Please remove me my children have grown out of there allergy


-----Original Message-----
From: Milk/Casein/Lactose-Free List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Mark Feblowitz
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 4:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [NO-MILK] Allergy testing

This is a tough call.

It would be great to have a definitive positive finding from a blood 
test. But these are not absolute. You and/or your children can have 
negative skin and blood tests and still have dairy-provoked symptoms. 
(You never said which kind, did you?).

As our favorite allergist has said, the patient is the best indicator 
- if he or she shows symptoms with dairy and no symptoms or fewer 
symptoms without, it's a good idea to avoid dairy. It can be 
difficult to objectively judge (and distinguish dairy-provoked 
symptoms from those provoked by other environmental allergens); 
double-blind challenges can help with that. But never do oral 
challenges on your own (without medical supervision) if anaphylaxis 
is a possibility.

Our least favorite allergist said "his blood and skin tests are 
negative, feed him milk" - he changed his tune very quickly when he 
saw the notice from the ER about our son's anaphylactic reaction, 
after we were foolish enough to have listened.

If you can afford the tests, they can be a useful tool. But they 
might be present false negatives.  My understanding is that the tests 
are less good predictors of  symptoms if the symptoms are not of the 
"type 1 immediate hypersensitivity" type. It sounds like your 
family's symptoms might not be (delayed, less severe, ...).

So going to a dairy-free diet could be the answer. You'll need to 
replace the protein and the calcium and the vitamin D. The protein's 
easy (unless you're vegetarian). The D and Calcium are harder. I take 
diary-free Calcium Citrate plus D (CVS store brand).

As you've noted, it's hard to find dairy-free foods. Welcome to our 
world. You'll become an avid label reader. And you'll find foods 
without any dairy ingredients. It's easier now than it was 20 years 
ago. Cooking it yourself is the most reliable method. Natural foods 
stores often carry dairy-free foods. But read labels always. Foods 
labeled "pareve" are, to a great extent, dairy free (unless you're 
hair-trigger allergic to small quantities - in those cases, the 
"ritual purification" of dairy equipment to render a food non-dairy 
kosher is not adequate).

Our son, now almost 22, has been allergic to milk all of his life. 
He's a thriving almost-adult now. He still has to be vigilant. My 
adult-onset dairy allergy has wanes a little, but I still have to be 
vigilant. It's tough, but it can be done.

Good luck.

Mark
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