Food Allergy
biblionerd
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lactose intolerance vs milk protein allergy?
biblionerd
member
in Food Allergy
How do you differentiate between the two? I know lactose intolerance is more uncommon in toddlers (15 months), but the allergist we saw today said it was very possible. We had the pink prick test on his back done (sorry, can't remember what it was called) and he wasn't allergic to any of the 12 food allergens they tested. When we started transitioning off soy formula to milk we did it very slowly. By the time we got up to one whole 6 oz bottle he started puking curdled milk everywhere. He can handle yogurt and cheese fine though- he usually gets 4oz of yogurt, a slice of cheese, and some cheese cubes every day right now. He's on enriched rice milk now. As vegetarians, I would really like for him to get the extra protein in cow's milk. Has anyone had any luck with lesser fat milks being easier to digest? Do you think it would be worth it to try those or the lactose free milk? Since he can tolerate yogurt and cheese it makes me hopefully that there's at least SOME kind of cows milk he might be able to tolerate.
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Re: lactose intolerance vs milk protein allergy?
If he can handle cheese and yogurt - then I would give that and not give too much cow's milk. Too much milk can cause anemia anyway (the extra calcium can inhibit iron absorbtion). DS can only handle so much cow's milk. He does fine on regular yogurt and cheese but we give him Lactaid milk instead of regular. Lactaid milk does not have any lactose in it.
DD on the other hand has an allergy will not be able to have any type of cow's milk whatsoever. No yogurt, cheese - nothing until she is no longer allergic.
How do you differentiate between the two?
With LI you may experience gas, diarrhea, vomitting, ect. - same with an allergy. But with an allergy it involves the immune system and therefore you will develope symptoms unrelated to the digestive system. Including eczema, hives, congestion, ect. DD had severe eczema, blood in her diaper, congestion all from her diary allergy. This is my understanding at least - but I'm no medical professional either.
Those are all symptoms for an intolerance too. OP - you know it is not an immune response b/c it didn't show up on the scratch test. The scratch test tests for an IgE response, or an allergy. There is a blood test (different from the RAST) for an IgG response, which would show a milk protein intolerance, but it is not very reliable. Most people are intolerant to dairy proteins (b/c cows milk is for cows), but have little or no reaction to it.
Throwing up from dairy is not a lactose response, you would really only see gassiness and diarrhea with lactose intolerance. My guess is that there is a dairy protein intolerance and milk + yogurt, cheese, etc. is too much for your DC. If your DC is ok with yogurt and cheese, I would concentrate on protein fro those sources and other vegetarian sources. Also, try soy, Almond or hemp milk (or even hemp protein powder, they sell that at TJs) instead of rice milk. Rice milk doesn't have a lot of fat or protein in comparison to the others.
My twins have non-IgE mediated allergies to soy and to milk. DD vomits violently and gets very lethargic (she also has bad gas) from milk. Our pedi allergist told us that such a reaction is not an intolerance. Skin and blood tests do not test for this type of allergy, and there is currently no other reliable test. The only way to test is to challenge.
I don't know if this is what is going on with your LO, but it's just something to think about.
Ari & I both have a milk protein intolerance/allergy but can tolerate certain cheeses & yogurts in small doses. Part of what makes cheese & yogurt more tolerable is that the aging process breaks down the proteins. Also, many cheeses are aged enough that the whey protein is completely eliminated. You can be more allergic to whey than casein protein or vice versa, or only allergic/intolerant to whey & not casein protein. I'm highly reactive to whey protein. I even had to switch my asthma maintenance inhaler because Advair has whey protein mixed with it & cause my mouth to swell, itch, & have eczema & sores.
Neither Ari nor I can have straight cows milk, lactose free or otherwise. FWIW, both of us test negative on scratch testing, but if I have too much of any dairy product, I get everything from GI symptoms to eczema to increased congestion, red itchy eyes, & increased asthma complications. We drink coconut milk.