Help please with allergies & intollerance

[Clafakeja]

I am still BF my 6mth old. But she has eczema which we assume is related to allergies. Usually after I feed her she breaks out in a rash that goes away after an hr.

I have been to the Dr twice but have had not much help. Maybe I should start at the beginning.

At about 14 wks after a few wks of being very unsettled I thought maybe my milk wasn't sufficient for her as she had initially failed to put on weight from 1-5 wks. So I tried her on S26 & after having a few sucks starting screaming & went bright red all over & had big white welts all over her.

At 5 mths she started getting a rash every time I fed her so went into the local chemist. A pharmasist said it sounded like her 2 boys & suggested she was lactose intollerant & to try the S26 lactose free formula. She wouldn't have a bar of it no matter what bottles I used or if she was starving.

I mixed some up yesterday & just let her chew on the teat to see if maybe she would start drinking herself but no she'd just let it dribble out. 5mins later everywhere the milk had dribbled she went red & had white dots. So I assume she is allergic to that also?! We have found she is allergic to mango too.

Any ideas what to do or try? She did drink watered down prune juice this morning from a bottle so I know it's not a bottle issue....maybe she knows she going to have a reaction to the formula? Should I try soy or goats formula? I am taking her to the midwife tomorrow & she goes to the Dr next Tues for 6 mth needles but wondered if anyone has had a similar experience?

Sorry to prattle on but I don't want to be BF her forever!
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[Gec Mumma]

Hi there, sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time.

One suggestion - perhaps she has cows milk protein intolerance/allergy. My DD has it and has been put on a special formula - Elecare - by her paediatrician. If your DD is reacting to your breast milk, it may be because the dairy that you are eating is passed on through the breast milk. That's what happened to me and after trying to eliminate dairy from my diet (got too hard....) she ended up on the formula.

Just an idea, but I would certainly recommend pursuing it with your doctor.

Good luck!!

[zandrsmum]

Hi there, we are going through a similar phase and have found a lot of information from our paediatric chiropracter, our GP was hopeless. Our 10 month old has reactions to dairy, wheat and soy as well as acidic fruit. We have not tried eggs or nuts yet. It is process of elimination and quite difficult. Go slowly with new foods and if you feel you need to an IgG96 test may help. This tests the individual proteins in dairy as well as 94 other foods. It is a whole different world, our first experience with any food intolerence/allergy. Good luck, you are not alone!! K:)

[ClutterBug]

Definately try goats milk formula.
Karicare Goat 2 (for 6 months+) costs about $30 a tin, and can be found in most chemists and supermarkets. I buy it at my local Coles for $31.55 or the Chemist Warehouse for $29.95.

My DD had a very similar screaming/rash reaction to S26, SMA, NAN ha1, and even to my breastmilk. I suspected it was a cows milk allergy as i myself am highly allergic to all cow products (incl. beef, gelatin, etc) and so are my sisters 2 children. After discussing it with my father-in-law i also learned that my husbands sister and younger brother both had cows milk intollerances as babies, and were reared on goat milk too.

Please note, there is a big difference between allergy and intollerance! The symptoms you describe definately sound like a full-blown allergy, not merely an intollerance. Therefore i would strongly advise against trying the soy formula, as i believe you will discover she may have a similar or even worse reaction.

If your GP is no help, ask for a referal to a paediatric allergist to do appropriate tests and be sure. You can get a referal from your GP, your local maternal health nurse or midwife, or try another GP if necessary.

If you are not familiar with coping with and managing allergies i strongly recommend you do some reaserch at your local library, or search around on the web for support sites. And if my post has been at all helpful, you are more than welcome to message me any questions you have. I have a family full of people with allergies and intollerances and have been managing my own allergies for the past 20 years or so! Positive diagnosis is the most important step, but after that, i am here to help with meal alternatives and tips and advice! ;)

[Clafakeja]

Thank you so so much everyone!

We are off to the GP for 6 mth needles tomorrow so will pass it by her again. This is the 2nd GP I mentioned it to. I am going to ask if we can get her tested so we can be sure what she is allergic to.

I ate egg yesterday for breaky (late breaky 8am) and by lunch time she had the rash head to toe again & eczema flared up & she had belly pains & was vomiting a bit.

[bellaliza]

hey there
your not alone my little one was the same to you need to get a referral to an allergies specialist and get it sorted my little one is 2 in 1 week and is still on elecare and hardly eats real food as she brakes out in eczma every time she dose what i have found to help is to bath her in Oilatum plus you get it from the chemist for about $7 and it carms the skin also dont be scared to use antihisamines if she is tearing herself apart mines been on them from 6m.

