I have MS and need an alternative to cow's milk for my toddler!

[Cornberry]

I have just discovered that I have MS and this increases my daughter's chances of having it. Apparently cow's milk is possibly one of the culprits for developing MS and I really want to giver her something else but what?? Soy is really bad for you, what else is there? She's 19 months and has about 300mls of cow and gate a day, and now I'm terrified it's doing her harm :( Any ideas welcome. Thanks.

I've got MS and I've never heard the cows milk thing. I wouldn't worry about it.

In answer to your question. I have not cut out dairy or anything else out of my diet. I will not let this horrible disease spoil anything that it doesn't have to. There are loads of stories flying around about diet and MS. None of them proven. Best thing you can do is to eat a balanced diet and get plenty of vitamin D. As PP has said your daughter only has a 1% more chance of getting it than anyone else. There are good treatments available and it's really not the end of the world.

Many thanks indeed for all your comments. I'm afraid that the years I have spent trying to get a diagnosis, seeing dozens of doctors who contradict each other and have often never heard of conditions or medical phenomena which are well-documented makes me feel I can't take their advice at face value. I had to insist for a long time to get a proper neurological investigation and frankly I'm sick of their bullshit. They cost me years of worsening symptoms and suffering and thinking I was going mad, and if someone has a book to sell me that has any useful information in it then I'm going to buy it. At the very least you have to have an open mind. I think it's worth watching the TED talk by the way. It's not a miracle cure but it is based on fact and that particular doctor has conducted many medical trials.

Well good luck to you, you're going to need it. It can take a long time to get diagnosed sometimes, that doesn't mean drs are idiots and it definitely doesn't mean that snake oil merchants are a sensible alternative.

I too have some horror stories about shit nurses who blamed me for my symptoms (it felt like that; obviously they were out of their depth). It went on for 3 years until I saw a specialist. I guess others have similar stories re-diagnosis). I hope you get a specialist MS nurse as well as access to a neurologist. Please have a healthy scepticism about "cures" or "fixes" that people suggest. Trained health care professionals know more than snake oil salesmen with miracle cures.
Our children needs healthy meals with all the major food groups covered; exercise; relaxation, fun and love. That hasn't changed just because we have MS.

DH has MS dx aged 28 now 38!
We have 3 kids .... never cut dairy but we do give them Vit D supplement. DH and I now longer eat red meat and he says this helps!!!!

Kids need a varied diet .... MS is not thought to be genetic!

agreed about varied diet etc. Because of my years of trying to figure out what was wrong with me we now have a stellar diet as a consequence of removing anything potentially harmful including little nipper, who eats a lot of fruit and veg, fish, eggs and dairy and very little sugar. I do hope I find a decent doctor/nurse. x

I have MS. I was diagnosed when DD was 3 (now 18). My mission has always been to get her into sunlight every day. I told her primary school to ensure she did.

My own symptoms developed because of shockingly negligent care after DD was born (serious infection where you don’t want infections which was missed and got critical very quickly) and I was told to “just get on with it” and criticised for bf failure by midwives and health visitors as I recovered. I now know I was struggling with MS fatigue on top of ordinary tiredness. DH and I still can’t really look at baby photos without crying because it was so awful .
There is only so much you can do. Your focus should be a healthy balanced diet and fresh air. And, most of all, finding time and energy for moments of relaxing easy fun. We all know (MS or not) how hard that is with children

I have MS but as far as I know, The only link to dairy is through saturated fat. There is huge evidence that saturated fat spikes inflammation in MS and causes of relapse. However, zero fat dairy is completely safe because it doesn’t have saturated fat. So my diet is full of 0% Greek yoghurt and skimmed milk, And I’ve been extremely well clear of relapses for a great many year.

All other milks ate UPF. There are lots of concerns around potential health issues. My kids drink oat milk as they used to have CMPA. My Mum had MS and personally I’m more concerned about UPFs.