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hypoallergenic formula

am369am369
in Special Needs

Can they actually make you LO worse?

We were switched from Good Start to Nutramigen because of excessive gas and constipation.  the doctors believe it's a milk allergy.  He's just as gassy and constipated on the Nutramigen however it makes him act horribly.  He can't sleep, every time he dozes off his whole body spasms and wakes him right up.  He gets up every 30-45 minutes ALL NIGHT LONG screaming and it usually lasts for about 10 minutes.  On the Good Start, he'll wake up every 2-3 hours to eat, even give us a 4 hr stretch occasionally.  Maybe once a night he will wake up with gas and screaming, but once the gas passes he goes right back to sleep.

I even tried slowing down the change and doing some good start with some nutramigen, but as soon as there is a little bit in the bottle it's like a light switch.  And he eats it fine so it's not like it's just the taste.  He'll down 4 oz of it and then 30-40 minutes later the screaming/spasming sessions begin.  And then because he's uncomfortable he won't eat.

The dr is out of town for a week so I put him back on good start. 

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Re: hypoallergenic formula

  • wellfleet04wellfleet04 member

    Some babies can't handle even the Nutramigen or Alimetrium and need soemthing like Neocate.  That usually requires a prescription to get it covered, because it is $$$.  My son was on it because of a dairy allergy and he couldn't tolerate Nutramigen, either. 

    But it's weird that he's doing better on the Good Start.  

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  • am369am369
    imagewellfleet04:

    Some babies can't handle even the Nutramigen or Alimetrium and need soemthing like Neocate.  That usually requires a prescription to get it covered, because it is $$$.  My son was on it because of a dairy allergy and he couldn't tolerate Nutramigen, either. 

    But it's weird that he's doing better on the Good Start.  

    He acted the same way on Elecare that's why they put him on Nutramigen, they didn't think he needed the Elecare since he was no better.

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  • FalioleyFalioley member
    Dean was the same way with the hypoallergenic formulas, but did well on the Good Start Gentle Plus. I don't get it, but whatever.
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  • am369am369

    imageFalioley:
    Dean was the same way with the hypoallergenic formulas, but did well on the Good Start Gentle Plus. I don't get it, but whatever.

    Phew.  I feel like everyone keeps telling me I'm nuts because it's hypoallergenic.  At least E's not the only one.

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  • P.G.&A.M.P.G.&A.M.
    Nutramamigen is milk based and while lots of babies do well on it because the proteins are quite broken down some, like my son, dont't do ok on it. We had to put my DS on an amino acid based formula called Neocate.
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  • am369am369

    imageP.G.&A.M.:
    Nutramamigen is milk based and while lots of babies do well on it because the proteins are quite broken down some, like my son, dont't do ok on it. We had to put my DS on an amino acid based formula called Neocate.

    DS was on Elecare and there was no difference between how he acted on it and Nutramigen.  And if he was true MSPI why would he do BETTER on Good Start than Nutramigen/Alimentum or Elecare?

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  • ajanesajanes member
    imageam369:

    imageP.G.&A.M.:
    Nutramamigen is milk based and while lots of babies do well on it because the proteins are quite broken down some, like my son, dont't do ok on it. We had to put my DS on an amino acid based formula called Neocate.

    DS was on Elecare and there was no difference between how he acted on it and Nutramigen.  And if he was true MSPI why would he do BETTER on Good Start than Nutramigen/Alimentum or Elecare?

    Corn?  Most formulas have corn starch/syrup solids has a primary ingredient.  All powders (except one of the Good Starts) have them.  Even Elecare and Neocate.  Most RTF do not have corn in them (except Nutramigen, it does).  DS started on a ton of Enfamils and was a mess. GI put him on GS and he did great for a while.  He then ended up on Alimentum RTF and did ok.  The GI was adamant that it was RTF and Alimentum.  He finally ended up on Neocate.  By that point, thankfully he had outgrown the corn intolerance but the milk was so severe that even the trace amounts of casein in Alimentum were too much.

