Milk causing problems

[upsetmom]

Up until now my daughter has had no problems drinking milk.
The last few nights she has been getting a lot pain and rumbling.

We started adding boost and she was finally putting on some weight .

What would cause this all of a sudden...

 

[Judith]

I am sorry your daughter is having these symptoms.
Here are a couple of ideas:

It could be the milk as you suggested. It is possible to be able to tolerate milk and later become [wiki]Lactose[/wiki] intolerant. It is also possible she can handle a little milk but a larger quantity may overload her system (I dont know how much she is drinking).
- If she has Celiac disease / Gluten allergy, whether diagnosed or not, she may not be able to handle too much Lactose. If a person has Celiac Disease and is not on a gluten free diet, they may become Lactose intolerant.

Another possibility is that her symptoms are caused by [wiki]Carrageenan[/wiki]. Carrageenan is an ingredient in the "Boost" beverage. Although it is present in small amounts, Carrageenan has been shown to cause symptoms and Gastrointestinal changes that are similar to IBD in laboratory animals.

Boost also has quite a high sugar content. While this may help your daughter to put on weight more easily, it can also feed Gastrointestinal microbes and cause them to overgrow, called [wiki]Microbial Dysbiosis[/wiki], it can increase Crohn's symptoms.

There is also a stomach virus going around right now.

In order to test whether the Boost is causing her symptoms, you can remove it from her diet for a couple of weeks. Hopefully the symptoms will stop. Then, add the Boost back into her diet in the same quantity as you had before. If the symptoms return, it is likely an ingredient in the Boost. If not, it might have been a virus or something else.

Ensure has some product lines that are milk free and Carrageenan free. Check the ingredient labels because they have products which contain milk and Carrageenan.

I hope she feels better soon.

 

[upsetmom]

Thanks Judith

She doesn't have celiac disease...not sure about the gluten allergy ..i don't think shes ever been tested.

As this is new i thought it might have something to do with the boost so we tried without it for a day but she still had pain...i might leave out the boost for a while to see if it makes a difference.

She loves her milk and still drinks it knowing she'll end up in pain.

 

[Judith]

Has she tried any milk replacement products? This could allow her to have her "milk" while removing the lactose from her diet during the testing period.

Some options she might like are: Almond milk, Coconut milk, Hemp milk, Soy milk (lots of people have problems with soy though), Rice milk or Lactose free milk (Lactaid).

 

[upsetmom]

No we haven't tried anything else yet.

 

[Judith]

She might like some of the milk replacement products even better than regular milk. I love coconut milk...... but recently found out I am allergic to coconut so no more of that.

 

[Jmrogers4]

We love the Lactaid (lactose free milk) although Jack thinks it's sweeter then regular milk. The almond milk is pretty good too.

 

[Sascot]

I don't have alot of experience with allergies, but my cousin was allergic to milk. Strangely enough she was able to tolerate goat's milk. My son is prone to stuffy noses/mucous so i changed him from cow's milk to goats milk. He seems to like it fine and his nose has cleared up a bit. There are lots of alternatives out there now, I'm sure she could find a nice replacement.

 

[Farmwife]

Almond Milk drinkers here. Love it.
We do goat's milk also.

 

[Devynnsmom]

I'm sorry she is having problems. Devynn never had a problem with milk (that we knew of) until recently. We did 5 weeks milk free in Oct so the dr could rule out a milk allergy. She had the breath hydrogen test to test for lactose intolerance and that was neg. She also had the scratch allergy test, also neg. BUT I was advised by a few people on this board to ask for a blood allergy test. We did and we are going in in two weeks. I have the req form, but she has missed so much time at school that we are going to wait until her next PA day (Feb 15). She has been drinking almond milk and really likes it. About 2 weeks ago she really wanted a glass of milk, she had a friend over and they decided they wanted milkshakes. Well she was in pain and full of gas within hours. So, we are back to no milk.
The almond milk is good, and even better with chocolate syrup

 

[jmckinley]

Ryan has trouble with the Boost sometimes too (not all the time which I find weird...maybe dependent on inflammation?) He drinks Lactaid milk and takes lactaid pills for everything else. Even with all of that, he has to limit the amount of dairy he takes in.

He loves Silk chocolate almond milk! Maybe that with some brown rice protein powder would increase calories without dairy.

 

[upsetmom]

Thanks for all the advice.