suspected lactose intolerance - prescribed nutramigen and confused

[TigerLily666]

Hi
My DS had been doing really well on normal formula (6.5 months old) then out of the blue got really bad diarrhoea (no temperature or vomiting) for 10 days plus After 2 GP appoints and a hospital visit we have ruled out bacterial infection and virus now seeming unlikely as no improvement so GP has suggested lactose intolerance and put us on a special formula (nutramigen).

Finding it really hard to work out if the nutramigen is helping as he is now getting runny green poo (which can be a side effect of the new formula) or poos that are a bit like smooth peanut butter, or one one occasion really watery. they all smell horrible. We have had six poos today which is only slightly better than when he had regular diarrhoea.

Am utterly bewildered and overwhelmed (and not just because of the stink of the formula)

Has anyone any experience of using nutramigen and willing to share graphic details of what their baby's poo was like on it?
Also how long does it take for poos to settle down when switching formula?
Can lactose intolerance develop so suddenly? We have been weaning for a while and have previously had yoghurt / cheese with no problems. Is there a test for it - my GP said not.
Finally, any advice about getting a referral to a paediatrician or dietitian

• my HV is generally useless

Any help or thoughts or advice really welcomed

So confused.

Sometimes babies can get temporary lactose intolerance after a stomach bug - maybe that's what the GP is thinking?

OK - that makes sense. Just so stressed at the moment. Really not sure what to do for the best.

Our dd is dairy free and is seven months. Can't help much on the poop situation as hers is settled ATM but thought is mention that our gp referred her to a paediatrician but only because our health insurance would pay for it. She said ordinarily they wouldn't as it's so difficult to identify in babies and having now seen the paed I agree... They didn't test for it and went on symptoms/ diet then referred us to a dietician, which you could find useful. We didn't see the dietician but spoke on the phone and she said that soya formula isn't always the best option but I didn't really take on board what she recommended as dd is still bf.

Fwiw I didn't find the paediatrician helpful but if you think it would help then I'd badger the GP until you get the referral
Sorry for the rambling but hope that helps in some way

Nutramigen can give babies green and smelly poo. If it is watery though it sounds like it is still diarrhoea rather than normal nutramigen poo. How long has he been on it? Would def take a few days at least. In my experience a "normal" nutramigen or neocate poo for a baby of that age would be a dark green paste, roughly the consistency of guacamole! Graphic enough?

Ta Auntierosemary. DS been on Nutramigen for 48 hours now. Still think there is some diarrhoea although back of tin says can result in frequent loose stools of greenish colour. At wits end - should I be pushing to see a gastroenterologist??

No give it a few more days. Six poos in one day is not v extreme and won't do any harm long term - my daughter had about ten poos a day for five months until her dairy allergy was diagnosed. She was , and still is, otherwise totally fine. Unless he is is really dehydrated, in obvious distress or has any other symptoms just hang in there and give the nutramigen a chance to work. All the best!

Thanks for the support. Went to GP today as DS has developed really bad nappy rash and GP said it was a mild case! I wouldn't like to see their definition of bad!! So anyway, I got them to finally prescribe more than 2 tins of nutramigen at a time but failed miserably to get them to refer me to a dietician. I quote "you won't get seen for ages and they can't do anything we can't". BIG SIGH. I thought the point of seeing or speaking to a dietician was to get some advice on all my weaning questions. Anyway this is a fight for next week

Hey we have been through all this allergy weaning stuff twice - if you've any questions or need any help fire away, I'd be happy to pass on anything that we learned, for what it is worth! I was going to say pm me but I'm not that au fait with mumsnet so I don't know how that works...

I would ask to be referred to a paediatrician if the poos don't settle down in a week or two. I can't really remember but I think it took about a fortnight for DSs poo to become normal(well new normal but consistently green but not runny etc)
Dairy/lactose intolerance/allergy in babies seems to be very much a guessing game unless its severe, its more trial and error with different formula etc until something helps.

Totally agree, hamnvik. I think part of the frustration comes from feeling like you have been thrown in at the deep end and really wanting definitive answers. But the trouble is there aren't any easy shortcuts and it is, as you say, more about trial and error. Today's news about peanut allergies breakthrough reminds me how little anyone really seems to know about allergies at all. My theory is that there is no money for pharmaceutical companies to make from solving allergies (quite the opposite) and so there is little funding for research. But hey, that is a whole other thread!! Night night x

My son was on soya from 8-12 weeks then nutragem (how ever it's spelt) from 12-14 weeks the neocate from 14 weeks to 1 year, he started having symptoms after a viral infection which never went away and still at 2 years 8 months has an allergy to milk if he gets milk it runs threw him and also gets extremely bad eczema but because he is autistic he steals other children's drinks at nursery which causes his symptoms to come back.

Also forgot to say we were told any baby/child not on a cows milk formular or being breastfed needs to be under a dietician as our son was severely underweight the first 6 months of his life and is now just becoming normal weight for his age and height x