Author Topic: Dairy allergy? How do I know?  (Read 1664 times)

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Offline J0lene

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Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« on: March 01, 2011, 08:06:00 am »
I was a very ill little baby and child.  I used to projectile vomit all my mum's breastmilk and be generally unwell and unhappy.  When I was around 5 or 6 years old after visits to the paediatrition (and a hideous test involving fasting for days and then only having one food at a time to test for allergies) I was diagnosed with an allergy to dairy (and sugar and chocolate, but mostly dairy).  I spent my entire childhood avoiding it, and if I did accidentally get a bit I vomited violently and was ill for many weeks.  Had a lot of time off school.  So though not life-threatening it was a pretty severe allergy.  I started growing out of it as a teenager.  Now I am able to have dairy, but only a small amount especiallly if I am tired or run down.

So now I have a 9 month old baby boy.  Due to the risk of him also being allergic I have made sure he has never yet had anything with dairy in it...  Until last week.

I thought that at some point I'd need to try it out and see how he goes.  After all if he has no allergy it will make like a lot easier to be able to feed him dairy.  And I'm going back to work in a month so wanted to test it out before then.

So, this is how my little test went;
- Day 1:  He had about 1/4 of a rusk that had a small amount of skim milk powder in it.  He woke twice in the night.  One of those times he went right back to sleep.  The other time he cried for a full hour.  He was a bit squirmy when I had him in my arms.  After an hour of crying I gave him paracaetamol and he dropped of to sleep.
- Day 2: No dairy.  Slept all through the night no problems.
- Day 3: He about about 1/3 of a rusk.  He woke 3 times in the night.  One time he dropped back to sleep.   Another time he cried for 15 minutes.  Another time he cried for an hour again - he was quite beside himself and squirming.  I thought he must have a sore tummy.  I gave him paracaetamol again which settled him a little but was still grizzly and wakeful and squirmy.  Neither or us got much sleep that night.
Day 4, 5, 6;  Haven't given him dairy again and he has slept well every night.

So it seems a little ominous to me...  Dairy is not looking good.  But it could be a coincidence and I don't know what to do next.  How do I know for sure?  I haven't discussed with my GP (I cannot stand my GP - last time I saw him about something unrelated he started telling me about how there wasn't really any benefit in prolonged breastfeeding and I got mad and am in the process of changing doctors).  Do I need to see a doctor?  I have had a acupuncturist recommended to me who can test for allergies but I'm not sure if that's the way to go about it or not.

Any advice on what to do next with my LO would be much appreciated. 
Jo

DS1: 31 May 2010
DS2: 28 September 2012

Offline Buntybear

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2011, 22:02:03 pm »
Hi, it is so hard to tell isn't it? FWIW, when Olly had stomach ache relating to allergies paracetamol wouldn't help him.

Personally I would go to my doctor and get a refferal. Over here we get blood tests before 12 months and then scratch tests after.

Do you BF or FF him??

Offline J0lene

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2011, 22:45:20 pm »
Thanks for responding :)

I BF him almost exclusively.  In the early days I had supply issues, so he's had some formula top-ups and he still gets a small formula bottle before he goes to bed at night.  We've used soy formula the whole time.

I do not specifically exclude dairy from my diet, though I don't eat that much of it.  So he will have definitely got some dairy through my breastmilk, and I haven't noticed a problem with that.

Do the blood/scratch tests give you a pretty accuarate indication?  Maybe once I've got my new doctor sorted I should go through that channel.  When you say you go to the doctor and get a referral - who do you get a referral to?

Thanks
Jo

DS1: 31 May 2010
DS2: 28 September 2012

Offline ~ Vik ~

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2011, 22:48:59 pm »
(((hugs)))

Was going to ask the same about bf vs ff, but then noticed about your doctor not supporting extended bf so I'm assuming bf? Are you eliminating dairy in your diet? Were there any other ingredients in the rusks that were new or could have caused a reaction?

