Kris Moore -- I have found that things change over time. My mild LI became severe over a 10+ year period. Then I started reacting in other ways to dairy, beyond just LI symptoms. When I quit all dairy 2.5 years ago, my life took a big turn for the better. However, I had major abdominal surgery 1.5 years ago. I had about 1 foot of large intestine removed (sigmoid colon to be specific) because of diverticulitis. I'm not really sure what that last foot dig but I can't handle fruit juices anymore (or some soft drinks with folic acid), without getting some LI-like symptoms. To get to the point, have you observed your daughter's reaction to fruit juices? It took me quite a while before I zeroed in on the problem. I just assumed that somehow dairy was still part of my diet and blamed it for my problems.

However, as I remove more items from my diet, I'm beginning to wonder if life is worth living... just kidding of course. I DO enjoy my food -- at least that is what the bathroom scale tells me!

Don M
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Kris Moore <[log in to unmask]>
    To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
    Date: Tuesday, June 29, 1999 8:05 AM
    Subject: dairy "sensitivity"?
    
    
    Hi all, I am not new to the list but do not post often.  I do continue to
    read the list as I am always open to new information regarding living without
    dairy.  I participate in other lists that go through quiet periods and it
    doesn't bother me.  We don't have to have scientific discussions all the time
    -- we can just share with each other what our most recent challenges or
    successes have been, right?
    
    My 10 yo daughter became sensitive to dairy just over a year ago, after a
    simple "stomach bug."  She was suffering from nearly constant lower abdominal
    pain when I discovered dairy made her worse.  I eliminated cheese and milk
    from her diet and within a day she was 75% better.  When she continued having
    mild symptoms, I searched out and eliminated all dairy from her diet,
    including trace ingredients, and after a few more days she was 95% better.
    
    She has other GI problems also so we have been strictly avoiding dairy for
    over a year.  She has been both skin tested for milk and casein (milk
    negative, casein +1) and had the hydrogen breath test for lactose.  The
    allergy tests were considered negative and the LI test very strongly
    positive.  However, she had NO symptoms during or after the LI test, which
    confused things even more.  I have gotten three different opinions from three
    different pediatric gastroenterologists about her not reacting to the lactose
    -- not much help <g>.  Personally I think she was reacting to casein, but I
    didn't pursue allergy testing any further because she was doing better
    without dairy and she'd been through enough medical testing by that time.
    
    Her other GI problems are finally better after a very tough winter, so we are
    getting to the point now that we would like to test her tolerance to dairy,
    in case she had a rare, temporary "sensitivity" to casein that showed up only
    in GI symptoms.  Fortunately she has never reacted to dairy with more than
    abdominal pain (though that could be quite severe) so we don't have to worry
    about anaphylaxis.  I can't test her this week because she's going to a day
    camp, but am considering trying the tiniest bit of dairy next week.  She
    would like to know how sensitive she is, as she feels very restricted
    avoiding every possible trace of dairy and would like to know for sure if
    it's necessary now that it's been a year.  We are glad to continue to live
    without dairy if it is necessary for her to feel better.
    
    Anyway, that's where we are in our "dairy odyssey."
    
    Kris Moore