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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

Eczema and i am sure a milk allergy

47 replies

Haily111 · 27/04/2007 16:44

Hello all, my dd seems to be very sensitive to milk. (full fat cows milk) She has eczema anyway but when i add a little bit of milk in her food, her eczema gets very bad and she gets very itchy (she is 11 months) is it worth trying her on soya or shall i speak to my gp and what will he do allergy tests?

Thank you

OP posts:

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 20:30

it will show up on skin prick testing if its an immediate reaction to milk product, and its usually a very reliable way of testing in the under 2's. Blood testing however is more unreliable for this age group due to immature immune system.
However... nothing is 100% perfect, and their are people who know they have an a;;ergy to something, but skin prick testing is negative and others who ieat a certain food with no problem and same gives a massive skin prick testing response... so again nothing is entirely straight forward

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 20:30

there not their.........appalling!

PinkTulips · 27/04/2007 20:36

erm... our dietician and other health care professionals around here claims otherwise, they say the only conclusive tests are R.A.S tests which are blood tests and they will also do elimination tests and purposfully give a possible alergan in a controled hospital environment and monitor the child for a reaction

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 20:48

ermm they're RAST tests....!!
skin prick testing is more sensitive and for the under 2's pretty painless.
Blood tests on a chubby armed toddler are much more difficult!

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 20:50

they should however probably have both RAST and skin prick testing in the under 2 who has severe eczema

foxinsocks · 27/04/2007 20:55

the RAST blood tests were done first on our dd and then the skin prick tests. She was negative for milk on both of those (but very positive for egg in both) but reacted to milk in the Food Tolerance Test (which is what I thought would happen). She did outgrow her milk allergy at 2.

I agree with friendlyeejit - we had a list of all the veggies/fish that had calcium in. Although I'm sure it's possible to get a lot of calcium that way, the nature of feeding small babies and toddlers means that milk is probably the most effective way of getting calcium into them.

I was taken off milk as a child as my parents believed I was intolerant/allergic and have now been diagnosed with osteopenia - largely (I believe, though have no proof of this) because my diet was very calcium poor even though I ate loads of fruit and veg.

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 20:55

Haily111, is your dd eczema despite the milk allergy issue being treated adequately?
are you using any topical steroids and bucket loads of emollients?

SusanStoHelit · 27/04/2007 21:02

radio allergo sorbent testing (RAST) or RAS Testing

no need to be snippy, i'm only sharing the information i was given for my dd. and i didn't say RAS testing alone, i was told that it would be thouroughly backed up with elimination tests and exposure tests.

and for what it's worth i do think one prick is easier for a toddler to hold still for than several!

foxinsocks · 27/04/2007 21:04

I also should say that my dd's eczema was very similar sounding to your dd's haily and it was only on cutting out all dairy and switching to the hypoallergenic that it got better (miraculously so).

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 21:15

Pink tulips why have you changed into susanstohelit..?
not really being snippy but more reactive to erm.. it is almost a full moon after all!
it is really a RAST though.. and we should probably agree to differ on the blood test front.
Hope you got all your answers by the way

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 21:18

foxinsocks- did your little one take to the hypoallergenic formula immediately, as some babies have problem with flavour?
they can give miraculous results with eczema that isn't responding to adequate treatment.

DEATH · 27/04/2007 21:19

AM IN A PRATCHETTY MOOD TONIGHT FRIENDLY

IS IT A FULL MOON?

DeathOfRats · 27/04/2007 21:22

eek eek squeak eek 'scythe'

foxinsocks · 27/04/2007 21:23

no, she didn't. In fact, just thinking about it brings back memories of the weekend from hell (she's 6 now so it was a while ago!). I had to go back to work, there wasn't a formula around that she didn't react to (because she had major problems with the soya too - all it had to do was touch her lips and the hives would come up)....so nutramigen it was. They told us, to start off with, we could mix nesquik or sugar into it (then take it out) but I could tell nothing would mask the taste so I had to give up breastfeeding completely cold turkey and swap to the nutramigen.

I know it sounds TERRIBLY cruel but basically I sat inside, sobbing, and just waited till she was so hungry that she just wolfed down a whole bottle (I won't tell you how long it took ) - it really was the only way - that and making sure the bottle was lukewarm so the foul taste wasn't so obvious.

Once she took to it, our lives changed dramatically. Her eczema (which was red raw) cleared up within a matter of days, she started sleeping and her reflux improved a bit. It worked complete miracles for us!

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 21:26

not quite full moon but IT'S COMING SOOOOOOOOOOOON!
may just get out a few tools meself..brushes dust off shoulders and flexes small toes!

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 21:29

sounds horrid fox in socks, hadn't heard of the nesquick trick must find out.
Good to hear you got through and that she's grown out of it all now.

foxinsocks · 27/04/2007 21:34

(just check the ingredients list - at the time, only one flavour could be used as the others had milk and soya in. I think someone told me recently, that all of them had milk and soya in now so they may be unsuitable!)

friendlyedjit · 27/04/2007 21:36

thanks for that, will have a wee look

foxinsocks · 27/04/2007 21:40

have just checked (sorry to be totally anal about this but as I'm looking and in case anyone else reads this!) - it says on the nestle site, all flavours are milk free and all flavours except chocolate are soya free.

amidaiwish · 28/04/2007 09:46

the ocado man has just been and now i have Rice Dream (added calcium)
am going to try DD2 on that... any one have any experience?

SusanStoHelit · 28/04/2007 09:51

rice is one of the most non allergenic food available so you should be fine but do make sure he's getting lots of calcium, protein, fats, and all the other good stuff milk would give, from elsewhere

thedogsbollox · 28/04/2007 14:37

Having had two children who are dairy intolerant, but of the projectile vomiting variery rather than exzema type, you should see your GP and ask for a referral to an NHS dietician for advice.

It is hellishly difficult to get sufficient calcium into a young child ime. Don't forget white bread, baked beans and breakfast cereals which are calcium fortified. Some veg is also good, think anything that has a hard stalk like brocolli, cauliflower. Tahini, cashews and seseme seeds all good too. You can stir a spoonfull of tahini paste into gravy/sauses etc.

I know friendlyedjit in RL, and believe me, she really knows what she is talking about so I would certainly listen carefully to what she has to say!

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