I would hesitate to rely on an acupuncturist for allergy testing TBH. I generally support alternative therapies (acupuncture in particular has done great things for my dad) but for something like allergies I chose to see an allergist and get proper testing done (skin and blood in our case). I would make an appt to see your doc, and I would even ask for a specialist referral if you have one in your area. Just keep in mind that allergy testing will only tell you if your lo is having an immune response - if he's *only* intolerant it won't show as a positive result, kwim? And intolerances can be just as damaging as allergies :(

For now I wouldn't offer any more dairy. Even if allergy testing is negative I would suspect an intolerance and keep him dairy free until at least 12mo, and you could then try again. What do you think?

Posted with you, reading your response now :)
D ~ dairy, egg, peanut/nut and mustard allergies
Proud to have breastfed for over 24 months!


Offline J0lene

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2011, 23:05:20 pm »
Thanks for your response too Vikki.

Just double-checked the rusk packet and there is nothing else new in there for him.

I've never heard of allergists -  but they sound like the right people to be talking to...  I've just done a quick google search and there doesn't appear to be any here in Wellington, NZ.  The search only came up with alternative therapies (and allergists overseas).  Maybe little old NZ is not up with the play on allergies...

I think I'm convinced I should discuss my suspicions with my new doctor (once that's sorted) and go from there.  Maybe they know something google doesn't ;).

From what you're saying it sounds like you can't test for an intolerance for sure but have to go by your own observations of trial and error?

I have stopped the dairy in the meanwhile.  I don't want to torture my wee fella.

:)
Jo

DS1: 31 May 2010
DS2: 28 September 2012

Offline jesie

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2011, 23:10:55 pm »
Hugs hun, this so so so hard isn't it!

I would be inclined to try just one more time, but with something different, not rusks, just to be sure its the milk, not something else, especially seeings as you do eat small amounts if dairy yourself.

DS is gluten intolerant and he also gets disrupted sleep, but he also shows signs of pain and discomfort all day, and like BuntyBear said, calpol etc doesn't ease the pain :(

My two angels will always live on in my heart June11, March12, sweet dreams xxx
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Offline jesie

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2011, 23:13:38 pm »
Our pediatrician tests DS through trial and error. :( i'm not happy with this. But he says the tests aren't 100% accurate so you can't 100% test them so you end up giving them the problem food just too see anyway!

My two angels will always live on in my heart June11, March12, sweet dreams xxx
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Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2011, 23:29:27 pm »
But he says the tests aren't 100% accurate so you can't 100% test them so you end up giving them the problem food just too see anyway!

So true...Spencer tests completely negative yet still reacts to egg & dairy (maybe seafood too!) We are supposed to do a food challenge at our allergists office, but I am waiting until she is more verbal to do it.  I would maybe wait until after 12 months and try again with the dairy, since you are obviously used to living without it anyways!
Heidi




Offline J0lene

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2011, 07:43:01 am »
Just a little update if you're interested...

I went to see a friend of a friend, who does acupuncture and kinesiology.  He did his allergy testing on both me and my baby boy.  They do the muscle testing thing where you are unable to hold up your arm if you are sensitive to the food.  Don't understand it very well.  But anyway, I came up as being sensitive to calcium, eggs and gluten.  My DS came up as being sensitive to potatoes, tomatoes, soy and peanuts - all of which he's had heaps of and I have never noticed any reaction.  And DS was clear for anything to do with dairy.

I found it all really surprising - not at all what I was expecting to hear.  I am unsure whether to trust the results or whether I am a complete skeptic.  And I don't know where it leaves me with his potential dairy allergy...  According to this test he should be fine with it... and not with soy (very ironic as when we had to supplement my BF with formula due to low supply we used soy to avoid risk of dairy allergy).

I'm wondering whether to try some more dairy (not the rusks, but something different like some baby food with some dairy in it).  If he seems to have a reaction maybe I'll go to my doctor (I have a new one now - yay) and go through those channels to get him tested.

In any case the kinesiology was an interesting experience :)

Jo

DS1: 31 May 2010
DS2: 28 September 2012

Offline jesie

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Re: Dairy allergy? How do I know?
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2011, 18:59:37 pm »
I am a bit of a skeptic too with that kind of thing, I have thought a few times about doing it but never have.

I think you should re test him. Make sure he's well and give him a bit. Only really the true way to tell

Good luck! :)

My two angels will always live on in my heart June11, March12, sweet dreams xxx
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