Question - Milk allergies?

[Guest]

My sister's 5-month-old has horrible excema. After dealing with the same diagnosis from her pediatrician for months (normal baby rashes, he'll outgrow it) she found another doctor for a different opinion. That doctor immediately diagnosed severe allergies, and among them, milk.

My sister in a panic now with talk of very special formulas (not even soy will suffice) special intestinal probiotics and perhaps a lifetime of difficulties for her son.

This is out of the blue. No one has severe allergies on either side in our families.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[zeb1094]

My sister's 5-month-old has horrible excema. After dealing with the same diagnosis from her pediatrician for months (normal baby rashes, he'll outgrow it) she found another doctor for a different opinion. That doctor immediately diagnosed severe allergies, and among them, milk.

My sister in a panic now with talk of very special formulas (not even soy will suffice) special intestinal probiotics and perhaps a lifetime of difficulties for her son.

This is out of the blue. No one has severe allergies on either side in our families.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Not really, just that all my Grandchildren from my son are lactos intolorent. But, soy based formula's were enough to allow them to grow. They now must drink soy based milk. But they do eat ice cream although it make them really, really gassy like their father!

 

[sophia jane]

I don't have experience with infants because all my kids were breastfed. That said, when oldest weaned at 10 months, we had to put him on soy because of milk allergies. All milk products made him break out in a rash. He outgrew it shortly after his first birthday.
So...some kids outgrow it, and some don't. I wish I had more help to offer.

 

[entitled]

The RA and his brother were both lactose intolerant to the point of being unable to drink even breast milk without a fairly severe reaction. They were both raised on soy formula until they were old enough to wean from a bottle.

i would suggest her trying the soy stuff (it's MUCH better quality now than then) and seeing if that makes much of a difference before resorting to the insane measures.

ETA: Even if he does have severe allergies, it's really not much to worry about. i've had a severe allergy for most of my adult life. i found out about it when i got rushed to the hospital and had to get a couple of doses of epinepherine. One shot is usually enough to kick-start a mule.

Anyway, as long as you KNOW what the allergy is, you can avoid letting him have stuff that has whatever he's allergic to in it. That's what i've done for the past almost nine years and i've managed to avoid any sort of reaction.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

The special formulas are also insanely expensive. I've heard somewhere in the range of $30-40 a day. Also as a added bonus, even though they are a perscription, 99% of the time insurance will not cover them because the insurance companies consider formula a food, not a medication.

Sorry, not much else to add. My daughter has a severe peanit alergy that we are hoping that she will grow out of. We now have to carry the epi pen wherever we go and be very careful when eating out. It can be managed but you have to be careful with it and ever diligent.

My wife and I both have minor enviromental allergies and my wife is alergic to MSGs such as the ones used to preserve meat. So a food alergy for one of our daughters wasn't all that much of a surprise.

 

[Guest]

It isn't lactose intolerance that he has. (referring to ent's post) Lactose intolerance is the decrease or absence of an enzyme to help the body metabolise the milk sugar lactose. (I've seen that commercial - you take the chewables, right?)

An allergy to milk is a completely different thing (and I had to look this up). Milk allergy refers specifically to adverse reactions involving immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to one or more protein fractions of milk, whether belonging to the casein or whey protein group.

Often these babies are allergic to soy milk, too. Milk cannot be boiled to break down the proteins, either. It won't help.

The baby is breast fed. The doctor believes he may be allergic to breast milk. My sister is now removing all dairy from her diet to see if she will still be able to nurse him.

What a mess.

 

[zeb1094]

Best wishes to them Sarah!

 

[Guest]

The special formulas are also insanely expensive. I've heard somewhere in the range of $30-40 a day. Also as a added bonus, even though they are a perscription, 99% of the time insurance will not cover them because the insurance companies consider formula a food, not a medication.

Sorry, not much else to add. My daughter has a severe peanit alergy that we are hoping that she will grow out of. We now have to carry the epi pen wherever we go and be very careful when eating out. It can be managed but you have to be careful with it and ever diligent.

My wife and I both have minor enviromental allergies and my wife is alergic to MSGs such as the ones used to preserve meat. So a food alergy for one of our daughters wasn't all that much of a surprise.

Your situation is what concerns me.

