Hi all,

My name is Jessica and I am the mother of two boys, Justin (18 months) and
Chris (4 yrs).  Justin is allergic to dairy, and we believe he is also
allergic to other foods as well.  Chris has been suffering from chronic
constipation for over a year now, and we are starting to wonder if he has
food allergies too.

We realized Justin was allergic to dairy at 13 months when he weaned
himself from breastfeeding and had a few  sips of milk given to him by my
step-dad.  Within hours, he had a chicken-pox like rash (hives?), red eyes
and was drawing his knees to his stomach in pain.  He woke every hour that
night and still had the rash the next day.  We were not positive it was a
reaction to the milk, but I had suspected.  About one month later, he had a
few bites of ice cream at a birthday party and developed the same symptoms.

Since then, a friend recommended we try yogurt, which supposedly has less
milk protein (or it is broken down better?).  Same reaction after only a
few bites.  So we eliminated basic dairy products from his diet and put him
on Eden soy milk (which he loves).  He has not reacted to the soy milk.  I
now realize he also reacted to milk in my diet when I was nursing, but to a
lesser extent.

I thought our problems were solved.  But Justin kept sleeping badly and his
skin was very prone to redness and dry spots.  He still has a little cradle
cap (eczema).  Then one day I gave him pieces to an orange.  He had never
really eaten orange before because he didn't like the taste.  It had been
months, so I tried it again.  4 hours later he was screaming.  He did not
develop a rash, but was extremely irritable and threw numerous fits (which
is not like him at all) for two days.

I finally called an allergist.  We saw him a few days ago for the first
time.  He told us that he would feel confident in diagnosing Justin with a
milk allergy by the symptoms we described and told us to cut all dairy from
his diet.  Then he proceded to explain that we needed to read labels and
watch for things like whey, casein, and other itmes you wouldn't normally
check for.  I discovered an excellent Website that lists ingredients to
watch for.  I had no idea!!!!!!  Now I realize his diet will be very
different.

Our allergist also said we could do some testing, but that the "gold
standard" test was a rotation diet in which we test certain foods we
suspect.  He said it wasn't neccesary with the dairy, but we may want to
try peanuts, eggs, oranges, and other foods.  The rotation diet is going to
be very hard for us, but we will do it.  Anyone who does not know what I am
talking about, I would be happy to explain in detail either on or offlist,
but because this message is getting long enough as it is, here is the idea:
You give your child the suspect food for a given amount of time (a little
over a week) then eliminate it all together for five days.  On the fifth
day, you reintroduce it to the diet and watch for a reaction.  The reaction
is usually fast and furious because the antibodies that were being built up
during the time your child was eating the food have been waiting to attack
this food that has been absent.  My allergist says it is the easiest way to
determine what foods cause reactions.

I would be very interested in talking with others who have done this, as I
am not looking forward to the months of testing foods we are facing.  I
hope to meet other parents and adults who have experienced this and hope I
can pass along information I learn as well.  Thanks for reading this far!
:)

Jessica Williams
Stay at home mom to:
Justin 18 mons-allergic to dairy
Chris 4 yrs-possible food allergies