DS had a bad reaction, to I *think* milk *update*

[*Aimee*]

And I'm not sure what to do!

This is my 2.5 yr old son. He started getting bright red cheeks after a glass of milk, or cheese toast or cheese sticks, but not super bad. Then it started moving to his whole chin, and I thought that was really strange. Well, his favorite meal is mac and cheese. Tonight DH brought him home one of the Amy's frozen ones. He was eating it and about 3 bites in started screaming. His whole face and stomach and torso was red, like burned. He was itching it and screaming.

We washed his face and chest (it had mac and cheese on it from him, well, being 2, and itching his tummy). We gave him a bottle (of milk formula) and he laid in bed. He got up about 20 minutes later and said he felt all better, but the redness didn't go away until about an hour later, and even now his cheeks are still red.

He ate yogurt today too, but I haven't noticed anything with yogurt. Also, he has at least 1 bottle of formula a day. I don't know what I'll do if he can't have this, as he loves it soooooo much. I don't want him on soy anything. Could there be something about the formula that is so bastardized that the milk isn't getting him?

I'm afraid because this reaction was really bad. But for some reason DH thinks we should still give him formula and yogurt. How far do I go with taking this stuff out of his diet? do I take it all out? should I take him to our DO and have him tested?

poor guy, it hurt him so bad. Please help and give us any advice you can. Thank you.

[momma_c]

since you aren't sure about the first reaction i would search for another ingredient that was in both the mac and cheese and cheese toast or cheese sticks that could be the culprit.
if it is a milk based formula and it is a milk allergy, he would react. the milk protein is not broken down in a milk based formula at all.


when my son was 6 months old we supplemented with 2 oz of milk based formula and he had an anaphylactic reaction.

[*Aimee*]

Oh my gosh! how scary!

The only thing I am thinking was wheat....How do I find out?

[nalo]

Oh goodness. That sounds like a pretty scary reaction. Please tell your DH that your DS simply must be off of 100% of dairy starting immediately or you are risking a life threatening reaction I think. He had an IMMEDIATE reaction to dairy which means he probably has a true dairy allergy, as opposed to an intollerance. Each additional exposure can cause a worse reaction and the potential for anaphylaxis is very real. I don't mean to terrify you but just to be one tiny bit of your education. I recommend an appt. with an allergist right away so you can get him tested and get some epi-pens to have on hand with you at all times in case he gets dairy and has a dangerous reaction. I would not give him one more bottle of milk formula. In the very short term, simply for comfort, you could give him a bottle of rice milk or help milk or something since you do not want to do soy formula. You can figure out a plan with a few days/weeks to get your head to stop spinning but do *anything* other than the dairy based formula starting immediately. Also, while it is not the real deal, I know lots of allergy mamas have had great success making fake cheese sauce with nutritional yeast. There is a learning curve with removing dairy from his diet because you have to learn all the hidden ingredient names that pop up but it's very doable once you make the adjustment. I know it's a VERY emotional thing to deal with so it's normal to freak out. It's not a minor situation it's a big life change to change how you eat. Since the reaction was so immediate and severe you are also going to need to be super careful with cross contamination issues within your home and anywhere else you eat. Okay, I totally feel like I'm writing a book now. Others will respond as well and help you through this too. Hang in there. Glad he is okay tonight.

ETA: hhmmmmm.....good point about him not reacting to the bottle after eating the mac and cheese. this is making me ponder more....

[changingseasons]

Can you list the ingredients for the mac-n-cheese so we can take a look for anything that looks especially allergenic?

That does seem weird that he would feel better after a bottle of milk-based formula, but I know nothing about formula or how it's made... and the immediate red cheeks after a glass of milk does suggest a milk allergy.

I agree 100% with DoulaMary that that was a VERY serious reaction and you need to look into it asap. Definitely see an allergist and get testing and an EpiPen. And until you can do that, I watch his diet very carefully- start a food journal to keep track of everything he eats, maybe cut out all the processed/packaged foods in case it's a preservative allergy or something, and I would cut out the dairy too just in case.

[*Aimee*]

Thank you Mamas.

Here are the ingredients for the mac and cheese:

Macaroni & Cheese 9oz
INGREDIENTS : 0G TRANS FAT • NO ADDED MSG • NO PRESERVATIVES ORGANIC MACARONI (ORGANIC SEMOLINA FLOUR, ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER), ORGANIC LOWFAT MILK, CHEDDAR CHEESE, GRADE AA BUTTER, ORGANIC RICE FLOUR, SEA SALT, ANNATTO. CONTAINS WHEAT AND MILK.

Last night, he had one without dairy (DH wanted to see if he got red cheeks after it, and I know we're bad for giving it to him two nights in a row but he's refusing to eat ANYTHING)

Macaroni & Soy Cheeze
INGREDIENTS : LACTOSE FREE ORGANIC COOKED MACARONI (ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT DURUM FLOUR, ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR, WATER), FILTERED WATER, CHEDDAR STYLE SOY CHEEZE (TOFU [FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC SOYBEANS, CALCIUM SULFATE], CASEINATE—A MILK DERIVED PROTEIN, EXPELLER PRESSED SOY OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, SEA SALT, LACTIC ACID, SOY LECITHIN, ANNATTO, GUAR GUM), EXPELLER PRESSED HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC SWEET RICE FLOUR, SEA SALT, NUTRITIONAL YEAST, MUSTARD POWDER. CONTAINS WHEAT, SOY AND MILK PROTEIN.

