Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

lactose intolerance following 3mnth jabs?Any advice welcome!

10 replies

EllenRipley · 18/03/2010 14:01

Hi
My ds is nearly four months, he started to get diarrhea after his 3mnth jabs - runny poo, sometimes watery, sometimes mucusy with white lumps (undigested milk?)... GP said it was a temporary lactose intolerance following a gastric upset (though i cant recall him having an stomach upset) and suggested cutting down on his feeds for a couple of days. Did so, but no change. Stool sample came back from lab as normal. Ds is perfectly healthy otherwise, never had colic before (was mixed fed from 3wks-2mnths, had to switch exclusively to formula when i was ill and he's always tolerated the Aptamil very well), not dehydrated, no stomach distension etc. I'm trying Colief to break down the lactose and a friend's GP told her to switch formulas when her ds had similar problem, and was then cured - but everything i read says changing formula can cause more problems!
Has anyone experience similar probs? Am at wits end, he's been such a healthy baby up til now. Am concerned his jabs have done something to his bowel. He also could be teething, though could that cause his poo to turn so cheesy? Any advice/experience welcome! Thanks x

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
probonbon · 18/03/2010 14:04

There is a poster whose baby suffered profound allergies after infant vaccinations. If you post this in the Vax topic it might find her: otherwise if I see her elsewhere I will link her to this thread.

EllenRipley · 18/03/2010 14:54

thanks probon!

OP posts:
Beachcomber · 18/03/2010 15:11

Hi EllenRipley, I think probonbon is talking about me, I bumped into her on another thread and told me about this thread.

I'm sorry you are going through all this. I have just had a quick scan through your post as I have to go out now. I probably won't be back on MN until after the kids are in bed but I promise I will come back and see if there is anything in the experiences I had with my daughter which could be of help to you.

See you later.

EllenRipley · 18/03/2010 16:36

Oh thanks Beach, pls take your time, just when you've got a minute. Would def be interested to hear any ideas you may have based on your experiences. Cheers!

OP posts:
Beachcomber · 18/03/2010 22:40

Ok, I'm going to tell you a bit about what happened to my daughter and we'll see if there is anything that might help you figure out what is going on here with your DS.

DD actually reacted badly at the time to her jabs, so when she become ill we were able to relate it back to that. She had the five in one and Hep B (we live in France where it used to be routine) on the same day and developed bowel problems very quickly afterwards. Her bowel movements (BM) became very explosive with green mucosy poo shooting out that meant a complete change of clothes every time. She developed terrible colic and wind with constant acid reflux. She cried a lot due to the discomfort, couldn't sleep and started failing to gain weight. She also developed eczema.

To cut a long story short we found out that she was reacting to food proteins passing in my breast milk and having an allergic reaction to them. The worst culprits seemed to be dairy products and wheat but she reacted to many other foods too (all through my milk). She reacted in the same way when she was weaned.

She is now 6 years old and tolerates most foods very well although we avoid too much dairy exposure and a couple of other things that she tests positive for.

We have found a helpful allergist who has explained to me that, in her opinion, the pertussis (whooping cough) element of the DTaP or the five in one can lead to some children becoming sensitised to food proteins. The pertussis toxin affects the gut by increasing intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and proteins that shouldn't, cross the gut barrier, and stimulate an immune reaction. I have read enough on the subject to think that she is right about this theory.

I don't know what is going on with your wee boy but I know it is possible to develop a sensitive gut following vaccination. I am not a doctor and in no way qualified in any of this so just sharing some info mum to mum if you like.

I think the fact that you do not remember you DS having a gastric illness suggests that this could be a vaccine reaction. It is not unusual for doctors to say that it is probably not the vaccine. These types of reactions are probably not very common and many doctors are unaware of them.

I was breast feeding my DD when all this happened so I don't know a lot about changing formula and so on. However if your DS is having digestive problems then you might want to talk to a doctor about a hypo-allergenic milk. Although temporary lactose intolerance does happen, it is more common for babies to react to casein which is the protein in milk (lactose is a sugar). In this case your DS would find a hypo-allergenic milk much easier to digest.

Have you shown a nappy with a BM to a doctor so they can take a look at the white lumps? That sounds to me like undigested milk proteins.

If your DS has suffered a vaccine reaction there are lots of things that you can do to sort this out such as probiotics and digestive enzymes. One very important thing is to try to find a doctor to talk this through with, who will listen properly and take you seriously because if it does turn out to be vaccine related, you will need to be very careful with future vaccines.

I know quite a few people have found Dr Halverson very helpful (he is quite well know for doing single jabs when available).

It is of course perfectly possible that there is nothing going on with your DS other than teething, his milk not suiting or something. Trust your mother's instinct on this though as we know our children better than any doctor can.

