So confused...lactose intolerant related

[seren]

I think my dd is lactose intolerant. It took several months for us to realize the gas and stomach pains she was getting every night were probably related to milk. She loves to drink it and we cook with it a lot at dinner. So we went off it for a few weeks and it stopped. We reintroduced it and it started again. She's only 2 1.2 and it was beyond miserable. Today my ds had an app with the pede and I asked her about lactose intolerance and if there is a test or something to see if that really is the problem. She said she was not familiar with any tests to prove lactose intolerance. That if they hurt with it and don't without it, they jsut label them as LI. My sister freaked out about this. Her son is LI and he had to have a test done. Of course, she had taken him to the CHildren's hospital to see why he had constant diarrhea for months. He has other intestinal issues (his were upside at birth and he had to have surgery at 7 days old). She flipped out on me saying the specialist at Children's said the Hydrogen gas created by LI is what kills kids. My nephews was so bad it was causing a bacterial infection in his scar tissue and was literally slowly killing him. My pede (whom I am not fond of to begin with) is not concerned at all. My mom's friend said her chiro did a blood test to see if she had allergies or any intolerances, so I dd has an app on monday. Should I really be concerned? Is this going to drastically affect my child's health and life, beyond avoiding things with lactose?

[Chinese Pistache]

I don't really know anything about lactose intolerance except what I've learned here and from a few friends who are LI, but could you try replacing the milk in her diet with Lactaid?

[Ruthla]

There's a big difference between milk protein allergies and lactose intolerance.

Your nephew with severe intestinal damage probably has an actual allergy, not just an intolerance. He may have another underlying medical condition as well, that's made worse with lactose and/or casein.

You should probably ask the ped for a referral to an allergist. Then you can pin down exactly what your dd's problem is- if it's lactose intolerance she can have lactose-reduced dairy products or be OK with dairy if she takes extra lactase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose.) If it's an allergy, then lactose-reduced things won't help but other forms of milk (such as goat) may be tolerated, depending on the severity of her allergy.

[seren]

We have switched to lactose free milk and it has made a world of difference.

[JaneS]

Raw milk also has lactase enzyme. (and probiotics which will start the intestines producing the lactase on their own)

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by seren

We have switched to lactose free milk and it has made a world of difference.

In that case, your DD has a problem specifically with lactose- I doubt there's any lab test for it, but you've found what works for her, so there's no need for any special testing.

[seren]

It's been a real trial and error to find out what she can and can't handle. She can handle cheese, she can handle mac and cheese made with her milk. She can't handle already prepared mac and cheese (think shells and cheese), she can't handle ricotta (cheese ravioli and lasanga were a no go). I feel bad for her every time she has a reaction and of course feel guilty.

[Ravin]

seren,

some quick guidelines:

soft cheeses still tend to have lactose in them (like ricotta), while hard cheeses (such as cheddar and swiss) don't. Processed stuff like mac and cheese tends to have a bunch of dairy byproducts which could include not-clearly-labeled lactose. Yogurt with active cultures and kefir have lactose-eating bacteria to help digest them, and lactaid milk has added lactase enzyme. Frozen yogurt and ice cream, straight non-raw milk, and soft cheeses are the worst. lactase supplements before eating problem foods should alleviate symtoms.

It blows my mind that there's no test for lactose intolerance, when the genes for lactase persistence have been identified. At the very least you'd think they could screen for the allele that should cause lactase persistence. A short circuit in enzyme production could occur elsewhere in presence of the gene, but its absence would certainly indicate an inability to digest lactose beyond infancy. Another well understood gene causes true lactose intolerance, in which an infant cannot digest lactose (a rare gene, given the low survival rate for such infants before the introduction of lactose-free synthetic formulas (which are probably greatly overused because milk allergies still don't get diagnosed, and some babies may need more help from the lactase in live milk than others).

[thepeach80]

Are these symptoms new, or have they been going on a while? It's pretty uncommon to have a 2.5yo who is truly LI, but not unheard of if your heritage is one where most people are LI.

Originally Posted by Ruthla

In that case, your DD has a problem specifically with lactose- I doubt there's any lab test for it, but you've found what works for her, so there's no need for any special testing.

Not necessarily. If she was mildly milk protein intolerant she may do o.k. on the lactaid as it breaks down the proteins when the lactose is taken out.

[seren]

No, it's been going on for quite some time. I'm not even sure how long, it seems like forever. It took us a really long time to figure out that her tummy was hurting. She wasn't able to tell us that. We knew something was bothering her, just not what specifically. Then when she was able to understand and respond to the question *does your tummy have owies?* it took us a while longer to connect it with when she had milk products.

[thepeach80]

Originally Posted by seren

No, it's been going on for quite some time. I'm not even sure how long, it seems like forever. It took us a really long time to figure out that her tummy was hurting. She wasn't able to tell us that. We knew something was bothering her, just not what specifically. Then when she was able to understand and respond to the question *does your tummy have owies?* it took us a while longer to connect it with when she had milk products.

That's almost definitely a milk protein intolerance as opposed to LI. I would personally have her off all dairy till she gets older and can tolerate it all. For my kids that was about 2.5yo, but it might take her longer since she's been exposed much longer than my kids were.

[seren]

Is cheese considered Dairy? She has zero problem with cheese, like cheddar and such.

[thepeach80]

Originally Posted by seren

Is cheese considered Dairy? She has zero problem with cheese, like cheddar and such.

Yes, it's dairy and of course it's your choice as to what you do. It's hard to say what to do, especially w/ an older child who is used to eating cheese and such. We don't drink milk at all now (DH does) b/c of the kids' problems when they were younger. We use rice milk for everything.

[lilepad]

There's a hydrogen breath test for Lactose Intolerance
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disor...en-breath-test

My Mom has LI and she gets pains & gas when she has lactose. (I also had it when I was pregnant with ds and had the same problem (but it randomly went away after he was born)) .Her doc did tests for everything else (IBS, did a colonoscopy, etc) and said that since empirical evidence indicates LI (when she didn't eat it, she was fine), that she has LI, so they didn't do the test. Perhaps your doctor doesn't know about the test or perhaps he is trying to save you money because empirical evidence indicates that that is what the problem is. I think it wouldn't hurt to go see an allergist to rule out milk protein allergy. In the meantime, find a new pedi who is more willing to listen to your concerns!

I also wanted to add that my mom doesn't have problems with hard cheeses such as cheddar--which is true for most LI people--as a pp said, the process of making the cheese eats up the lactose.

[seren]

From all the things i have read and talking to other medical professional, they don't usually do the test on young children because they don't know how much is too much to give them. My nephew had the test at the Children's hospital, but they had to watch him carefully. They said they might not have done it, but they had to be 100% sure that was the problem since whatever the problem was, was causing a bacterial infection in his scar tissue from his surgery.

I'm not too worried about it. I asked the other pediatrician about it, and he said the same thing. If they have issues when having milk products and don't when they don't have them, they give them a LI diagnosis. She rarely has any problems now unless we're trying something new and then occasionally she does.

[wenat]

There's also a difference in dairy allergies -- you can be allergic to milk and not cheese, or vice versa. It's the whey versus the casein milk protein. See previous thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=788910