If you or a family member has seasonal allergies, which are triggered by environmental allergens like pollen, you probably know that spring can be a rough time of year, especially if you live in an area with a high pollen count. Here at Neocate, we hear from some parents that their children’s food allergy symptoms seem worse at this time of year. Let’s take some time to review the similarities and differences between food allergy and environmental allergy symptoms.

Seasonal Allergies

Allergies that show up in the spring are also called hay fever or allergic rhinitis. They are usually caused by pollen: the body recognizes proteins in pollen as “foreign” and mounts an immune response, like it does to bacteria or viruses. This causes the symptoms associated with seasonal allergies. Most of these symptoms are “above the neck” and include sneezing, itchy eyes, or a runny nose. Some folks are allergic to only one or a few types of pollen, whereas others are sensitive to many types of pollen. Symptoms can show up after a move to a new geographic area where the plants, and the pollen, are different. It seems that allergic rhinitis isn’t limited to older children and adults: infants can have it too.

Food Allergies

Food allergies are a response to the proteins in food. When that food (or even a trace amount of that food) is consumed, the body mounts an immune response. In this way, food allergies can be similar to seasonal allergies. Most of the food allergy symptoms fall “below the neck” because the body responds to the part of the body where the food is: the gut. In older children and adults these symptoms include bloating, diarrhea, and an itchy sensation in the mouth, among others. The symptoms are different for infants who have a milk and/or soy allergy than those of older children and adults.

Similarities

Food allergies and seasonal allergies share some of the same symptoms. For instance, both can cause a runny nose, headache, and congestion as a result of exposure to allergens that are foods or pollen. The two are also similar in that their symptoms can both be minimized by avoiding their respective triggers. Here are tips for minimizing symptoms of seasonal allergies and our past blogs for preventing symptoms of food allergies.

Differences

Fortunately seasonal allergies can also be treated with medications. This is nice because pollen can make symptoms persist constantly, often for weeks at a time. Unfortunately, there aren’t any widely used medications to help treat mild to moderate food allergies. The best treatment for food allergies is avoidance. Along those lines, it’s easier to avoid food allergens than it is to avoid the triggers for seasonal allergies. Even if there were a medication that helped with mild food allergies, some food allergies are so severe that the only treatment is to entirely avoid the food in question.

If your child is exhibiting symptoms that aren’t clearly one allergy or the other, ask yourself these questions:

-Monitor the pollen count: are the symptoms worse as pollen counts go up?

-Monitor the diet: has anything new been added that could cause the symptoms?

-Is your child exhibiting new symptoms, or are the same symptoms getting worse?

If your child has food allergies and his or her symptoms seem to get worse at a certain time of year, it may be that new or worsened symptoms could be due to seasonal allergies, which aren’t helped by avoiding food allergens. Ultimately, it’s probably best to see an allergist, especially if your child has symptoms that are making them miserable. Allergists can help by identifying the cause of a seasonal allergy, suggesting ways to minimize symptoms, and prescribing drugs that might help as needed. Check with the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology to locate an allergy center near you.

Did you have a tough time telling what was causing your child’s allergy symptoms?

- Rob

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We often get calls from parents asking about their child’s “spitting up” habits. If your little one has had vomiting problems in the past due to food allergies, it may be hard to know when it’s a regular spit up or something more serious. Every baby spits up or vomits occasionally, and some do quite often or even with every feeding. If, despite the spitting, your baby is

• Content
• In no discomfort
• Growing appropriately
• Experiencing no breathing problems from the vomiting

then your little one is what pediatricians call a "happy spitter" and no treatment is needed.

Infant Reflux and GERD

Reflux occurs when the contents of the stomach flow back up into the esophagus. When reflux is severe, it can progress to a more serious condition such as GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). GERD symptoms include heartburn, regurgitation of food or sour liquid, difficulty swallowing, coughing, wheezing and chest pain. Typical reflux should not be causing any pain for your baby. If you notice your little one is in discomfort, please see your pediatrician.

