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Karen G
March 6th 04, 02:23 PM
My middle daughter has completed two rounds of prick tests for her
allergies. What a trial. Surprisingly, she didn't test positive for
many of the standard allergens. She came down with hives when she broke
her arm in 2002. They changed the antibiotic, but forgot to change the
IV tubes. The hives started up again, so they aren't sure which
antibiotic (if any) caused the hives. When we met with the allergist
initially, he wasn't concerned about the hives. Unfortunately, my
daughter has a history of other allergies. Thus the testing. She
tested quite positive for a soy allergy and somewhat positive for a milk
allergy. Otherwise, there were a couple of grasses.

I have cut out all soy flour from her diet already. We saw some
immediate improvement with her runny nose. Now I am trying to track
down the rest of the soy in her diet. Does anybody have experience with
this? Should I remove the soybean oil and anything containing any soy,
or can I leave the heavily processed forms.

I haven't even started the milk products. The people I have mentioned
it keep telling me that maybe she can keep cheese or yogurt, but her
allergy is to dairy products. Since it is a histamine response, it
doesn't seem likely that different forms would not react. They might
react less, but I am under the impression that she will still have a
reaction to it. Is this right? I tried Rice milk with her. She gave
it a big thumbs down. Anything else I should try?

Neither of these allergies are the intense anaphalactic (sp?)
thankfully, but I do want to do the best I can to make her diet healthy
for her. I would like her to be off of the constant antihistamines if
possible, but not if she is miserable. Thoughts?

Finally, the doctor was not in today when they did the second round of
prick tests. The nurse said they would call on Tuesday to let me know
what step is next. Is it likely that they will do injection testing? I
haven't figured out if they did the antibiotic test either. Is that a
standard part of the pediatric allergy panel?

Any help/experience with this process would be appreciated. As much as
I think I do a good job parenting my kids, this process is complicated.
Karen G

Beth Kevles
March 6th 04, 05:11 PM
Hi -

You're right that if her allergy is to dairy protein (and yes, that's
what they test) your daughter should ruthlessly avoid all forms of
animal milk, including cheese, yogurt, goat milk products, etc.

For someone who is accustomed to consuming milk products, replacements
such as Rice Milk won't be interesting for a while, maybe years. (My
husband, who developed his milk allergy at age 23, tried rice milk and
tofutti "ice cream" about 15 years later, and likes them, but thinks he
would not have if he'd still truly remembered the taste of milk.) So
instead of thinking about milk replacements, think about completely
different foods. For example:

drinks: water, calcium-enriched juices
frozen treats: popsicles, sorbet, tofutti
calcium: supplements such as Tums, enriched juices, etc.
spreads: apple butter, Benecol
cheese: don't even bother

My web site has links to several sources of on-line support, including
the no-milk listserv and archives and the POFAK mailing list. It also
has several milk-free menus to help you get started. (I believe they
happen to be mostly soy-free as well, but won't guarantee that since I
know vey little about soy allergy.)

I hope this helps. (How old is your daughter?)
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

Jayne Kulikauskas
March 7th 04, 06:19 AM
"Karen G" > wrote in message
...

[]
>I tried Rice milk with her. She gave
> it a big thumbs down. Anything else I should try?
[]

I've had oat milk and almond milk and liked both. But I like rice milk too,

Jayne

Iowacookiemom
March 7th 04, 07:01 AM
>I haven't even started the milk products. The people I have mentioned
>it keep telling me that maybe she can keep cheese or yogurt, but her
>allergy is to dairy products.

Those folks are probably talking about lactose intolerance, not a milk allergy.
As a baby and toddler, Henry had lactose intolerance and could handle hard
cheeses and yogurt; I believe a true allergy to milk would cause a reaction
however.

There's really no reason to give her any milk at all if she doesn't crave it or
miss it. Henry never drank milk as a toddler and still doesn't drink it as a
tween. He's nevertheless very healthy. There are other ways to get the
nutrients.

