What if it's not an allergy?

[mummalish]

I suspected my baby had an allergy to cows milk after vomiting on formula on a few separate occasions. I saw an absolutely wonderful allergy specialist who took the time to listen to me, and was very thorough. She said it certainly SOUNDS as if he may be allergic to cows milk. She gave him a skin prick test, and tested for soya, milk, peanut and egg allergies. They were all negative.

We had bloods taken, so awaiting those results. We have been advised to stay away from milk and given alternative formula, recipes for milk free meals, etc.

All this is wonderful, and I am so grateful for this level of care, but how do they know for sure he is allergic without seeing the blood test results.

I dont think i was overreacting by taking him to see an allergy doctor, as he vomited violently 3 times after drinking small amounts of formula. BUT, he had formula quite happily in the first few days of his life until my milk came in. Also, I drink milk, eat cheese, yogurt etc, and it has had no effect on him through my breastmilk.

I know that some babies get a rash, or hives after drinking milk, and we have had none of that. So I just want to be 100% certain that he is allergic before denying him milk etc.

Will the blood results show either a definite allergy, or defintitely no allergy, for me it has to be one or the other, no "maybe", or "it seems he may be allergic".

Does this make sense?

It could show a borderline allergy. You may not get a definite answer and you'll have to either use your judgement or go with the the consultants recommendation.

What have alternative formula have they given? You won't be denying him milk as the formula will have all the nutrients needed to support him to grow.

He may be intolerant like my DS. We are switching to soya for main drinks but keeping limited ammounts of cheese and yoghart so as not to overload him.

DS had blood tests not skin-prick tests (done around 9mo), but his paed said that they could not give a definitive answer in themselves, just point towards the possibility of an allergy.

DS tested negative for cows' milk allergy but he was intolerant to it -- hives etc. He has now outgrown that intolerance.

He tested positive for egg allergy even though we had never seen him have a reaction to anything with egg in. However, now at 23mo we can see that he is definitely allergic to fresh egg.

We have been given Pepti. I wanted to give my son a rusk, but it contains milk powder, and I thought that if it is a mild allergy, i would like to try small amounts of milk, cheese etc. Just hope tests are conclusive.

We were told that 'reaction trumps test results' and it was true in our case.

For ds1 at 10 mo:
-skin prick negative for milk
-blood test (RAST) showed low level antibodies

• drinking milk = hives and vomiting

He had a mild dairy allergy, failed a milk challenge at 18mo, passed just before 3rd birthday. He was always able to tolerate small amounts of milk cooked into things such as cakes and this was well worth knowing, if you are not worried about the possibility of a serious reaction.

So, no, test results are not always definite and are imo less important than what actually happens once substance is consumed.

Vomiting sounds like an intolerance rather than an allergy. It could be the formula he had as a newborn that sensitised him to it.
Not all intolerant dc react to cmp in their mother's milk.

Tests are pretty crap where intolerances are concerned.

I agree it sounds like intolerance rather than allergy.

Thanks everyone. So if the tests are inconclusive, shall i try him with a small amount of yogurt and see what happens? Or is that a stupid thing to do?

No, not stupid. However, when re-introducing dairy the following order is usually suggested:

• cooked things with a bit of milk in them (like cake)
• dairy margarine
• hard cheese
• soft cheese/ yogurt
• milk

-ice-cream

So maybe try something with cooked milk before you try yogurt?

That's a different order from the one I've always seen before wb - where did you get yours from?

I thought that yogurt/fromage frais were supposed to be the first things to try?

From the allergy clinic. Think the idea is that the more 'processed' the milk protein is, the less likely the body is to react to it.

sounds more like reflux or intolerance than allergy so tests may well be negative. Allergies and intolerances need different treatment, including different ways of reintroducing foods.

Processing makes food less allergenic - so cooked milk is less allergenic than uncooked milk. The bacteria in live yoghurt helps digest lactose (the usual cause of milk intolerance) so helps with intolerance not allergy to milk protein. Hard cheeese is both processed and contains low levels of lactose so is good for testing both allergy and intolerance.

So for true allergy I'd go for cooked milk first and for intolerance live yoghurt.

mummalish doctors never mention lactase but you can buy lactase drops on the internet and they will help a lot of vomiting. Or you can get lactose reduced formula. Probiotics would help too. Lots of things you can try before excluding milk.

Thanks tatt, I will wait and see what the results say. I am happy to hear that about yogurt, as I loooove yougurt and would like my son to have it, will try a small amount once I know what the test results say.

That makes sense about the bacteria in yogurt tatt, except that lactose isn't the usual cause of milk intolerance (is actually very rare in babies and young children, but the usual problem for adults) - the milk protein is.

You can get lactase drops in shops too if you want to see if lactose is the problem - a product called colief. Costs about £10 for a small bottle, and for breastfeeding you are supposed to express some, mix it up and give before a feed, so not exactly straightforward to administer! If this works then he doesn't really have an allergy or an intolerance, and it's something he'll prob grow out of fairly quickly.

Sorry, am a little confused. My son drinks breastmilk as his main drink, and suffers no affects, what will the colief do?

Sorry - ignore that bit. It prob won't do anything for you, but may of use to others reading the thread .

CantsleepWontSleep it depends on how you define milk intolerance. A lot of babies have problems with milk that are not caused by allergies. Most of those problems you will be told are "normal" colic or reflux or just one of those things. Try lactase and quite a few will improve. It's usually a problem that the babies will outgrow but doctors don't have to live with the crying while they grow.

A complete absence of the ability to produce lactase is very rare but deficiences aren't - especially in those given antibiotics or who have had gastroenteritis.

Some babies do have problems with cows milk protein but then the baby would be reacting to the OP's breastmilk.

I always forget colief, though, as it wasn't so widely available when I needed lactase . I've bought biocare lactase but not colief.