Food allergies reason for reflux?

[aussiedani]

Hi, I have a 11 week old girl who definately has silent reflux. I've been to see many docs and 1 paed. Most said it's just colic but one agree's that it's reflux. This doctor says its because I have food allergies to gluton and dairy (my half-sister and half-brother have these allergies) and have been told to take them out of my diet immediately which I have (Im Breastfeeding). I am getting tested to confirm this but test results wont be back for 4 weeks. I'm interested to know if anyone else has been told this before and did it help with their babies reflux? It's been a week for me and I feel things are getting worse. I had a really good routine going with baby and the sh/pat was working really well but now all day naps last only 40 mins (she used to nap for 2 hours) and at night takes up to 2.5 hrs to get to sleep. Has anyone got any suggestions for me? She is already becoming a fussy eater and pulling off the breast and I can't afford for her to refuse to eat as she is only averaging 110 gms per week weight gain. Please help I'm really confused.   

[Canwi]

Yes food allergies can be the reason for reflux. 
In this case though they usually aren't true allergies, but intolerances.  That is to say that the LO's often 'grow out' of their reactions to the foods.  The 'reactions' that cause the reflux-like symptoms are usually inflammations somewhere in the gut to the proteins in the foods.  Some LO's get inflammation in their bowels and it shows up as bleeding in their poop.  Others (like my DS2) get it in their esophagus and it shows up like reflux. 
My DS2 had a milk protein intolerance (= MPI)  I ended up cutting milk out of my diet for 8 months.  Initially I didn't notice any difference.  I went to reintroduce milk back into my diet after 2 weeks, and the screaming, back arching, poor sleeping all got SO much worse.  So we stopped it again and things went back to slightly crappy instead of completely crappy.   (Keep in mind he has reflux as well, so that complicates things.)

It can take 2-4 days for the proteins of milk to get out of your system and breastmilk.  It can take up to 3 weeks for any damage in the esophagus or bowels to heal in LO.  I'm not sure how agressively you are looking at removing milk from your diet, but to go truly milk free you need to be a big label reader as it goes by many hidden names in foods.  I know there is a link (on the FAQ of this board - I think  ) to a page with a bunch of different names. 
You may also want to avoid any other mammal milk (ie goats, sheep) and soy milk for a good month or so as the protein chains in them are similar to the dairy protein chains.
HTH

[Spectra]

Also, because a lot of these are intolerances and not true allergies it will not show up on an allergy test.  So if your allergy tests come back fine do not rule out intolerances.  My boy's allergy test did not show anything for milk and soy, yet he was on a prescribed special formula for being intolerant to it.  Here is the link to the other names that dairy and soy go by: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=66236.0 

I've also seen on here many mom's who's baby has reflux AND is mspi.  It never surprises me to see the two always showing up together.  I take it that your doctor gave you a good diet plan so that your milk supply stays up?

[rinajack]

Cutting food from your diet CAN help your lo, but is often not the entire answer, has your lo been prescribed meds for the reflux.

My DS is still on reflux meds at 21 mo, and is milk protien intolerant AND wheat intolerant (that we can tell so far anyway, there may be more intolerances).

For my DS, cutting the foods from my diet didn't help the reflux, but it did help with his wind and some of his irritability.

[aussiedani]

Thanks for the replies,

My doctor who has told me to take out wheat/dairy wont give me meds, she believes it will sort it self out with the diet change. I also went to 4 other docs to get a 2nd opinion and try some meds on her but non of them even agree its silent reflux and def dont understant the food tolerance issue. I'm just going to have to give it a few weeks to see if she improves, if not I'll def push for meds. At the moment I have my fingers crossed.   

[Spectra]

Well let us know how it goes.  I hope it works out for you guys. 

[rinajack]

Is this Dr the GP or the Paed? Maybe push for a paed referral?

[Jimbob]

It seems crazy not to prescribe meds as your lo is likely in pain. It is possible that the elimination diet will help as it does in many cases but I would think meds would be needed aswell. Once things were stable the meds could always be stopped to see if the silent reflux comes back and then you would know if the elimination diet was controlling things. I think that the doctor probably wants to try the elimination diet first as you have allergies and so he/she knows if it is working.

Kelly

[Mypunkin]

My 7.5 month old dd is milk/soy/egg intolerant.  I swore she had silent reflux as she exhibited all of the symptoms.  Her ped put her on Axid because of the symptoms of arching back, pulling away screaming, total refusal to eat, and losing weight.  The Axid seemed to help somewhat but she was still a very stressed eater and would only take about 3 oz at a feed (up from 2).  Anyway, to make a long story short at 5 months we finally got her in to see a GI pediatric specialist.  He looked her over briefly and told us that all of her reflux symptoms were more likely her reaction to something in my milk that she was still intolerant to (at that time I had not totally removed eggs).  Then he told us to try taking her off Axid when I get the egg out of my diet.  To be honest with you I thought he wasn't taking her reflux seriously.  Lo and behold he knew what he was talking about.  It took a couple of weeks, but she started eating MUCH calmer and  her intake has increased (she's still a little peanut) but she's a happy eater for the first time in her entire 7 month life.  It's such a relief.  She's off Axid completely now and hopefully on the right track.  I know some kiddos do truly have reflux, but in our case it was an issue of eliminating the right intolerances. 
I hope you find a solution quickly and in the meantime, try not to stress about it all too much (easier said than done, I know). 

[rinajack]

My DH and I were just discussing this issue today, because our DS (at 21 mo) is eating better then ever in his whole life, having now eliminated all dairy/wheat and major soy (such as to drink, or yoghurt, but not cooked into a meal).  We are contemplating weaning his reflux meds again soon, to see how he goes. 


How are things going for you aussiedani?