Dairy and colds???

[grace annes mommy]

Hey Ladies!
DD was a MSPI babe, on Nutra AA.  At 12 mos. we successfully added soy, and she's doing great on in, now drinking soymilk - woohoo!
She is now 17 mos. and in the past 2 mos. we have tried to introduce dairy 3x.  Everytime we start, we stop bc "something gets in the way" of us being able to monitor her reactions.  Today I realized that the "something" has been a respiratory infection/cold. All 3 times. So I'm thinking...this is a reaction to the dairy??? What do you think???  This past trial, she had about an ounce of yogurt each morning.  Around day 2, a little gassiness, but nothing to write home about. By day 4, a full blown snotty nose, getting a cold - we stopped the dairy.  She's still getting over the cold, been 3 days dairy free now.
What do you allergy mommas think? Is it just coincidence?  If it was a reaction to dairy, would it be gone now? Does her immune system weaken trying to process the dairy, resulting in getting sick?  
TIA - you ladies are the best!
Caitlin

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We stopped trying milk for just that reason (and are waiting to go to the allergist at the end of the month). Spencer was getting snotty/wheezy/coughing and I just wasn't sure if it was a cold or the milk. She is on soy milk too and has a varied enough diet that she isn't missing out on anything I think. Oh, and her snotty noses were always clear or whiteish, not the slime green it usually is when she has a cold/sinus infection.

HTH

[grace annes mommy]

Thanks Heidi!
That's what's going on here. Clear snot, no temp., happy girl - just all stuffy.
I'm fine keeping her off dairy. She's a great eater and we've all just switched to soymilk.  Cooking for all of us actually is easier than I thought it would be.  Just felt like I should try dairy again before her check up in a couple weeks. Hopefully we'll be referred to an allergist, just to get our foot in that door and get more info.

Thanks again for sharing your experience!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

You're welcome 

I tried feeding Spencer some yogurt 2 weeks ago and she got really red chapped cheeks, nasty poos etc, so I didn't push it. I'm hoping that either the allergy tests will show something or I will try to get her in to see a ped about it (we think she might have asthma too) Good luck at your appt!

Heidi

[scarlettsmom]

Hey there - just wanted to echo what Heidi said:  you can absolutely see signs of a cold that are actually symptoms of an allergy.  we're going through that right now - DD2 has a milk allergy but has recently be able to tolerate baked in dairy and some cheeses, which is really exciting.  Unfortunately she got a hold of DD1s cereal with milk in it and had some.....now she has got a really annoying (for her) runny (clear) nose, congestion, loose stools (however leaps and bounds from the bloody mucousy stools from earlier on!)

Glad everything is going well on the soy and good luck at your appointment!

[grace annes mommy]

Thanks Tari!
I'm pretty certain now this 'cold' is from the allergy.  But it does seem she can handle dairy in small amts. here and there, just not more than 3 or 4 days of exposure.  This puts me at ease, since she has swiped friends snacks and whatnot. I don't feel like I have to run after parents asking for an ingredient list!  And, as you said - we've come a loooong way from the bloody stools. wow!

 
Caitlin

[babybarr]

My brother gets a hacking cough if he has too much dairy and a friend of mine thought that having mucus running down your throat was normal until she realised she had a dairy allergy!! 

[KathrynK]

hello

just wanted to add that I have a lactose intolerance- I can have moderate amounts of milk and yoghurt but when I eat cheese of any kind within a couple hours I can't breathe as my nose is so stuffy it's like the worst cold ever!
If I do get a cold I automatically cut all dairy out of my diet until I am over the worst as it definitely aggravates my symptoms.

When Sophie gets a cold I stop her morning & evening cup of milk and no breakfast cereal either, only for the duration, and it definitely helps her get over the cough quicker. Before I started doing that religiously she used to end up on inhalers with every cold.
hth x

[firsttimemummy]

My DS seems to get a snotty nose whenever he drinks cold cows milk (same as me) - when he had 2 ear infections recently he was having breastmilk a lot so I didn't give him his usual cups of cows milk - the day I started again he woke the following day with his usual runny nose.  I had wondered a while ago if this was the case but dismissed it as health visitor said it was probably him just getting lots of colds .... a couple of months of him being cows milk free and I haven't had to wipe his nose (he is fine with other dairy inc cheese, yogurts, etc). Incidentially ear infections can be linked to cows milk intolerence (a bacteria that causes the ear tubes to swell rather than the mucous, or something!) which is what made me start to think about the cows milk thing again ...

[deb]

I've noticed over the years a marked increase in mucous when I have lots of dairy. Even our choir director at church advises us all to stop with dairy a day before a big performance since it can contribute to phlegm in the throat.

I would avoid the dairy for a while, like a couple months, and try again from time to time, but I'm guessing some sort of allergy or intolerance; milk does that to lots of people, but that doesn't mean it *should,* KWIM?

[grace annes mommy]

Thanks for chiming in everyone.
I knew there were links between phlemg and dairy.  I also cut out dairy when I have a cold.
It's been several days since DD had dairy, but her nose is still full of snot... She's also looking a bit excema-ish in a few spots (which is a reaction she had previously, when she was a tiny infant).  I guess the dairy is still working itself out of her system??? I know it can take a couple weeks, but figured she'd be less runny by now, poor thing.
She has a checkup a week from today. Really would like to get her in to see an allergist, esp with the excema starting back up.

[firsttimemummy]

My little brother used to get excema with drinking cows milk

[scarlettsmom]

A visit with a ped allergist would be very helpful...if it IS a milk allergy it could still be working itself out, but she also may be reacting to trace dairy?  Has all dairy been removed?  Also - it could be a dairy symptom combined with a cold    It's so hard to tell sometimes.  The excema seems to point to an allergy/irritant though.

((hugs))  Good luck at your appointment and I hope you get to see an allergist asap.

[clazzat]

This is such an interesting post - I have been cursing dd2's constant colds, coughs etc, but it has never occurred to me that it might be a milk allergy.  We switched to lactofree milk because she would wake in the night in discomfort on ordinary milk, but I guess that's still dairy.  We're going to try a week with no milk at all to see what happens.  Thanks for posting!

[firsttimemummy]

There is a difference between a milk allergy and intolerence (not sure 100% the differences,etc).  Me and my DS both have a cows milk intolerence which means our bodies react against the milk (and thereby, don't absorb the calcium as well) - when I got a food intolerence test my calcium levels were low and that was their explanation.  DS has an appointment with the dietician at the end of next month.  My skin used to be really spotty and I always had a cold.  If I drink cold milk now my stomach gets really gassy quickly and my nose gets stuffy.  He eats plenty of everything so should get enough calcium from other sources. By cutting out cold cows milk he seems to be snot-free   Having a quick look online there seems to be so many different allergies/intolerences surrounding dairy/milk etc it is so confusing! Suppose when you try eliminating one thing at a time you can see what your child reacts to, etc.

My friend's DD had intolerence/allergy to some foods but was told to keep giving her a little bit of it so her body got used to it (if you cut it out completely I think you have a worse reaction if/when you eat the food) and once she was a bit older her body had got used it and she can eat the foods now.