Diagnosed with milk (casein) allergy today

[merianne16]

I feel so discouraged tonight. I've been having health problems for a while and today was my appointment with the allergist. Apparently I have a severe casein allergy! Who knew. Fortunately I'm not huge on dairy anyway- I eat no yogurt and I don't drink milk or put it on cereal, but the more I learn and research the more it seems like milk is a common ingredient!

I love the advice on this board and I know that food allergies are not new to many of you. I'd appreciate any resources or advice that you can give. I know I can do this!

[MamaMolly]

Awww, that sucks. Well the good news is that now you know you can start seriously avoiding it. And yeah, it is in a lot of things but once you get used to looking for it, it will become routine. Luckily dairy is one of the top 8 allergens and is supposed to be listed on ingredient lists for packaged foods.

Some hidden places I've found it are in
store bought bread. Often used to boost calcium or protein numbers
breaded foods like chicken nuggets
McDonald's fries
McDonald's chicken nuggets
crackers
cookies
'soy' cheese and 'veggie' cheese.
geez there are a ton more but that is what is right off the top of my head. I'll look around and see if I can find the link from FAAN (food allergy anaphylaxis network) that listed all the names dairy can hide under. It is really long and complicated, and quite overwhelming at first. But I'd personally rather have too much information than not enough.

I also suggest you head on over to www.kidswithfoodallergies.org and take a look around. It was my go-to website when DD was first diagnosed. A wealth of information, recipes and support will be at your fingertips.

[crl]

Oh man. DS has a dairy allergy. The bad news is that you all are right and it shows up in an amazing number of things. The good news is that it is relatively easy to cook around--cheese is the hardest thing.

Things to be careful of: bread, crackers, "soy" products (some still have milk, especially cheeses).

Here's the Mayo Clinic list of "hidden" dairy:

Hidden sources of milk products
Allergy-causing milk proteins are found in dairy products, such as yogurt, cheese, butter, half-and-half and sour cream. But milk can be harder to identify when it's used as an ingredient in processed food products ranging from sausage to breakfast cereals. Hidden sources of milk include:

Whey
Casein
Ingredients that contain the prefix "lact" — such as lactose and lactate
Candies, such as chocolate, nougat and caramel
Fat-replacement products, such as Simplesse
Protein powders
Artificial butter flavor
Artificial cheese flavor
Hydrosolate

Even if a food is labeled "milk-free" or "nondairy," it may still contain allergy-causing milk proteins — so you have to read the label carefully. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer to be sure a product doesn't contain milk ingredients.

When eating out, ask how foods have been prepared. Does your steak have melted butter on it? Was your seafood dipped in milk before being cooked?

While there's no sure way to prevent an allergic reaction to milk, reading labels, being cautious when eating out, and using hypoallergenic or milk-free products can help you or your child avoid an unpleasant or dangerous reaction.

If you're at risk of a serious allergic reaction, talk with your doctor about carrying and using emergency epinephrine (adrenaline). If you have already had a severe reaction, wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace that lets others know that you have a food allergy.

And here's the link to that page: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/milk-allergy/DS01008/DSECTION=prevention

Catherine

[DrSally]

Milk is a very common ingred in most processed foods. You should start reading labels very carefully and be very careful at restaurants. DS had a milk allergy when he was younger. We basically ate very few processed snacks/foods, and brought his food to restaurants.

[merianne16]

Thanks for all your responses. I'm going to make myself a list to take when I shop so I can avoid all the hidden stuff! These websites look great too. I'm sure I'll feel much better once I get the hang of this. I've got my epi-pens too. BBB comes to the rescue again!

[Melaine]

I am sure it is so discouraging to learn this, but imagine how much better you will feel once you get on track with the right diet! I'm sorry you are faced with the challenge, I hope you find lots of great food options ASAP....

[MamaMolly]

I am sure it is so discouraging to learn this, but imagine how much better you will feel once you get on track with the right diet! I'm sorry you are faced with the challenge, I hope you find lots of great food options ASAP....

I had wanted to say the exact same thing, but forgot by the end of my post. Melaine makes a *really* good point. Give yourself about 2 weeks for the milk proteins to clear your system (sometimes it can take that long) and you are going to feel sooooooooo much better. On top of that, you'll be able to tell when you've been accidentally exposed because you'll feel like cr@p, thus making it easier to avoid the trigger food the next time.

Oh, on a fun note:
Enjoy Life Foods makes really, really great dairy free chocolate chips and chocolate crispy bars. If you go to their website http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/ they almost always have a coupon. I signed up for their email-ing list and get coupons that way too. The chocolate is pricey but soooo good.

[ThreeofUs]

I'm so sorry you're going through this - it's hard to hear!

But you're going to be amazed at the difference eliminating milk makes in how you feel!

There are a lot of people with this kind of allergy any more, so finding products without any milk in them is getting easier. You've gotten some good links from pps.

My one piece of advice is to keep a "foods I can't eat" diary - record the foods you've found that either make you feel bad or that list milk in their ingredients. That way, if family or friends ask what they can get you, you can really quickly tell them "not these". Also, you'll be able to remember if it's this cereal or that one that doesn't list milk on the ingredients but still makes you feel like heck. :)

May you have a wonderful journey toward feeling better!

[brittone2]

A good friend dated a man for a while who was prone to anaphylaxis when exposed to dairy. One thing I remember her mentioning was that he reacted once to chewing gum. Didn't think to check ingredient list and there was dairy in it.

I haven't BTDT with a full blown allergy yet, but avoided casein when BFing DS. Vegweb.com is a vegan website, so no dairy in the recipes. I found a few keepers there that got me through. I know dealing with your full blown allergy is very different, but that site may give you some ideas/replacements for things like baked good recipes, etc.

Best of luck.

[alirebco]

We've been dairy free for 2 years now and it's not that bad after the first month. I also think there's a website - godairyfree.org that might be helpful to you.

[Zansu]

If a food is labeled "parve" it does not contain any dairy.