Milk allergy...How do you know?

[scheelimama]

We took dd off of cow's milk a few months ago. We suspected that she may be allergic to it, since she would randomly throw up on average of 2 times a week. Well, it seemed random, and it took us 2.5 years (okay, really just 1.5 years, since she never had cow's milk until after a year) to finally see that she was usually throwing up after drinking milk. (This seems obvious, but she would almost always throw up only if she had had 2 bottles -cause she was having a really hard time going to sleep- or eating a meal then having a bottle of milk. It seemed that she was just over filling her tummy.)

Anyway, it finally dawned on us that maybe it was the milk. We switched her to soy milk at the end of October and since then, she's thrown up only once. That one time was after having a cheaper brand of hotdog. (We usually buy them all beef and only certain brands). So, now we steer clear of cheap hotdogs and cow's milk, but she still has other forms of cow's milk, such as cheese (a lot), yogurt, ice cream. She seems to be doing fine.

Has anybody else experienced this? She didn't throw up every time after having milk. It's just so strange. And she has had cow's milk (to drink) on accident one time when a friend was watching her, after months of not having any and she did fine. So, what's up with that?

ETA: I struggle with lactose intolerance which is very severe in early pregnancy and worse during my cycle (I know that's odd, but true).

[Leatherette]

My daughter throws up after having cows milk or cows milk yogurt. She can tolerate cheese and butter fine. I have been told that she has an intolerance, not an allergy. The RAST and the skin tests came back negative.

Well, yesterday I put Burts Bees buttermilk baby lotion on her, and she was broken out in an itchy rash from head to toe. I had actually used it on her a while back with no adverse reaction. So maybe it was something else in the lotion, or she is becoming more allergic to cow's milk ingredients, at least some forms.

So I would treat it as if your daughter is allergic, but continue to give her things she tolerates well. And always do a dime-sized skin test before using a new lotion on her!!! (I feel terrible, I put it all over her) And I am going to have my daughter allergy tested again. Soon.

And to answer your question about why she does not throw up every time....
My daughter gets mucous build-up with milk/yogurt, and throws up if there is a lot of mucous (the vomit is usually mostly mucous). So if there is a small amount, or your daughter is feeling particularly hearty that day, she may be able to handle the milk without throwing up. At least, that's my theory.

L.

[Electra375]

Have you tried Raw Cow's milk? The pasturization process destroys the milk and makes it something total different from what it was 100+ yrs ago. Not to mention the farming practices and antibiotics and growth hormones etc have literally made milk from the grocery store poison IMO.
My ds2 could not tolerate dairy at all. We switched to buying raw milk out at a local farm and he has been able to eat it on cereal. Won't drink it, and that is fine with me b/c I was on an anti-diary kick for years.
www.westonaprice.org
and www.Realmilk.org

[wendy1221]

My family drank raw milk when I was a kid (it's very common in PA.) 2 of my 4 siblings and I were still allergic to it. Raw milk may be easier for the nonallergic to digest, but it's not something I would recommend to someone who is truly allergic.

[Missy]

I agree; I think raw milk might be healthier and easier to digest, but I don't think it would be any safer for someone with a severe allergy. I definitely wouldn't risk it with my son, who had an ana. reaction on contact to yogurt.

Missy

[scheelimama]

Well, I don't think she has an actual allergy. And she probably could handle raw cow's milk better or goat's milk, but it's awful hard to find raw cow's milk and goat's milk is sooo... expensive. They (both of my dd's) enjoy soy milk and haven't shown any soy allergies, so I think we'll just continue with this. It just seemed so weird that she would only throw up part of the time with the cow's milk. Just wondered, mostly, if anyone else had ever experienced this.

[wendy1221]

Well, I have an actual cow's milk allergy (and goat's), and I don't get sick every time I have something w/ milk in it. Once in a while I'll throw up, but more commonly, I get gas or diarrhea.