Please help me work this out ...

[cakeforbrains]

Hello!

DS2 (1yr) was diagnosed as cows milk protein intolerant in January, so we've avoided dairy and soya since then. As he is still BF I've cut dairy out of my diet too. He'd improved loads, and all the symptoms that had led us to be concerned had gone.

I think he's reacting to something - since Tuesday he has been irritable, has been producing lots of loose, curdled poos, has been sick several times and his ezcema has flared up badly. But, I'm not sure what he has reacted to. The possibilities are:

a) On sunday morning I ordered a black coffee from a mcdondalds drive thru (hangs head in shame). I only realised after drinking half of it that it actually had milk in.
b) I tried him on fishfingers for the first time on monday - but I've checked the label and there is no mention of dairy or soya, unless 'vegetable oil' actually equals soya oil.
c) He started nursery for the first time last week, and although they seems aware and willing, could he have had something there?
d) He's finding nursery difficult and has a cold, could he just be run down and this is causing symptoms?

So ... experienced allergy mums, what do you think is the most likely cause of the reaction? I think possibly the milk in coffee, although I'm surprised that it took 48hrs to cause problems.

Also, any experience of how long it takes to get things back on track after reacting? This is the first time we've slipped up and I'm gutted at how badly it is affecting him after two months of vast improvement.

TIA!!

How on earth did MacDonald's get milk into black coffee ?]

That sounds to me like a culprit though. When ds2 as about 8 months or so (having previously had an anaphalytic reaction to dairy, he reacted to a small cube of goats cheese via my breastmilk (when after being veggie and dairy free for 3 months, I gave in to temptation and had a small amount of goats cheese).

Otherwise I's look to the nursery. DS1 has multiple allergies and constantly had "unexplained" reactions at nursery. Funnily enough, now he's started school and we provide his lunch (and they are very good at calling if ever they want to give him something) his eczema has gone completely and he has never had a single reaction!

I think many nurseries don't take allergies seriously.

That's interesting to know that your DS reacted to a v small amount of dairy via breastmilk. I'm leaning towards thinking that was the culprit too.
As to the coffee - I went through the drive through and started drinking it without taking the lid off to check. Having seen the effect on DS2, I'll not make that mistake again.
Do you think raw milk has a greater effect than cooked?

Absolutely it will. Heat changes the structure of the proteins and some people are OK with cooked milk but not raw milk. Some people are not OK with either. It's probably not a good idea to test it out though, just in case.

Definately sounds like the milk is the culprit.

DD (2) is lactose, soya, oats intolerant and is just starting to tolerate very small amounts of cooked cheese and her dietician said she will probably tolerate cooked milk before raw milk iyswim.

Interesting to hear about the oats simpson. What are her symptoms? I'm dairy, soy, gluten & nut-free at the moment for DD2, but my system isn't coping well with oats at all so I avoid them too (am aware that they may contain gluten but the dietician said it would be in such small quantities that what gets into BM would be negligible)

well it could actually be an infection, common when they start daycare, as 48 hours seems too long. Many parents of allergic children notice they react more readily when they are ill, even if it's just a slight cold.

Anyway to get them back on track a non-dairy probiotic might help. Very important that they have the right type of bacteria in the gut. It's actually quite difficult to do that with a supplement but worth trying.

hobnob - the oats intolerance is a reatively new one compared to the others which were diagnosed at 8mths (oats at around 18mths)

Oats gives her really bad tummy pains, dry skin (scaly) on belly and really bad diarrea (sp) so her bum looks like someone has scrubbed it with sandpaper

She drinks neocate as her main source of calcium.

forgot to say DD's dietician said oats intolerance is a relatively common one to have too.

I've never heard of oats intolerance, but he has been having ready brek at nursery made up with neocate.
DS is still struggling - we are watching his poo obsessively and its starting to resemble a normal colour and consistency. I'm thinking it was the milk in the coffee that has caused this, I'm going to be ultra-careful about his and my diet then I'll try fishfingers again in a few weeks. We go back to the paed gastro consultant in a few weeks so I'll discuss it then.
Thanks again for all your help . I would be lost dealing with DS without all the wisdom Ive found on the allergy board

That's what I thought too hoochie. Will try them.