[presley]

I just want to pick up on a few things Clutterbug said as i think there were some really good points - I agree there is a BIG difference bw allergy & intolerance...

Lactose intolerance is the body not handling the SUGAR in cows milk and dairy products. It can have bad reactions but are not life threatening the way allergy is.

Allergy is a reaction to a PROTEIN - in any food (even fruits and vegies have a little bit of protein). The reactions can be severe and life threstening (and sound a lot like what your DD has).

If she is allergic to cows milk & its products, she will probably also be allergic to goats milk as the proteins are very similar (i learnt this one the hard way and ended up with my 6month old DS in hospital). But it is quite possible she is fine with soy - some times they are allergic to dairy AND soy but there is nothing that links the 2 together - so if it is cows milk allergy it doesn't necessarily mean there is a soy allergy. Maybe try rubbing a little bit of the soy formula on her arm to see if it comes up in a welt or red spots - then if that's ok, just give her 20 mls or so, then ramp it up if she's fine.

My 3 1/2 yo DS is still on soy formula 3x daily as his diet is so restricted - he's got about 15 different food allergies but is fine with soy. Otherwise your gp can prescribe Neocate which has the proteins broken down so they can't have an allergic reaction to it.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

[ClutterBug]

I don't mean to start a fight, but i disagree with that advice Presley (sorry!).
While soy may be the suitable treatment for your son, the fact is that most children with cows milk allergy are also allergic to soy. Of my sisters 6 kids, the 2 eldest both presented with cows milk allergies. The eldest was also allergic to soy but was successfully raised on goats milk formula and to this day (now aged 13) still has a very serious cows milk allergy with anaphylactic responses. The second eldest, couldn't tollerate goats milk and, like your son, was raised on soy. She now has no more than a mild intollerance to cows milk (now aged 12). My daughter and i have the common type treatable with goats milk. I sincerely hope your son grows out of it like Katie did.

A more acurate explanation to allergy v's intollerance is that an intollerance is the body's inability or inefficency of breaking down the lactose sugars (causing wind, discomfort, etc)

An allergy is the body's immune system's over-reaction to any one of five major proteins found in cows milk: caseins, beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, serum albumin and immuoglobulins. The immune system attacks the offending protein as it would a serious virus. The appropriate treatment/management solution depends on exactly which protein stimulates the allergen in that particular child.


Treatment of Cow Milk Allergy


Currently the only treatment for cow milk allergy is total avoidance of cow's milk proteins.

Initially, if the infants are breastfed, a strict elimination of the causal protein, i.e. the proteins from cow milk, from the diet of the lactating mother should be tried. If symptoms do not resolve or the infants are bottlefed, cow's milk substitute formulas are used to provide the infant with a complete source of nutrition, which does not provoke immune mediated symptoms.
If a cow milk allergy is diagnosed, the healthcare professional can prescribe a formula milk that is easy to use, palatable and enables optimal growth and development, that is also free from cow’s milk proteins.

Cow's milk substitutes include soybean formulas (but many infants with milk allergy are also allergic to soy milk) and hypoallergenic formulas based on hydrolysed proteins and amino acid-based formulas.
Amino acid-based formulas (AAF) and extensively hydrolysed formulas (eHF) are the only products that are regarded as “hypoallergenic” and suitable for the treatment of cow milk allergy.
Only Amino Acid-based Formulas (AAF) are suitable for the treatment of both mild-moderate and severed cow milk allergy.

To be regarded as hypoallergenic, the American Academy of Pediatrics Nutritional Committee (AAPNC) has recommended that hypoallergenic formula be tolerated by 90% of children with proven cow’s milk allergy, with 95% confidence.
However, several studies have identified a group of infants with chronic symptoms due to intolerance of extensively hydrolysed formula (eHF). The use of amino acids-based formulas is safe in children intolerant to extensively hydrolysed formula and results in the resolution of even serious symptoms.

In some countries, milk from other animals such as goats, sheep and mares have traditionally been used for patients with cow milk allergy. But other species’ milk is not recommended for treatment of infants with Cow Milk Allergy: these milks are not nutritionally complete, are poor sources of certain vitamins (especially folic acid and vitamins B6, B12, C and D) and are only tolerated in a handful of infants with cow milk allergy.*



by AAA Editorial Board
Date of publication: 01/02/2006

*goat/sheep/mare milk in this article refers to fresh milk, not nutritionally modified baby formulas.

(taken from website www.ActAgainstAllergy.com.au (http://www.ActAgainstAllergy.com.au) )

Because of the sheer complexities of this allergy, and the seriousness of your daughters reaction, it is essential it is properly diagnosed. Get a referal and get her tested asap. :fingerscrossed: