New to lactose intolerance - please help

[BlueberryPancake]

DS is now 11 months old and has had problems with diarrhoea since he got a nasty gastro anteritis when he was 6 months old. Went to GP and HV about this but nothing really came out of it, they said it would pass. Also, he has had difficulty with eating solids, was a very 'fussy' eater, the nursery was constently telling me how fussy he is with his food. He was eating very small portions and often refused to eat alltogether.
He had another gastro last week, and a very nice nutritionist suggested I'd put him on Soy milk for a few weeks to see if it would help his gut return to normal. I AM AMAZED AT THE DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE. Almost overnight (well, 3 days) he started having nice solid poos (tmi), the right colour if you know what i mean, he started eating with real appetite, asking for more food and openning his mouth very wide! He never ever did this before...
Anyway, I went to my GP who refered me to a pedeatrician to check if he is alergic to anything in his diet (milk) or if he is lactose intolerent.
I know it's not uncommon, so please if anyone have kids with this problem could you please tell me if this temporary 'diagnostic' looks like lactolerence to you? How do you deal with it in the normal diet? Will it be OK to move on to normal (adult) soya milk once DS turns one (he is now on SMA Wysoy)?

Thanks for all your help!

BP

dd was/is lactose intolerent. she is much better now. there are loads of hidden milk ingredients and loads of alternatives. i found this site very useful for what ingredients to look for and it has a forum.

www.milkfree.org.uk

good luck

Hi Bea,

How did your dd get diagnosed? What are the test(s)?

Cheers

It could be temporal, in such case it would be good to go back to his normal milk once he gets better (probably introduce it slowly but don't try until he has been fine for 2-3 weeks.

As for changing once he is one year old... If he is intolerant and is OK with formula I would extend the FF until he is 18m old. As long as he is eating a balanced diet he would be fine. But that's just me (I reverted to FF after DS got covered in flares after his first botle of cows milk but... he has a sensitive gut and plenty of food allergies so, you may not need to do the same)

DD1 appeared to have a temporary lactose intolerance last year following a stomach bug. Took her off all dairy for about three weeks before reintroducing and she was fine. Then it kicked off again this year (May) but this time no permanent improvement following withdrawal of milk etc. Had various tests done - one called RASE (I think!) which can test for allergy to milk, but not conclusive in confirming intolerance to it. Now being referred to a 'gut-clinic' as paed. consultant seems to think it might be an inflammation in her gut which is aggreviated by lactose rather than an actual intolerance! Suggest you get a referal from GP. Will probably suggest seeing a dietitian as well for some advice.

RAST I guess, is an allergy test not an intolerance test.

I would try to reintroduce (after a few weeks) the milk before trying to get tests, at this age, the intolerance may be long gone by the time you get an appointment (it took 18m for DS to get one for allergy testing after a reaction to peanuts! although I understand that the already very stressed allergy services of the country need to give priority to more severe cases).

DD only had a blood test - I think it was a RAST. However until a child is about 4 they are often inconclusive. She showed intolerance from about 6 weeks and seemed to be pretty much back to normal at about 18months. We still keep her on soya milk at home but she has milk when she goes to nursery.

Basically every few months we would try her out on say a little cheese or yoghurt and see how she reacted (poos and eczema). Eventually we found there was no change. Its a lot of trial and error.

We have also started to use ABCdopholius. Which is a good bacteria which is good for the stomach. Its a powder form and can be added to formula, drinks or food. I give it to both my children. It's not cheap but if it improves their digestion then there is no harm. It goes along way too.

HTH

Sorry forgot to say the outcome of the tests showed that she wasnt intolerent when she quite clearly was. So she was never formally diagnosed. Trust your own judgement as you know your child far better than anyone else.