A 5-month-old infant, with the possibility of having an allergy he may never outgrow?

 

[entitled]

It isn't lactose intolerance that he has. (referring to ent's post) Lactose intolerance is the decrease or absence of an enzyme to help the body metabolise the milk sugar lactose. (I've seen that commercial - you take the chewables, right?)

An allergy to milk is a completely different thing (and I had to look this up). Milk allergy refers specifically to adverse reactions involving immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to one or more protein fractions of milk, whether belonging to the casein or whey protein group.

Often these babies are allergic to soy milk, too. Milk cannot be boiled to break down the proteins, either. It won't help.

The baby is breast fed. The doctor believes he may be allergic to breast milk. My sister is now removing all dairy from her diet to see if she will still be able to nurse him.

What a mess.

Lactose intolerance and milk allergies are very often mistaken for one another. Trust me, i went through this with all of mine. Three different doctors (one for each child) told me they had milk allergies. We switched to soy formula and they did fine.

FYI, if it IS a milk allergy, changing her diet won't do anything. She's still feeding the poor little guy milk, which will keep aggravating his condition.

 

[impressive]

My sister's 5-month-old has horrible excema. After dealing with the same diagnosis from her pediatrician for months (normal baby rashes, he'll outgrow it) she found another doctor for a different opinion. That doctor immediately diagnosed severe allergies, and among them, milk.

My sister in a panic now with talk of very special formulas (not even soy will suffice) special intestinal probiotics and perhaps a lifetime of difficulties for her son.

This is out of the blue. No one has severe allergies on either side in our families.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Have her try an elemental formula, like NeoCate or Nutramigen or Peptamen. (They're NOT cheap.)

 

[Guest]

Have her try an elemental formula, like NeoCate or Nutramigen or Peptamen. (They're NOT cheap.)

Thanks, imp.

I don't know the brands her doctor suggested but I'll ask.

She was estimating costs of $600 a month.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Your situation is what concerns me.

A 5-month-old infant, with the possibility of having an allergy he may never outgrow?

Tought to say. Some kids grow out of it, some don't. Allergies are a curious things that modern science still doesn't fully understand. They know how they react, how to stop them, and how to test for them but as for what causes them? Well...?

The recent rise in the number of kids with food allergies suggests that the modern diet of americans is a major contrubuting factor. It may well be the high percentage of processed foods that the mother eats while pregnant factor in, or it may be foods the baby eats while an infant. Or it may be neither of these things. The researchers are still working on this one.

 

[impressive]

Thanks, imp.

I don't know the brands her doctor suggested but I'll ask.

She was estimating costs of $600 a month.

Yup, that sounds about ballpark for an elemental formula.

 

[Pure]

yes, I have heard of this, and believe that 'soy' based products are often the answer. in addition there are other possible 'milks', such as from rice, almonds, etc. none are astronomically expensive.

i'm not sure why all these are being rejected. why is the worst case being assumed? in any case, some people get a balanced diet without milk (or any of the 'milks'): proteins may come from a number of sources.

i myself was allergic to cow's milk, but was able to switch to goat's.

 

[rgraham666]

Nothing to add except a *HUG*, sarahh.

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone who offered comfort or advice. Or both.

 

[SensualCealy]

Well after three months of pure hell, sleeping on an easy boy with my son draped over my shoulder so he could sleep. We found out he was allergic to milk. I was breast feeding. Took all the milk out of my diet and it didnt help. He would curl his little legs up to release the gas and nothing helped.

One bottle of Prosobe was a gift from God. He slept threw the night for the first time on that bottle!

My suggestion, try the absolute best soy based formula you can. If you buy one can to try you should get a few bottles out of it. If you dont notice a change, then you know you have to do something else. But if it does help, try it for a week then you can always ween him down in quality to fit your price range.

I know its expensive, 15 yrs ago a case of 12 was $60! That got me threw about a week!

Good luck!
C

 

[BlackShanglan]

If it is an allergy to milk and whey products, it's going to be a long haul for more than infancy. Most commercial bread products have milk or whey in them. If your sister is trying to cut all dairy products from her diet, she should probably get into the label-reading habit. I was, at one point, a vegan, and I discovered then what an amazing variety of products contain milk or milk derivatives.

Shanglan