allergy, intolerance, testing?

[spod]

I'm so fed up, feel like we're being fobbed off by doctors. dd has awful night time wind and bloating... she screams and screams and screams. i think its a wheat/gluten problem, but doctor not convinced although he says to keep her gluten free till she's 2.5yrs. I am certain that she must have a food intolerance, her belly gets so bloated and she gets awful trapped wind. she is much better now gluten free but still has episodes and i cant pinpoint a cause. all i get told is 'babies get wind', 'she'll grow out of it', 'try so-and-so product'... generally feel fobbed off, meanwhile dd is in pain. what should i do?

[misdee]

how old is she?

[spod]

16 months... had this problem since 8/9 months... when weaning. fully bf till 6 months... no probs when just on bmilk

[spod]

any ideas?

[hercules]

have you seen a specialist?
there is a british allery foundation website with iirc a helpline to people who know about such things,

[misdee]

i'd carry on with gluten free, maybe also look into the possibility of diary free as well but only under gp/dietician supervision.

[spod]

we've seen a peadiatrician... who did antibody tests for milk and gluten, both returned normal (but dd was already gluten free, so no surprise there). Perhaps it isnt gluten, starting to doubt myself, so desperate to know whats causing her pain. why would she be so bloated and have so much trapped wind... she farts freely all day, I did try her diary free before tried gluten, it made no difference.

[misdee]

intolernces are harder to detect than true allergies.

let me see if i can find the name of the book u may want to invest in.

[spod]

thanks misdee

[spod]

here we go, dd screaming again....

[misdee]

Food allergy and intolernce- brostoff and Gamlin

isbn 0-7475-3430-6

i bought it when dd1 was a baby as a way to try and understand why she was reacting with asthma/eczema etc, but as she is atopic she reacts to everything and anything. dd2 however was gluten intolerent for well over a year, kept her additive free, egg free, but not dairy free as that didnt affect her. if she had any foods that contain gluten, egg or additives she would projectile vomit, have bad tummy pains. she also was very pooey (in fact still is). she couldnt tolerate some anti biotics, but as it wasnt a true allergic reaction it was hard getting gp to take it seriously. her body literally reacted to them straight away and she would vomit.

[spod]

thanks misdee. will look for the book. dd is also very pooey, although never sick. when she gets like this i can place my hand on her belly really gentlly and feel so many bubbles in there, and even kneeling beside her cot, can hear her belly churning and bubbling away, that cant be normal. She seems okay with egg (ie havent noticed that it causes or exaccerbates her problem) and can't think that she has that much in the way of additives as i cook all her food.

[tatt]

have you tried adding probiotics do her diet - they help quite a few digestive problems. Could be an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut - maybe its a yeast problem rather than gluten?

[spod]

i did try probiotics once and saw now difference. dont think she has yeast in her diet

[tatt]

does she have any bread? This is more about a yeast free diet www.drmyhill.co.uk/article.cfm?id=43

[SabineJ]

I have had similar issue with DS as he is allergic to cow's milk and egg. Took me time to pinpoint what he was allergic to but the best that I could suggest is to ask - demand - your GP to refer him to an allergy clinic. They can do skin test to check what your dd is allergic to and give advise on the nturitinal point of view (Normally there is a dietician available to help).
Good luck, I inow by experience that trying exclusion diet is really hard work !

[tatt]

problem is that allergy tests won't detect food intolerance, only a response that involves IgE. You can be very ill from food intolerance and it won't show on an allergy test, only on an elimination diet. Have a look at the webpage, spod, as the symptoms it mentions sound to me like what you are describing and there are natural yeasts on some foods that your child may have eaten. If it doesn't sound the same to you you've only lost a few minutes.

[spod]

oh god, now i'm confused... soon, all she'll be eating is carrots. i have emailed the pead to say that i'm not happy with treatment so far... see what they say

[tatt]

if the paed isn't helpful how about asking to see a dietician or a specialist in nutritional medicine? Some allergy clinics are also helpful on food intolerance as they have teams of people with different areas of expertise - the Southampton one has a good reputation but it doesn't see people privately and waiting lists are long. Lamb is rarely a source of problems and less common grains like quinoa should be Ok to eat. A different probiotic might be worth a try too too - there have been some discussions on mumsnet about the best one to try.

[NatureDoc]

You can do an intolerance screening through a company called Diagnostic Services though Nutri on 0800 212 742 for £100. Its quite pricey but at least you know. It is best to go through a local naturopath who will be good at interpreting the results etc and working out the underlying problem. They may be able to give you a list of people who do this in your area. Otherwise try www.gni-international.org or if you are near London I can orgnaise it [email protected]. BEST of luck.