kids with dairy and food sensitivity/allergy.....update

[luvdzne]

sorry, was b eing unemployed bum and slept in this morning and havent payed close attention

Thank you for your response. Can I ask you one more question, how did they diagnose you?

DD loves anything that has to do with milk, her favorite is cottage cheese and since I have stopped her drinking milk on friday she has really been wanting the cottage cheese. She did settle for some good ole peanut butter on graham crackers instead

 

[FroggyinArk]

the way i was diagnosed was a little odd, actually was not originally by a dr. altho was confirmed by a blood test later, a friend ( drinking buddy) in college was doing a reasearch project on the effects of food alergies and came accross a case study on people that were lactose intolerant, and the varied ways it manifests, he noticed that a lot of the symptoms reflected what happened to me when we had pizza and beer night, or if we had had milk shakes or what ever, and we kinda went from there and started redoinbg the study's research witht me as the guinee pig.. and it worked, i stopped throwing daily, was able to stop avoiding physical activities, so i wentto the university allergy clinic and asked them to test me for lactose intolerance and they agreed that that was what was happening to me.

 

[chell]

I have a few more questions. How do they test for food allergies? Do they do a scratch test and is there a certain group of foods? I like the idea with the food diary. I am going to start that tomorrow, as well documenting any behaviors and moods changes.

Also for those that have taken dairy out of the diet, has it just been milk, or anything containing any dairy products?

They can do the scratch tests for food allergies. Like I said before I'm not a fan of those because they simply do not work for me. They will use the food diary to choose what foods to test for. I think there are more options to test for with the blood test compared to the scratch test.

Like someone else said, if she is intolerant to milk the tests will not show this. I would say that you have to play around with the other dairy foods. I'm allergic to milk and I know how it effects me. Other dairy products do not have the same effect on me. The less fat in the milk the stronger my reaction to it. Whole milk right from the farm has the least effect on me. Isn't that odd? Of course I'm odd, so...

The reason I'm telling you all this is so that you know there is no black and white as far as food allergies go. There is a lot of middle ground and even a doctor can't tell you what will and will not cause problems for your daughter without some experimentation.

It will be a long road to figure it all out but as you can see already, the end result is worth it.

 

[Poohgirl]

My son is high functioning autistic and we give him very limited amounts of dairy because of casein. If he has too much he has terrible meltdowns and is extremely difficult. He drinks soy milk instead. He is not allergic to casein in the sense that he will have trouble breathing or get a stomach ache etc. For him it acts like an opiate on the brain and makes him act irrationally.

Some foods are much worse then others, cheese pizza for example. However, some people with sensitivity to casein also have a sensitivity and reaction to gluten found in wheat, as it has a similar molecular structure and breakdown in the body. I will swear by limiting these foods for my son and having a much more cooperative child! Best of luck to you!

 

[noodleknitter]

My son had a horrid time with milk until we switched him to raw milk. After that he could drink as much as he wanted without any of the issues.

 

[Minnie824]

My DD who is 4.5 sounds just like the OP's child. She has tantrums and gets upset over a lot. She, however, has no milk at all. She also gets hives quite frequently. Dr. thinks it may be every time she has a cold/virus, anything. So, we actually did the allergy tests because I have a lot of allergies. We found out, they did 30 main items, that she is allergic to nothing. Helpful, huh? I'm not sure if they did dairy or citrus though. She contantly is 'itchy' too. She has ice cream frequently and she has Sunny D. Water and Sunny D are really all that she drinks. I wonder if it could be something w/the citrus or something in there? Maybe worth trying, even though I'm sure that will go over well. Good luck. My DD was brave w/the allergy tests, cried a little when they came back to do round 2, which consisted of 7 scratches on her arm.

 

[dbal]

I'm wondering how difficult it was to implement new dietary changes, whether casein free, gluten free or both. I know this sounds weird, but I don't want to give my dd more of a complex. How should I tell her that she's not going to drink milk for awhile? I have always said it was healthy and she will definitely question no dairy if I try this. Thanks

 

[cats mom]

I think this link has some pretty good basic info about allergy testing:


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003519.htm


I know there is a fair amount of cotroversy out there about what methods are best and even how accurate any of them are.
Some docs won't even talk to you about it.

We went with ELISA blood allergy testing for DD.
We used DD's results as a starting point and a basic guide.

I think with most methods there is still some experimentation involved and a form of elimintaion/challenging of the food and then recording reactions is usually recommended.


We decided to go the allergy testing route for DD in response to a medical condition.
But I've seen lots of reports in my reading from parents who have had good results with behavioral issues once they identified and eliminated allergens from their kids' diets.

