How do I know if it a lactose intolerance?

[monkeygirl39]

Having trouble with my 12 week old son-right from week 1!!

He has silent reflux and is on Zantac, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. He is grizzly and wants to be held 99% of the time!!

He doesn't feed well- grunts, snuffles, doesn't attach properly, is legs are kicking and arms waving. He attempts to feed for no longer than 6 mins on each side with heaps of pulling on and off the breast. He generally crys and arches his back after feeds. He does get a couple of good burps up within a few mins. Oh, is is quite windy and does do some explosive poos.

I have been to the paed- who put us on Zantac after wat I just described.
I have been to a lacation clinic and the suggested to express the first 30mls, as this is the most acidic and is high in lactose, which is starting to lead me to believe..... is he lactose intolerant????

Is there are test?? Or does it just go on signs and symptoms??
I reluctantly tried him on formula tonite coz he wouldn't take my breast & he took 120ml of formula that would have contained lactose.

It's so hard, confusing and frustrating!!!?!?!?!??:confused:

Should I try and eliminate all dairy from my diet?? Does that work??

Any suggestions...PLEASE!!

[bossoflatch]

from my personal experience after struggling for over 5 1/2 months with breast feeding my dd.. i would suggest firstly to yes eliminate diary from your diet.. and then if you see difference. maintain this diet .. however, dont be disheartened if you see ds lapse a little is can be normal ..nothing to do with your milk ..it could be that ds needs the proteins broken down further than our natural milk can do .. then you may eventually need a script formula ... elecare or neocate.. !

i would suggest that zantac is not working for you lo :hugs: and that your ds would need to try something stronger .. losec or zoton ? have you tried some mylanta b4 a feed... or when he is most upset.. did you gp inform you of when and how much ? you see when he is pulling of the breast like that hitting and punching (in my experience with silent refluxers )it is usually out of frustration .. my dd would only feed 4-5 mins a side.. my milk was there.. and she was gulping down on the milk ..but in all honesty she only wanted a comfort feed to stop the pain .. when the milk slowed it hurt.. they want the fast flow back ..kwim.. so they get frustrated and also the back arching as then the acid is rising again they are trying to get the acid to go back down ..a natural reaction ..and all they want is pain relief..ie the breast milk to go faster :gloomy:

I would think it is ok.. (we did this ourselves ) to trial mylanta for a few days either before a feed.. (helps to settle the acid rising ) or when they are most upset.. ie lying down so the acid doesnt burn the throat? . if it works i would suggest to demand that your ds needs one of the meds i suggested earlier..

alot of the time silent reflux / or reflux in general is a reaction to the allergies going into the body .. their is protein in the breast milk naturally but by eliminating the dairy in your diet.. (you need to trial this for atleast 3 weeks to elimineat the 'dairy protein ' in your milk and then a further 3 weeks to get the dairy reaction out of your bubs .. does this make sense?
for example- if you were to try the script formula it also takes 3 week to see a noticable difference in bubs.. as the gut needs time to repair itself..

their is light at the end of the tunnel.. ( i think :rolleyes: - still yet to find ours lol ) but by trialling all this stuff before you front up to the pead will get you going on your way faster to help ..kwim ?

sorry i havent read this all back .. i hope it all makes sense.. and hugs a million .. you really are a great mum and dont loose sight of that

[Nowhere]

well no need to tell you any thing lol leisa has covered it all she the breast feeding reflux mummy expert around here lol, if its not tub feeding im use less lol

just thought i would let yu know there is thread in the reflux section titled for th breast feeding reflux mum lots of info on there i got from other reflux mums dont wory i didnt make it up myself

hugs hope things improve

[Mrs Little]

one more thing... (although leisa has pretty much covered it all...good on you hun!)..

Yes, you can get a test done for lactose intolerance and it is not invasive. It requires you to collect a stool sample and send it to be tested. Can be done through a GP.

HOWEVER...if you are breastfeeding, the lactose intolerance could be a lactose OVERLOAD. Which means it is not a true lactose intolerance, rather they are getting too much of the foremilk and not enough of the hind milk. Thats why the lactation consultant told you to express the first 30mls...so bubs would get more hindmilk.

You can call the ABA- and speak to someone over the phone about what your options are. They may even be able to provide you with exact information about the elimination diet (as leisa described). I hear they are very supportive and informative people. So please don't be shy to call them

Hope this is helpful.

Mrs Little & Sons.

[EsSjAy]

I Love these Mum's....

I want to nominate them for the Reflux/Allergy/Intolerance brigade....

They have truly helped so many bub's get better... Including mine (completely new child)

Seriously take on board their advice it is invaluable...

How was bub's on the formula?

:hugs: to you and your little one....
I hope you get it sorted out very soon...

[bossoflatch]

sorry im confused.. has your ds had any bad belly /wind pain (hardness in the stomach or the squirming ) .. ? or frothy green stools .. if so this would suggest that maybe sugars are an issue.. but from my readings ( i have done a far bit but i get it all confused sometimes :detective: ) well from my readings children this age are too young to actaully be lactose intolerant.. something to do with the natural make up .. we breastfeed them and we have natural sugars in our breast milk ..so old story is that they wouldnt of evolved to reject mummies milk ..kwim .. jsut my research .. !

i would think what the nurse was suggesting is that the sugar content is higher in the foremilk and that it can cause fermentation in the stomach which in turn can cause upset stomach / wind pain and the frothy stools

from my own experience. i would say that it is more the reflux pain itself that is causing issues with you ds and the feeding . in my opinion - the back arching and the screaming is from the frustration from the flow of the milk not soothing him, hence the hititng and the kicking .. . you have almost explained to a T the procedure that we struggled so long for with my dd and breastfeeding :hugs: my thoughst would be that if it was the sugars an issue.. then it wouldn't be an immediate response to the milk .it would happen over afew hours.. when the milk ferments not kicking and screaming as the milk hasnt fermeneted yet .. does this make sense ..

sorry lesha lol just giving my 2 cents worth lol

[Mrs Little]

hey liesa....not sure what you're trying to say. But what you wrote in your post is exactly what i said. I agree with you. LOL.

I didn't want to get go into reflux stuff because she just posted a question about lactose intolerance.

So...i also agree with the part of your post that talks about reflux beng a possible problem too.

HEHE...

Monkeygirl- your question was about lactose intolerance being tested. I have given u some info on it. But liesa has also made a valid point about the pain you are observing possibly being reflux. My suggestion is to go and see a good pead. about it. You can have the lactose intolerance test done and rule it out i suppose.

Mrs Little &Sons.

[Missus S]

Also keep in mind that the less severe allergic reactions can take up to 2 to 3 days to show up...........which makes it all the more trickier to try work out :doh:

Good luck with it all.

[monkeygirl39]

WOW!! Thank you all for your quick advice- I'm impressed.

I will contact the ABA and try the elimination of dairy- that's not going to be easy I love my milkshakes, cheese and youghurt!!!

I go to the paed on monday and will ask bout a lactose test- see wat happens.

He seemed to have no reaction to the formula, which had lactose in it- which makes me think its' something to do with my milk?? I Gave him a lactose free formula last nite (thursday) and he only had 60mls + he then decided to have some breast- I can't figure him out!!

He poos are mustardy colour and are kinda mucos like, not firm not too watery. He also loves to bring his legs up round his chest

I have been watching him and I also think he has a bad temperament!! When changing his nappy we can have a good 15 min long convesation and play and he his happy, but as soon as I go away and let him occupy himself for 5 mins he cracks it!!

Thank you all for your support:hugs: