Milk/Soy Protein Intolerance - MSPI - READ HERE!!!

[SAHNE]

Thanks - this is so helpful!!  Some great ideas.  Also, thanks for the heads up on the oatmeal... I had oatmeal for breakfast Saturday, Sunday and Monday... same days ds had his first solids.  Today his eczema is much better - yay!! And he's had sweet potatoes the past 2 mornings... we use cetaphil, aquaphor and some rejuvenating cream from Arabon a friend gave me... which has helped clear him up.  I can't believe about the oatmeal.  Also his diapers were much better today... much more formed than they've ever been - though there were some streaks of orange, which at first I thought was blood... but it was orange I think - would this be normal with the sweet potatoes being orange??

My diet mainstays are dry Life cereal (still haven't tried rice milk) and banana for bfast - this week your muffins though   Lunch - deli meat sandwiches or PBJ, fruit, carrots; snacks: pop tarts here too!, graham crackers, grapes; dinner - pasta with tomato sauce, grilled chicken, BLTs, chimichangas with shredded chicken and refried beans.  Also, twizzlers for my sweet tooth and OJ.  Still can't believe the oatmeal. 

Thanks for the insights!  If anyone else has great food ideas - let us know!
Steph

[First Time Mom]

That's great about his excema and poops! Orange is normal, you'll see colour from his food for a while yet. Just wait until he eats blueberries or black beans- black poop!

Funny about your diet, it's very similar to mine! Just make sure to read the ingredients on the bread. Print and cut out the list from the thread on MSPI from Mouse'smom, it's a great list to carry around for eating out and grocery shopping. Stay away from the chocolate pop tarts- they have milk. LOL about the twizzlers, I treat myself to these too, along with sour patch kids, and Mike and Ike's. What are chimichangas? NEVER heard of this! Oh,and for the pasta sauce- read the ingredients if you're using store bought, I was surprised that some have milk products from what they call cheese though the label may be called "tomato and veggie" so you may not be aware about the cheese and sure can't taste it.

[SAHNE]

More good thoughts... chimichangas are pretty much like enchiladas - a mexican dish.  Let me know if you'd like the recipe!!  Mike and Ikes are another fave of mine   I'll have to check my pasta sauce as I do eat frequently!  Thanks for the heads up!  Oh.. just made more of the yummy muffins tonight to take to my parents for the weekend!!  I'm lovin' them!!

Steph

[First Time Mom]

Pass on the recipe please!!

[SAHNE]

Sorry it took me a while... I was out of town and then couldn't get signed on for a few days...  BTW Carter ended up breaking out again with the s.potatoes - so we're off solids for another month to clear him up and try again! Bummer!  Guess it's easier not to mess with solids anyway!

Here's the recipe!  Enjoy!

8 oz. - cooked ckn, turkey, pork or beef (shredded)
8 oz. jar - salsa
16 oz. can - refried beans
4.5 oz. can - diced green chili peppers, drained
3 T. - thinly sliced green onions (I leave out b/c I don't like them)
4 oz. - shredded cheese (obviously leave this out too!)
8 - 8/9" tortillas

1.  In lg. skillet combine meat, salsa, beans, chili peppers and green onions.  Cook and stir over med. heat until heated through. (this is also where the cheese is added - if you use post MSPI diet
2. Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; warm in 350 oven for 10 minutes.  For each chimichanga, spoon 1/2 cup of mixture on a tortilla, near 1 edge.  Fold in sides; roll up.
3.  Place in 9x13 pan.  Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes (350) or until heated thoroughly and tortillas are crisp and browned. 

***Husband likes with s. cream b/c he can.  I use with more salsa.

[First Time Mom]

That sounds good! I'll have to try it (minus the sour cream and cheese ). Funny, I never crave sc or cheese anymore but every now and then, like NOW, when I read your recipe, I suddenly pictured the taste of it with sc and cheese!

So sorry to hear of his break out. Check to make sure there's no milk in your Life cereal ingredients and breads. Did you print out the milk list to use? I find it very handy. Maybe try him on bananas or avocado, once he clears up. My local bfing clinic said to start with these, low allergy and high in nutrients.