 

[vellamint]

I'm wondering how difficult it was to implement new dietary changes, whether casein free, gluten free or both. I know this sounds weird, but I don't want to give my dd more of a complex. How should I tell her that she's not going to drink milk for awhile? I have always said it was healthy and she will definitely question no dairy if I try this. Thanks

I think I am lactose intolerant!!! I just started about six months ago...how sad is that? I LOVE MILK. I am going to have my doctor test me when I go for my physical.

Anyway my question is not about me....it is my son. His behaviors also seem to mimic OP child. How would I go about changing his diet? What things do you substitute for like white bread or white rice. This kid is picky to begin with and I am afraid there will be a war on my hands.....he is 14 now and has been difficult since the day he was born. OMG what if he has ALWAYS had an allergy to some foods? Why wouldn't a doctor at least mention the possibility to us? He doesnt sleep either though so who knows....HEY can allergies affect your sleeping?

Do you take out ALL dairy, wheat, casein? What the heck is casein anyway and does it state it on the product labels?

Hints on substitutes for cheddar cheese, pizza, ice cream, cake, cookies...this sounds like it may be impossible but I think I may give it a try.

 

[cats mom]

I'm wondering how difficult it was to implement new dietary changes, whether casein free, gluten free or both. I know this sounds weird, but I don't want to give my dd more of a complex. How should I tell her that she's not going to drink milk for awhile? I have always said it was healthy and she will definitely question no dairy if I try this. Thanks

Hey dbal you might want to take a look here:

http://www.gfcfdiet.com/


I don't know a whole lot about implementing dietary changes for autism spectrum disorders, but it looks like they have a very active community there.

 

[luvdzne]

My son had a horrid time with milk until we switched him to raw milk. After that he could drink as much as he wanted without any of the issues.

Silly question, but what is raw milk?

 

[luvdzne]

DD has actually had the scratch test done when she was very young, i think around 3, but it was for like dusk, animals and stuff like that. I am glad you told me there are more options to allergy testing as I remember the scratch test not being all that fun.

You said that milk with less fat you have more of a problem with, dd drinks skim milk.

With school now being out, I will be able to watch and document her food and behavior more easily, and I definatly intend to do this. I'm glad you mentioned that too. Thank you!

They can do the scratch tests for food allergies. Like I said before I'm not a fan of those because they simply do not work for me. They will use the food diary to choose what foods to test for. I think there are more options to test for with the blood test compared to the scratch test.

Like someone else said, if she is intolerant to milk the tests will not show this. I would say that you have to play around with the other dairy foods. I'm allergic to milk and I know how it effects me. Other dairy products do not have the same effect on me. The less fat in the milk the stronger my reaction to it. Whole milk right from the farm has the least effect on me. Isn't that odd? Of course I'm odd, so...

The reason I'm telling you all this is so that you know there is no black and white as far as food allergies go. There is a lot of middle ground and even a doctor can't tell you what will and will not cause problems for your daughter without some experimentation.

It will be a long road to figure it all out but as you can see already, the end result is worth it.

 

[luvdzne]

I'm wondering how difficult it was to implement new dietary changes, whether casein free, gluten free or both. I know this sounds weird, but I don't want to give my dd more of a complex. How should I tell her that she's not going to drink milk for awhile? I have always said it was healthy and she will definitely question no dairy if I try this. Thanks

Ok before I continue, how do I quote more that one post, with how slow the server is going it is taking forever to do this one by one

So far with dd I have told her we are going to do an experiment with not drinking milk. She is having somewhat of a hard time as everything she likes has milk in it. But I am encouraging other things (bribery it's a good thing ) seriously when she is at the verge of having a fit over her milk I just offer her some juice she really likes. It also seemed to help with her sister, dad and I giving up something we really liked with her. We made sure it was something that she felt was equal to her giving up milk.

 

[luvdzne]

the day he was born. OMG what if he has ALWAYS had an allergy to some foods? Why wouldn't a doctor at least mention the possibility to us? He doesnt sleep either though so who knows....HEY can allergies affect your sleeping?
QUOTE]
It's me again, still can't figure out the multiple quoting thing, but I know you all like looking at my Gracie

This too has been my reaction to all this. I have discussed over and over again with dd pediatrician her behaviors and even how much she loves milk, never once mentioned a possible allergy. I keep telling my dh if all these years of screaming and fighting could have possibly been avoided

Some other things about dd, she has asthma (a seasonal thing, spring and fall) she has never really not been able to breath, just alot of wheezing and coughing. She also has difficulty sleeping at times, and still wets the bed (this also has been discussed with the doctors, however they just tell me she will grow out of it ) So now I wonder if any of this has any connection.

