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Allergies and intolerances

Allergy? Intolerance?

6 replies

ItsAMiracle2015 · 11/05/2015 08:57

Hi there, just joined and first post :)

I am a first time mum to a 9-week old and as much as I'd love to say it's been wonderful to be honest the last 3/4 weeks have been hell.

To explain; feeding time is horrific, I breastfed for the first 6 weeks but supplemented with formula - he will drink fine and then halfway through he will start crying and whining, arch his back, clench his fists and turn away from the bottle. Then he's cry as he's hungry, take the bottle and then start again (this went on for hours until he just fell asleep through exhaustion). He vomits occasionally (projectile) but he obviously gulps a lot after he's eaten but is fine lying down after he's eaten. Then about an hour after he's eaten the cramps start; where he will scream for 2 hours and you can see his stomach spasm. At first I thought it was gas so made sure he was properly winded during this awful feeding time - normally will get about 2-3 burps a time and also bought the anti-colic MAM bottles. I use infacol at every feeding.

The thing is this only happens during the day; from 8am to 8pm and then he sleeps amazingly until 4am and then again until 8am. He's also had eczema across his forehead and eyebrows since 2 weeks.

Anyway; after countless trips to the GP she has prescribed Ranitidine and Nutramigen and today is his 3rd day on both and he's like a different baby - feeding times are bliss in comparison and his eczema is starting to clear up.

My question is do you think it's an allergy or intolerance or reflux? I've heard horrible things about Ranitidine and don't really want him taking it but I have no idea and just want him not to be in pain.

Any advice would be amazing! (Sorry for the long post!)

Thank you :)

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dairyfreequeen · 11/05/2015 19:15

Reflux is a pretty common symptom of a cows milk allergy, so the ranitidine might be helpful regardless? If you wanted to stop giving it to him, i would wait a few weeks as dairy takes a good 2-3 weeks to leave your system (i have even heard 6 weeks). Are you exclusively formula feeding? hth, allergy babies are hard work in those early days!

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ItsAMiracle2015 · 12/05/2015 05:28

Thank you dairyfreequeen that's helpful; wasn't sure if now he's on nutramigen then the reflux would automatically stop or if it was a separate thing? The eczema on his forehead is already clearing up which makes me think it is an allergy and he seems happier and more content but didn't know if it was the nutramigen or the ranitidine? I was exclusively breast feeding for the first 6 weeks but the screaming and crying at the breast was just too stressful and upsetting. I'm just hoping things will get easier to be honest...

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dairyfreequeen · 12/05/2015 22:25

sounds a lot like allergy! my ds' symptoms were at the other end, wind, cramps, diahrrea, blood in his (green) nappies so i dont know too much about reflux. In a way Im glad it was so severe so we didnt have the weeks of traipsing back and forth to the gp, we were sent straight to a&e. If your gp does think its a cows milk protein allergy then they should refer you to a dietitian & pediatrician; most babies grow out of it and they should give you advice about trialling dairy again when the time comes. did it get worse when you started normal formula? that would usually be a clear sign i think

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ItsAMiracle2015 · 12/05/2015 23:30

Yeah we had the wind and cramps too but GP just said I wasn't burping him enough and/or it's colic and he'd grow out of it! I will request that we're referred - thank you didn't know that! Thought it was hard enough to be a first time mum! Yes it got loads worse when we switched formula; went through 4 different types as thought he just didn't suit the particular one he was on. Tried colief, gripe water, infacol. Did yours have problems feeding too?

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dairyfreequeen · 13/05/2015 10:46

yep we had the colic line too, but thankfully no feeding issues, he would be upset about an hour after and generally want to comfort feed. My hv didnt believe it was allergy related for ages because his weight gain was so good, but he was only 3 weeks old when we found out so who knows how things would have panned out. Check out cowsmilkallergysupport.webs.com, its a useful website and has some good facebook support groups associated with it. Glad things are improving!