Low-level Allergy To Milk

[ABQturkey]

I'm going to post this in more than one forum because I need as many answers as I can get. My 6yo daughter was diagnosed w/celiac in mid-July and we've been doing the gluten-free thing since then. Her behavior has gotten worse since then and she still has stomach-aches, so the doctor ran an allergy panel and the only thing that came back elevated was milk. It was a low-level reading (0.63H - low level is between 0.35-0.70). Her regular pediatrician is out on medical leave so I was left with many questions. She's been drinking Lactaid and taking the Lactaid pills before she eats cheese and such. Are we supposed to stop all milk - even Lactaid milk? Does this encompass all dairy foods or just milk? I'm not sure what we should be avoiding and what's ok at this level. Please help!

[Lisa]

Welcome,

I would revisit her gluten free diet. Have you checked your used toaster, wooden cutting boards and spoons, lotions, shampoo, meds, vitamins or any contact she may have with her mouth.

Contamination at school is very difficult to avoid, with personal contact with food and other children. Are her school supplies safe. Play Doh is not. Have you met with her teachers and discussed her diet?

It's so difficult with children, especially when they are out of our watchful eyes during the day.

[Mother of Jibril]

I don't know about the allergy testing, but if your daughter is allergic to casein (milk protein) instead of lactose (milk sugar) you should eliminate all dairy products from her diet... milk, cheese, and whey are the big ones. Taking Lactaid doesn't help. Anything marked Kosher "pareve" is fine as long as it's also gluten-free. I'm leery of cheese substitutes (soy, rice) because I'm kind of a cheese snob (I grew up in Wisconsin), but soy milk and almond milk are good on cereal. Soy yogurt is good too. Rice milk... except for Rice Dream... is also fine, but I don't like the taste as much.

[ShayFL]

butter is out too.

[Darn210]

That is really low (Class 1) It's lower than what my son's was and we were told we didn't have to do anything. However, I'm not your doctor so you should check with them. In the meantime, here is a website that gives a little more info so you can see just how low it is . . .

Open Original Shared Link

My son was a Class 2 and the nurse said sometimes what they want (for the low level allergies) is for any type of "milk" ingredient to be at least third or fourth on the list of a product . . . but like I've said, our doc gave us no restrictions.

Also, like Momma Goose said . . . I'd take another look around for inadvertant gluten consumption.

[Juliebove]

Lactaid won't eliminate the casein and that's what she's allergic to. Yes, eliminate it. Be sure to watch for things like canned soups, margarine, canned icing, etc. Lots of things contain dairy.

[swalker]

I'm going to post this in more than one forum because I need as many answers as I can get. My 6yo daughter was diagnosed w/celiac in mid-July and we've been doing the gluten-free thing since then. Her behavior has gotten worse since then and she still has stomach-aches, so the doctor ran an allergy panel and the only thing that came back elevated was milk. It was a low-level reading (0.63H - low level is between 0.35-0.70). Her regular pediatrician is out on medical leave so I was left with many questions. She's been drinking Lactaid and taking the Lactaid pills before she eats cheese and such. Are we supposed to stop all milk - even Lactaid milk? Does this encompass all dairy foods or just milk? I'm not sure what we should be avoiding and what's ok at this level. Please help!

I would do a two week elimination on all milk products to see if it helps. Milk products are the catalyst to really bad behavour in our family. We prefer homemade almond milk as a replacement and we make a vegan cheese with cashews and nutritional yeast that is extremely yummy. Is she getting enough fiber. Store bought gluten free stuff and mixes are all practically fiberless. Adding veggies and ground flax seeds to muffins is a nice and tasty fiber boost. I add ground gluten free oats to all of my baking, peanut butter oatmeal cookies are especially popular. Organic coconut oil works especially well as a butter replacement and is a very healthy addition to a celiac's diet because of the higher risk of thyroid issues.