Avoiding Dairy?

[anonymous]

Good Afternoon,

I am curious if any one out there avoids dairy products?? If you do could you tell me what changes you noticed in your symptoms. I have been toying with the idea with our young son w/cf and would appreciate any of your experiences.

thanks<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[seasprite]

Yes -- please see my posts to Amy, Allie's mom, under "Has anyone else had this happen?" If my son doesn't avoid all dairy products except yogurt and other cultured foods, he ends up in the hospital with an intestinal blockage. The available evidence indicates there is no effect of dairy products on respiratory symptoms, though. So if your child doesn't have stomach pain, bloating, constipation, or other GI problems (other than the need for enzymes), he's probably OK with milk and milk products.

Jordan's mom

 

[anonymous]

Thanks for your reply,


He seems to digest dairy no problem but I have read alot that dairy is very mucous forming so people w/cf are better off avoiding it....basically it aggravates the symtoms. Is there anyone out there who avoids Dairy for this reason and could you share the results???

Thanks<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[seasprite]

Actually, it appears to be a myth that milk causes increases mucus production. There was a recent test of this notion in people with colds, and there was no difference in the amount of mucus made by those who drank milk than by those who did not. Also, the latest evidence is that people with cystic fibrosis produce too little mucus, not too much! What appears to be excess mucus is actually the pus-like gunk resulting from chronic inflammation and infection.

Hope this helps --

Jordan's mom

 

[anonymous]

Very interesting....thanks so much for the info<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[Robynnemarie]

I can say my daugher avoids diary products like the plague.
She gets terrible stomach aches, cramping, etc....
I think it is more lactos intolerance? however she did have a milk allergy and was on special
formula until she was a year and half or so......
She seemed to have outgrown it until about a year ago. She could eat or drink dairy without a problem until then.

Robynne- mom of 14 yr c/f, cfrd, chronic pancreatitis.

 

[anonymous]

I am a CF adult & I avoid a lot of things w/ cream in them, simply because it makes me cough & leaves a film like coating in my throat. The coughing part may be a good thing, but I just choose to limit what I drink/eat w/ cream in it. Sometimes, when I used to have dairy close to bed time, it caused an asthma type attack & I couldn't get to sleep because of the coughing every 30 seconds or so. I use skim milk & have had no problem w/ it & I avoid ice cream for the most part. Cheese & that stuff seems OK for me, it's just the milk/ice cream that gives me the problems. Also desserts w/ whipped cream seem to cause me to cough.
I am fortunate enough to not have too much problem gaining weight, but if I did, maybe I would reconsider drinking whole milk, just for the calories and put up w/ the coughing side effect. You may run it by your son's Dr to see what he would think of you switching to skim milk?
And, of course remember that each case is different--others may not have the same problems w/ cream as I do.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Yes Yes Yes....
My daughter just got out of the hospital with intestinal blockage. I went on this forum and found out others with cf have had this too. they told me to avoid milk and wa-la...no more pain and she's doing much better. She had suffered greatly. Doctors never told us that milk could be the culprit. Thanks to all of you-we are living and sleeping better......Thanks nikki's mom

 

[anonymous]

From what Jordan's mom posted, it is correct that dairy products do not "increase" mucous production, but it has been studied and proven that they can thicken secretions of mucous in individuals. This affects many people, alot without CF and many with CF. Most non CFers notice that milk creates thicker mucous secretions when they have a cold and mucous production is already "more" and "thicker", other than that a non Cfer probably doesn't pay that much mind to it. Many CFers are lactose intolerant (has inpart to do with the enzyme/digestive issue) and any amount of dairy bothers them, not by producing "more" mucous because that is not the case, but by making the already somewhat thick CF Mucous even thicker. And even those CFers who are NOT lactose intolerant, will notice thicker mucous after drinking a class of milk, eating yogurt...

My husband loves dairy too much to avoid it, but in his younger years up until about 18-19, he did for the most part completely avoid dairy unless it was part of a meal and unavoidable, and when it was unavoidable, he took lactose intolerant pills. Now that he is older, his body seems to handle the dairy a little bit better but we still limit the dairy to as little as possible so he avoids the thick mucous.

Just a little advice and personal experience.

Another idea, why don't you do a trial of taking your son off of the dairy products, for a week, two weeks or something and see if you notice a difference.

Julie

 

[anonymous]

I have been told by my doctor that milk might cause a little mucous in the back of the throat, but all the studies that have been done there hasn't been a mucous increase in the lungs.

Dave 29 w/cf