lactaise tablets................anyone heard of them, do they REALLY help????

[InvisiblePsychomumVowelThief]

finally finally, after 3yrs frustration with DS2's docs and paeds, we have a DX regarding his allergies.

he was tested positive to milk as a baby and was put onto pregomin formula. I also breastfed, but I was missing so many nutriants myself, plus I was ill too, that he just did not thrive on my milk alone and so needed the formula.

he stayed on the formula until he was five, and also had soya from the age of 2. however, he has still been reacting to stuff so he is queried celiac too (and was on the gluten-free diet until he stopped eating completely........now on normal altho he is still a PITA to feed and we are waiting for the next app. however, I digress....)

he has been allergy tested twice now since he was five (now 6) for milk allergy, each time coming up neg, which sounds great yet he still reacts and I have been made to feel as tho we are imagining the reactions (yeah right).

anyhooooooooooooo.........finally another lot of allergy testing, a different consultant, one who listened, and one who actually took a detailed history of my allergies!

he said that DS2 has been tested each time for a reaction to cows milk protein as that is what I am allergic to and what he reacted to as a baby. now, baby allergies can be grown out of, I am very aware of that, but I know that DS2 still reacted.

this time he was tested for lactose, and that came up positive....finally they listened!

he is also allergic to pollen......I expected that, he has bad hayfever.

anyway.......the consultant has suggested lactaise tabs from the health food shop. this is apparently the enzyme he is missing to be able to digest lactose and if this means he can have ice-cream everyday I am willing to go buy, but I want to ensure they will work before raising hopes etc.

so, anyone had any experience in them??? and did they help, and are they easy to take?? (or do I crush them and put them on the food?)

TIA

[misi]

yes, I used to sell lactase tabs and they do work if used correctly but lactase if to digest lactose, milk sugar not casien etc the milk proteins so if he is intolerant to lactose and milk protein, the only real way to go is to stop all diary. if lactose only, then lactase tabs will work but you will need advice as most brands on sale are based on adult doses. has he ever tested positively for soya? if he has been tested and is negative, then switch to soya if he will drink it, my son is coming up to 5 now and drinks soya rather than cows milk due to a lactose problem when younger. he's fine now but likes the taste now (yuck!!)

[InvisiblePsychomumVowelThief]

thanks for the reply.

he is on soya milk.....was on special formula as a baby, then went over to soya milk last year.......no ill effects from that.

they tested him for milk protein allergy which came back positive as a baby, then negative last year, so we tried him back on cows milks, but he reacted badly with bad pooh and bloating........we put him back onto soya then and since then I have been trying to get him tested again for milk.

he reacted to lactose (which I suspected) and so they suggested the lactase tabs......he can eat small amounts of dairy now, but obviously if we are out he wants normal icecream......all well and good only if he has milk based products 3+days running he is ill!

we all follow a dairy-free-ish diet at home anyway tho as I am allergic and two of my DD's react too!

[misi]

shop.questvitamins.co.uk/xcart/product.php?productid=2984&cat=0&page=1

these are the ones I have always sold and reccommended before, quest is a very good brand that many practitioners use.

www.solgar.co.uk/modules/shop/view.asp?catid=14&Prodcode=E810 is another very good brand and these come as wafers so may be easier to eat for a child when out?

sorry for some reason I missed the line of your post about soya

you can get many soya products now too, like icecream, yoghurts etc but I am sure you know about that.
provamel do a good range; www.provamel.co.uk/Eng_ENG/getpage.asp?i=453

if you need to know more about the lactase tabs, you can always e mail quest, they are normally very helpful. never e mailed solgar but I should think they will be helpful too

[tatt]

yes lactase tablets can help and you can get lactase drops for babies, might be easier for them to take. You can also get digestive enzymes to help with gluten. If he is gluten intolerant and you are gluten free you may find he can have milk without lactase as problems with milk are sometimes due to gluten intolerance.

Posted where I got my gluten enzymes on another thread, haven't time to look it up again.

[psychomum5]

thankyou both

misi, tis ok, I did wonder if you had misread me or something....I do that too....far too much at times.

thankyou for the links...will look them up later.

tatt.....interesting about the gluten being connected to milk issues.......I have never heard of that but it makes sense going on how he is!! (and me too for that matter.)

[tatt]

nice shortish explanation here nomilk.com/eagan.shtml from someone wh had both gluten and milk issues