Author Topic: Signs of milk allergy?  (Read 1716 times)

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Offline malenka

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Signs of milk allergy?
« on: January 02, 2011, 00:35:05 am »
DS refuses to drink milk or eat anything at all containing milk products. My Ped wants to send him for allergy testing to see if his body is trying to tell us something - she wants to make sure that he doesn't have a milk allergy I guess.

I've been through allergy testing myself and it's far from pleasant so I'd like to spare him that if possible.

So, those of you who have LOs with a milk allergy... have you seen a refusal to drink milk as a sign? What else should I be looking for (besides diarrhea, hives, etc)?

TIA
Meredith - Mommy to




Offline my3girlsjde

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Re: Signs of milk allergy?
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2011, 00:53:33 am »
Irritability. Constipation was big for our girls when they had any milk product at all but they were 'intolerant' to milk not 'allergic'. DD3 is allergic and had the typical eczema, hives, swelling, vomit and mucousy poo. When we tried a milk based formula, there was blood in her poo 2 days later.
Some signs can be very subtle and you may not know for sure untill you eliminate milk from the diet but definitely follow what the paed suggests. We took the milk out of our twins' diet for a couple of weeks and we saw a small improvement but our paed felt the benefits to having the milk products outweighed the irritability it caused. So we just cut down on it - they love anything milk and we've seen some improvement.
HTH
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Offline ~ Vik ~

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Re: Signs of milk allergy?
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2011, 03:25:54 am »
Dylan has a contact reaction to milk - so hives, swelling, eczema flares, etc.

Funny that you mention that your DS refuses milk in any form.  Dylan ate dairy-free stage 2/3 baby foods (with pasta made from wheat and egg whites) with no reactions at all.  I once made french toast for the family - Dylan picked up one piece, touched it to his lips, and spit it right back out.  We actually noticed hives on him a few minutes later, but actually thought it was the maple syrup on the french toast since everything else was safe (we thought).  Then Christmas morning last year my mom made us scrambled eggs for breakfast, and he did the same thing - touched some egg to his lip and spit it right out, but then happily munched on some toast and ham.  Within minutes his lips started swelling; thank goodness we had benadryl for his dairy allergy.  We couldn't figure out what the he** could have caused the reaction...  I actually asked my mom if milk could have gotten into anything that he ate.  It was that Christmas morning reaction that got us a referral to our allergist.  Dylan had skin and blood tests, only to discover that he IS allergic to eggs, but can seemingly tolerate small amounts in processed foods.

That was a long story, but I just wanted to tell it because I understand why the ped is considering allergy testing.  I truly think that Dylan's body was trying to tell us something - and that we really are lucky that the exposure to eggs was so minimal.  If he only touched it to his lips for a second and got hives and swelling, imagine if he had eaten it? 

Dylan's allergy testing was far from pleasant also, but he was being tested for multiple allergens.  If you just tested for dairy, or did a blood test rather than a scratch test, do you think that would minimize it?
D ~ dairy, egg, peanut/nut and mustard allergies
Proud to have breastfed for over 24 months!


Offline malenka

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Re: Signs of milk allergy?
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2011, 18:04:28 pm »
Hmm, interesting! My Ped thinks his body is trying to tell us something, though luckily we haven't noticed any obvious signs of allergic reaction. There is a strong family history of allergies and asthma though.

I have no idea what she's planning for the allergy test - maybe just a test for dairy would be the way to go. Although I would like him tested for fish as well, as my brother has an anaphylactic fish allergy and we're afraid of offering it to LO...

Was Dylan's scratch test done on his back or arms? How did you get him to hold still???
Meredith - Mommy to




Offline ~ Vik ~

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Re: Signs of milk allergy?
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2011, 03:12:01 am »
Dylan's scratch test was done on his back - we were doing multiple allergens (dairy, egg white, egg yolk, peanut, citrus, dust mite, mustard, I think that was it) and we couldn't do it on his arms.  I basically had him in a bear hug facing me (so chest to chest, with his legs wrapped around my waist) and I held him tight, squirming and crying, while they did the scratch :'( :'(  I absolutely hated it.  Then we got the results (which were surprising; a HUGE result for peanut, and then the positive egg result that was unexpected) and the allergist sent us for blood tests because sometimes children with eczema give a false positive result on scratch tests because of the sensitivity of their skin >:(  The blood tests weren't much better, but were so much FASTER.  We are getting him retested at age 3 to see if there is any value in doing a food challenge, and I will be doing blood tests only.

Having said that...  If you're only doing a single scratch for dairy (or dairy and fish) it would probably go much more easily because it would be quick and done.  One or two scratches are over before you know it, Dylan's test took a few minutes because she kept switching lancets, then needed to add more of the peanut stuff, etc.

Although I would like him tested for fish as well, as my brother has an anaphylactic fish allergy and we're afraid of offering it to LO...
I don't know if it eases your milk at all, but *specific* allergies are not inherited - only the tendency to be allergic.  Allergies, asthma, and eczema are all connected - so if you have asthma and an allergy to peanuts, your lo might develop eczema or an allergy to tomato.  I have tons of environmental and animal allergies, and my DH gets hayfever, and Dylan has multiple food allergies and an allergy to dog saliva. So your brother being anaphylactic to fish doesn't at all increase the likelihood that your ds will be allergic to fish - but it does increase the likelihood that he will be allergic to *something* (or develop asthma/eczema), kwim?  Having said all of that - trust your mommy instinct.  Offer him some fish in the car in the parking lot of the ER if that's what it takes for you to feel safe - I have heard of some moms doing food challenges in that way!
D ~ dairy, egg, peanut/nut and mustard allergies
Proud to have breastfed for over 24 months!