Hi there, did anyone have a milk allergy when they were young and has it been linked to the onset of your diabetes?
My son appears to have milk allergy (his dad is Type 1) and as I have heard there are links I am wondering if anyone has any anecdotal evidence of this being true.
when you say “milk allergy” are you saying he is allergic to Casein (milk protein) or is he lactose intolerant? there is a HUGE difference.
i’m also allergic to Casein. I have been my entire life. I had to have soy milk out of a bottle (back in the 60’s!) i did not get diabetes until i was 45 years old, and not because of any genetic reason. I am an Other and got my diabetes due to Acute Pancreatitis that happend due to a duct obstruction. It was never stated to me that my milk allergy might have any complications for it. Now I’ll agree that they are looking to see if the anti-bodies for Casein are prevalent. But nothing has come of any consequence at this time. Also the percentage of people allergic to Casein is less than 3%. a lot less people have a Casein allergy than have T1 diabetes.
you can read all about them on my blog at http://landileigh.wordpress.com
My son has just been diagnosed with type one and he is 21 months old. Before the diagnosis his face would always break out when he had milk so he was on lactose free milk. Now he has been on insulin he seems to be ok with regular mac and cheese (just a little though)
My mother told me that I was allergic to milk based formula as an infant and had to be put on soy formula. I don’t know if it was just that brand of formula (have no clue what it was) that was the problem because I didn’t have any problems with whole milk as I got older. I have no problems with milk now. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 19 years old.
hi, i’m type 1 and have also been allergic to milk proteins since i was born. i’ve heard that there may be some link as well, but have never come across any research about it.
I did and continue to have a milk allergy. Until I was 20, I thought it was normal to get an itchy throat full of mucous when you drink a big glass of milk.
I have a house full of people allergic to milk. I am the only diabetic in the house. My father was a diabetic but he was not allergic to milk.
I had a casein allergy and lactose intolerance when I was a kid. I was also allergic to wheat and corn. They faded away when I was in my late teens/early 20s- I took allergy shots for many years. I developed diabetes in my mid 20s.
Now I am always kicking myself for eating dairy again after reading that milk allergies and type 1 may be linked. I think I remember reading somewhere that pasteurized casein has the same or a similar shape to the islet cells, and that’s why the immune system attacks them if your gut is damaged and proteins pass into your blood stream before they have been broken down enough into amino acids, but I can find where it is now and when I try to google it, I get this, which seems totally contradictory. Does anyone know the articles I’m talking about?
I also had soy formula, and was diagnosed at 8 years old. I am not sure if it was linked but now you have me curious!
Just FYI, sometimes “milk protein allergy” is acually a symptom of chronic gall bladder disease! I had my gall bladder out on Nov 4 and for the FIRST TIME IN 18 YEARS I am able to eat milk protein again. Pizza, ice cream, cheese cake! ( I’ve had one or the other almost every day since I discovered I’m “cured!” )
So, my suggestion is to get your gall bladder tested using a HIDA scan (tests the function) because every other test I had said my gall bladder was “normal.” But, it certainly was not – it was totally distended when it was removed and filled with thick, infected mucousy bile. Ironically, over those interim 18 years I’d had several bouts of pancreatis and even biliary obstruction and jaundice and impetigo but all the gall bladder images were “normal.” Even an abdominal MRI including the MRI of the bile ducts (MRCP) was “normal.” Except, after that MRCP, I was in such pain and sick from the chemically induced/forced “emptying” of my gall bladder that the Gastro finally decided to recommend surgery. (My HIDA was abnormal but only indicated “mild” gall bladder disease.) And, PRESTO that was the solution!
My Milk Protein Allergy reaction – an extreme reaction to anything containing milk protein (casein/casinate). It was like food poisoning with deabilitating pain, vomiting, diarreaha. (Oddly, motrin helped relieve the pain.) Back then, 18 years ago, Urgent Care was susipicous of my gall bladder but the Gastro was SURE it was normal – lots of sonos and scoping (for ulcers) was done. Finally, the Gastro did an elimination diet and diagnosed me as having a hiadal hernia and allergic to Milk Protein. Doc said the milk protein was causing the chronic inflamation in my duedonum. And, it’s true, if I avoided milk protein entirely, I could give up the ulcer meds – from 60 pills a month to zero. But, if I got some inadvertently, even a bit of non-dairy (!) creamer and I was in pain, vomiting, with diarreah.
Meanwhile, over time I also had several bouts of pancreatis, jaundice, impetigo and biliary obstruction – but still no abnormal sonos – no gall stones, no gall bladder disease!! Then, this spring I developed the sensation of a “cat” in my abdomen under my stomach and stretching across to my left ribs. Over time, I could not even lie down on my back because twisting to get back up was IMPOSSIBLE – it “squashed the cat” and the pain would cause me to swoon. Abdominal MRI, sonos, even an MRCP (view of the biliary system) showed “nothing abnormal.” But, I was in almost constant pain and couldn’t eat ANY fat – no eggs (yikes, egg fat was a real killer), no pork (double yikes), not even fresh corn (corn oil)! (I did lose 45 lbs – the “gall bladder” diet!)
So, the Gastro finally agreed it could be “mild gall bladder disease” and we set about finding a surgeon to take it out.
I wonder if untreated chronic gall bladder disease damages the pancreatis and causes type 1! My experience is that milk protein allergy is symptom of chronic gall bladder disease. (In this case the allergic reaction is pain, vomiting and diarreah, not hives/swelling.)
BTW, my daughter was also born with a milk protein allergy (the digestive reaction) that spontaneously resolved when she got her infected adenoids/tonsils removed. She’s been able to eat milk, cheese, ice cream and cheese cake ever since. It makes me wonder if there is some chronic inflamation immune system aspect at work here since the gall bladder, pancreatis, tonsils and adenoids are all endocrin/immune system components. (Thyroid, too. And, they’ve already proven a link to untreated thyroiditis and diabetes in Hashimotos disease – there’s even a familial syndrome named for it.)
Your story is similar to mine. I was told that when I was an infant I did not tolerate cows milk it made me vomit and gave me diarrhaea. My parents gave me goat milk instead ( though I have no idea what sort of forumula). As a kid and as an adult though I had/have no problems with milk. Cant stand the taste of it but maybe its something I never got used to since I didn’t drink it as a baby. I did not develop my diabetes however until I was almost 17 so I am not so sure the milk had much to do with it. My mom is a type 1 as well.
I took allergy shots as well for a few years when i was a kid. I always attributed my being born a month and half early to all my allergies. I am allergic to animal dander ( so severe that I had a tracheotomy when my throat swelled shut at 18 months) to all sorts of plants and grasses.
However I have never heard of allergy shots being the environmental factor that triggers type 1. If that was the case I think id of gotten D as a child not as a teen but what do I know hehe
I’m not allergic to milk or have a milk allergy (that I know of) but I hate milk. I always have. I was breast-fed but I don’t believe I broke out in hives or anything. But I always remember not drinking my milk at dinner and when I got older, I would always ask for water instead, while my sister and father would have their milk. I’d even have water with cookies… I just can’t stand the taste of milk, makes me vomit. I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 18… that would really be peculiar if this was somehow related to my onset of diabetes… hmm