Any ideas for a diagnosis??

[Imstickingwiththisone]

My DD had suspected reflux as a baby but always put on weight. Her nappies were always pretty horrendous but I had nothing to compare it to so never realised for a long time that it wasn't normal. After a bog standard virus it would get even worse with her exploding almost immediately after a bottle of formula. GP wasn't helpful at all and just said it was teething without even doing any checks. At the time I read about secondary lactose intolerance so would try her on lactose free formula which saw an instant improvement. I would then wean her back onto ordinary formula. I did this whenever it got really bad and would change her to lactofree milk once she was on ordinary cow's milk. Sometimes the virus which caused it was just a cold and never a gastro type bug.

DD is now 4. She farts constantly and has been on movicol since she was 2 when she got traumatised by a nasty bout of constipation. Have tried weaning her off it but she starts to get constipated each time and immediately gets frightened to go.

Anyway.... DD has had a couple of ice creams in the last week and has ended up pooing herself afterwards. She hasn't been ill. I'm finally trying to look at the bigger picture and get to the bottom of this. I will take her to see a GP but don't have a lot of confidence there.

Could this be CMPI?? Her symptoms aren't constant except for the farting. She used to complain about tummy aches but doesn't anymore.

Sorry that was long. It's just some of the symptoms are subtle and span years ... I'm going to avoid dairy altogether tomorrow to rule out a tummy bug and was thinking of trying ice cream on Wednesday as that has been the common denominator in this last week.

It would be great to stop the farting as she has no control whatsoever and I know she doesn't like doing it in front of people at school etc.

The symptoms of CMPA are varied and can be subtle and insidious. My DS3 was finally diagnosed at 15 months after being in pain and distress for such a long time. The GP and Health Visitor were baffled. Within a week of cutting dairy he went from waking up six times a night to once or twice a night. When DS4 was born I went dairy free immediately as a precaution and unfortunately he turned out to have CMPA too. Because he was breastfed I had to cut dairy as well (and soya, eggs and coconut) and low and behold my perennial rhinitis went away overnight. I've since discovered I can have up to cheese on the milk ladder but milk, cream and yogurt trigger my rhinitis. Since then my DS2 decided to give up milk after a milk drinking competition with DS1 left him with a really bad stomach ache. He used to lie awake at night crying with a sore tummy, that hasn't happened once since he stopped drinking milk every night.

In my opinion food intolerance is probably a lot more widespread than we realise and people are living with mild but chronic symptoms such as IBS, diarrhoea, frequent tummy bugs, etc. without realising that it is something simple but ubiquitous, such as dairy or milk, that is the source of their suffering.

Cut dairy (you're going to have to read a lot of labels as dairy is in all sorts of weird things) for at least two weeks and you'll find out pretty quickly whether it's a problem or not.

Rereading your post, my DS3 is 4 as well and he can't tell that he needs a poo if he eats dairy. My DH gave him pizza at the weekend and he's pooed himself twice since then. My DS4 farts like mad if he gets anything he's allergic to. It does sound like CMPA is a likely cause. It's worth looking at the other common allergens too because soya allergy often goes along with CMPA and egg allergy is also common. It can make it harder to spot allergies because a lot of people only cut dairy and their child keeps having symptoms because they have multiple allergies.

Thanks Stunt. I read that lactose intolerance is rare at this age unless it is secondary so I'm guessing CMPI is more likely.

DD used to complain about tummy aches a lot but not often these days. In the past we never knew if she was making it up because she never seemed really distressed and it was always at bedtime... I would give her a belly rub but was always a bit

I think I will do as planned and avoid dairy totally tomorrow and see if ice cream triggers the same reaction on Wednesday. Then start a food diary. So many of her symptoms are subtle that I don't know if I'm blowing it out of proportion and if I would even be able to record the chronic symptoms. It's a bit of a mine field but if I don't investigate now after a couple of humiliating incidents for DD (having poo accidents in front of her friends) then it'll carry on with her farting away on movicol for god knows how long until her next bad episode.

Those symptoms do sound like CMPA. Like I said, I didn't realise I was dairy intolerant until I was 39. I had even been offered an operation for my perennial rhinitis when in fact all I needed to do was cut dairy.

I wouldn't do a dairy trial during the week if she's likely to have an accident. Why not do it on Friday and then she has the weekend to recover?

If she does have an issue with dairy then you will need to cut it out completely for a long time, probably months. That will allow her gut to start to heal. Probiotics might help although it can be hard to find dairy free ones. There are lots of Facebook groups for CMPA where you can ask for advice.

Thanks again stunt. I'm doing the ice cream test tomorrow after nursery as DD doesn't go on a Thurs or Fri so will be able to recover if the results are as I predict they will be.

She doesn't drink a lot of milk on the whole, just a mouthful before bed as tradition! Not sure whether there's much reaction to cheese which is why the food diary would be useful.

I'm also thinking about my niece now who has had terrible eczema and bowel problems since tiny

So the ice cream test didn't garner quite the same results. DD went to the toilet about an hour after but not explosive.. will be starting the food diary and monitoring more closely.