Don't hesitate if there is anything you want to ask. You don't say in your post how your DS is sleeping or being generally in himself, how is all that sort of thing?

EllenRipley · 19/03/2010 12:46

Thanks for that Beach, good grief, your poor DD. It sounds like she's so much improved now. You must have been so worried. Lucky you found the allergist - it does frustrate me that GPs stick to the party line, mine was no exception when i expressed concerns about the vaccination (though i was staying with family at the time and he was my 'temporary resident' GP). I am concerned that there's little chance a doc would explore the vaccine concerns fully.I will certainly be cautious having read your experience, and i'm always slightly suspicious of these things. I've had allergies myself so i know there's a chance DS will have them too. I'm taking him to see the health visitor next week to discuss different formulas etc & future vaccines and will also take him to see the doc again. The last time he didnt look at the nappy, which i was surprised about.
I've been using Colief, which breaks down the lactose - interesting that you say it's the casein, i will check the ingredients. Also mixed some baby rooibos 'tea' (did a bit of research on that) with his feed as it's meant to be excellent for their tummies and allergies, but he had more explosive poo overnight which is now brown (i'm assuming it's the rooibos that's done this, keeping an extra eye on his nappies today). He is otherwise apparently in good health and good spirits, i'd say he gets a bit more fretful than usual with the wind and when he's ready to do a poo but generally he's a happy baby.
The GP also suggested i wean him early! Which i find very strange given he already has an upset gut. I've ignored that advice.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts, i really appreciate it. Given me food for thought. Hopefully things will improve for DS once i've made some informed decisions...

OP posts:
Beachcomber · 21/03/2010 12:44

Good luck with it all. My DD did go through the mill rather but she is going pretty well now. She has a bit of catching up to do but we will get there.

I hope you find some answers for your DS. Fennel tea is also good for babies' tummies. I think you are right to ignore the advice about early weaning, some good advice I got was to keep a food diary when introducing foods in order to keep a record of possible reactions.

Great that you DS is in good spirits.

Don't hesitate if there is anything you want to talk about, it is helpful sometimes to compare stories and exchange ideas.

EllenRipley · 24/03/2010 19:43

Hi again, belated response - been using Colief, seems to have helped the poo, HV still not interested in idea that it could have been vaccinations. Seeing GP next week, he has more vaccs at the beginning of April so i am a bit worried. Thanks again, good to 'talk' to you - and roger that on the food diary & fennel tea, good idea.

OP posts:
shefliesthrutheair · 28/03/2010 12:13

I hope I'm not too late to add my comments...

My dd had her 4-month jabs last week and since then she won't take any more than 3oz per feed. She wriggles and really cries if I try to feed her any more. Just to look at the bottle sets her off!

She's pooing a lot more frequently and also has those white lumps in her nappy. She's combination fed and won't take more than 5 mins of breastfeeding either...

There are lots of allergies in our family, including coeliac, and I'm worried this will continue. EllenRipley, is your ds any better? Do you both think chaning milk or adding a probiotic would help??

Of the course the HV wasn't interested...

EllenRipley · 09/05/2010 22:05

Hi Shef, i dont know if you'll get this, i havent checked the thread for ages, sorry! How is your wee one? We started to use Colief, which breaks down the lactose in the milk, which really seemed to help. DS had more vacs after the problem started but it didnt seem to get any worse after this second lot. But i still believe the first triggered it. Also started weaning him with Plum Supergrain Porridge (Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet, Brown Rice) which worked wonders, and he's been on stage1 solids (mainly the porride, pureed fruit n veg) since. It def made a difference to his tummy problem. He still gets white lumps in his poo, but the diarrhea is gone and he's thriving (tho the diarrhea didnt cause any weight loss to begin with). I do worry that the lactose intolerance will remain, or that he could have a prob with milk protein. The doc referred him to hospital clinic, but the appt isnt through so i have been doing my own research and proceeding accordingly. I def think if you have food allergies OR intolerances, you have to be careful. It's very possible your ds has a sensitive tummy and i do believe that the jags can set things off. I nearly changed formula but was already on Aptamil which seems to be v well tolerated, but was reluctant. Am planning to try him on Hipp organic follow on though, which i think is very tummy friendly. Probiotics, if u can get them for babies, would certainly help. I also give my ds rooibos tea. Doc and HV advice is definitely of little use in my experience, if your DD is still having probs i would do whatever you think the baby version of tummy-friendly supplements or diet works for you and dd... all i know is, i ended up sorting it myself, even went to the doc and demanded colief on prescription as it's v.expensive. Not holding out much hope that the hospital appt, if it ever arrives, will get to the bottom of things.
Hope that belatedly helps... x

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page