    Every time I tried powder formula, which has corn, he would have terrible gas and scream for hours.  It was terrible.

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  • FalioleyFalioley member
    imageam369:

    imageFalioley:
    Dean was the same way with the hypoallergenic formulas, but did well on the Good Start Gentle Plus. I don't get it, but whatever.

    Phew.  I feel like everyone keeps telling me I'm nuts because it's hypoallergenic.  At least E's not the only one.

    Yeah, you should have heard me try to convince Dean's pedi that the Good Start was agreeing with him better than was the hypoallergenic stuff, my milk, you name it. I couldn't explain it, but if it worked, I almost didn't care about the explanation! 

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  • MbitnerMbitner
    Our LO was put on nutramigen bc of milk protein allergy (at 2 months old.) He did well on it.  Now he is on elecare bc of food allergies and not eating well yet.  Maybe talk to your doctor about elecare or neocate?  GL! 
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  • not_finishednot_finished

    Grant has CSID (Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency).  He does not have adequate levels of the enzymes to break down other sugars besides lactose.  Neocate has corn syrup solid (contains sucrose) in it, so it causes major issues for him.  If he didn't have CIPO complicating things, he would be able to tolerate the Good Start just fine.  It has Lactose as its carb source.  He is now on Ross Carb Free with added Lactose, and is doing wonderfully. 

    FWIW, CSID is very rare, but it might be worth asking your doctor about.

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  • am369am369
    imageajanes:
    imageam369:

    imageP.G.&A.M.:
    Nutramamigen is milk based and while lots of babies do well on it because the proteins are quite broken down some, like my son, dont't do ok on it. We had to put my DS on an amino acid based formula called Neocate.

    DS was on Elecare and there was no difference between how he acted on it and Nutramigen.  And if he was true MSPI why would he do BETTER on Good Start than Nutramigen/Alimentum or Elecare?

    Corn?  Most formulas have corn starch/syrup solids has a primary ingredient.  All powders (except one of the Good Starts) have them.  Even Elecare and Neocate.  Most RTF do not have corn in them (except Nutramigen, it does).  DS started on a ton of Enfamils and was a mess. GI put him on GS and he did great for a while.  He then ended up on Alimentum RTF and did ok.  The GI was adamant that it was RTF and Alimentum.  He finally ended up on Neocate.  By that point, thankfully he had outgrown the corn intolerance but the milk was so severe that even the trace amounts of casein in Alimentum were too much.

    Every time I tried powder formula, which has corn, he would have terrible gas and scream for hours.  It was terrible.

    Hmm...corn?  He's always done MUCH better on any version of RTF than powder.  We're currently on Good Start RTF Gentle Plus.  I'll have to bring it up to the doctor.  He did HORRIBLE on both the Nutramigen Powder and RTF.  The Powder was way worse but the RTF was okay.  That would explain why he did HORRIBLE on Similac Soy.  The Similac Advanced was okay but it was too rough on his tummy.  It would also explain why he did HORRIBLE on Enfamil Gentleease. 

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  • SpartanGirlSpartanGirl member
    Neither DS or DD2 could handle Nutramigen.  It actually cause a full body rash on DD2.  DS did wonderfully on Neocate.  DD2 is thriving on Baby's Only Organic Soy (for corn/milk intolerances).
    DD1 - 12.25.05
    (m/c 1.17.07, m/c 5.15.07)
    DS - 03.15.08
    DD2 - 12.03.09
    DD3 - 3.28.11
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  • mskolmanmskolman member
    Oh, I totally feel your pain. We haven't EVER had a full night's sleep since Carter was born. But, it was the worst when he would wake up screaming and kicking because of tummy pain! He was on Good Start Gentle Ease and did okay on it, but still had some fits of gas/tummy pain that would wake him up all throughout the night sometimes. Our GI doc put him on Neocate to see if it got better at all. At first, we didn't see any change at all, but it gradually got better. He just switched over from Neocate Infant to Neocate Junior this summer for more calories and he is doing great. He is also 100% tube fed, if that makes any difference at all. 
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