Milk Allergy versus Lactose Intolerance

When I tell people that Isabella is allergic to milk, I often get the response "Oh, is she lactose intolerant?"  I've never really known how to respond because I haven't understood the difference.

Then I found this cool explanation on the web. To summarise it:

Dairy Allergy

A dairy allergy is an immune system response to the protein in milk. The body reacts to the protein with Immunoglobulin E (IgE). It's affects are hives, swelling, anaphylactic shock and in some cases death.

Lactose Intolerance

People who have LI cannot digest milk sugar, lactose, because they manufacture too small a quantity of the digestive enzyme, lactase. This results in diarrhea, gas, flatulence, bloating and cramps.

Hypersensitivity

The site also talks about protein hypersensitivity. The symptoms are gas and diarrhea as for LI, but they also can cause vomiting or colic. It tends to occur in babies and young children, often after bouts of gastro.

Interestingly, Bella's response to diary includes both:

• Allergy: hives and facial swelling; and
• Hypersensitivity: vomiting and stomach cramps

So whilst her skin tests are getting better (the allergy shows up via the skin tests), because it is combined with Hypersensitivity she had more violent reactions. She is due for more testing soon, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

The sad part about this is that I've had to research this myself to gain an understanding because Bella's ex-specialist didn't explain any of this to us.

This is also a good link. Talks about food sensitivities and allergies. Very informative.

Blog visits!

Magic! I had the most visits to my blog in one day yesterday!! After complaining about no-one coming, the avalanche hit. I don't know why though??? I'm still not getting many search engine hits, although there has been a slight improvement…..

Still no one is interested in completing my survey

What is Anaphylaxis?

I didn't know what anaphylaxis was. Now I sort of take it for granted that everyone knows what it is, which if course they don't.

The Dictionary defines Anaphylaxis as: Hypersensitivity especially in animals to a substance, such as foreign protein or a drug, that is caused by exposure to a foreign substance after a preliminary exposure.

It also defined Anaphylactic Shock as : A sudden, severe allergic reaction characterized by a sharp drop in blood pressure, urticaria, and breathing difficulties that is caused by exposure to a foreign substance, such as a drug or bee venom, after a preliminary or sensitizing exposure. The reaction may be fatal if emergency treatment, including epinephrine injections, is not given immediately.

My first exposure to analphylaxis was when Isabella was about 5 months old. She had had eczema in varying degrees since she was a bout 6 weeks old, the most recent and severe bout was treated with oral steroids and I finally felt we had gotten on top of it. My Mum had been pestering me (in a caring way of course) that maybe Bella was being affected by the food I was eating coming through in my breast milk.

We were attending a wedding in Tasmania, and so flew down for a long weekend. After the wedding (where I had eaten smoked salmon, cakes, desserts laden with eggs and dairy!!), I thought I could see the effects of my milk in her cheeks as I fed her. I sent Peter off to get formula, bottles and a breast pump to save Bella from my poisonous breast milk.

We gave her a bottle made up with Cow's milk formula. She drank 5 maybe 10mls tops, and began to scream (not just cry), as I mopped up the milk she spat out, I noticed her neck swelling. At first Peter thought I was over-reacting (which I am known to do) – but mothers intuition rules and I didn't back down. We bolted straight downstairs (we were in a hotel), got directions to the nearest hospital, loaded her in the car and raced to get help. She was still screaming (which is good cos it meant she could breathe), and threw up rather violently. 

Thankfully the hospital was close and empty. We were seen immediately. By this time she was starting to get a bluish tinge around her mouth. I don't think her airway was completely constricted, but I was beside myself never the less. She was treated there and then shipped to the children's hospital for observation over night.

Mum was right (isn't she always), but what a way to confirm it!

Bella now has an Epi-pen (adrenaline injector) with the school nurse and one which we take with us. Fortunately, we have never needed to use it…. touch wood.

SABRINA'S STORY

To learn more about Anaphylaxis, listen to Sabrina's story. Sabrina died in 2003 from anaphylactic shock. Her story is heart-breaking.

Egg Free, Dairy Free ANZAC Biscuits

On Anzac Day, Isabella had her friend Alexandra over for a play and we decided to do some cooking. Being Anzac Day, we thought it would be fun to make Anzac Biscuits. They are extremely simple and quick to make so its a great recipe for “helping kids”. It’s also a great recipe for people with egg and dairy allergies, as long as the margarine is milk free. (We use Becel).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 – 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 125g MILK FREE margarine
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

• Preheat oven to 160 C
• Mix dry ingredients together (oats, flour, sugar and coconut)
• Melt syrup and margarine together
• Mix Bi-carb with boiling water and add to melted margarine and syrup
• Add to dry ingredients and mix well
• Place tablespoonfuls of mixture on tray lined with Glad Bake, leaving space between blobs for spreading
• Bake for 15-20 minutes (should be golden brown on top)
• Hot biscuits will be very soft. Place them onto cooling tray. They will harden as they cool

Makes about 35.

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What are the odds?

Tuesday was a public holiday in Australia. Anzac Day.

Monday my office was closed – forced annual leave.

Monday was not a school holiday.

So that meant Pete and I had a day at home – child free!!! And so we made some adult plans.

Sunday night approx 1:30am Myles starts vomitting. This lasts until approximately 5am. There goes the child free day.

So what are the odds that this would occur? Murphy's law would predict this type of event. I'd say the odds that I have to take a day off work when the kids are a school are reasonably rare… lets be generous and say 2 times per year (like I say generous), so if there are approx 230 working days per year thats about 115:1; and the odds that one of the kids is sick and off school for the day… lets say they have 5 days off school per year each, out of approx 200 school days each, so 400:10 or 40:1; so the odds of this co-incidence: 4600:1.

Better than winning tattslotto I guess, but bloody unlucky!!