How to tell a true milk allergy from lactose intollerance?!


Question: My two sons both had problem digesting milk when they were babies, had to put them both on soy formula. But they grew out of it, at like 2 and 3 years old they were able to drink cow's milk no problem. But the last bout of the flu we had seemed to mess them both up. Every time they eat cereal with milk for breakfast before school, they either vomit and have diahhrea. My husband had this problem when he was little, and my own mother is lactose intollerant. They can drink milk any other time of the day, have cereal in the evenings no problem.

My question is....does anybody happen to know why this happens? Would this be a milk allergy or lactose intollerance?

Just curious about this, as it seems rather odd to me. The body is very mysterious!


Answers: My two sons both had problem digesting milk when they were babies, had to put them both on soy formula. But they grew out of it, at like 2 and 3 years old they were able to drink cow's milk no problem. But the last bout of the flu we had seemed to mess them both up. Every time they eat cereal with milk for breakfast before school, they either vomit and have diahhrea. My husband had this problem when he was little, and my own mother is lactose intollerant. They can drink milk any other time of the day, have cereal in the evenings no problem.

My question is....does anybody happen to know why this happens? Would this be a milk allergy or lactose intollerance?

Just curious about this, as it seems rather odd to me. The body is very mysterious!

I personally wouldn't think its either. But I'm for sure its not an allergy. A true allergy is when a person's immune system doesn't recognize the food and reacts as if its a foreign invader (like an illness). an intolerance happens usually when the body can't digest something (like lactose). when a person has milk, the digestive system revolts by upset tummy. but neither one of these things is going to happen at only a certain time of day.

My opinion is that they are still suffering from drainage (post-nasal drip) going down there throat to their tummy. Its usually worse in the mornings. milk can cause phlegm to become thicker, which is why isn't not a good idea to drink it when you have a cold or the like.

I would skip milk and/or dairy for breakfast for a while. Then, maybe in a few weeks try it again. but like I said, no one is really going to be allergic or intolerant at just a certain time of day.

Good Luck!

I'm not sure, but try them on goat's milk, in the morning: the molecules are approximately human sized, and generally better tolerated.

I am 25 and I am allergic to cow milk.

If i drink milk, eat cereal, yogurt, ice cream, I get diahrea BAD!!!!

I would suggest trying soy milk and see if that helps. I just have milk anyway and tolerate the sick part. Ice cream is so worth it!

I dont know the answer, but hope somebody else does as my now adult children had/have the same problem!! Only thing I can figure is that after an illnes the bodys natural defenses are somewhat weakened and cant take care of everything with the same gusto as it normally would. Maybe that allows things it normally keeps under control to become problematic again. My daughter who is now 18, seems to regain control of the problem by taking a 3 day dosage of "echinacea". This is a natural herbal product that boosts the bodies natural immune system, and helps it heal itself. I have no idea what a childs dosage would be,and you would HAVE to research it because to take too much for too long can cause other problems. Dont panic if you read negative things about this product as the big medical companys have deliberatly tried to give it a bad rep so they can continue to SELL THEIR pharmacutical drugs for a longer period of time. This product has been successfully used in other countries for centuries and it is as common as aspirin is to the western world. My family has kept this stuff on hand and used it for YEARS!! When there is some kind of contagious illnes hitting the area we take this for a couple of days and either dont get it at all, or the sickness will be less sever and shorter lived than in other people. I am assuming the kids are on a daily multi vitamin. If they are not they should be in order to MAINTAIN a healthy nutrition balance. My neighbor is a good friend and a licensed herbalist. If you tell me the kids ages I will ask her what correct dosage would be for them. When my daughter was an infant I was told that she was lactose INTOLLERANT as opposed to a full blown allergy. She was 2 yrs old before we could get her off of formula and that was accomplished by starting her on one half teaspoon of whole milk daily and then VERY SLOWLY increasing the amount over time. In this way her system was able to build up a tolerance which eventually allowed her to have the milk. This would not have been possible had it been a full blown allergy as opposed to an intolerance. My son was not as bad as his sister but like your kids he would get sick in the mornings if he had had a recent illnes. And GOD FORBID him to ride in any type of vehicle on a morning when this flared up!! Hope this helps in some way...Good Luck!

milk allergy is from the milk protein whereas lactose intolerance is from the lactose.
an allergy will manifest as breathing difficulties and hives and itchiness. Lactose intolerance is shown by stomach issues.

The possible reason why they are having trouble only at breakfast is that it does take time for the stomach to "wake up".
i suspect it is just a little sensitive in the mornings as you say it is ok later in the day. I presume when you say flu that we were talking of stomach flu??

Why not try soy milk in their cereal? It is a little sweeter than cos milk but that shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck

Thanks for asking this question. My grown son has this same problem..in the morning. He throws up after drinking chocolate milk (with real milk). He didn't do it till he was an adult. Like the one said at the bottom..maybe a milk allergy and sensitive stomach in the morning. Didn't know anyone else did this! lol





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