A Question For Parents With Dairy Free Families

[Nic]

Hi, I will be calling my doctor tomorrow to ask this question but sometimes it seems like other parents know more . Has anyone with a lactose intolerant or casein intolerant child ever seen constipation as a symptom? I posted my frunstrations with my son's chronic constipation even though gluten-free the other day and a few mom's replied that I should concider dairy as a possible problem. I have been searching on line for symptoms and found that most articles say that constipation is not a symptom for lactose intolerance but could be for casein allergy. But what confuses me is that one article stated that if the gastro syptoms are chronic and not just after ingestion of milk, then it is more likely to be lactose intolerance. I am just wondering if anyone else has ever had chronic constipation associated with milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Also, his syptoms are on a cycle, goes well for a few weeks, then stops, then constipation, then diarrhea. It does not just happen after ingestion because he drinks milk daily.

[Satori]

Hi, I will be calling my doctor tomorrow to ask this question but sometimes it seems like other parents know more . Has anyone with a lactose intolerant or casein intolerant child ever seen constipation as a symptom? I posted my frunstrations with my son's chronic constipation even though gluten-free the other day and a few mom's replied that I should concider dairy as a possible problem. I have been searching on line for symptoms and found that most articles say that constipation is not a symptom for lactose intolerance but could be for casein allergy. But what confuses me is that one article stated that if the gastro syptoms are chronic and not just after ingestion of milk, then it is more likely to be lactose intolerance. I am just wondering if anyone else has ever had chronic constipation associated with milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Also, his syptoms are on a cycle, goes well for a few weeks, then stops, then constipation, then diarrhea. It does not just happen after ingestion because he drinks milk daily.

Allergy/intolerance to dairy protein can cause constipation, lactose intolernace will cause diarrhea.

[shai76]

Lactose intolerance can cause constipation, especially with cheesy things. With an allergy you would have other symptoms as well, like eczema, hives, or toher rashes. Possibly vomiting or breathing difficulties. An allergy is considered life threatening, and an intolerance is usually not.

[kirbymom]

I'm looking for a post I saw, so I am going through old posts with the search eczema and I saw yours - have you taken your child off dairy? My daughter had chronic constipation on dairy - it is seen with milk intolerance but only ~20% of the time so not generally accepted - there is literature on it as well.

[girlfromclare]

Hi, my son has been off dairy since before he was diagnosed celiac because of his gastro symptoms. He used to have projectile vomiting and his stools were a pale white colour instead of what they should have been. He didnt have much by way of constipation but if there is one thing I have learnt during this journey its that everyones symptoms can be different. Since removing dairy a lot of his gastro symptoms stopped but it wasnt until we removed gluten as well did we see the full picture! He started gaining weight - stopped being sore and miserable all the time etc etc... Dairy intolerance often goes hand in hand with celiac and I would remove it if I was you to see how he reacts...

liz x x

[shayesmom]

Hi, I will be calling my doctor tomorrow to ask this question but sometimes it seems like other parents know more . Has anyone with a lactose intolerant or casein intolerant child ever seen constipation as a symptom? I posted my frunstrations with my son's chronic constipation even though gluten-free the other day and a few mom's replied that I should concider dairy as a possible problem. I have been searching on line for symptoms and found that most articles say that constipation is not a symptom for lactose intolerance but could be for casein allergy. But what confuses me is that one article stated that if the gastro syptoms are chronic and not just after ingestion of milk, then it is more likely to be lactose intolerance. I am just wondering if anyone else has ever had chronic constipation associated with milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Also, his syptoms are on a cycle, goes well for a few weeks, then stops, then constipation, then diarrhea. It does not just happen after ingestion because he drinks milk daily.

I think that the best answer to that question is addressed here: Open Original Shared Link

In short, a dairy allergy can cause constipation (usually casein, but whey or another milk protein can also be an antagonist). Also, lactose intolerance can actually be caused by a milk allergy. The two can be very difficult to separate.

My friend's ds is allergic to casein and was chronically constipated up until they removed it from diet. My dd on the other hand, is allergic to whey and casein. She gets diarrhea and/or yellow stools (because it is moved through the digestive system so fast that the bile salts don't have time to turn from green to brown). The absence of respiratory problems does not rule out a dairy allergy. Prior to testing, my dd was eating dairy and she did not wheeze, suffer respiratory distress, swelling or any hives/rashes. Yet her RAST was positive for dairy (whey at least....we had to figure out the casein part on our own).

[BRUMI1968]

Even one teaspoon of cow's butter constipates the heck right out of me. Goats butter not so much -- can eat in moderation.

[gfgypsyqueen]

Please post what your doctor said about the miilk and constipation. I have one child that was taken off milk about a month ago due to constpaion. Much better now with little to no milk.

[Cruiser Bob]

For us, it was "hot poo". Those were some of Thomas' first words. Both kids (1 &3) were put on a gluten-free, DF, Egg free diet. Amazing - the ear infections went away, the diaper rash/hot poo went away, the attitude problems of "terible twos" mellowed out to near normal the never ending circular cold/flu left the family. Now at ages 14/16 they both are dairy pigs and eat eggs and both appear to be doing well - I'm not totally convinced, but there mom is.

Bob

gluten-free 1999

[Nic]

Hi, sorry I did not reply sooner, I haven't been on in a few days. Back in July my ped. gastro felt it was unlikely that he was lactose intolerant but did run a RAST test to see if is was an allergy which came up negative. I then started using Lactaid to see if he would improve. Throughout the summer he was doing remarkably better which I of course gave credit to the Lactaid and named myself a genius for discovering the problem without the help of a doctor . But then I started to notice that if we missed a dose before dairy (accidentally of course) nothing changed. He was still doing fine. Come September and back to school the problems started all over again. Out of frustration that my doc was not solving the problem I went for another opinion and was told that the usual culprit (sp?) to chronic constipation is withholding. After giving some thought I realized that my son does not have a set time of day that he poops. And most frequently during the summer he would go in the late morning or early afternoon. These times are consistant with the time he is in school and like most kids, he will not poop in school so therefore he was withholding. The doctor suggested that we "toilet train". He said I should make him sit on the toilet after breakfast and after dinner every day for at least 10 minutes. He said this would change his pooping time so that he would not have to go during the day at school. Low and behold, after a week of this, he now poops every morning right after breakfast and the problem has pretty much gone away. Occassionaly we do have a back up, I think he is just one of those people that gets backed up a little but he does not suffer at all anymore. Once I see the problem starting I just double up on the fiber (Yummi Bear Fiber) and it corrects itself. I never thought the solution to this could be as simple as just sit on the toilet for 10 minutes. I hope this helps, good luck.

Nicole