He had absolutely no reaction to this one.

After talking more about it with DH, he thinks its an allergy to cheddar. He doesn't think he's seen him with a reaction to just milk. He thinks he's been eating cheese whenever he's been drinking milk. Just a few weeks ago we made pizza with white cheese and none of this happened. He's also been eating this mac and cheese for a year and only having problems with it for the past few months. He also thinks (and I am so not sure about this at all...) that it was a topical thing, and that once he washed the sauce off his stomach he was fine. I think it may have been just that the cold felt good on his burning belly.

I was a vegetarian for like 6 years and vegan for a few of those so I'm grateful I know all the hidden lingo for milk and am pretty good at fake cheeses.

I think what scares me is the uncertainty of it all. I mean, the past few weeks we've been "what if he has a dairy allergy!?" but it's not been serious, and now this. And why would a dairy bottle (a mix of parents choice from walmart and Nature One organic, I can't afford all organic for two babies, and I have IGT so I cant bf) immediately after calm him down and NOT break him out?

I showed DH your posts, and he's said to call our DO first thing in the morning and ask her to recommend an allergist. I'm scared now.

[nalo]

So glad to hear DH is a little more "on your side" at this point. The whole journey is so much better if both parents are on the same page. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an allergy to cheddar but not milk. If you have a dairy allergy you have a dairy allergy. The allergy is to the protein called casein and is found in all dairy products, in differing amounts. So....total overload from the regular mac and cheese but just a tiny amount in the soy mac - you saw different things happening/not happening. It is true that someone can react differently to different forms of dairy but they remain allergic nonetheless and all forms must still be avoided. At this point, your best bet is to make an ASAP appt. for an allergy test and go from there.

[LBMarie9]

you just brought back a memory for me---when DS (who is now intolerant of dairy)---was first eating foods after a year---he had yogurt and cheese all the time and then I gave him cottage cheese a couple times and he reacted pretty badly--but I thought-oh it couldn't be dairy--he doesn't react to other dairy--I don't know any reasoning behind it--but he tolerated (so I thought or from what i noticed) cheese and yogurt well for awhile (a year or so)
if this is random sorry--just wanted to say that I'd always assume it IS an allergy until you can prove otherwise-that's the safe way!

[Chinese Pistache]

What about annatto? That's the coloring found in cheddar. It's derived from a seed. It can cause both IgE allergies and intolerances. Google it for many more links.

http://allergies.about.com/od/foodal...dadditives.htm
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.in...actannatto.htm

ETA: Oh, I just read that the second one had annatto, too. I still would remove all dairy until you get in to the allergist. Good luck, op.

[changingseasons]

That's really strange. I don't see any ingredients in the first one that aren't in the second.

What else did he eat besides the mac-n-cheese?

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

That's really strange. I don't see any ingredients in the first one that aren't in the second.

What else did he eat besides the mac-n-cheese?

It's looks like there was a lot more dairy in the first, though, in case it was a threshold thing.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

It's looks like there was a lot more dairy in the first, though, in case it was a threshold thing.

True, true. But that seems like a really bad reaction just from a threshold. I would expect SOME kind of reaction from a smaller amount too. But who knows...

[*Aimee*]

Well, and the weird thing is he only ate a few bites before his reaction hit.

That day he ate:
2 eggs fried in coconut oil
about 2 oz of formula (he sniped from his brother)
2 bowls of organic greek yogurt, honey flavored (and by bowls I mean maybe 1/3 cup)
a piece of sour dough toast with butter
about 6 peanut m and m's (potty learning)

It's just so hard to pinpoint. It seems like he always has bright red cheeks. Especially after milk, but not formula. But then today I haven't let him have a drop of formula and his cheeks aren't that red. But again, he did have that big bottle right after his reaction.

I have a meeting with our DO on Friday, that's the soonest they could get us in.

I contacted Amy's and they want to know the box number and to call me and talk to me.

I talked to a friend today who is allergic to Niacin, and he said he gets the sme reactions as Rune does if he eats strong cheese, the stronger the "bite" of the cheese the worse his reaction. He's determined it to be niacin, but there are 1100 mg of niacin in the formula (per 5 oz) so I just don't know.

I do know that I'm scared and that I have a kid bawling that he can't have any milk or formula

[nalo]

Oh, poor sweet thing. Is there any way you can get to the store to get a safe milk alternative for him for the short term? Obviously he'll know the difference in taste but at least he can drink a white drink out of a bottle, yk? It may help him a bit, emotionally.
While his diet for the day is very similar to many children, it does include many of the top allergens - gluten, dairy, peanut, egg, corn (in the m & m's) as well as coconut which many LO's on this board react to. If he is allergic to peanuts, for example, that would make no sense to me why he reacted after eating mac and cheese though. This whole situation is definately painting a confusing picture. Is there any way to just make an appt. with an allergiest or do you have to see your doc in person to get a referral? His immediate and severe reaction do indicate an IgE allergy (i.e. an allergy that could cause anaphylaxis) so traditional allergy testing should really help you guys and I hope there's a way you can get in before weeks tick by.

