Any mamas with food intolerance/allergy experience - please help :)

[Trix789]

Hi

I've had a nagging feeling for quite a long time now that something isn't quite right with my little one. He's about to turn 3 and for the past 12ish months, has been getting a hives rash on his skin (which appears after he's scratched the area) and also has loose stools most of the time. He also often looks pale and washed out, and had eczema prone skin as a baby.

I have hunch that it's a food intolerance of some sort, I've been to the GP quite a few times who kept suggesting it was viral, but have finally agreed it could be an intolerance, so have suggested to cut out all dairy from his diet for 4 weeks.

We are now 2 weeks into dairy free, and his symptoms certainly haven't reduced yet. If anything, they seem a bit worse. He's also mentioned a few times he has a sore tummy.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and have managed to successfully found the issue? If so, how?

I'm aware that I should be asking this to a medical professional - which I will at the next appt - just curious to hear people's experiences with this.

Thanks, from a concerned mama.

Have you cut out soya at the same time? Soya and dairy are very similar (is my understanding) and therefore the intolerance could be to both... and may even be why it seems a bit worse as soya is an obvious substitute.

The other thing being is to check for coeliacs / gluten intolerance... I think the GP (or equivalent) can do that (with a blood test)... as that may be the cause of the symptoms you mention. I'd try the dairy and soya for two weeks and then pursue some decent testing?

Dairy is often a reason for loose stools and in my experience can take a while to subside - also my toddlers often presented rashes after drinking orange juice - just some of the irritatants known to me - if that helps at all.

What are you subbing with? Because if things do get worse it can be the sub (soya, oats, almonds, coconut) causing it. If I were you I'd go dairy and soya free and keep a very good food diary, remembering that a non-ige allergic reaction to foods can take up to 72 hours after the food has been eaten.

Start a food diary and play close attention to what foods you add in to replace foods you have removed.

My daughter has a lot of food allergies and found that whenever I found a replacement or a way around an allergy she was bloody allergic to that too. I took out dairy and soya (half of child allergic to dairy are also allergic to soya) and ate coconut dairy replacements and did more tomato pasta sauces instead of cheese or dairy and she was allergic to them too. I thought great I can use red peppers instead and this was when I discovered food groups and common allergies. Tomatoes and peppers are both nightshades and it turns out she allergic to all except potatoes. It's not universally true and we have some food groups like legumes where she is allergic to a couple but mostly ok.

You need to cut out soya with the dairy and you won't see a difference sometimes for up to a month/6 weeks.

I'd go for whatever substitute you can buy that is least likely to be an allergen and stick to that. Not oat milk then almond, then coconut, etc. Just the one until you're a bit clearer on what the issue could be.

Could you afford a private test? If it's a food allergy causing hives I'd think it would show up on the skin test they do on the arm. It took us 2 years to get DC tested from the point of allergies being suspected and working with a paediatric dietitian so you might be waiting a while.

Gosh I’ve just realised I hadn’t replied! Thanks for your responses - we ended up taking him to private clinic for allergy testing. Money well spent and in the end we have managed to reintroduce dairy with no problems so far. Dr reckoned symptoms were likely lingering inflammation from a tummy bug.

From your description, I am curious what you thought the benefit of the private allergy testing was in the end?

We ended up having mixed thoughts about what it all was after we’d cut out the dairy, as his symptoms did improve eventually. Albeit with a huge hives flare along the road, which I thought might have coincided with some dairy accidentally eaten at nursery once he’d been off it for a while.

So we were unsure whether it was coincidence that he’d improved eventually or whether cutting out all dairy was indeed the cause for the improvement in symptoms. In the end we just wanted an answer either way so that we weren’t unnecessarily cutting dairy out if it wasn’t required, hence we decided to get the allergy test and consultation done.