Julie Orofino wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>   I am new to this group and I am hoping you can all help me out!  Well,
> let's see as the title says I have so many questions I don't know where to
> start :-)
>
> First, my husband has a milk allergy -supposedly he is allergic to the milk
> protein not lactose (this was diagnosed by his parents-not a
> pediatrician-although his mom is a nurse and his dad is a doctor).  This
> was diagnosed when he was around 7 years old.  What I would like to know is
> is there some kind of allergy test-like they for other allergies to see
> *what exactly* you are allergic too?
>
> Right now, his symptoms are if he eats cheese (say like on pizza), he has
> to have quite a bit, but then he gets dark circles under his eyes, stomach
> upset, and has a hard time breathing.  He would never chance drinking milk
> or eating ice cream.  I have picked up some toffuti desserts for him(I
> think they are soy based) that don't seem to bother him...
>
> I just really want to know if there is any way to really be sure that this
> isn't just a lactose thing because if it were then he could just use things
> like lactaid and Ithink things might be a lot easier on him...
>
> He just started having really bad stomach problems (diarrea all night, gas
> pains, etc) and had to go have an ultrasound-we do not know yet whether the
> allergy is related..
>
> Enough about him, now I have a 1 year old daughter.  When she was born we
> told the doctor about my husband's allergy and she said to not even try a
> milk-based formula and to start right away with the soy.  Now she is at the
> age where she should start having milk instead of formula.  I started off
> trying yogurt and pudding and cheese and she seems to have no problem with
> these.  I then tried adding milk to her formula-an extra ounce every day of
> milk.  The first day she did fine and the second and third were okay too,
> but the 4th day, where she had 3oz or milk mixed with 4 oz of formula in
> her bottle she cried for an hour and a half for no apparent reason and had
> runny stools all day long... (I stopped the milk and the next day she was
> fine) I called the doctor and they said maybe I just went too fast and to
> try increasing only by  1/2 oz for a week and go up by 1/2 oz each week.
> I'm hoping that this works, but I was wondering with her too whether there
> is an easy way to figure out whether it is lactose, milk proteins, or
> something else all together???  What other symptoms should I look for when
> I try the milk again?  I've heard terrible sotries of kids tongues
> swelling, hives, etc... and it is making me very nervous!
>
> Any ideas, and/or suggestions would be great!
>
> Sorry this got soo long, but thanks for reading (if you got this far :-))
>
> -julie

Julie,

I too am new to this list ... My 6 yr old was the same way at 1 but it
took me 4 years of him being sick to even learn about Lactose
intolerance... same thing .. diarrhea..etc. Now-- My son drinks Kemps
Dairy Good 100% Lactose Reduced Lowfat milk (it only comes in a small
size)... he loves it for dinner and on cereals... wish I had know about
it when he was younger.. I would have started him on that.  It's a
little more expensive than regular milk... or you can add the lactaid
drops to the regular milk to break down the lactose....your choice.  I
choose to buy Kemps' right now... easier for me.

Hope this helps... Good luck.

Patti Gerbig
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