Mumsnet Talk

OMG! Perfect timing for me. DS (3) has horrible eczema and we are at our wits' end with it, poor boy is not getting any better even with wet wrapping etc

Just recently SIL suggested he may have a problem with milk, she'd seen an episode of something (food doctor?) with a boy very similar... we have been wondering if we should try cutting it out or substituting it.

My doctor also suggested I try cutting out milk due to the pain I'm in, she didn't test or anything though. So it'd be me and DS trying it.

I would but my nearest store is 15 miles away.

So just to clarify - they are producing a product for people who have a "lifestyle" milk intolerance, but it is not suitable for those with a genuine diagnosed allergy/intolerance.

What exactly is the point of this product?

I assumed it is for people with a diagnosed problem too, but for the test they want undiagnosed people who haven't yet fully cut out dairy, to see if it makes a difference to them? Or something

From the a2 website:

"a2 Milk is not suitable for anyone who has been diagnosed with a milk allergy or lactose intolerance"

Oh! Hadn't seen that... bizarre!

Ok, have read more carefully, is if you are intolerant to the particular protein...

I think it's more that they don't want to risk anyone with a diagnosed milk allergy trying their product and having a bad reaction - understandable really.

yes, it is the protein that is the difference here, hence no good for lactose intolerant people.

I will ask dh later if hewants to try it out - he has a casein issue, as does dd1. we already know the a2 route is no good for dd1 (she cannot tolerate it and have tried goat/sheep/buffalo too), but dh might be interested.

This would be perfect test for both my children, DS has asthma & mild excema, DD has excema, they eat small amounts of dairy but I have found drinking cows milks or too much other dairy can exacerbate symptoms.
They drink alternative milk, oat, rice, almond etc so this would be an interesting experiment.
Neither are diagnosed with any allergy etc.

DD is diagnosed milk allergy. No good for us then

Done. DD2 had terrible eczema when I was eating dairy (cleared up since I became dairy free). Am a little worried in case DD2's eczema flares up again! Dermatologist doesn't think eczema is
Food related (!) so has suggested we 'challenge' her by introducing dairy into her diet - seems a bit cruel!

Umm...can I ask just how people will be able to give meaningful feedback after consuming just 2 litres of the product?

I can't imagine how any meaningful feedback can be obtained from such a short trial of a different dairy product.

I guess the only way of doing so would be to continue to purchase the milk once the vouchers have been used. So, I won't join, because it seems a bit like a marketing campaign to me. Let's face it, they've practically bought themselves an advertising campaign for £100.

fuzzpig please go to your GP and ask to be referred to allergy clinic! That programme really upset us, our DS is severely allergic to milk, and would have been experiencing the reactions they showed in that little boy on the programme if he was ingesting milk. It was so upsetting to see, when their GP could have taken action long before and helped to make things better.

Thanks curmit. His dermatologist is convinced it is not an allergic type, although she did get him tested for airborne allergens (which only came back as a very mild reaction with dust) and doesn't want to do any food tests - but we will push again. He was BF until turning 2 so never really drank any large volume of cows milk to see an obvious reaction, but has it on cereal/in cheese etc, and when I think about it, he didn't have eczema as young baby (like I did), it was towards his first birthday that it started getting bad, when he was eating more food... hmm.

fuzzpig do we have the same dermatologist?. Why do they feel food isn't eczema related?! DD2 had such bad eczema it became raw and infected. Once I stopped eating dairy myself, her eczema cleared up (ebf until weaning). Dermatologist still not convinced it's dairy related!

We saw a dermatologist at children's hospital, regularly, for a long time before we ever got referred to allergy clinic. They never suggested we cut out any food groups. They only suggest methods to improve, that are to do with skincare, as that is their specialist field. It took me nearly two years to get referred to the allergy clinic (It's actually called the chest clinic - for asthma allergies and so on) I took in the details of a doctor at a London hospital that a work colleague had recommended, and THEN all of a sudden GP suggested we could be refererred locally. Insist on a referral. The eczema docs, although very good at what they do, are not food allergy specialists. Hopefully it will come back as a negative result for you, but you should be given the option of a test. Good luck! x

I do feel a littie that mumsnet is giving credibility to this- it looks to the untrained eye to be bullshit rather than cow's milk..........

I saw something about this about 5-6 years ago on the lactose free clearinghouse blog. The supposed benefits are putative - much like those of goats milk which has very similar proteins to cows milk and still contains lactose.

I have a self diagnosed by deduction lactose intolerance, as does DS1. We manage it with a combination of milk substitutes and lactofree, which leave space for those nice junk foods that contain lactose anyway. Testing this stuff could say for me "it's definitely the lactose" and justify the raised eyebrow induced aches and pains.

And what exactly does "all natural" mean?

Aaa regular on the allergy boards together with many others, my bullshit detector is on high alert with this ...

It is all very well and good MN saying don't user it if you have a diagnosed allergy but as many of us know,getting a diagnosis is half the problem ....

Personally - and I am not a doctor but someone with a DS who is anaphylactic to all dairy- I would have thought this product would be useful to very, very few people but possibly dangerous to very many more - MN this was NOT a responsible decision to take if you have not run it by the major allergy organisations such as the Anaphylaxis campaign and Allergy UK - what was their view as a matter of interest?

I suspect my DC2 might have a dairy allergy, DC1 does and Dc2 has some but not all the same symptoms - no blood in poo or mucus but v bad nappy rash which DC1 had too and horrendous skin - DC2 is only 1 month - I don't fancy going dairy free while breast feeding so I'd give it a shot pick up is available from my local shop.

Done, really looking forward to this as my eczema gets on my last nerve!! Would be good to have an alternative dairy product