In a message dated 10/10/01 3:03:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] Marsha writes:


> Certainly allergic responses make babies fussy (that's an
> understatement in my dd's case!) but the aforementioned are "gas byproducts"
> which would cause gas and fussiness by themselves, not as part of an
> allergic response.  Am I wrong in drawing this distinction?  Just as some
> things in moms can cause gas in her and baby, they don't cause an allergic
> reaction.  Thus, the 20 minute response time for symptoms wouldn't hold true
> for allergic responses.  I was thinking I read that these symptoms showed
> up, on average, 12 to 24 hours after ingestion of the offending food by the
> mother.  Don't know what that says about when it actually shows up in the
> milk and also can't find my source for that tidbit.  I can tell you from
> experience that my daughter's allergic symptoms showed up exactly in that
> window, between 12 and 24 hours.  Conversely, it took 2 full weeks for all
> symptoms to disappear when the food was eliminated and I'm guessing it would
> only take at most a day or so for symptoms to subside if the cause (being
> gas-forming foods, like beans, broccoli, or those types of things) were
> eliminated.  Not sure I'm making sense but I would be surprised if babies
> reacted that quickly 20 minutes- to something the mother ate.
>
Sorry this is a little late in response, but I did want to address this and
look to others for further discussions.
When the body develops an allergy there is development of antibodies and
antigens (this is not my field of expertise, so please bare with me).  The
symptoms do not show up after the first exposure.  Instead there needs to be
several assaults by the foreign protein.  The first symptoms tend to be mild
and may even be missed.  After each assault the symptoms will worsen and in
some cases some people could develop an antiphylactic(sp?) shock. Symptoms in
babies could run from; colic/colitis, rashes, wheezing or vomiting.  Some of
these symptoms can be brought on by other problems that are totally unrelated
to the mother's diet.
Marsha I do not know what your daughter's symptoms were but I am curious how
the diagnosis was made that it was an "allergy" that was the cause and not a
side effect to something in your diet.
I bring this up because I think too many mothers are told their baby has an
allergy to something in the mom's diet but there have been no tests to
confirm this.  I have had 2 mothers recently call because their pedi offices
told them to eliminate all "whey" from their diets but the symptoms they
describe are more "reflux" and "hyperlactation" in nature and the only course
of action is for the moms to do elimination diets.  Now, maybe cow's milk
protiens are a contributing factor but I don't believe this should be the
first assumption and action.
I really would like to hear from someone who has a back ground in
gastrointerology to address this.
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas.
Ann Perry RN, IBCLC
Boston, MA

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