BP - my DD is lactose intolerant too (18 mo). I bf'd until she was 14 mths old and then when I switched fully (she had been having the odd bit of cows milk before) to cows milk she started getting the awful nappies like you describe (and possetting too) - this also coincided with a gastro bug so I am unsure whether it was the bug or she has always been like this (she was a colicky baby and apparently there are links). Unfortunatley unlike you I've had no joy whatsoever with my GP (this has been going on for months) she refuses to refer my DD to anyone so I am pretty much working in the dark on this (and we have private medical but without a referral we cannot do anything). .

Through process of elimination I've found DD can stomach cheese (both cream and hard - the latter particularly has a v small amount of lactose in it), and fromage frais/yoghurts (the bio culture they use in them does something to the lactose to make it more tolerable). But she cannot stomach cows milk to drink. I guess we are lucky in that she can therefore get some calcium in her diet pretty easily.

I did manage to get a GP to prescribe lactose free formula (SMA LF) for a 6 wk period and took DD off cows milk during this time (although did continue with cheese/yoghurts and hidden milk i.e. organic biscuits etc) and she was like a different child. Her poohs returned to 'normal' in both consistency and frequency and she put on an awful lot of weight (prob too much!). However, once I returned her to cows milk after the 6 wks recommended by the GP, within 2 wks, the symptoms returned

I haven't bothered with the GP again as she blatantly told me she did not think DD had a lactose intolerance and that "she would grow out of it". I was v angry!

I have recently done some research and found a product by Biocare called Lactase Enzyme Liquid which I have just started to use for DD. You add 4 drops to a pint of ff cows milk and after 24 hrs you can use the milk - it hydrolyses (sp) it and changes the lactose molecules to make them digestible. It is the same stuff they give to babies with colic (but suitable from 3 mths old). I have been using this for one week now and so far so good.

My next step would have been to try goats milk (I prefer this over soya milk - as soya can be an allergen in itself and doesn't suit all babies).

Sorry this is long - I hope you get somewhere with the paed/referral. In the meantime, it's a case of trial and error.

HTH.

Twoshoot - you will find that Goats milk maybe ok for your LO but also has similar protien to cows. You are right about soya and that those with a dairy intolerance can also have a problem with soya. Luckily our DD didnt have a problem. However we used Pepti Junior which was prescribed by a paediatrician.

As for your GP you should either change or write to your local PCT about them. They cannot refuse a referral to a Paediatrician. They are not experts which is why they are GENERAL practitioners. I would be very cross too. I hope you are able to persue this.

Good luck

Hi

three of the five of us (me included) have milk intolerances, casein for me and DS1, lactose for ds3.

Soya has a high sugar content, ds1 lost teeth to it very yung (he's only 6 now!). There wasn't much else available then, but ds3 gets enfamil lactofree on rpescription and it's fantastic- palatable for me too, which frankly is pretty unusual! I hate soya, but I do like porridge etc made with rice milk.

It is certainly the case that many people develop a temporary lactose intolerance after an illness, in older kids I would recommned holland and barratt probiotics but sadly your lo is a bit young atm.

In the meantime, there's lots available these days- alpro yoghurts and swedish glace ice cream are divine, and Asda do these macaroons int he free froms ection- yummm!

I have to agree about the soya, but I may be a bit paranoid as DS is VERY allergic to soya, and of all his allergies that's the one that gives us more work.

temporary lactose intolerance is common after bugs, temporary can be a long time, probiotics and lactase help. Source ones suitable for babies on the internet - e.g biocare or solgar. Sorry to be short - second time I've typed soemthing similar tonight. The other one was constipation but gut problems can cause one or the other and the causes/remedies can be the same.
If your child isn't on special milk free formula they need a calcium supplement too.

From the experience of my and my partner's family I wouldn't trust anyone other than an allergy consutlant to get this right. Unfortunately few of them see private patients and you have to wait forever to get a referral. Paediatricians are often happy to go along with what you tell them, though

Check out the other threads - you'll see Gt Ormond Street recommending milk free diet for a gut problem.