: Lactose

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Thank you for the insight into your lactose-free journey with your

girls! WOW....amazingly similar to my experience here with

Cole!!!! He had the horrible facial rash and eczema as an infant

while I nursed him. It continued after I weaned him at 9 1/2 mo and

we added a horrific bleeding butt rash to the mix at that time.

After several months of soy formula I switched him to regular cow's

milk. Ever since then it has been continued diarrhea, bellyaches,

burping, urping...ladaladalada.

I have switched him over to Lactaid, per the WIC dietician's

suggestion about a week ago. He has only complained once of a

bellyache and he hasn't been burping/urping as much. He sees the GI

in May. I think I'll ask for a breath test (something I read about

online) and see what becomes of that. The $3.99/half gal of Lactaid

is KILLING the budget!!! THANK the LORD for WIC!!!!!! Whatever the

cost though, whatever helps my baby....I'll be sure to make a way!

-Rogena (Mom to 4 boys, including Cole -Partial IgA Def, GERD,

possible Celiac)

>

> In a message dated 4/20/2006 3:44:30 PM Central Standard Time,

> mrlbrinks@... writes:

>

>

> > Just out of curiosity, at what age did you find to be

lactose

> > intolerant? Was it early on or was it around the time she

outgrew

> > the def?

>

> Rogena:

>

> I discovered the dairy intolerance (she reacted to lactose-free

milk also,

> reacted to ALL dairy-derived ingredients) when I tried to wean her

to cow's milk

> from breast milk at 13 months old. In hindsight, she had had all

the symptoms

> from early on -- periods of stooling every 15 minutes (and

bleeding sores in

> diaper rash from it), the characteristic facial rash after I

consumed dairy

> and nursed, GERD, eczema... the ped treated everything a'la carte,

never putting

> it all together. I finally figured it out myself when I decided it

all had to

> be related and she had such terrible diarrhea and eczema from

cow's milk... I

> did the research and in hindsight, DUH!!!

>

> They RAST tested her for milk allergy around age 2-1/2 and it came

back

> negative. I met Dale at the first IDF conference and she explained

that there's a

> difference between " allergy " and " intolerance " ... I can't really

explain it

> well but it's enough for me to know that when you test negative to

dairy allergy

> but you explode when you have dairy... well, don't have dairy!!!

>

> So anyway, it was really the GERD that finally clinched it -- she

got on a

> kick at age 2-1/2 of loving yogurt and started regurgitating

several times a day

> -- little piles on the carpet like a cat. What you might call the

Last Straw.

>

> Anyway, so when Kate (non-PID but much worse dairy intolerance)

was born, and

> started with the GERD right away and the facial rash and eczema...

I knew

> what it was immediately. I asked another of the peds (not the

clueless Dr. A'La

> Carte) about any sort of testing but he said if you see the

connection and know

> it's a problem with dairy, lets just eliminate the dairy and leave

her alone

> with the testing. She was much worse than , she got a facial

rash, some

> hives and days of diarrhea from just touching someone's hand that

had cheeto

> residue on it. I had to give up dairy 100% during the 18 months I

nursed her

> (that was GOOOOD for the waistline!!!). She's just now at 3-1/2

able to " cheat "

> some and get away with it.

>

> finally outgrew her GERD reaction around age 7. She drinks

cow's milk

> now!!!! I'm thrilled. My WALLET is thrilled.

>

> So I don't know if there is testing that is really accurate, other

than a

> dairy challenge. I would caution you that if you think it's a life-

threatening

> allergy, don't give a bunch of dairy as a challenge. But you can

look up the

> symptoms of dairy allergy/intolerance and go by that. Keep in mind

that there is

> dairy in almost everything prepackaged. There are many hidden

sources (google

> " hidden sources of dairy " for a list)... you'll be shocked. There

is dairy in

> Jolly Ranchers!!!! Only the " Natural Ovens " brand of bread has no

> dairy-derived additive.

>

> Eating fully non-dairy means cooking from scratch a lot. The

benefit is, no

> preservatives, much much cheaper than preprepared foods, more

wholesome, much

> more yummy. Not a bad way to live!!! I'm planning on writing a

dairy-free

> cookbook, as I found the ones on the market to be too " earthy " for

me -- weird,

> expensive ingredients that were hard to find. I have a terrible

sweet tooth, and

> by the time I was ready to wean Kate I had figured out how to make

dairy-free

> everything, including soft caramels and homemade fudge!!!!

>

> So it's not a horrible sentence, to have to give up dairy. Boy, I

got into

> that topic, huh!

>

> About the probiotic -- I fully believe in the merits of

probiotics. But

> approaching it from the dairy-free angle, I was confused by the

ingredients in

> some. Wouldn't lactobacillus be dairy-derived? " Lacto " means milk.

Something to

> look into.

>

> About the IgA. I don't mean to give anybody false hope. But I do

want to give

> hope to those who's pumpkins could have the transient PID. 's

IgA was

> " absent " at age 8 mo, age 1 and age 1-1/2 -- tested, re-tested,

checked via

> secretory (saliva) IgA testing. At age two it was very low but

THERE. Present. At

> age three it was NORMAL. I was shocked and amazed and thrilled.

The ID/Immuno

> said, " it happens " .

>

> (mom to , age 7, dairy intolerant-related GERD --

currently has

> polysaccharide antibody def, previously had transient IgG, IgA, t-

cell & other

> defs... and also to Kate, age 3!, more dairy intolerant but very

healthy!)

>

>

>