 

[Christine]

the day he was born. OMG what if he has ALWAYS had an allergy to some foods? Why wouldn't a doctor at least mention the possibility to us? He doesnt sleep either though so who knows....HEY can allergies affect your sleeping?
QUOTE]
It's me again, still can't figure out the multiple quoting thing, but I know you all like looking at my Gracie

This too has been my reaction to all this. I have discussed over and over again with dd pediatrician her behaviors and even how much she loves milk, never once mentioned a possible allergy. I keep telling my dh if all these years of screaming and fighting could have possibly been avoided

Some other things about dd, she has asthma (a seasonal thing, spring and fall) she has never really not been able to breath, just alot of wheezing and coughing. She also has difficulty sleeping at times, and still wets the bed (this also has been discussed with the doctors, however they just tell me she will grow out of it ) So now I wonder if any of this has any connection.

Do you treat her for her asthma? Asthma is not really about "never really not been able to breath." That's the last stage of asthma that you don't want to ever get to. Asthma is all about wheezing and coughing. If the wheezing and coughing are not being treated and your just "limping" through it, then there is another BIG explanation for some of your daughter's difficulties.

My son does have food allergies (egg and peanut). Of course, he avoids peanuts like the plague but he does eat stuff with egg in it. I don't believe his allergies have ever effected his behavior. I guess what I'm getting to is that you can have "intolerances" to foods and they may never show up on an allergy test. Your DD might not be clinically allergic but there could be something about a particular food that just doesn't do well in her system. Also, dairy products are significant "mucous producers" and, if she has asthma, it probably only aggravates it. I have had the cold/allergy/cough from HELL over the past six weeks and every time I eat ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, I end up coughing for the next hour.

 

[luvdzne]

Do you treat her for her asthma? Asthma is not really about "never really not been able to breath." That's the last stage of asthma that you don't want to ever get to. Asthma is all about wheezing and coughing. If the wheezing and coughing are not being treated and your just "limping" through it, then there is another BIG explanation for some of your daughter's difficulties.

My son does have food allergies (egg and peanut). Of course, he avoids peanuts like the plague but he does eat stuff with egg in it. I don't believe his allergies have ever effected his behavior. I guess what I'm getting to is that you can have "intolerances" to foods and they may never show up on an allergy test. Your DD might not be clinically allergic but there could be something about a particular food that just doesn't do well in her system. Also, dairy products are significant "mucous producers" and, if she has asthma, it probably only aggravates it. I have had the cold/allergy/cough from HELL over the past six weeks and every time I eat ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, I end up coughing for the next hour.

Yes, she is treated for her asthma. I just said she doesn't have trouble with actually breathing as I know there are different levels of asthma. Dh, DM, and Dsis also suffer from asthma. They all suffer from actually not being able to breath as well as the wheezing and coughing.

This spring, thanks to the singular she actually has not had any symptoms. I also do limit her dairy intake during these times as well as other foods that aggravate it when it is acting up. I never connect any of the foods with her behavior before. She does have less behavior problems when she is having problems with her asthma, and never associated it with giving her less milk.

 

[cats mom]

Christine made a good point about allergies not being the same as intolerances, although I think most people use the terms interchangeably.

I know I keep posting links, but there is so much info it's hard to post it all here. I figure if folks are interested they can take a look and if not my links are easily ignored.
So here I go with yet another link:

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/61/67474

This one has a basic, concise explanation re: Food Allergy vs. Intolerance and gives symptoms of both which several folks have asked about.
It also goes on to link to a lot of other pages if you're interested.

I absolutely think it makes a lot of sense to look into.

 

[luvdzne]

Christine made a good point about allergies not being the same as intolerances, although I think most people use the terms interchangeably.

I know I keep posting links, but there is so much info it's hard to post it all here. I figure if folks are interested they can take a look and if not my links are easily ignored.
So here I go with yet another link:

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/61/67474

This one has a basic, concise explanation re: Food Allergy vs. Intolerance and gives symptoms of both which several folks have asked about.
It also goes on to link to a lot of other pages if you're interested.

I absolutely think it makes a lot of sense to look into.

Thank you Cats mom for the link. I have tried doing searches and find it hard to find much information. I have been trying to find what the difference in the two were. Keep posting links, I find it very helpful .

DD has complained of stomach aches on and off for years, and the doctors just basically told me to ignore them as they were more than likely just behavior issues. They could not find a reason for them.

The more I am reading and finding out, I am leaning more on she has an intolerance than an allergy. She has been basically milk (dairy free) for a little over a week now. Tomorrow we are going to try adding a little dairy back to see how it goes. I will post an update.

 

[chell]

More aged cheeses don't have as much or any lactose if that is what causes her problems - so she may still be able to eat cheese.

 

[momsully]

I just posted a new thread about food allergies then found this one. DS7 has had stomach pain on and off for the past several months. The pediatrician called this morning with the results of his blood labs and he is allergic to milk, egg, wheat and corn as well as cats and dogs and lots of trees and grass.

From a behavior standpoint he never really had tantrums but has had trouble controlling impulses and gets upset very easily (which is more sulking for him). Food allergies is a whole new world for us and shopping today took forever. I asked on the other thread for ideas but thought I would jump in here as well.