Reflux Remedies

Infants are especially prone to reflux because 1) their stomachs are quite small and are easily distended, and 2) the lower esophagus valve may be immature and may not tighten up when it should. Typically, the lower esophagus valve tightens up sometime in the first year, usually around 4-5 months of age, at which time the spitting up may go away. For any spitter, there are a few things that might help:

• Keep your baby upright for a half hour or so after a feeding (to let gravity help out).
• Make sure there's no pressure on the stomach after a feeding. For example, try to wait at least 30 minutes after feeding before putting baby in her car seat.

If your child has more serious reflux or GERD, your pediatrician may also prescribe some medication to help control the acid.

What remedies work for your little spitters?

- Christine

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Talking to you doctor isn’t always easy, but it is an important part of getting good health care - especially when you are trying to figure out what is bothering your little one and get them quickly diagnosed and treated. You want to make sure you arrive for your visit prepared with the right information and ask plenty of questions. I wanted to share a few tips that can help you get ready for your next visit to the pediatrician, GI or allergist.

1. Keep a diary of your little ones symptoms: what they are, when they started, how frequent and if certain foods or medicines make them worse.
2. Make sure they know what different formulas and medicines you have already tried and what affect they had (i.e. did they make some symptoms better and others worse?).
3. If there is a particular type of treatment (formula, medication) that you are interested in, bring information about it in case the doctor hasn’t heard of it. There are so many different options out there, and your doc may or may not be familiar with all of them.
4. Make sure that you completely understand your doctor’s explanations and instructions for new treatments. I get so many questions from parents who don’t understand their doctor’s instructions about mixing formula or transitioning onto Neocate.
5. Call ahead to see if there are any tests scheduled and how you need to prepare. For example, a lot of GI docs like to test stool samples so bringing one in with you can save some time in the waiting room!

Is there anything else that you have found helpful before visiting your doc? I know of some moms who have even taken videos and pictures so that their docs can get a better sense of their children’s symptoms. What worked for you?

-Nita

One of my favorite parts about being a nutrition specialist is talking to parents. While sometimes I just answer questions, other times I am able to hear a family’s actual allergy story. This is great because it helps me understand what parents are really going through.

Unfortunately, one thing I constantly hear from parents is that it took months and several doctor visits before their child was finally diagnosed with milk protein allergy.

Since there seems to be a lack of awareness about the symptoms of milk protein allergy, I wanted to quickly run through some of the most common symptoms – the more allergy parents or soon-to-be parents know, hopefully the better the diagnosis process.

Because one of the symptoms of a milk protein allergy is extreme fussiness, doctors often dismiss the other symptoms and diagnose the baby with colic. This happens all too often, causing little ones to suffer for far too long.

For more information on colicky babies and milk allergies, check out the article: What is Colic.

Other common symptoms of a milk protein allergy include:

• Diarrhea
• Bloody stool
• Vomiting
• Skin rashes
• Fussiness
• Low or no weight gain
• Gassiness
• Wheezing
• Failure to thrive

If you’re baby is experiencing any of these symptoms, visit your doctor. And in the mean time check out testforallergy.com to take a free test online that will help you determine if your baby has a milk allergy.

- Nita

In general, a child with a milk allergy can’t digest the complex protein chains found in regular formula. When a child takes this formula, an allergic reaction can cause multiple gastrointestinal (GI), respiratory and/or dermatological problems. These symptoms include bloody diarrhea, vomiting, skin rash or wheezing. Also, persistent colic can be a sign of an allergy.

My first bit of advice is to make an appointment with your pediatrician immediately if you suspect your child has a milk protein allergy.

In the meantime, check out some of these other sites that might help you determine whether your child is suffering from a milk allergy:

Click here for an allergy test. Dr. John Moissidis, a Board certified pediatric allergist at The Asthma Allergy Clinic in Shreveport, La., designed this test to help parents of infants identify a potential milk allergy.

And click here for a few tools on how to deal with food allergies. As we have discussed in previous entries, a milk protein allergy can be treated by implementing an elimination diet if your little one is breastfeeding or by replacing your baby’s formula with an amino acid-based formula, like Neocate (the protein in this formula is broken down into its simplest form, making it much easier for babies to digest!).

You can also visit this site for more information on whether or not your child might have a milk allergy. Do you have any questions? I know this allergy stuff can be tricky!