[Stargrl]

hi there
  I just love the babywhisperer board, I swear it has every single topic I could think of covered! I wish I'd found the site much sooner, but happy to have found it now.  My breastfed DS is 7 months old, and he was diagnosed with MPI at 2 months of age, he was fussy and had green mucousy poops. After cutting out all dairy for 2 weeks, the green went away and his temperament improved, but he still had traces of occult blood in his stool when we went back to check him at 4-months. The doc said it could take 6 weeks to get all the dairy out of my system and his, so that's why we waited 2 months to test it again. So she suggested I cut out soy, which I did, and he still had blood 2 weeks later.  Since then I've tried 2-week trials of eggs, wheat, beef, and even did an elimination diet (from the Dr.Sears website) where all I ate was rice, turkey, lamb and sweet potatoes for 2 weeks-- still blood. This was at his 6 month appt. I was about to pull my hair out, so I decided to take a break from it all and just keep doing the milk/soy free diet. Then I read an article on the american academy of pediatrics, and it describes DS to a "T"-- he had no vomitting or diarrhea, he was above average for height/weight, the only symptoms were blood in stool. The article mentioned milk & soy as most likely culprits, but also mentioned egg.

SO, getting finally to my question has anyone found that their LO has egg as an allergy in addition to soy/milk? 2nd question: how long did it take you to resolve your LO's symptoms? I've been egg free for 2 weeks, which I'd done before, but when I read the article it said it can take 2 weeks for the bleeding to stop, and then 4 weeks for the gut to heal.  So I'm wondering if I actually need to avoid egg for 6 weeks before testing, and if I should cut out beef x6 weeks as well.  I would be so sad if I had to eliminate beef, since I just love it and already feel like I can't eat much, but I am willing to do anything so I can continue to breastfeed him and hopefully help him with his allergies in the long run.  You can't believe how encouraged I was to read here about the hope of this clearing by the time he's 2 or so, my doc had mentioned it but it's awesome to read of people for whom this has been a reality.

any advice/help is appreciated.

Oh, here's another question: I read that McDonald's should be avoided due to milk in their burgers/fries? And that Burger King was ok? Does anyone know if this is current info? And is Jack in the Box ok?  Someone also mentioned that regular oreos were NOT alright, but mini's were OK. I read the ingredient list, is there something I'm missing? I didn't see anything about milk, unless vanillin is indicative of milk? ok thanks for any replies!

-regina

[First Time Mom]

Hi Regina!

My dd had blood in her stool on and off for 6 months. For her first 6 weeks she screamed and didn't sleep until 4:30am every night, it was then that the hospital said "milk protein allergy". I eliminated milk products and the blood took 4 weeks to clear. Every now and then I'd make a mistake (ie. eat bread, prepackaged oatmeal) or I've had restaurants make mistakes in my order (this always really p'd me off, if it were a peanut allergy I'd be dead). Her screaming stopped as soon as I eliminated the milk products but the blood always seemed to come back every now and then, sometimes I couldn't even pin point how I'd taken in milk products. I was pretty strict with my diet (still am). It seemed once she really got into solids the blood stopped. I never eliminated beef or egg, my doc said a total bovine allergy is extremely rare. From my understanding, the blood is only caused by milk protein allergy so, not egg.

Under the allergy board there is a thread MSPI by mouse'smom, it's a 'cut out' that you can carry around with you, it lists all the milk product names to avoid.

Fast food, I stay away, I've learned my from my mistakes, my rule of thumb is "if there is a cook stay clear, if there is a chef you're safe that they will listen to your requested changes to the menu" I would think all burger breads have milk? I only eat pita bread. As for the Oreos, I checked this out a while back and did find milk product on the list, I think it was the vanilla (the chocolate would have milk perhaps) that I checked, anyways I don't eat them.

Treats to have...Pop Tarts!!!! No milk! If you're eliminating soy there's always almond milk (I even use this to make pancakes). If you have a heath food store nearby you'll find lots of great treats, they stock lots of foods for vegans and this is safe.

Question for you- how are they testing your lo? I have a follow up test at a children's allergist specialist to see if she's over her allergy after 12 mths but it's blood tests they're doing. Way back when I was in the hospital they said the only way was to check their stool for microscopic blood.

[ks6]

I believe McDonald's fries are ok, but check their website.  We never had a problem with them.  Check the site for Arby's if you have one near you--there are many more things you can eat there.

[Stargrl]

hi Marian
  that's a good rule of thumb for eating out, I bet that's been a big part of my problem because I have definitely been eating out, including fast food. Since I've had DS I haven't had the time/$$ to go to a restaurant with a chef!    So I need to limit it to restaurants like that, as well as being really specific with the waiters.

Interesting that you said you haven't seen blood since your LO was 6 months and started solids, because I haven't seen any of the mucous or greenness since DS started solids. However, his poops are a lot more solid now, so I thought it's hiding inside... ? haha.. The doc has been testing his poop for blood, I have discovered since reading the posts on this board that I'm very fortunate to have had the doctor I do because my first pediatrician told me not to worry about the grass-green poos he was having "poops change color based off what you eat"... yadda yadda... Gotta trust that mommy instinct. I told my current Pedi. that DS had green poops and she wasn't worried til I added that I'd seen what looked like snot in them. Then she was all over it, said "milk protein allergy" and got me off to a good start when he was 2-months. She tested his poop first, and when that was confirmed she told me what to do.

