After waiting the full 12 weeks for our paed appointment I still have lots of questions!! Basically we knew cold cows milk gives him a really mucousy nose (and possibly leads to ear infections); carrots, orange juice, kiwis and soya give him a really red, sore bottom (wherever the poo touches his skin); there are also other things that give him almost constant loose bowel movements (that we can't figure out). He has had a few antibiotics as a baby which I know can upset the gut for a while .
The doctor (apparently she talks to the consultant afterwards to make the final decision) said that is sounded like toddler diarrhea(!?!) which affects some children and they usually outgrow it. She kept asking how often he got a red bottom and we tried to explain that it depended on what we were feeding him!
It does sound like the same thing to me. My LO does get this when he eats a kiwi or more than half of an orange. Both are VERY high in vitamin C which also can cause diarrhea and tummy upset, big time! There are loads of sugars in fruit, and though I agree with what others have said above, I don't necessarily agree that it is any sort of intolerance or reaction that is abnormal or that it has to be somethign that needs a name, iyswim. A toddler still has a tiny body and immature digestive system and some are still taking their time getting used to different foods. I would cut back on the fruit, at the very least, and if he eats enough veggies then just cut the fruit out altogether and let him eat veggies as his produce for a while.
We told her about family history of wheat and our wonder if it was partly that. She decided that he had no allergy (which we know, it's just intolerences) and wants to test for lactose intolerence (to confirm the only thing we know!!)
Just to be pedantic here (!) saying it is "just" intolerances is not really correct, as it implies that it is not as "serious" as an allergy. This belief is one of the main reasons most doctors use the blanket term "milk allergy" when about 50% of milk allergic kids are actually milk intolerant - my own pead is terrified of using the term "milk intolerant" with a parent because many people think that means that a bit won't harm them, that if they continually expose their child to it that they will build up tolerances, and so on. And this is not correct. Not at all. An allergy is a reaction by the immune system - the body recognizes the substance as foreign and reacts. An intolerance is an inability of the digestive system (stomach, intestines, etc) to break down substances and process them properly. An intolerance that is ignored can lead to some very serious digestive system troubles if the person is eating even small amounts of the substance they are intolerant to.
You mentioned your LO gets a runny nose with milk but that you are testing for lactose intolerance - will your paed not do a clinical examination to see what the possibilities of milk allergy/intolerance is? Especially if you say soy poses an issue as well it really does seem like MSPI might be a huge part of the problem.
and that while others may test for other food groups, with a blood test, she doesn't normally (not sure why!).
Not sure how old your LO is but in the UK most doctors will NOT test for any food allergies unless there is a need to know if there are some serious ones (ie/nut). One of the reasons is because the testing itself can be horrible and traumatic for the child and there is not so much need to put them through that it can be diagnosed clinically - such as by an elimination diet. IN North America there tends to be more of a reason for testing kids but it seems to just be the difference between an insurance based system and a gov't based system.
We had really wanted the referral so that we could find out what other foods are upsetting him - have tried illiminating various foods and kept food diary but still unsure of most food problems.
I can see where you are coming from with this, but it's not really something that you'll get from a consultant paed
Truly the best way to approach it if you are sure there are more foods than the one you mentioned is to cut back to a bare bones diet for a few days of things you know are safe. Then follow the 3-5 day rule and introduce new foods one at a time as you do with weaning a baby - meaning only ONE new food every 3-5 days and watching for reactions.
She said if lactose intolerence is confirmed we will then get referred to dietician (Which will take ages, I suppose!!).
It might, or it might not - our referral was pretty quick, for instance but others wait ages. Depends on your area
You might want to have a read through this board though with some other BWers experiences with seeing the dietician as it's not necessarily what you want it to be - there have been a lot of us, myself included, who have left the dietician so let down, not realising ahead of time what the purpose of it was.