-Dawn
Mom to Henry, 11

Karen G
March 8th 04, 12:37 AM
> There's really no reason to give her any milk at all if she doesn't crave it
> or
> miss it. Henry never drank milk as a toddler and still doesn't drink it as a
> tween. He's nevertheless very healthy. There are other ways to get the
> nutrients.
>
> -Dawn
> Mom to Henry, 11


That is my concern with the milk. She absolutely loves milk. In fact,
when she was a baby we had a horrible time getting her to eat food. She
wanted to drink, drink, and drink her calories. Now she has a thing for
ice cream. She doesn't care much for cheese.

Her allergy does not require a trip to the emergency or anything, which
is good, but I do want to enable her to feel good and have a reasonable
diet. That is the challenge.

For those of you who have had to take things out of a child's diet, how
do you approach it? How do you find satisfying replacements and
encourage the child to eat them?

Karen

Karen G
March 8th 04, 12:38 AM
My daughter is almost four. My understanding is that this is probably
good as she may outgrown these allergies. On the upside, I love to cook
so I will be able to "make" her a lot of alternatives to things that she
likes.

I wasn't aware that other animal milks would be problematic. I guess I
need to go get some almond milk to try. Is it richer than the rice milk?

My biggest concern is that she really (and I mean a lot) likes milk.
The allergy clinic suggested removing all of the soy from her diet
first. So far that hasn't been hard. She doesn't like many foods that
contain soy. I have been able to find bread with no soy flour and other
things can be easily avoided. I have also cut down on the amount of
milk she is "drinking." I have not approached the issues of ice cream
or milk in foods yet.

I actually sent emails and looked at websites yesterday to determine
whether foods that she loves when we go out (not particularly often) had
soy and milk in them. One of the restaurants (a chain) actually called
me back and gave me the information I needed--nice!

Karen G

Robyn Kozierok
March 8th 04, 06:50 PM
In article >,
Karen G > wrote:
>My daughter is almost four. My understanding is that this is probably
>good as she may outgrown these allergies. On the upside, I love to cook
>so I will be able to "make" her a lot of alternatives to things that she
>likes.
>
>I wasn't aware that other animal milks would be problematic. I guess I
>need to go get some almond milk to try. Is it richer than the rice milk?
>
>My biggest concern is that she really (and I mean a lot) likes milk.
>The allergy clinic suggested removing all of the soy from her diet
>first. So far that hasn't been hard. She doesn't like many foods that
>contain soy. I have been able to find bread with no soy flour and other
>things can be easily avoided. I have also cut down on the amount of
>milk she is "drinking." I have not approached the issues of ice cream
>or milk in foods yet.
>
I am missing the original article, but it sounds like your daughter
is allergic to milk and soy?


My middle son was allergic to milk and soy as an infant, but he
outgrew it around a year of age. I was nursing and ended up on a
strict milk and soy-free diet. I never liked any of the "milk"
alternatives and ended up just not using any straight milk for anything.
Some of the flavored varieties are probably worth trying though.
Also, rice dream ice cream novelties and some of the tubs are quite
good; she might take those as a substitute for milk-based ice cream.

It sounds like she can have a little milk now and you are trying to
switch her over. In that case, how about mixing a little rice or
almond milk into her regular milk adjusting the ratios over time?

Good luck!

--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)

Karen G
March 9th 04, 01:11 PM
Good news. I bought some of the almond milk today. She actually liked
the chocolate. I also bought some of the rice dream ice cream you
suggested, but it appears that all of my kids have the stomach flu right
now, so it is rather irrelevant. My main goal right now is to get all
three of them to stop throwing up. I guess that is the bad news.

I think I will try the ratios on her with the milk. The top priority
right now is to get her well and to remove soy from her diet. She
cannot take antihistimines yet, as the doctor needs to finalize the
testing. In the meantime, we expect to finish the soy removal and stay
that course for three weeks and then start really cutting into her milk
intake.

This is no fun as a parent. I don't like having to reorient her diet,
but at the same time I have never been a fan of dosing her on
antihistamines. Our guess is that her allergies started around the time
she was 2 or 3.

Karen G