Allergy??

[judabellah]

Hi guys,

I'm in need of some advice... I *think* my DS has an allergy of some sort, but I would like some other opinions. My feeling is that it is milk protein, but I just don't know.

This is what has been happening:

DS is 19 weeks old. He was born at 8p2oz, or 3680grams. He is breastfed. He now weighs about 5700 grams, which puts him in about the 1st percentile for weight :crying: He's in about the 30th for height though. Although he is tiny he doesn't look skinny or like a FTT baby. He is bright eyed and alert, meets all his milestones, etc.

From very early on DS has had A LOT of gas, (an incredible amount in fact- like in excess of 100 farts a day) that causes him extreme discomfort. He is always letting out little screams, he is unsettled a lot of the time. He cries when he feeds and when he farts :(

He was diagnosed with silent reflux and colic at 6 weeks due to his poor feeding, pain, back arching, swallowing, constant hiccups, etc. We put him on Losec but we weren't winning. We changed him to Nexium. We saw improvement for a week or so but then his abdo symptoms seemed to worsen. He was doing about one poo every five days and it was not your typical breastfed poo. It looked like a formula poo and was really, REALLY offensive. We were not giving him formula. His gas got worse and worse. He screamed all the time.

I spoke to my paed again and we decided to do a stool sample. I also decided to eliminate dairy from my diet completely. The stool sample contained a parasite, which was treated with antibiotics. Within a week my baby was soooo much better. Almost like a new baby. So settled. Normal poo... it was blissful

Then he started pooing A LOT. Like one night he went five times between midnight and morning. He also started feeding badly again and getting the tummy pain back. I decided it was probably the antibiotics affecting him. I had another stool sample taken and it was all clear. I did not eat any dairy during this time.

Last week, due to his terrible weight gain and also to sort of 'test' him on dairy (rather than putting in my system I thought it better to give to him directly... If he reacted I knew at least it wouldnt be hanging around in future feeds from me.) we gave him a small bottle of formula - 40 mls of S26 for Reflux. The next day he had about 60mls. That afternoon he came out in a red rash on his cheeks. It looks like a teething rash, red and sore. He is showing signs of teething so I didn't know if it was related? The next day he was writhing in pain.

This was on Thurs. It is now Sunday and he is still really unsettled. Heaps of gas again and once again feeding badly.

I havent given him any formula since Thurs and I have not had any dairy. How long would the affects of the dairy last if it is a milk protein allergy?

I just don't know what to do or what to think!! I feel like I spend all day every day trying to troubleshoot this poor baby. He is so uncomfortable, its horrible.

Does this sound like an allergy? I cant seem to get much interest from my paed, other than interest in his reflux. I am interested in allergy testing. Where can I get this done?

TIA xx

[gizmoduckus]

If you are not having any dairy then I doubt it is a milk protein intolerance. It doesn't take long for them to get better once you eliminate it. Unless of course you have been substituting with Soy. Soy has a similar protein to cow's milk so they can also be intolerant to that. Also people sometimes forget what has dairy in it and eat things that they don't realise will affect bubs like chocolate and cakes.

It could be an intolerance to something else that you are eating. I know that there is a whole list of things that other babies have reacted to but I can't think of anything on the top of my head.

It could be that your little ones reflux is just really bad. You can try things like taking him to the chiro and elevating the bed to make things easier on him. There is plenty of tips at www.reflux.org.au that might help.

[Tam-I-Am]

Oh! Poor bub, and poor you! :( :hugs:

Okay, first thing you need to know is that there's a big difference between an allergy and an intolerance. An allergy is when your body interprets something to be an immune system threat and creates an immune system response (ie antibodies) to attack that threat.

An intolerance doesn't create an immune system response. Thankfully, most food problems are intolerances, rather than allergies, and if it's an intolerance, allergy testing won't prove (or disprove) anything.

The other thing is, you're probably on the right track - but perhaps not taking it far enough. Up to 80% of all kids who react to cow's milk protein also react to soy and other dairy proteins (ie goat and sheep etc). So unless you've eliminated all dairy and soy for a period of 2 weeks at least (as it takes up to 14 days to eliminate all the proteins from your system), then you probably wouldn't be seeing a difference. Also, intolerances are diagnosed through alleviation of symptoms, so if he's a little bit better off dairy - then it's a pretty good bet that he's intolerant to it. If it doesn't fix EVERYTHING then I'd be looking at gluten, and then salicylates, amines and other food chemicals as being the culprits (ie the Fail Safe diet, the elimination diet part of which you might want to do under the care of a dietician to make sure you're getting enough nutrition while breastfeeding).

