Dxing Milk and/or Soy Intolerance

unaveragejane

If your LO couldn't tolerate soy or dairy products (or had another food intolerance), how soon did you figure it out? What were the main symptoms? It seems like such a common problem that I almost feel like I need to start the MPSI (or is it MSPI??) diet now so I'm used to it. (I know that's extreme, but apparently my head is running in "extreme mode" today. Thanks, Benadryl.)

JEPES1348

My LO isn't MSPI, but she has a cow's milk allergy. She gets a rash on her chin when she has sips of milk, cottage cheese, or macaroni and cheese. But she's been able to eat regular cheese in quesadillas and stuff, so I don't know... Are the proteins different in aged or harder cheeses? The rash is an immune response, so it's indicative of an allergy, vs a dietary intolerance, which I would guess contributes to more GI-related symptoms??

stoneycakes

We figured it out because he had reflux that was waking him in the middle of the night.  And also eczema, which is often indicative of an intolerance. When his reflux didn't get much better on meds, I eliminated soy and dairy from my diet and he was much better.

JEPES1348

I think the same adage goes for MSPI as it does for cloth diapering wash routines: If it aint broke, don't fix it. Don't go over-thinking it and preemptively making yourself crazy! Wait to cross that bridge if and when you come to it.

km_md

DD wasn't diagnosed MSPI but I am on the diet because her reflux is so bad and we are trying everything while we wait for a specialist to see her.

CLLDLL

There's no test or other way to medically confirm MSPI. The ways it's usually Dx is by eliminating milk and soy and seeing if the symptoms go away.

Common symptoms are reflux (normal or silent), gassiness, blood in the stools, altered Ph of stools, colic like symptoms, mucousy stools, etc.

It can take up to 5 weeks for dairy to first leave Mom's system and then baby's to give relief of all symptoms. That being said a lot of mom's on the MSPI check-in on the BF'ing board say the seen some improvements within a week.

I agree that if it's not broke don't fix it. That being said, there does seem to be some hereditary link, so if you think your older son was MPI or MSPI and you don't think the diet will kill you, it certainly wouldn't hurt to eliminate at least obvious dairy a few weeks before birth.

Resources I love: www.godairyfree.org for info on label reading and substitutes

www.mspimama.com for recipes.

Also a common mistake is confusing MSPI with dairy/lactose allergy. They are different. MSPI is related to proteins in dairy/soy and is usually outgrown. An allergy is specifically related to the food. It can be more or less serious symptom-wise than MSPI and may or may not be outgrown.

unaveragejane

Thanks, girls! I know I'm over-worrying here, but DS1 did have reflux and still has eczema, so I always wondered if he was a bit MSPI. Medicine (Ranitadine?) seemed to help him feel better, but he still spit-up like crazy so I never really knew if we were treating the problem or the symptoms. He wouldn't nurse so we FF, and the only stuff that settled on his stomach reasonably was Similac for Spit-Up. We tried Alimentum before we even knew about the reflux, but he threw it up immediately. Anyway...crazy days. I'm just hoping to get a little bit ahead of the curve this time and know what to look for in case we have feeding woes again.

TJ1979

E screamed all day and all night, every day and every night. She spit up practically every ounce I was able to actually feed her, and hardly gained any weight. I was at my wits end, and the bf board suggested cutting dairy. It helped some so I cut soy too. I'm not sure of the soy ever did make a difference. But the dairy definitely did. Any time I messed up, she would get an eczema rash on her whole body.

lookame3639

DS had bloody stools in his first month of his life. He didn't have any other issues aside from the blood. The Dr's changed him over to allementum and it made him so sick. Unfortunately i only had a hand pump and when we were ready to start breastfeeding again i was all dried up. The formula made him sick until he started solids.

later we tried to introduce milk again and he would have terrible gas and sewage like liquid diarrhea. He would just randomly throw himself on the floor and cry and scream. Now that he's 7 he can tolerate milk at his breakfast and lunch but for a very longtime we had to go without milk in his diet.

Amores0121

What is MSPI?

TJ1979

Amores0121 said:

What is MSPI?

Milk and soy protein intolerance.