MILK ALLERGY TREATMENT NOW AVAILABLE

Milk Allergy Treatment is now Available. Read one mother's story.
On December 2,2010 Ann Pask and her son Eric began a new treatment, oral immunotherapy, for Eric's severe MILK Allergy. My son Alexander began treatment for his life threatening PEANUT Allergy at the same time. Click here to view my post regarding Treatment Day 1.
Ann is my first guest contributor. Here is her story, thus far.

Julie:
Well, the sleet is pelting down on the skylight in our master bathroom, and I can’t sleep.  So, thought I’d spend a few minutes thinking about milk allergies!  So, here goes!
-Ann

MILK ALLERGIES

My 10-year-old son, Eric, has life-threatening food allergies to milk, eggs, fish and shellfish.  Prior to his birth, I was blissfully unaware of the impact food allergies could have on a child and the family.  My daughter Rachel, now 13, thankfully does not have any food allergies.  I remember cautiously giving her peanut butter as a toddler, and asking her Mother’s Day Out teacher if any child had a peanut allergy before packing a PB&J.  I also remember the joy of eating ice cream and pizza with her (now forbidden foods), and even the first time she ate mussels when she was about 18 months old.  Then along came my son.

MILK DESENSITIZATION

According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, about 80 percent of children outgrow milk allergy by age 16.  But my son’s blood test scores increased every year, and we feared he might be in the minority that didn’t outgrow the allergy.  I would have dreams (nightmares really) that I had to bake his milk-free, egg-free wedding cake! That’s why we chose to try milk desensitization.  Eric has been the only child in school who can’t eat pizza for so long, and I want him to at least be able to eat pizza in high school or college!

We began his milk desensitization on December 2, 2010.  It started with an 8-hour day at the allergist’s office.  There were 3 boys starting desensitization that day.  Eric was starting milk, a 15-year-old boy was starting peanut, and a 17-year-old boy was starting egg.  They had name tags that read “milk,” “egg,” and “peanut,” which I found humorous!  
Over the course of the day, Eric ingested minute amounts of cow’s milk in a solution of 1 part milk and 29 parts water.  They boys received their “dose” every 15 minutes, until 26 total doses were given.  I’m not sure how much milk he actually got by the end of the day, but I know it wasn’t much.  But thankfully, he did not have a reaction.  At one point, he got nervous so we slowed down a little bit, but overall it went very smoothly.

Since that initial day, we have gone back to the allergist once a week to increase the dose.  The first several weeks, he drank the water/milk solution.  But by the 6th week, I was asked to purchase straight whole organic cow’s milk — something I thought I would never do for my son!  He was given 1 milliliter of cow’s milk, and all went smoothly.  The dose increases have gone as follows:  1 ml, 2 ml, 3 ml, 4 ml, 6 ml, and we just started 8 ml (about 1 1/2 teaspoon).  We have had a couple of incidents, but not too serious.  The first reaction occurred just a couple of weeks into the desensitization.  I gave him the cow’s milk, and about 2 minutes later he started sneezing uncontrollably.  I told the doctor he looked like I would in a room full of cats!  He never had trouble breathing, but he was miserable with constant sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose, etc.  I watched him very closely, and after about 1 1/2 hours I could tell he was starting to get better.  Thankfully, that has not happened again.  And recently about 30 minutes after his morning milk dose, he felt nauseous.  I had to take him to school, so I asked the nurse to check on him, and after an hour he was fine.  Apparently, nausea is not uncommon.  
We are thankful to be proceeding so smoothly.  If all goes well, he will be up to 240 (about 8 ounces) of milk by June. 
I have asked the school principal if we could have a pizza and ice cream party for his grade, and of course she said yes!  
I’m saying a prayer it works, and keeping my fingers crossed too!

Read more about this new Milk Allergy Treatment below.
Our son Alexander and Eric Pask continue to be successfully treated for their respective food allergies at Dallas Allergy Immunology (DAI).
Alexander is now eating 12 Peanuts per day as part of the treatment.
Eric Pask is ingesting 9 teaspoons of milk.
DAI also treats Egg and Wheat allergies.
The following except printed in green is from the DAI website.

DallasAllergyImmunology is pleased to announce a new oral immunotherapy program that provides a long-term solution for wheat, egg, peanut and milk allergic patients. At the end of this 5-6 month program patients with wheat, egg, peanut or milk allergy will be able to consume these foods with no allergic reactions. The program introduces minute doses of wheat, egg, peanut or milk in solution over a period of three to four months. The program then progresses to small doses of the whole food for an additional two to three months, resulting in tolerance to these foods allowing the children to consume wheat, eggs, peanuts and/or milk without any adverse reactions.
We have a number of children who have graduated from the program and are now eating eggs, and peanuts or drinking milk without reactions. This program is designed for a child of school age or older who will be old enough to understand the reasons for participating and be actively engaged in the process.