Blood in stool - lactose intolerance???

[MommyZ]

Hi ladies,
just wanted to know if anyone had the same problem?
My DS is 4 month old and in the past 4 weeks he's had some pink/red dots (more like a thread) in his stool. Today we went to the doctor, and they tested the sample for blood - it was positive. His poops are usually normal but then he gets these bloody streaks on and off (also often enought they are almost orange in colour). Last week they were more mucousy and pink (the treads), today bright red and no real mucous. I was told by MD that he might have a milk protein intolerance/sensetivity...I am BF him
Anyone had experienced the same with their LOs by any chance?? Just wanted to consult before i started the elimination diet...

Thank you in advance for your help

Inna

[~Angie~]

I haven't had experience with this, but a mommy on the Nov/Dec thread has. I'll PM her and ask her to respond.

[MommyZ]

Thank you so much!!!

Inna

[First Time Mom]

Hi, I'm the mommy from the Nov/Dec thread!
Yes, my dd had blood in her stool from about 3 weeks of age. We went to a number of doctors, they first said it was fissures because the blood was bright and exactly as you describe. It didn't get better (as they said it would heal on its own) and dd used to SCREAM/CRY from evening until 4:30 every morning (from birth until 6+ weeks) which, they said was "colic". Finally my doc sent us to the hospital where the ped immediately said it was milk protein allergy, he said blood in stool almost always is. Sometimes the blood is not visable so they will test the stool for microscopic blood.

 I had to cut out ALL milk products from my diet, the 2nd day I did her she no longer was in pain and slept most of the night. Her intestines took about 6 weeks to heal for no blood to show up. Every now and then something in my diet messed up (ie. eating out, requesting no butter in my food- cook made mistake and used butter) so the blood continued on and off until she was about 6 mths. Milk protein allergy is very different from lactose intolerance, with the allergy they can't tolerate ANY milk products so you'll have to watch your diet like a hawk. On the allergy board there's a post for MSPI from mousesmom, it's a handy cut out you can take with you when you go out to eat or shopping. A small % of los with milk protein allergy cannot tolerate soy but I'm lucky my dd can. I would suggest 1st to cut out all milk products before you look at soy. Really read the ingredients to EVERYTHING you eat, you'd be surprised what foods contain milk related products! 

When dd was first diagnosed the hospital told me to eliminate milk related products for 2 months to give the intestines time to heal so don't expect immediate results. Sounds like your ds has not been bothered by it (pain/excessive crying)? You are lucky if this is the case!

Most los outgrow the allergy around one yr, I'm getting my dd tested after her birthday.

Good luck with the restricted diet. It's hard and frustrating at first but gets easy and you learn to love treats like Pop Tarts and organic dark chocolate. Come on the MSPI thread for support, there's a number of us on there.

[MommyZ]

Oh, thank you so very much for replying!!!
If it is the culprit of his bloody stools, I hope it would also explain the crying, fussiness, gassiness, sleepless days etc. unfortunatelly we are not lucky in terms of this problem not bothering him. I hope that that is it, because we've tried so many things to calm him down and better his sleeping, so far with no success. (at night for some reason he does sleep though, with wakings for feeds but by the early morning, he starts pooping and that is it for us - no sleeping, it's almost impossible to put him back down) 

I had couple of questions (if you have time of course...)
1. did your LO had blood in stool regulary? (with us it's on/off)
2. how was your LO sleeping prior to you eliminating the allergens from your diet?
3. what about naps pre/post diet change - any improvement (we are dealing with constant battle for naps, just wondering if those issues are related or not?)
4. was there any particular smell to the stool? (LO's pretty stinky right now  , though he is exclusivelly BF)

5. how would i know if it is a milk allergy or protein intolerance??
6. what kind of test are you going to take? - MD told that there is nothing definitive, so I have to eliminate all milk products for 2 weeks...

  Today i was so frustrated (as you've mentioned), I have a full fridge of yammy food, and nothing that i can actually eat! BUMMER!!!

Thank you again in advance,

Inna

[First Time Mom]

Hi Inna,

Fussy, gassy, sleepless all describes symptoms of the allergy so it sounds very much like this is what is bothering your ds.

To answer your questions...
1. Yes, the blood was on and off.
2. LOL on the sleeping prior to eliminating milk- she was up, no joke, until 4:30am every night crying and screaming. Then she'd literally pass out from exhaustion until 8ish. In the day she slept heavy but in short spurts. Keep in mind this was from birth until 7ish weeks.
3. Her entire naps and sleeps improved once I eliminated the milk. Now, your lo is older in comparison to when my dd was diagnosed so you maybe facing the 45 minute nap monsters anyways but I do think it's all related.
4. I can't remember the smell of her dirty diapers it was long ago and now I'm used to the smell of the diapers from eating solids .
5. Milk allergy IS the milk protein allergy. Intolerance is lactose intolerance. Some that are lactose intolerant can handle some forms of milk products whereas allergy- you can't handle any. With the intolerance there is no blood in the stool, symptoms are gassy, bloating, stomach ache and such.
6. I'm not 100% sure about the test to see if she's over it. I know there's 2. It's my understanding that they check for blood, then do a milk challenge where they give milk product, then do another check for blood.

