sleeps well.  Do you think the asthma could be causing him to wake?  He is what they term a 'happy wheezer' during the day, i.e. it doesn't seem to bother him.
Any advice would be so much appreciated.  xxx

[RachelC]

Bumping this up for you...

[em_here]

Hi and hugs.  Nutragimen is semi elemental which means it still contains milk proteins just very broken down.  could you ask to trial neocate? This is an elemental milk which contains no milk protein and is often recommended for multiple intolerances/allergies etc. we used this with dd with great success after a horrible unsuccessful trial on pepti junior, also a semi elemental milk

OK, so next thing, milk protein can cause reflux to flare up too, and reflux can affect the airways causing congestion or aspiration.  Allergies to other things can cause wheezing such as dust mites etc

I was wondering if all the chest probs are since you stopped meds?  If he is still arching, maybe he still needs them? Also maybe you could ask the doc about neocate?

hope this helps you a bit xxxx

[ardnamara]

Hi, thank you so much for replying.  Chest problems are since we stopped meds but I hadn't made that connection - would make sense.  Had horrible night last night and Alfie was screaming hysterically for hours on end, arching back, etc so there is something going on but we are really struggling to work out what.  He is so so so happy during the day it makes it difficult to figure things out.  And makes it really difficult for medics to take him seriously. 

Neocate - would be worth a shot but Alfie is 9 months old and I have heard the taste of it is very different?  He will probably reject it wont he? 

How do we go about allergy testing?  Does it have to be through doctor?  Because our doctor seems to be very dismissive of allergies and intolerances playing a part in all of this. 

Thanks again,

A xx

[~Kiki]

Our ped. did a simple blood test that was just like the major allergies, just to rule out possible allergies. Our lo had rashes on her face that wouldn't go away. Reflux, that got a little better when treated with med. But had horrible napping routines until we got the allergy under control. When our lo tested positive to an egg allergy, we avoided egg and made an appointment with an allergist. They did a small skin test to test a few more foods and we learned that she is allergic to both the egg whites and yolk. They were able to tell us more info on food allergies and how to manage and treat them safely. I would definitely recommend doing the simple blood test. It's a little more than a prick so it's difficult, but well worth it. I would be pulling my hair out if we continued to treat her like we were before with different medications and creams that did nothing. Good luck!!!

[Spectra]

He may or may not reject the Neocate if you introduced it slowly.  My son started on Neocate at 12 months and adapted fine to it.  I think it may be worth a shot.  However if he has an intolerance it won't show up on an allergy test.  What other foods does he eat?

[Jimbob]

I think I would take your lo back to the paed. To me it sounds like there is reflux issues going on, which also could be linked to food allergies/intollerances. If the paed will agree to a neocate trial then I think it would definately be worth a try. My ds went onto neocate at 11 months. He would not take it straight neocate at first so we mixed it with regular formula and over a week increased the amount of neocate and reduced reg formula until we were left with just neocate. James is now 4 and loves his warm milk (neocate).

Kelly

[Mydreamcametrue]

Hi there. 

Gosh, I really feel for you.  I really would push the doctors to try something else.  I think as the others have said a trail of Neocate is a good place to start.  Nutramigen smells worse than Neocate, but it does taste different.  I think he would take it though over a period of time.

Sounds like his reflux is flaring back up also.  Have you considered enviromental allergies? 

My lo is 16 mos. old and we thought he had a milk allergy, other food allergy and the only thing he is allergic to is dust mites. 

I think you need to go back to the ped and get a referral to an allergist or a GI doctor.

Where are you?

Wendy

[Maddysmom]

I am going thru a similiar situation as you.HUGE HUGS...My 18mnth old went from sleeping thru the night to waking 3-4 times a night, everynight since xmas. were exhausted and at a complete loss as to whats wrong. He's also happy and fine during the day but at night he's wheezing, gassy, will fall asleep on me and wake 20 mins later crying. This has gone on up to 5hrs one night. I just  borrowed a really great book from a friend called"An encyclopedia of natural healing for children and infants"written by Mary Bove, N.D. It talks about food allergies and symptoms in the book. After reading it today I think thats whats wrong with my son. I think he may be lactose intolerant. She says in the book that symptoms from a food allergy are:
Asthma,Eczema,hay fever,Headaches,Hives,Chronic runny nose,Nasal congestion, Sinusitis,Tonsilitis,Chronic diarhea,tired, fatigue,poor sleep problems.
I hope things get better for you. I know how it can really affect a marriage also. Its hard on everyone when your not getting any sleep and your struggling to find an answer. I hope you find yours..Take care Tracey