That's good to know about the beef and egg. I bet DS still had occult blood in his stool because I hadn't managed to totally cut out every little bit of dairy/soy.  I'm getting ready to bring some more poop down to the doctor's to have it tested and I'll go from there. Did you have any luck with your doctor just giving you some of the papers to test with? My mom was a MA and said that it's a test anyone can do, I haven't asked yet if I can get some to test at home but was thinking about it.

I'm so sorry to hear about your LO's first 6 weeks, that must have been so hard for you guys! Thank goodness you finally got it sorted out. I heard that MSPI doesn't come up positive in certain tests, maybe it's the skin prick test? But does it test correctly with blood? It must otherwise your allergist wouldn't be doing it.  Anyways, hopefully our kids will outgrow all of this.

Kim, thanks for the tip on Arby's, we do have them here and I totally forget to eat there! I'll check them out.  We also just got a Chick fil-A which I'm stoked about since I read that their chicken sandwich & fries are OK. Maybe I'll call McDonalds about the fries, I'd heard elsewhere that they inject milk in them or something like that.

thanks guys!
-regina

[First Time Mom]

Funny, when I didn't see blood anymore it was when her poops became more solid and she went from going 4x a day to 1x a day. I used to mush it in the diaper looking for blood (I know, TMI!!!).

I stopped the fast food because I was at a local "Swiss Chalet" and they have a list for nutrition and allergies, I was surprised at the items that had milk products listed (ie. chicken fingers) and actually shocked by how short the list was for the items that contained no milk. Watch the bread buns on the burgers in the fast food places, lots of bread is made with some form of milk.

True about the skin test, my allergist did the skin test on Milena for milk and it came back negative but he said it's not a reliable test for milk protein allergy. I wish I could do a home test now, I'm dying to a normal Thanksgiving dinner this weekend! Unfortunately, my doc wants to wait until she hits 12 mths.

Luckily I never had to cut out soy as that eliminates so many foods!

[Stargrl]

LOL about the diaper mushing! Desperate moms, I know. My DH knows not to throw away any poopy diapers without letting the Official Poo Inspector come have a look.   

Not sure what I was thinking with eating at fast food, I know from looking at many a label on buns at the stores that most of them have milk! I think I was in denial, sort of dont ask, dont tell. Since Chick fil A was mentioned I assume that the buns are ok? Guess I will check that out myself 

Oh man, what are we going to do for gravy for Thanksgiving?!? I did not even think about that. And the green bean casserole has cream of mushroom soup... oh boy.  At least I can get my mom to make a side of milk-free mashed taties for me, maybe use some milk-free chicken broth instead? And pumpkin pie I am pretty sure has milk in it, condensed milk... Oh boy. I guess I will be sitting on the side munching my pop tart while everyone eats theirs! Hey maybe this will be the first Thanksgiving that I do not get a cold later since I did not over eat! see there is a silver lining on every cloud...

yes, cutting out soy was tough, especially since I had just discovered the joys of Tofutti cuties    And I way preferred soy milk over rice milk. But I want to test his poops and then do an egg challenge in 2 weeks, and then a soy challenge. Gotta be super careful with the milk in the meantime, I guess I will have to start being more of a detective.

so anyone have this happen before? I try to hit my apostrophe button and it makes the cursor go all over the place! my keyboard is possessed...

[Stargrl]

OK, I just looked at the ingredients on the sourdough bread I've been buying. It says "Ingredients: Supreme Hygluten Flour (wheat flour unbleached, *MALTED BARLEY FLOUR*, ascorbic acid, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid),Water, Salt

Is malted barley flour a milk ingredient? I remember reading somewhere about malt being a no-no.

[First Time Mom]

I'm not sure, it doesn't sound like a milk product and it's not on the list. I haven't read anything about malt, if you find out different, let me know.

[Stargrl]

so I went to the Jack in the Box website, and found this area for ingredient listing for allergies. Pretty cool, eh? updated as of 2/06 so I believe the new laws are in effect.  Anyways, I was wondering if someone could cast an eye over the bun ingredients, it says "contains soy" at the bottom but all I could see was soy lecithin & soybean oil. Lecithin is alright for our purposes, as far as I'm aware..?

http://www.jackinthebox.com/ourfood/ingredients.php

Also, good news for those of you who like their tacos and can eat soy: the tacos only have wheat & soy listed as an allergy, guess they don't have any cheese in them!