Can an intolerence turn into an allergy?

[mawbroon]

I know that an intolerence and an allergy are quite different, but I am wondering if an intolerence can escalate into an allergy.

DS (almost 2) has quite a serious egg allergy and now I am suspecting that dairy is aggrivating his tummy after a nasty bug he's had over the last couple of weeks. Food is whooshing through in around 8 hours - eg raisins that went in at breakfast time are coming out in the afternoon and the stuff in his nappies really isn't very well digested He hasn't done much by way of solid poop since he had an awful tummy bug in May this year and it's taken me this long to even think that it was the dairy doing it. I am taking him off all food for a couple of days to help his tummy heal, and only giving him breastmilk.

Given his allergic nature, is it possible that this could turn into an allergy if I don't get it sorted, or is that just not how it works?

[wb]

Well, it can do - happened to my mum w. chillis - but its not that unusual for kids not to be able to tolerate dairy very well following a bad tummy bug. Something to do with imbalances in the gut flora, I think.

I'd consider taking him off dairy (all dairy not just milk/cheese) for a month or so, until his tummy (and poos) are back to normal, then try reintroducing it gradually. Obviously if taking him off dairy makes no difference then you'll know that's not the prob.

My doctor did tell me that tummy bugs in young children can take weeks and weeks to clear - much longer than in older kids/adults. So it is possible that he may not be over his last one.

[CastsSpellsWitchySpells]

I'd echo what wb says, but also remind you that he will be getting some dairy through your breastmilk, unless you are also on an exclusion diet.

How's his salad spinner obsession btw?

[mawbroon]

Thanks for your reply wb. Yes, I have taken him off dairy completely for now. After a couple of days with just breastmilk, I will start him off on really bland stuff like rice and see how it goes. He did a couple of solid poops at the weekend, and then I made him his porridge with milk (had been using water, but it's vile poor boy) and then that started it all off again.

[mawbroon]

Ahem CastsSpellsWitchySpells (who are you btw?) I'm not a cow. Although I think you mean from the dairy that I'm eating. Perhaps cutting out dairy myself might be the way to go if there's no improvement.

Still obsessed with the salad spinner. He is currently having a want to draw phase. Or rather, he wants mummy to draw things for him phase. He hands me the crayons and then says what he wants me to draw. Funnily enough, the salad spinner features quite regularly on his wish list.

[pageturner]

Your post struck a chord with me mawbroon. Last Easter (2006) my ds2 at 3.3 had a really bad tummy bug, I mean reaaaaaally bad, and didn't have any solid poos for months. We had lots of gp and hospital appointments which resulted in us identifying a nightshade family intolerance: potato, tomato, aubergine, peppers etc. So yes, a tummy bug can trigger an intolerance, but it could be to anything!

[mawbroon]

So how quickly did things improve after elimination of these things pageturner? Can they do any tests to determine an intolerence or is it just trial and error?

[CastsSpellsWitchySpells]

lol at the drawing .
It's CantSleepWontSleep btw - obviously not as obvious as I'd hoped!
Yes that is what I meant re the dairy - my dd is intolerant and reacted very badly to the bits of dairy I had been eating which passed into my milk, hence I have been excluding dairy myself since we discovered this at 4 months.

[mawbroon]

Oh sorry, I didn't recognise you.

I will consider the dairy thing for myself, but I don't want to change everything all at one go because then we won't know what's done the trick when we (hopefully) see some improvement.

[mummypig]

hi there after a stomach bug dairy can give people diarrhoea even if they don't usually have an intolerance. It's because we don't have the ability to digest milk ourselves and rely on gut flora to do it for us. A bug changes the balance in gut flora. So ideally after a bug anyone should stop having dairy foods for a while and probably take prebiotics or probiotics as well (not necessarily in supplement form though - food like onions are very good at helping the 'good bacteria' reistablish themselves.

But the danger is that it could turn into a long-term intolerance, although I'm not exactly sure how this happens. I think the mechanism is different to an allergy though, so I wouldn't think your child is becoming allergic.

I would usually give links to back up my assertions but have to dash to town before collecting my kids from school so shouldn't really be on mn at the moment but couldn't resist joining in on this one.

[mawbroooooooooon]

LOL mummypig - i shouldn't be on MN either, I have loads to do.

I do as a rule stop dairy any time he has a tummy bug. This is mainly because one of his cousins developed a long term intolerence after a particularly nasty bug and I saw the effects this has on him and want to avoid it for ds. I don't introduce dairy again until there has been solid poop and in the past it has been ok, however the reintroduction this time has triggered it all off again.

I think I am right in saying that all the pre and probiotics he needs are in my breastmilk, however if everything is whooshing through at a rate of knots, it won't be having time to work properly.

[tatt]

The bacteria in your gut help digest lactose and temporary lactose intolerance is common after illness. Unfortunately ask your gp what "temporary" means and you'll just get how long is a piece of string. This isn't an allergy - which usually (not always) presents with rashes/ swelling rather than digestive problems.

You can also buy lactase, an enzyme that helps digest milk. This allowed my lactose intolerant partner to eat out without worrying about milk traces so I think its great stuff.

If the gut is damaged by long term exposure to something it can't handle then you can permanently lose the ability to digest lactose. Still not an allergy - but it can be even more of a nuisance. Even if you're breast feeding some probiotics would probably help restablish healthy gut flora faster. I'd play safe and get some if it was me, because I know what a pain it is avoiding lactose.

[mawbroooooooooon]

So where do I get probiotics and lactase then?

[pageturner]

Mawbroon, there was improvement really quickly. We don't eat a huge amount of potato anyway, so excluding just tomato showed an improvement within about a week. Then after about 10 days he had some crisps at a party and the reaction was quite quick, so we cut that out too. Within two weeks he was back as he should be, though it took some time for him to be able to establish any control (now there'sthe understatement of the year!) because he hadn't been able to 'feel' it for so long.

Now, if he inadvertently eats something he shouldn't, as has happened a couple of times, he can have a reaction as quickly as 10 minutes. It can take 4-5 days for the irritation to settle down though. Thankfully, as time goes on, the reaction is becoming less severe: ds had a tiny amount of tomato the other day and there doesn't seem to have been any reaction at all, whereas in the past, even a tiny quantity in stock or something, would have had extreme consequences. The consultant says is can take 12-18 months to go altogether, but children generally do grow out of them.

[tatt]

try a health food store if you have one nearby or you can source them on the internet. I don't have time to google them now but I've posted links before if you want to do a search on mumsnet.

[mawbroooooooooon]

Thanks for that tatt, although I am hoping that he's not going to need it. He had solid poop yesterday which is a huge breakthrough.

We already do complete elimination of egg because his allergy is pretty nasty, but heck, eliminating dairy is even more difficult - it's in everything . I will just have to be super organised and take snacks and food with me wherever we go I reckon. Worth it though, I hate seeing ds ill.