cow milk allergy

gerrycollins

My 18 mth old boy (our 4th and last) is thankfully a fit and healthy and developing as per expected.

However he has inherited his mothers eczema. He would burst out be completely red skinned and various standard creams did what it said on the tine however none were any good long term.

Then the doctor put him on a steroid cream which he can only use 5 days a month. Now we are well versed in the possible damage of steroids. At no point has the doctor spoken of referral to a dermatologist however on the public system he apparently might be a teenager by the time he is seen.

My wife never bothered much with hers because she has it in hidden places and occasional use of sunbeds gets rid of it for a few month's. My wife is over 30.

so someone suggested getting an allergy test and eventually we settled on using dr acupuncture in the square tallaght. They use a lock of hair so no interference with the child. It was €80 for a basic test I would have to say I was sceptical and im not going to bore you with my thoughts and the whole testing issue but needless to say they have built a reputation around it.

so it came back to cows milk allergy (not lactose intolerance) we are going to see our gp with the results to get her opinion as removing dairy from his diet is a big decision. Hes daiu mad milk cheese and yogurts. Plus the amount of product's that contain milk or milk derivatives.

has anyone experience of the allergy or with dr acupuncture.

Btw apart from the rash he was sma fed baby and has had the rash since birth but only recently has it gotten bad. Also he suffers a bad itch with or without the rash.

January

You need a referral to an allergy specialist, your GP won't be able to diagnose a cows milk allergy and I'd be sceptical of using shops in shopping centres to diagnose stuff as serious as this. I'd also get referred to a dermatologist.

gerrycollins

January wrote: »

You need a referral to an allergy specialist, your GP won't be able to diagnose a cows milk allergy and I'd be sceptical of using shops in shopping centres to diagnose stuff as serious as this. I'd also get referred to a dermatologist.

Thats why im at the gp now. I was and am very sceptical of the test as I was thinking that "everything" would show up but tge results were very narrow and specific. reading a little into the symptoms and side affects tell a whos who of my little man

Moonbeam

My 2nd had a serious cows milk allergy , it was detected as soon as I gave her formula . In her case it was inherited from me and they put her on special formula and she was better with in days .
She did not have an allergy test .
I found the phn and gp great .

pwurple

There is nothing in hair that would indicate an allergy as far as I know. Same bucket for those allergy tests such as muscle-testing (where your leg kicks if the allergan approches) or pulse testing (where your pulse goes up if you smell the offending food). They are giving it a lucky shot with cows milk... That and eggs are the most common allergies, so it's a good bet! We have spent a good bit of time in hospital allergy clinic with our daughter, she has been tested in controlled environment with doctors on hand to deploy adrenaline etc.

Your wife sounds more like she has psorisis than excema if sun clears it up.

Allergies can be diagnosed with skin prick tests, blood tests by a medical team. I'd be really wary of someone in a shopping center doing it from hair. Too late for your 80 euro.

share bear

Our 9 month old has a cows milk intolerance , so not as bad as an allergy but we keep hims off all cows dairy. we give him goats milk, yoghurt and cheeses and also some manchego cheese so he gets plenty of dairy in his diet although its way more expensive , but readily available in the supermarkets.

I called into the Charlemont Clinic in D6 as they do allergy tests for 6month olds plus. I found the lady there very helpful and gave me lots of advise, didn't need to get him tested in the end as she recognised it as an intolerance.

Moonbeam

with a cows milk allergy goats milk is often out too.

Chattastrophe!

pwurple wrote: »

Your wife sounds more like she has psorisis than excema if sun clears it up.

That's exactly what I was thinking - psoriasis, not eczema.

If the little guy has it (and it is hereditary), then you're better to get him diagnosed and treated correctly from the start. No point giving out about how crap the public system is, if you won't even give him that chance!

If your GP won't refer him to a dermatologist, you need a new GP.

lonestargirl

My son has excema and was seen in the (excellent) public dermatology clinic in Crumlin within 3 months of a referral letter. Their advice on steroids directly contradicts what your GP has told you. Ask for a referral.

pinkbear

gerrycollins, I'm late coming in on this but please forget about the local "quack" services that analyse locks of hair. A false result is worse than no result and there is no science behind that method at all. My son has a life threatening allergy to milk and has been hospitalised as a result of accidental contact so I know how serious a true allergy is.

I would recommend proper allergy testing - any of the hospitals should be able to do it but only test for a few things (including milk), or the best allergy specialist I've come across is Dr. Paul Carson in Stillorgin. Another good one is Dr. Bruce Mitchell in the Blackrock Clinic, but he's much more expensive (about €900 for full consultation and tests versus €350 for Dr. Carson I think).

My son has never has been milk free for life - he's a teenager now - but we will hopefully start Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation for milk shortly with Dr. Fitzgibbon in Galway, where a tiny amount of the milk protein will be injected, with the view to desensitising him in time. He'll never be able to drink it, I just want to make the world a safer place for him - where accidental contact would mean vomitting rather than 2 days in hospital.