Is my son lactose intolerant?!?

[Kittykat2027]

Hi, I am not sure if anyone on here can help me but I am at my whits end atm. My 4 year old has a very bloated tummy and suffers really bad with diarrhea and stomach aches when he has dairy it has prevented him from wanting to go the toilet. This has been a battle since he was born. He had colic and reflux as a baby and when he was put on full fat milk he would roll around on the floor in agony. At 4 he will not go the toilet for a poo at all sorry for tmi. I told the doctors 3 years ago that our nephew had the same. Issues and was lactose but no doctor is listening and it's so unfair to him he's only small he's only just going in to 2-3 year clothes. Please any advice would be helpful I want to help him.
Thankyou

Could be cows milk protein rather than lactose that is the issue. Have you tried lactose free cows milk/other dairy? It's freely available in the supermarket

Yes we did and it did seem to help but after a while it stopped helping him and he went back to having pains again. He's had a sample taken from his poo and their saying it's not lactose but something has to be up for his belly to swell so bad.

Maybe cows milk protein then. Has he been tested for coeliac disease?

Remember to consider other sources of lactose in his diet. When I changed my daughter's formula to low lactose it was like flipping a switch, so to me, this sounds like something else

Have you had him tested? You say he suffers when he has dairy, do you have time without dairy? If you do and he is fine without and not fine with then you have your answer and insist on seeing an allergy specialist. If it is not showing up on skin prickly / IGE blood tests it could be non IgE allergy or intolerance. In either case, if he is bethere without then keep him off and see how things go. (It's not like gluten where the presence of gluten is required for testing and reintroducing can be incredibly difficult.)

I’ve got CMPA and the symptoms do sound similar. Have a read of this from Allergy UK.

If you do think it’s CMPA you need to go to the GP and ask for a referral to a Paediatric Dietician. Like demented suggests, I’d look into Coeliac Disease too. Maybe ask the GP for testing.

Thank you for your replies, yes we have tried him without dairy and it seemed to help on the short term, but as he's gotten older he still seems effected I have just had a look at the link and you may be right they did a finger prick test on him in 2015 but I don't think it showed anything they have spoken about getting a specialist involved as they have tried him on movicole I think it's called and lactulose the sachets make him have diarrhoea but his stomach is still swollen and now he can tell us when he is uncomfortable but it's heartbreaking when he is asking me to make it stop hurting and I don't know how To. I am going to ring docs again tomorrow and C if there's anymore tests they can do

Thanks for responding to me. I feel slightly more hopeful of a solution.

If it’s non-ige CMPA I’m not sure they can do anymore tests. Half of all CMPA sufferers also have a problem with Soya as the proteins are so similar so it might be worth omitting Soya from his diet too. Totally agree with going to the GP first. The Alkergy UK link gives sone good tips on talking to your GP.

Hi you can buy lactose free products and try him on them make sure you check all products you buy you will be surprised how much food contains milk my son is dairy intolerant and husband lactose intolerant both get the symptoms you describe