Breastfeeding a refluxy food intolerant kid can be hard work - but it can also be done! I'm still breastfeeding my 2-year-old dairy/soy protein intolerant bub, and I shudder to think how his gut health might be if I'd given him formula instead of continuing to breastfeed him.

I wouldn't do anymore dairy challenges until you know what it is that you're dealing with.

:hugs:

[judabellah]

Hi guys,

Tami, thanks for the info on allergy v intolerance. That puts a stop to my idea of allergy testing! Bummer... No, I won't be doing anymore dairy challenges, it was foolish of me and I feel really gulity :(

I have been super strict with the diet. No dairy products whatsoever, baked or otherwise. We saw a profound improvement in bub after 2 weeks of no dairy. Thats why I thought it was a milk intolerance. He was great for a week and then he got the symptoms back :hissy:

This coincided with me changing his Nexium to granules (which contain orange flavour and colour) from tablets. I thought this might have contributed so I changed him back. Also, there was the antibiotics we treated him with for the parasite. Maybe they contained something? The other thing we did was to introduce a teaspoon of rice cereal every couple of days. I thought this was pretty safe... maybe I was wrong. Then of course there was the dairy challenge with the formula on Thurs... and a very unhappy baby since :(:(

gizmoduckus - thanks for your input too. As I said, I have been really strict with the dairy. I have been using soy milk though (not very much) and eating soy yoghurt...

I have wondered about whether its all just attributed to the reflux, but that doesn't explain his other symptoms i.e excessive gas, etc? This is my second reflux bub, I am very educated on all the management techniques for reflux. We are doing Chiro and every other imaginable technique.

Thanks again for the advice and suggestions. I think the next step will be to se a dietician and get onto an elimination diet. Or maybe I will just eliminate the soy first.

One more question - I will need to start introducing some sort of formula soon. I will still BF but I can express my little heart out and still won't have enough EBM for the 12 hr shifts I need to do. I have heard about one called Neocate. My understanding is that its a hypoallergenic formula, but i don't know anything else. Has anyone used this or had any experience with it?

Thanks heaps :)

[Tam-I-Am]

Neocate (and Pepti Jnr) are the only truly hypoallergenic formulas for bubs with milk protein intolerances - but they're pretty vile, and it can be really hard to get babies to take them. Unfortunately, if he's CMPI, there aren't a lot of other options (other than finding another breastfeeding mum who's willing to go dairy free or already is to donate EBM). It's only available on prescription and you usually have to see at least a paediatrician first.

Don't feel guilty re: the dairy challenge. It's done now, and now you know :) I didn't mean to make you feel guilty (or guiltier!), just to say that I'd hold off on any more until you know what you're up against :)

Re: the rice cereal, I truly believe that most CMPI is a gut health difficulty (ie that the gut flora is not well matured). The fact that he's had a gut parasite and antibiotics would only have disturbed the gut flora even more, unfortunately. Breastmilk, and some probiotic powder mixed with breastmilk are your BEST treatments for that. I would really hold off on introducing solids for a while, to give his gut time to heal (this is not common medical advice, but what I've gleaned over my time with a refluxy babe). Probiotic that I've found best for my bub is Metagenics Flora Care for Kids. It's grown in a cow's milk base, but the probiotic digests all the cow's milk protein. You wouldn't give it to a baby who was anaphylactic to dairy, but my HIGHLY dairy-intolerant bub tolerates it very well, and we've seen quite big improvements with his reflux since he's been taking it.

TBH, at this point in your processing, I'd be seeking a referral to a paediatric gastroenterologist.

It's such hard work - take care of yourself in all this too, hey? :hugs:

[judabellah]

Hi,

Thanks for writing back. Sorry it took me a while to reply. We have had a few pretty torrid days (and nights...) with bub.

Oh no! You didn't make me feel guilty! I guess that's just the way I'm built, I feel guilty about everything, even when I know I shouldn't.

Thanks, I have been looking after myself. I'm getting very skinny on this dairy free diet, so I will make an appt with a Dietician I think. Hubby is really wonderful and we are keeping it together pretty well. I admit, I did have a melt down this morning but those are very rare. I'm just worried about my baby :(

I think the main problem here is that I'm a nurse myself (adult icu - not with kids, but still...) and it's not only my mummy instinct telling me there is something wrong, it's my nurse instinct too... I tend to imagine the worst and if I'm not careful I start thinking that he has some wretched disease :rolleyes:

I called the Paed again this morning and he will be calling me back for a chat later on. He has previously offered me a referral to see a Gastro so I will ask him to write it. I'm also going to demand that he sees me, rather than discussing things with me over the phone like usual.

I'll grab some probiotics this afternoon, that's a great idea. I hadn't considered it but I can see the benefit, absolutely.

Thanks for all the advice.