Eye Rings and Non-solid Poops = Allergy??

I would have him tested. My daughter has similar symptoms as well as lack of growth. I had her tested with the skin test and she came up mildly allergic to milk. However, when we did a full elimination diet (meaning no milk or milk ingredients in anything) she really did not have much change. Her stool did solidify to the point of painful constipation, but her eye circles didn't get much better. The extremely limited diet did cause her to lose weight. Her nutritionist advised that if her reaction was so mild we should continue to include milk in her diet since the main symptom was lack of weight gain and if she loses weight we are going backwards. We did also have the RAST bloodtest to confirm a milk reaction since false positives are possible on either test.

You can certainly have him tested for allergies, but I just wanted to add my two cents on the poop thing (if you don't mind MY sharing!). My daughter had soft poop for a while. Like you said, not diarrhea, just soft. It lasted so long (until after 2-1/2) that I wondered what would happen when I started potty training. She's 3-1/2 now and everything's normal (and she's trained). I'm not saying it's not related, but it may or may not have anything to do with it.

As far as the eye circles, I'm sure allergies are one possibility, but I'm not sure what other possibilities there could be. I'd hate to see you put him through allergy testing if that's not it. Check with your pediatrician, maybe?

Hope you find your answers! It's so hard wondering (worrying) about these things with our precious little ones. :-)

I don't have an answer as far as if he is allergic to the milk but they can do allergy testing on your son. What they will do is prick his back with the different allergens & monitor it for about 15 minutes then they read the results (hives on his back) clean his back & but itch cream on his back. Then they will discuss the results with you & how to avoid the allergens. Not sure where you are located but we saw Dr. Lahkini (Dover, DE) & he was great. Good luck & I hope you figure out what is wrong soon.

Milk could cause it....along with other factors - my son was having issues with diarrhea when he was younger and he got really sick when he had some cheese sauce once....I am lactose intolerant, but I bought milk for the kids and soy for me...so I switched them to soy as well and he has done much better - but now even ice cream and other dairy products really need to be limited. So, it may be an issue for your child as well, and soy could help, along with other substitutes and plenty of fiber....but you can always have him tested - couldn't hurt! Not sure about the dark circles, but that could also be a lack of a specific nutrient...or just heredity. The doctor may have a cream or something that could help with that also...good luck!

It's possible that he has an allergy, but I don't think your doctor is likely to do allergy testing unless the symptoms are a little more dramatic. When my kids were tested for allergies, it was 50 little shots at a time. 2 is young for that.

Anyway, for food allergies, I think the most common test is you doing a food elimination test yourself anyway. I've read that a food is usually out of a child's system after four days.

One of my children had frequent soft stools from milk (including lactaid), soy milk, and rice milk. He was OK however with cooked milk products. Parmalat brand milk -- real cow milk that's been extra cooked and vacuum packed so it can go on a shelf rather than a fridge -- worked very well for him. He wasn't lactose intolerant, but cassein intolerant. He outgrew the milk tummy issues when he was four and a half. He now happily drinks more than a gallon a day. (I love my teenagers.) My daughter, who got hives from cow's milk, drank goat's milk. She also outgrew the milk allergy before she was five.

Yes, you can take him to an allergist to get tested. My middle son is allergic to milk. He had non solid poops but the biggest indicator was that he scratched his skin all the time. My oldest has food allergies so I suspected that this was it as well and took him in. Since he's been off milk the poop is solid and he stopped scratching. My oldest has the dark circles under his eyes. He does have food allergies but the allergist says the circles are related to pet/environment allergies so he's on Zyrtec. If you have any pets, that could be causing the circles.

My oldest boy (5 1/2 now) was tested for food allergies before he was 1 b/c of issues we were having. the eye circles can definitely be due to allergies. and possibly even the poop. but you can get them tested EARLY my youngest was tested at 4mo. b/c i was worried about the food allergies and wanted it done before he started the baby food. my oldest is on shots now.... b/c he has HORRIBLE eczema!!! but i would take him to an allergist. if your insurance covers Dr. Seth Craig he is WONDERFUL! i dont know where you live he is in Fredericksburg, Va. good luck!

My son is much the same way. He doesn't have any allergy's just love to eat healthy foods such as fruits and veggies and whole grains. All of those are high in fiber.
If your son doesn't eat a lot of those foods you may look into Carrageenan as a possible cause. It is found in lots of foods (cheese, soy milk....) and presents much the same as a Lactose intolerance/allergy. Just a suggestion on another place to look.

You are on the right track to suspect allergies and cows milk is the number one food allergy. There is a tremendous difference allergy wise between cow and soy milk. A test of two weeks is sufficient. You may also want to try rice milk for two weeks. Some allergy doctors have accurate tests but they usually ask you to verify their tests with diet limitations too. Darkened eyes and digestive problems are allergy symptoms. After cow milk the next allergenic foods are: peanuts, wheat, egg, corn, and soy. You can test these foods one at a time. For one week eliminate one item. Watch for any changes in your son. It takes time to do this but it is worth knowing. I have food allergies so I speak from experience. AF

Hi D.,
Yes, they can test for allergies....we had my daughter tested since she was having about 6 or more soft little bowel movements a day. Long story short after they did allergy tests, Celiac Disease test, and more, they found through an X ray that she was so constipated that it was causing diarreah.....new stool was leaking around the blockage.
I hope the doctor can fond out what the problem is...it very well could be an allergy.
Hope this helps!
B.

My son had soft, fairly frequent stools (3+/day) until he was 3 yrs old and then became very regular (1/day). He has not shown any allergy symptoms and has grown relatively well. I often wondered whether the soft stools could mean celiac disease (gluten intolerance), but cutting out all wheat products was too difficult to try. If you test for celiac, it is good to wait because I understand the test is not very reliable before age 2 or 3. Gluten intolerance damages the celia (hairs lining the intestines) and allows food to pass poorly digested and can lead to vitamin deficiencies and slow growth. You might expect to see undigested food in the stool, gas, bloating, etc. too. The condition is underdiagnosed in our society and many people don't find out until their teens or later. Try substituting rice pasta, rice and potatoes for bread and regular pasta, and see if that helps at all. Oatmeal is low in gluten too, but not gluten free.