Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Date: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 19:26:51 +0000 From: Kelly & Jordan Geist <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 (Macintosh; U; 68K) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: NEW MEMBER Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit HELLO! I am new to this board and have a few questions: 1) Does anyone have a child who has high eosinophil counts as an indicator of a milk allergy? 2) Would it be possible that eczema is the only outward sign of an allergy (no vomiting, crying, diarrea, etc)? I have a son who has a suspected milk allergy. He will be one year old in two weeks. He has chronic kidney failure and is on a special formula (Similac PM 60/40); however, it is a milk based formula. We took him off all dairy except for the formula under the counsel of our nephrologist. His eczema seemed to get better but then it just came back and has stayed the same. Our next step is to change formulas. I know this seems simple but he needs this special formula because it is all his body can handle. Regular formulas have too much potassium and phosphorous, which his kidneys can't excrete. He will most likely need to take ANOTHER medication to bind the phosphorous and we'll have to restrict his potassium in the rest of his diet even further. It's really a no win situation if it is a milk allergy causing this eczema. I am looking for any and all advice from you experienced parents:) I don't suppose there is anyone out there in my same situation but that's okay. I'm sure I will have many, many questions in the future as Jonathan starts eating more table foods (this dairy free diet has been "easy" so far because he is on baby food). I will also mention that he had no outward signs of allergy for his first seven months of life. The eczema only appeared in October. It was thîs month that I: a) stopped breast milk b) got two more cats for a total of three c) added margarine to his cereals for weight gain (under a nutritionist's orders) and d) turned up the forced hot air heat. It's hard to pinpoint what the allergy actually might be or if it was there all the time and only came out because of the heat. His eosinophil counts have been very high since almost right after birth.Any thoughts would be appreciated:) Kelly