Symptoms of Allery or Intollerance?

[nomesnbub]

Hi ladies:) I am new to bub hub and wow this is the most amazing place to come for help and information!!

My DS Noah is 9 mnths old and we have had a lot of trouble with reflux since he was 3 mnths old. He is a breast fed baby. Early on he was put on Losec but it seemed to make no differnce at all? At times he is a happy chucker and occasionally he will have a violent painful reflux. This got me back to the pead saying maybe it isnt "reflux" as such but allergies/intollerance? He just said yeah and sent us on our way $170 poorer and said just introduce foods slowly and keep a food diary for reactions which we have been doing.

But i am a little confused as to the reactions i am looking for and relating it to the foods? At times his eyes go really red but i wonder if it is tired? He will break out in an excema type rash, have a bad reflux day with lots of chucks, be irritable (but hard to relate this to food?) constipated or runny poo, red bottom. So was wondering if anyone could help me with the tell tale signs of an allery or intollerance and what is the difference?

Thanks from a very lost and confused mummy and cranky unhappy bubby

[time4me]

Hi,
Speaking from my experience with my 6 1/2 y.o son, diagnosed with multiple food allergies at 7 months of age (still has them all with no improvement yet). Allergies and intolerance, despite being completely differant in there medical terms, can be difficult to diagnose merely by symptoms alone. Both conditions can produce similar symptoms and depend on the individuals bodies responce to the allergen.

Allergies can sometimes when milder and not of the severe "Anaphylactic" side can produce very similar symptoms as intolerances, such as abdominal cramping, diarrhoea etc. Sometimes the only way to rule out an alllergy v's intolearance is to have skin prick testing done to at least identify any allergies. Unfortunately there are no such tests for intolerances and it is down to elimination diets and parent intuition. A really good dietician that can help you through possible intolerances can help. The first step might be for you to research the differances between an allergy and an intolearance and the symptoms they can produce, so you might be better able to watch out for them. Hope this helps.
Happy to help you out with any other questions

[Jadee]

Our DD3 is 7 nearly 8 months and I had to just start solids all over again, I gave her about a 2 week rest and began reintroducing again. Mostly because I found some foods made her slighty more irritable and being a not happy refluxer I found it hard to work it out.

After stopping solids and starting again I realised that she really is a happy little soul when shes not suffering. I also found that she can only tolerate pears, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot and brockoli. I found that rice cereal built up in her system and after about a week she had terrible reflux from it as bad as after a bowl of nasty apples!!!

Have you thought about trialing your diet without dairy not just milk, cream, etc but bread and other products that contain milk. I wish that someone had told me to trial a dairy free diet because I would prob still be bf. Our bub is cows milk protien and soy intolerant, she is on a persciption formula and it has given her so much relief from her reflux, now just nasty foods and teething seem to make it worse.

I hope things improve for you all soon :) and you can work out whats going on I find most Dr.'s when it comes to intolerances and allergies make you feel asthough you are banging your head against a wall!!

[Missus S]

It's really hard as my GP/Naturopath told me that it can sometimes take a few days for a reaction to show up.

Some reactions are more severe and obvious whilst others aren't. My GP mentioned that dark circles under the eyes is one of the things they look for for a dairy intolerance.

Hope you're able to pinpoint it all soon :yes:

[time4me]

Hi Jadeem I could relate to your experiences with restarting solids. My son was off and on solids between 7 and 12 months old. He was on Neocate formula till he was two.
He barely ate a spoonful of food and after any reactions to food he would completely refuse to eat for anything up to 3 days. The poor thing really hated food and didn't trust it. Now he is 6 1/2 and eats well but still has no improvement in his allergies. Last night his tongue reacted to a food and he had these round raised circles all over the end of his tongue. A bit like the hives he usually get. Never had it happen before, but my little angel did not want to go to sleep. he asked me if he was going to die!! Life with allergies is no FUN!!!:(

[reAllytee]

It really does sound like the reflux is caused my his intolerances and/or allergies but its hard to know as others have said. Just like its hard to know whether bubs is allergic or intolerant to something.

Was he fine while being b/f & its only since being started on solids ? Obviously he was refluxy before this but have you introduced more dairy or the likes.

It wont be a Lactose Intolerance because bubs has obviously thrived etc & this has to do with the sugar in milk whether it be breastmilk, formula or cows milk.

You may be dealing with a CMPI or CSI or just that standard overload. All very hard to work out the difference at first.

Have you cut dairy out of your diet ? If not then i advise you do this immediately to see how he copes. It will take approx 10days for it to leave your system & it will take a little longer to see the improvement in him. If things then get better you know what to watch out for but if it is just an overload things will get better from here on & a break will help him get back to 'normal'. If it is a CMPI or CSI it will mean steering clear of both dairy & soy until at least 12mths of age where his system will more than likely grow out of it.

