[lil_miss_understood]

Did you breastfeed? Did you have overactive letdown? Did your breastfed baby have allergies?
Is there a connection?

ETA: Be aware I am including intolerances as allergies, despite the distinction in reactions. And you are allowed multiple answers.

EATA: I've noticed a lot of posts here with moms who have OAL, so I got curious, in case anyone's wondering what sparked this poll.

 

[lil_miss_understood]

DS1 was only breastfed for the first 3 months. I think his allergies were present prior to this, but I can't be certain, so I chose other. I did have OAL with him.
Also had OAL with DS2 until my thyroid tanked, taking my milk supply with it.

 

[changingseasons]

I couldn't resist the last response.... (so you can really ignore that "other" vote.)

eta: I did vote for real though too.

 

[kortner]

This thread talks a lot about leaky gut and oversupply:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1016716

 

[mtn.mama]

I voted for OAL both outgrown and not outgrown, since T has gotten past about 75 of her allergies so far. I had to blockfeed very long blocks for quite awhile.

 

[Chinese Pistache]

I think there was a thread like this in H and H at one point. IIRC, results showed that many with oal also dealt with food sensitivities in their babies. I think the general consensus was that excess lactose from oal irritated the gut lining making the babe more sensitive to food proteins that might be leaking into mom's bm.

I'll see if I can find it.

For me:
Baby #1, bad oal, no allergies
Baby #2, very mild oal, never thought we had allergies, but decided she has a dairy (not lactose) intolerance around age 5
Baby #3, again very mild oal, lots of allergies
Baby #4, mild oal, but feeding issues that cause him to take shorter feeds, and thus, he doesn't get to the hindmilk every time. Mild sensitivities; he tolerates A LOT more foods now than he did before (either in my diet or his), so I think his gut is healing, and mine was a lot better this time around, too.

 

[Amylcd]

Did you breastfeed? Yes

Did you have overactive letdown? Yes

Did your breastfed baby have allergies? Yes!

I never made the connection before.

 

[waluso]

We have discussed the link between oversupply issues and allergies here a few times. Here's an old thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...pply+allergies

For me, I had OAL/oversupply issues right after DD was born and didn't notice the intolerance issues until I finally fixed that (I had to nurse over 12 hours per side to get it under control). I think DD may be starting to outgrow some of her intolerances but I'm not willing to say that quite yet.

 

[MyLittleWonders]

I so voted wrong - that's what I get by trying to vote when I have an almost 3 year old telling me he wants Gorilla Munch. :rolleye Sorry for messing with the poll. I accidently voted for option #2 thinking it said, breastfeed/OAL/allergies ... it wasn't until I saw the results that I realized I voted wrong.

That said, I breastfed all 3 (still bf'ing ds#3 though he's slowly being weaned - my body is done and needs to heal). I had overactive letdown with them all (I think it was the worst with the first and maybe second, but I can't remember), and all have allergies/intolerances.

 

[FireWithin]

I agree with pp, but I think it also has to do with the reasons who oal happens also can contribute to allergies. Such as magnesium and other nutritional imbalances.

 

[lil_miss_understood]

Thanks for the links to the threads! I knew I'd seen it discussed before (a lot) but I couldn't remember ever seeing a poll. Although I do know I "stole" my "other" vote option from someone else's poll (CPs, I think, but I'm not sure which poll).

 

[broodymama]

#1: no OAL, allergies, outgrown.
#2: OAL, allergies, outgrown
#3: OAL, allergies, not outgrown yet (only 9 months)

 

[Three~Little~Birds]

Hmmm...interesting....
DD1 - no oal - penecillin allergy
DS1 - oal - possibly discovering intolerances
DD2 - mega OAL - she is just discovering food, so not sure, but I suspect that she vomitted the last two timnes due to banana...hmmmm..

This interests me:
"I agree with pp, but I think it also has to do with the reasons who oal happens also can contribute to allergies. Such as magnesium and other nutritional imbalances. "

I have neve heard this before - do you know where there is more info on this?? Tx

 

[Theloose]

Here's my leading theory/connection. Cause I have crazy letdown (still spraying feet away, even when the letdown isn't stimulated by dd, and dd is 28mo) but no major oversupply. Slight, but not major.

The two major players in letdown are oxytocin (promotes letdown) and (probably) relaxin (inhibits letdown).

Oxytocin is made in the posterior pituitary along with vasopressin.

If you have high glutamate, you have an increased demand for magnesium and taurine, and you're more likely to have trouble detoxing/have allergies.

I'm guessing high demand for taurine in the calcium ion channels means there's less circulating to signal other things. Deficiency of taurine causes an increase in vasopressin. If that also increases release of oxytocin... voila! OAL.

How many of us with OAL also have a hard time drinking plenty of water?

(And I'm thinking/hoping that my OAL is finally getting less so as I address our ammonia issues

)

 

[tinyblackdot]

We BF for 5 months, had horrible issues with OAL, and had constant "colic" and allergies/intolerance.

I had a lot of trouble BFing, i was either over producing, or not producing enough, and my letdown was horribly painful, so much that i would sometimes dread BFing.

 

[kjbrown92]

I didn't vote because I'm too confused.
I was a squirter, but the kids never choked on the milk. I did have an abundant supply. It was the same with all of them. Is that OAL or not?
child #1: seasonal allergies (not until 6 years old), no food problems
child #2: intolerances from the get-go
child #3: didn't have intolerances until solids
Nobody outgrew anything (yet)

 

[Chinese Pistache]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 I didn't vote because I'm too confused. I was a squirter, but the kids never choked on the milk. I did have an abundant supply. It was the same with all of them. Is that OAL or not? child #1: seasonal allergies (not until 6 years old), no food problems child #2: intolerances from the get-go child #3: didn't have intolerances until solids Nobody outgrew anything (yet)

How was their growth? A lot of oal babies tend to grow/plump up quickly because they're eating basically a diet of sugar (lactose).

 

[hae703]

I voted BF OAL and allergies not outgrown, but DS is only 8 months and we are still identifying his allergens so it's still early to see whether or not he outgrows them.

I've noticed from talking to moms on other forums it seems to be very common to have an oversupply OAL with food allergies.

 

[Theloose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache How was their growth? A lot of oal babies tend to grow/plump up quickly because they're eating basically a diet of sugar (lactose).

I can attest to that one

 

[lil_miss_understood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoMe Here's my leading theory/connection. Cause I have crazy letdown (still spraying feet away, even when the letdown isn't stimulated by dd, and dd is 28mo) but no major oversupply. Slight, but not major. The two major players in letdown are oxytocin (promotes letdown) and (probably) relaxin (inhibits letdown). Oxytocin is made in the posterior pituitary along with vasopressin. If you have high glutamate, you have an increased demand for magnesium and taurine, and you're more likely to have trouble detoxing/have allergies. I'm guessing high demand for taurine in the calcium ion channels means there's less circulating to signal other things. Deficiency of taurine causes an increase in vasopressin. If that also increases release of oxytocin... voila! OAL. How many of us with OAL also have a hard time drinking plenty of water? (And I'm thinking/hoping that my OAL is finally getting less so as I address our ammonia issues )

But Mg is also required by oxytocin receptors...
I'm wondering if it actually has more to do with methylation and Arginine. Arginine is one of the aminos required to form oxytocin (of course I'm getting my information from Wikipedia so *hands you the salt*) and is required for production of Nitric oxide- and therefor required for producing glutamate.
I did have this all figured out in my brain before I started typing, I swear, but it's all muddled again now.
Something to do with ADMA.... *sigh*