milk allergy

Hi,
       this is lata,my 10 months old son is suffering to milk allergy.he was exclusively on breastfeed till 6 months.he gets rashes  if i give him cow milk.now i do not give him any dairy product to him.but he doesn't get any prob to breast milk and i have all dairy products in my diet.but last week he had cold with fever and after 2 days he had hives on his body...and it is repeating again and again ...now i give him zyrtec syrup daily in nite.i am confused ? what is cause of these hives?plz suggest me should i also eliminate dairy products from my diet? i am too much worried abt my son..plz reply me asap.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Cow's milk allergy is very common and usually disappears by age two to three years, but may occasionally be lifelong.

Cow’s milk contains over 25 different proteins which can cause reactions in individuals allergic to milk. Some people are allergic to just one of them, whilst the majority are allergic to several.These proteins may be found in other foods also.Like wheat or gluten contains riboflavin which is found in milk also.So people allergic to milk may show allergy towards wheat also.This phenomena is called cross reactivity.

The baby may show reaction towards breast milk also if the mother is taking dairy products in her diet.Diagnosis of milk allergy can be confirmed after skin ***** or patch tests and food challenge tests.Confirmation can be done with blood tests like RAST.It also helps in differentiating milk allergy from lactose intolerance.You need to consult an allergy specialist for that.

Treatment involoves elimination of all dairy products from the diet. Milk from other mammals (such as goats and sheep), and hydrolysed milk and soya formulas, are sometimes used as a substitute for babies who are at risk of developing cows’ milk allergy. However, the allergens in milk from goats and sheep are very similar to those in cows’ milk. This means that someone with a cows’ milk allergy might react to these other types of milk as well.Confirmation that your baby will react to these products or not can be done only after blood tests.

Hope it helps.If you have any additional queries,then pls post us.
Take care and regards.    

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello lata 10,

It is often seen that those babies who are allergic to cow’s milk may show allergic reaction to breast milk if mother is consuming any dairy product.In that case,you will have to stop the consumption of dairy products till you breast feed your baby.

Whether your baby is having these rashes due to milk allergy or weather allergy(hay fever),that can be confirmed after skin ***** tests or blood test.If hay fever is suspected due to any allergen,be it pollen,molds or dust mites etc,it can be confirmed after these tests only.I am sending you a good link on milk allergy which you will find useful:
http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org/section_home.cfm?section_id=3&sub_section_id=3

Hope it helps.Take care and regards.