Soy Or Casein/lactose Intolerance

[Blessedby3]

How common are these when a child has a gluten intolerance? We have elimiated gluten but dd still has breakthrough GI episodes. It has been about 4 or 5 months since she has (knowingly) consumed gluten. The last episode lasted over a week-at and at that point we had been off of casein and lactose for over a week.

She has been on soy milk since she was a baby but I am now wondering about soy.

Should I put her back on cheeses, etc and eliminate soy?

I'm not sure what to do at this point...

Thanks for any advice/input that you can offer~

[mamaupupup]

Hi there,

I'm relatively new, so I can offer a teensy bit here:

50% of Celiacs are considered to also be lactose intolerant, at least at the outset of going gluten-free.

[mushroom]

If there is celiac damage to the villi in the small intestine, the ability to make the enzyme which digests the milk sugar, lactose, will be impaired until the small intestine heals. This takes at least several months of gluten free eating. With no enzyme to digest the lactose it just sits there and ferments and causes pain and diarrhea. Casein intolerance is a separate issue and some people do not tolerate any dairy at all. This can be trialled with hard cheeses and butter which are mostly dairy fat and contain minimal lactose. Only a small percentage of those who are originally lactose intolerant are fully dairy intolerant.

On the other hand, there is a good percentage of our posters who are also soy intolerant as well as gluten intolerant (and initially lactose). Probably more soy intolerance than casein, and yet they always seem to put lactose intolerant children on soy. There are other delicioous milks out there - almond, hemp, rice (Rice Dream may be contamined with barley so avoid that) so it is easy to drop the soy and see if that is a problem.

I would stabilize her with no diarrhea if possible on gluten free, soy free and lactose free by using some other milk. ( I am not sure how old your daughter is and what her diet is). Then you can separately challenge both soy and casein. If she has been gluten free for some time then her gut should be sufficiently healed that you can figure out the lactose challenge part too (milk, cream, ice cream).

I wish you and your daughter well.

[mamaupupup]

Hi Mushroom--how long would you suggest going gluten free, soy free, and lactose free before starting a challenge? Which one would you challenge first?

Thanks!

[Mom2J112903]

My son actually has IgE (delayed allergies) to both casein and soy.

[mushroom]

Hi Mushroom--how long would you suggest going gluten free, soy free, and lactose free before starting a challenge? Which one would you challenge first?

Thanks!

It is really not a matter of any set period of time, it is just getting her on a diet that she tolerlates where she is not having the tummy issues. If you can get her stabilized for a couple of weeks or so, then you can be fairly sure when you reintroduce something that that is what she is reacting to. Give it to her the following day and the day after that to be sure.

[Blessedby3]

Thank you so much for clarifying-to each of you. My problem now is getting her off of soy. She has drunk soy milk for years and is thus far rebelling against the almond milk. In addition, it seems like all of the snacks that she likes are soy based.

She has special needs and reasoning with her is not something that is very successful. I did find pretzels that are soy free and Gluten-free Casein-free, but really nothing else that she likes.

I am always open to more input

Oh, and does allergy skin testing reveal these sensitivites well enough or are their blood tests I need to request. TA~cheryl

[mamaupupup]

Hi Cheryl,

From my experience in trying to pinpoint allergies with my twin girls, some of the allergens are best assessed via skin (scratch) test and some are best via bloodwork. A good allergist will guide you in the right direction. Also, our pediatric GI did some allergy testing during the endoscopies for Celiac Disease.

Also, I personally have had two allergies which I believe I have symptomatically but never show up on my own allergy tests.

In the end, I trust the elimination/reintro path more, although it takes an incredible amount of thoughtfulness and dedication to do well.

On a slightly different note, I'm currently in the middle of reading Dr. Bock's "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies" and I'm really finding it thought provoking! Maybe you'll like it too! Lots about nutrition in his book.

Off to do paperwork...thinking of you!