If it continues its more than likely an allergy which by this age they will start to look at conducting a blood or prick test to confirm it. I would go with the blood test as this is the true test as many people react to things with the prick test with no problems at all in general. Other tests that can be conducted are highly invasive so they really dont like doing them unless completely necessary.

If you are finding its an issue with solids then tread slowly giving a good week between introducing anything else then as has been advised diary everything & take photos if need be. Again if this seems to be an issue they will look at allergy testing him at a later stage but most do grow out of them by 18mths at the latest.

His bowel movements seem pretty standard for a child who is reacting & has reflux sadly ! If this gets really bad then i advise seeing a GI who will really investigate as to whether there is more going on.

Once you start keeping note & writing everything down you will more than likely see a pattern & this will help work things out.

Good luck !

[nomesnbub]

Thankyou all so much for your advice and feedback. I too have stopped and started DS on solids twice now and think i will have to stop and start again and this time take it REALLY slow and a propper diary. He has been sick this week with a cond and teething so i might wait until he is better so i will get a better idea of irritability etc. I did cut all dairy out of my diet a couple of months back for 3 weeks but it seemed to make no real difference to him?? I guess it will just be a lot or trial and error. I am just feeling a little overwhelmed by it all but we have had a visit to the pead and have a referal for a blood test to test wheat, milk, potato and tomato so i will let you know how we get on. I was thinking of maybe trying a naturopath too. (lol i will try anything to get my happy boy back)
Thanks again for your help

[eileenb]

Hi nomesnbub,

One of my children used to get a red bottom and had sloppy poo until the age of 2 before we realised he had major food problems. (my third born also gets a red bottom and it is related to citrus). You need to do more than keep a food diary. You need to only introduce one type of food at a time. The best thing I recommend is that you consult a dietitian and buy either Friendly Food by the Alfred Allergy Unit. This would definitely assist you to identify the issues and what is an allergy as opposed to what is an intolerance. We have been through an elimination diet twice and now onto our third. First time for my husband, second time for my son with a dietitian involved and third time because my son has had a relapse (poos pants again even though toilet trained, grumpy, stubborn, jumping around like a monkey and silly noises). Trying to work out where the issue is again. It might feel hard to get started but once you know the foods and what you can eat, it just gets easier from there. Also keep in mind that many yoghurts contain fruit juice so you might think that dairy is a problem when in fact it could be fruit. Also try Sue Dengate's books if that helps. email me if you need more help. Happy to assist where we can.

[nomesnbub]

:)Wow thank you so much for your response!! I am just relieved i guess to know that others go through the same thing and that NO i am not a crazy over pedantic mother.... and that yes allergies and intollerances are common and can be dealt with. I am just going to try and find a copy of the book you mentioned. It may take some time but we will get to the bottom of it :wave:

[eileenb]

Hi again nomesnbub,

It might get sorted out quicker than you expected. Because you cannot put a 9 month baby on an elimination diet, I recommend that you personally undertake an elimination diet. I recommend to get you started (all of mine have been breastfed and because I have to watch what I eat, it has been of benefit for my last baby especially who is currently 15 months and loath to give up the breast milk)....anyway, as I was saying....you should stop eating citrus fruits yourself. I am positive that this will help your little bubs. I recommend buying "Fed Up" as there is heaps of info in it and recipes. Again, once you know what foods you can get, it just gets easier. Sue Dengate is THE guru on food intolerance and allergy and no you are certainly not pedantic. More and more parents are becoming aware of the impact of food in their families and people are becoming aware which is great because we are sending a message to food manufacturers by not buying their products and opting for a healthier alternative. Also, look to see if there is any history of food intolerance or allergy in your family tree or even immediate family. Do you live with a cranky husband? (I am sure we could all answer yes to that even without food :laughing:) Does anyone suffer skin conditions, headaches, sleep issues, bad dreams (my nearly 4 year old has bad dreams when food intolerant), constipation, etc?? You personally will need to identify what your intolerances are. You might have a problem with preservatives or additives or even natural colours such as annatto (often food packs will say "no artificial...." but have natural colours in their product that can be just as bad for some people.) Or, you might be sensitive to the naturally occuring chemicals in fruit and veges. (salicylates and amines). The Friendly Food book gives you a chart of how high various foods are in naturally occuring chemicals.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is that they equate food intolerance with processed or junk food. My son does not eat any of those and goes off like a rocket from watermelon, strawberries, grapes, brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cheese and other foods too numerous to mention here. So, don't be fooled by other people's comments. It is not all about junk food.

Happy to be of further assistance if needed. You are welcome to email me and would love to hear how you are getting on.

Regards, Eileen.