- Nita

Last night, I was reading the June issue of Parents magazine and came across a pretty great article called “Forbidden Foods” by Jan Sheehan. Since this topic is my focus at work, I like to believe I know a lot of about it! And I have to say, this was a very informative article for allergy and non-allergy parents alike overall. However, it did leave out a few milk allergy specifics I think people should be aware of.

The article outlined the current “allergy explosion” and what parents need to be on the look-out for when it comes to allergies. One side bar I really liked was the “Is it really an allergy?” section. This is often a mistake parents make when deciding whether to take their children to the pediatrician. Just in case you’re not sure of the symptoms for each, here they are:

Food Intolerance
Upset stomach; Gas and bloating; Abdominal cramps; vomiting; Diarrhea.

Food Allergy
Skin redness and itching (a definite sign that is on the rise!); Rashes or hives; Red, watery eyes, Nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing; Vomiting; Diarrhea; Swelling of lips, face, or throat; Wheezing; Severe breathing difficulty; Loss of consciousness.

As you can see, many of the symptoms overlap. To be on the safe side, I would take your child in to see the pediatrician if he/she is experiencing any of the above symptoms.

Now on to a few things it was missing. When speaking of the formula options available for children with food allergies, it only mentions soy formulas and hydrolysate formulas. Since children with milk allergies are often allergic to soy, the AAP does not recommend switching to soy if your baby is showing sings of a milk allergy. Click here to get more information on the possible risks with soy formulas.

Also, switching to a hydrolysate formula often isn’t enough for babies and kids with milk protein allergy – they need an amino acid-based formula like Neocate, which is made up of protein broken down to the absolute simplest form (amino acids), making it gentler on the tummy of a milk allergy baby.

So, some good info here. But just remember to talk about all your formula options with the pediatrician when you have a food allergy baby.

Here’s a link to a few more articles by the same author on the Parents website. Check it out!

-Sarah

And pinpointing allergies in babies can be extremely tricky. While some infants can have anaphylactic reactions, most of the time babies’ symptoms look like typical baby ailments.

Note: I don’t want to dismiss the severity of a baby having an anaphylactic reaction – it’s serious and terrifying. But it occurs less often than the type of symptoms we’re talking about here. (Perhaps thanks to the food allergy community’s efforts to inform docs and moms about precautions to take during pregnancy and baby’s first few years of life.)

Here are the most common symptoms to look out for in your baby if you suspect the little one has a food allergy:

• Persistent diarrhea
• Blood and/or mucus in the stool
• Frequent vomiting
• Skin rash
• Respiratory problems
• Inconsolable crying (“colicky”)
• Poor weight gain
• An overall failure to thrive

Babies can have a combination of several of these symptoms or sometimes just one. If you think your baby could possibly have an allergy, check out www.testforallergy.com. It’s a great resource to help parents figure out what steps to take next. As always, I’d love to see your comments below.

Take care,
Marybeth

Question: What is the difference between immediate and delayed allergic reactions? We are trying to get to the bottom of what foods are causing my son’s allergic reactions and I think that he may be having a delayed reaction to something.

Answer: Immediate allergic reactions, also known as IgE reactions, occur within a few moments of exposure to an allergen to up to two hours, so it is easy to identify which food is causing the reaction.

Delayed allergic reactions (which are non-IgE) can happen anywhere from two to 72 hours after exposure to an allergen, or longer. This can make it difficult to pinpoint what is causing a reaction. Plus, there are no specific lab tests to identify non-IgE allergies so the only way to know if a food is safe or not is through trial and error. It might be helpful to keep a food journal of exactly what your son eats and when. Then you can look for patterns over time, and hopefully figure it all out!

If you’re still having trouble identifying the problem foods, your doctor may recommend an elimination diet. With an elimination diet, all foods are taken out of the diet and an elemental formula, such as Neocate and/or E028 Splash, is the sole source of nutrition. This period allows the symptoms to resolve and sets up your “baseline”. After a few weeks, foods are added back to the diet one at a time. Since the reactions are delayed, you should wait a few days after each food introduction to see if symptoms return. If no symptoms occur, you move on to the next food. If symptoms do occur, you can add this food to the no-no list and continue with this process (remember that there may be multiple foods responsible so you have to contrinue with the process of trying foods one at a time).