I hear you on the food! I'm a big cheese lover, I miss it like a cocaine addict misses his drugs . You do learn to love other foods. The first food I went nuts on was peanuts for some reason, couldn't get enough when I cut out milk!

Let me know how it goes once you make the changes and how fast you see results,
Marian

[MommyZ]

Marian,
thanks for your reply!!
Tomorrow we are going to our regular doctor, we'll see what he says.

Thanks again.

Inna

[Nad]

Hello,

My son also had the streaks of blood in the stool, along with crying, gassiness, and fussiness. After 2 months of trying to see what his problem was, the doctor determined it was a milk protein allergy.  He was put on Nutramigen formula and I noticed a difference within 24 hours...he stopped crying so much and slept longer. 

I was wondering if your LO ever showed any blood streaks in his stool after.  I am now noticing...after 2 months on nutramigen that he occasionally does get the blood streaks in his stool.  I was just wondering if you experienced the same problems???

Your response is appreciated.

[First Time Mom]

Yes, my dd had blood in her stool on and off for about 6 months. In our case I was bfing and had to eliminate all milk products, from time to time I would make a mistake or eat out in a restaurant and they would make a mistake though I was specific about "no milk/butter/etc." and the blood would show up. It was only since she was fully established on solids around 6+ months that we totally stopped seeing the blood. What is the Nutramigen made from? I know it's formula that's given to milk protein allergic babies, but is there any form of milk protein that's altered in it? Is your lo on solids yet, do you bf at all, is there any possible way that your lo is getting any form of milk protein? At one point I had tried goat's milk and she still had the blood, the proteins are similar. If your lo is on solids (cereal), read the label, many brands have milk added. Keep in mind also that the intestines take fairly long to heal.

[hatshetsut]

We went through the EXACT same thing when Abby was around 2-3 months old. I cut out milk of any kind from my diet for about 1 month. (It generally sucked  ) But it turned out she wasn't allergic to milk, she was just straining really hard when she pooed. I went back on milk and everything was fine.

I'm not telling you to not follow what your doctor recommends, but for us their advice didn't hold true. HTH.

Holly

[Nad]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.  It is conforting to know that my son is not the only one going through this.  As fas as I know, Nutramigen is a hydrogolyzed formula that has the milk protein broken down for him, so that he can digest it.  He is not on solids yet...but will start within a few weeks at his 4 month check up. 

I will let my pediatrician know about the streaks I found again, as I am no longer breastfeeding and don't think he is getting any other milk protein...unless it is in the formula.  Perhaps it is what you said...his intestines need time to heal...makes sense to me.

 Hopefully it clears up.

Thanks again...I will keep you posted

[First Time Mom]

I wonder if they can only go so far with breaking down the milk protein in the Nutramigen. Let us know what your ped says.

Holly, yes, our first appointments they were saying the blood was caused by too tight of an opening but it continued so it turned out to be the allergy in our case. It's not unheard of for blood to be from straining when they're young.

[Mom to M&M]

The Nutramigen still has about 21% milk proteins so it is possible to still have a reaction to it - I've read that up to 2/5 of all milk intolerant babies still react to Nutramigen/Alimentum.

[Nad]

Do you think that the Nutramigen would be reacting at this point?  He was been on it for about a month and a half now, and we just began to see the blood streaks last week?

What do you think?

Nadia

[First Time Mom]

Wow, I'm surprised that the Nutramigen has so much milk protein in it, I always thought it was not made from cow's milk in anyway.

Nadia, I wouldn't be surprised if it is from the small amount in the Nutramigen. I bf'd my dd from the start and I was eating all kinds of milk products, she screamed/cried every night until 4:30am and when she was awake in the day, she was screaming/crying. It was in her 5/6th week that the blood started to show up. At the hospital we were told that the proteins irritate the intestines, then the blood starts. I then eliminated all milk products and her screaming/crying/no sleeping stopped within 24 hours, the blood took about 4 weeks to stop. After that, if I had ANY milk the blood would show up pretty much within a day. I once ate Quaker oatmeal, the stuff you add water to, and she had blood, when I read the ingredients I saw there was milk. I couldn't even eat the items that said "may contain trace amounts of milk"! Have you tried soy formula or is he allergic to soy as well? Apparently many los that have the milk protein allergy are allergic to soy as well. My dd was not, I was able to have soy.