[earthmama4]

I remember DS3 having a really bad reaction. We were at a restaurant and he broke out in full body hives. Its was really scarey since he didn't have any food allergies that I knew of (unlike DS1 who had very serious food allergies and for whom we carried an epi-pen). I gave him benadryl that I had for DS1 and it cleared. I wasn't sure what caused it since he didn't eat anything that he doesn't eat all the time with no problems. I took him to the doctor who said that sometimes the body reacts allergically to a virus, and it may not have anything to do with food at all. I had never heard of that before!

He had one other episode like that later that year. No correlaton as far as foods ingested. We deemed it to be another "virus" reaction.

In Kindergarten, DS3 had a full anaphylactic reaction to something..we still don't know what it really was. He vomited, broke out in full body hives, then he became red from head to toe (his skin was one giant hive) and then his feet and hands started turning blue. Its was so scary. I thought he was going to die. (I taught in the classroom right next to his so I was there for the full reaction since they brought him to me right after he vomited.). He was rushed to a major children's hospital who could find no reason for the reaction. Again, the foods he ate were foods he ate all the time no problem. He was not exposed to anything weird or new. They told me that they thought again, it was likely an immune response to a virus, but if it happened again, to take him to an allergist. It never happened again (he is now almost 8)

So sometimes our first inclination is to think food when we see kids react, but there are other triggers. For my DS3, I think there is some thing out there that he is not exposed to often, some sort of virus or contaminant that he is very allergic to, but its not a food. I never considered before that experience that a child could have anaplylaxis to anything other than a food or insect sting.

I think the doctors visit is in order and hopefully you can get some answers. I hope maybe my story can help you look at all possible causes, perhaps its not food since its inconsistent with what he is eating. Perhaps it is a preservative, additive, or even a virus as with my DS3.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

True, true. But that seems like a really bad reaction just from a threshold. I would expect SOME kind of reaction from a smaller amount too. But who knows...

My son really seemed okay with cheese, I still haven't come up with any lingering unexplained things, but he vomited with just a few bites of ice cream. Somehow it seems like, with some kids, the culturing and fermenting of dairy seems to make it okay.

eta: I'm still really not sure if the cheese was causing really low-level problems, but we're dairy-free now and will be for quite a while, so likely I'll never know. :S

Either way, OP, best of luck to you figuring it out, that sounds scary.

[*Aimee*]

He had a corn tortilla with peanut butter on it today and was totally fine. It could be gluten. I guess I'm just so unsure as to why it's something he ate all the time and then all of a sudden had this bad of a reaction

DH is bringing him home some hemp milk, we don't have a car. I gave him his really cool special Sigg he hasn't seen in a while with water and that cheered him up a bit.


I'm not sure what the dr will do. I'm upset they couldn't see him today, and what if it takes forever to get into an allergist? What do they do? And how long does it take to get results back?

Thank you all so much.

Oh and if it is a virus, how would they figure that out?

Thank you.

[lil_miss_understood]

Haven't read all of the replies, but fwiw, on ds1's ELISA (which tested both IgE and IgG) dairy products were tested seperately. Mozza cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yogourt..
On asking why (I mean do people ever really test positive for one and not for another?!), my allergist said that yes, it does happen but it's not common. I was one of those who broke the rule with my ELISA. I tested highly intolerant to milk and not intolerant at all to any other dairy.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Haven't read all of the replies, but fwiw, on ds1's ELISA (which tested both IgE and IgG) dairy products were tested seperately. Mozza cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yogourt..
On asking why (I mean do people ever really test positive for one and not for another?!), my allergist said that yes, it does happen but it's not common. I was one of those who broke the rule with my ELISA. I tested highly intolerant to milk and not intolerant at all to any other dairy.

No way! That is so weird. But my ELISA tested that way too now that you mention it.

[*Aimee*]

Well, we kept him off dairy all day yesterday and he did fine. But then he got red cheeks again later that night. I'm starting to wonder if red cheeks are just part of who he is.


so I talked to the Amy's mac and cheese lady. She said that this was quite a stumper for them, especially considering he had a dairy bottle to lay down with. So she said that she they use petroleum as a lube for the kitchen machinery and propylene glycol to clean it. She said that 2% of people are allergic to it, and that would explain why it looked to be topical. When he's had a red face from it before, it it's only been on his chin. But he was eating this shirtless, which could explain why the rash all over.

I looked up more on propylene glycol and they said it's a main ingredient in deodorant. My son LOVES deodorant and rubs it on his arms all the time. I'm sure the levels in that are way higher than whatever was left on the machinery for food. She said they're going to test the lot (we have the box) and then get back to me.

I don't think this could be it because of the deodorant thing. But we'll see. It'd be nice if it was this simple!!