During one of our regularly scheduled blog editorial meetings, we realized we’ve been blogging for a long time – close to 4 years! That’s a lot of information for parents who are new to food allergies to process. We thought it would be helpful to group some of our more helpful blog posts by topic and share the links with you.

Check out some of these blog posts to learn more about the many signs and symptoms that can accompany food allergies.

Allergy Symptoms

Milk Protein Allergy Symptoms: Nothing To Sneeze At– A list of common milk protein allergy symptoms.

8 Signs of a Milk Allergy– This information is more specific to infants.

Baby Rashes (When is it a milk allergy?)

All About Diarrhea– Information about diarrhea in general and how it relates to allergies.

Signs of Anaphylaxis– Anaphylaxis is the most severe allergic reaction.

Allergy Basics

Testing for Allergies: Which Allergy Test is the Best?

Food Allergies vs. Food Intolerances: What’s the Difference?

Can Your Child Outgrow a Food or Milk Allergy?

6 Tips: Food Allergies & Introducing Solid Foods Into Your Baby’s Diet

Tips for Teaching Your Children to Manage Their Own Food Allergies

What does Hypoallergenic Mean?

All About Nutricia

Hydrolysate Formulas vs. Amino Acid-Based Formulas– Learn what makes Neocate Infant and Neocate Junior so special.

Neocate Nutra – The First Hypoallergenic Semi-Solid Medical Food

Introducing Neocate Junior with Prebiotics!

Food Allergies and Multivitamins: Are Phlexy Vits Appropriate For Your Child?

Fight Flavor Fatigue with New Neocate Flavor Straws

“100% Milk-Free Environment”– One of the many reasons Neocate is so great!

Allergy-Friendly Recipes

Milk-Free Recipes– A collection of our recipe blog entries.

The Neocate Food Allergy Cookbook – Allergy-Friendly Recipes for Your Family

Stuck in a Recipe Rut?

Resources

Food Allergy News Roundup– A good place to start.

Kids with Food Allergies Introduces a Free Starter Guide for Parenting a Child with Food Allergies

Dealing with a New Diagnosis of Food Allergy

Food Allergy Parents and Advocates Share Their Stories– Stories from parents like you!

Food Allergy Support Groups– Websites many Neocate families find helpful.

Children’s Magic: an Insurance Reimbursement Resource

Are there any of our blogs that you have found especially helpful in getting you over the food allergy learning curve? Please share them in the comment section of this blog post.

- Rob 

As most of you know, we redesigned our Neocate.com website in May of 2011.  In case you haven’t paid us a visit, come on by.  We added a few new online tools to help provide support and guidance to you and your family.  Our new Parent’s Toolbox and Reference Library includes a symptoms guide, glossary and a symptom checker which have all gotten great reviews – thank you for the feedback! 

Our website is always a work in progress and we will continue to work on providing new tools and resources.  Our newest online tool that we are excited to share with you is the online diary!

The online diary is a perfect tool to use when you are trying to determine the right formula for your child, starting on solids or reintroducing foods into your little ones diet.

It is tough to remember or keep track of all the small (or big) symptoms or behaviors that may occur throughout the day and even more difficult trying to relate those symptoms back to a food if you’re not recording it somewhere.  Keeping a daily diary of what your child eats and drinks – and any symptoms you see afterward – gives your child’s doctors vital information. It can help them identify what might be triggering any symptoms. This online diary makes keeping track of everything a snap.

Over the past few weeks, under the guidance of my little ones physician, I have started adding solids into my 6 month olds diet.  Since starting, I've noticed a little rash around his mouth and chin.  With the dry winter weather just starting and the drool from new teeth coming in I couldn't figure out if the new foods I was introducing was causing the rash or not.

So I started using the online diary to record everything that we did.  When he took a bottle, when he ate solids, what he ate, when he was out in the cold, when the rash appeared, the severity of the rash, etc.  With the help of the online diary I was then able to begin to see a pattern of when the rash was appearing - right after we fed him, every night.  Could he really be allergic to peas?  I still had my doubts but relieved to have a record of what was occurring to share with my doctor.  Now we both had a clear understanding of what was going on and therefore were able to best determine the root of the problem.

I hope all of you find the online diary to be as resourceful as I do.  Do you have any other ideas of useful tools you'd like to see on Neocate.com?

-Sarah