On Thu, 14 Aug 1997 14:42:04 -0700 Rita Doppenberg <[log in to unmask]>
writes:

> I have been lurking for some time now but now I feel compelled to share
my
>story. When my son was born he was a "spitter", which later turned into
a
>severe vomiter. I breastfed exclusively for almost 11 months and drank
all
>the milk my doctor and nutritionist advised me to so I would have a good
>milk supply for my son (if only I knew then what I know now...).

I'm fairly new to this list also.  I have a 5 month old who seems to be
allergic to (at least) dairy and chocolate.  Ironically, one of the main
reasons we decided to exclusively breastfeed was because of a family
history of allergies, although no food allergies.  Well, after talking
with my allergist, he recommended avoiding the most allergic foods -
milk/dairy, eggs, peanuts, and seafood.  I did this although I did not
eliminate all of them completely from my diet.  I have managed to
completely eliminated peanuts and seafood thus far.

Our daughter was a "spitter" from the start also.  She also showed signs
of "colic" and the doctor just kind of chalked the all-day crying jags up
to that.  I thought maybe it could be some of the medications I take, and
brought this up with the pediatrician.  She recommended switching to
formula, but I resisted on that one and double checked with my other
doctors about the meds.  By 2 months, she was covered head to toe in
eczema.  She would also vomit entire feedings all over me.  Obviously (to
me anyway) something was wrong.  We discussed the possibility of a reflux
problems and the meds for that helped quite a bit.  The did nothing for
the eczema of course.  After a few more trips to the doctor for stomach
distress and vomiting problems, the doc suggested trying soy formula in
case the baby was allergic to the proteins in my milk.  Babies who have
eczema that early are often allergic to milk.  She did not recommend
removing dairy from my diet or trying any other type of elimination first
- just straight for the formula.  Well, once again I resisted and did my
own complete elimination of dairy.  It helped with the diarrhea she
constantly had and some of the spitting up, but the eczema was still not
staying away.  This was at about 2 1/2 months.  By 3 1/2 months I'd
figured out that the other culprit was chocolate after finding lots of
dairy free treats for me which contained chocolate :-(

> Basically what I am trying to say here is my son became as severe as he
is
>because of REPEAT EXPOSURE. What started out as probably a routine
>sensitivity grew into a huge life threatening issue.

This is what I'm trying to avoid if I possibly can.  My daughter seems to
be more sensitive to whey than to casein.  The spitting up starts almost
immediately after I eat something and she nurses.  It can take a few days
for it to subside.  Sometimes I can figure out what it was and other
times I have no idea.  I tried a sample of a crouton in a grocery store
yesterday (after reading the ingredients!) and she started spitting up
after the next feeding.  We are introducing solids now and it has me
concerned.  She spits up so much anyway, I'm afraid we are going to miss
a true allergic reaction and repeatedly expose her to something.

> Research and persistence are the keys in dealing with doctors. Trust
your
>gut feelings and don't take no for an answer. God Bless you all and
thank you
>for listening to my story.

This is very true.  I have some other ongoing medical issues that I know
more about than some doctors.  You have to be your own advocate and learn
as much as you can.  I use a trust but verify approach when it comes to
doctors.

Kathy