Lactagen User Trial Diary: Two Months Out

Ok, so its been a little under two months after completing the Lactagen regimen. I'm still a fan, but maybe with some slight reservations. While I have not used Lactaid once these past many weeks, I have had a few incidents where I encountered problems. Most of them were mild to moderate and there was one I'm not sure I can link up cause and effect.

Basically the times I've had issues were as follows:

Travelling home on a flight - had no breakfast and had a cheese/cracker tray for lunch. I focused mainly on the brie. I got sick on the plane and unfortunately that was one of the bad ones. However, I don't always travel well and am infamous for getting "travel tummy" so I can't say for sure what the cause was.

Days later, I had some ice cream cake at work and about 20 mins later didn't feel well. The symptoms were moderate - bloating, a little gas and one trip to the restroom.

Finally, today I had some cheese soup for lunch. It was another doozy. I was very ill for about 30 minutes. Had I been in a meeting, travelling or out and about it would have been a disaster. As it was getting that kind of sick at work was still no fun. However... I did follow that up later in the day with a hot chocolate made with milk - no issues.

I've had a few other times where I've had a little bloating and pressure but nothing worth really worrying about at all. And I have had plenty of dairy including whole glasses of milk with no issues. My guess is the times I've had issues were times I went for a while without dairy and my body was readjusting. But that's an uneducated guess on my part.

In addition, my co-worker who's husband was severely LI has completed the program and is doing great! So, my bottom line is that I do think it works. I do think its a "use it or lose it" deal. And I do think you'll still have issues. It is not a "cure" per se - more like a conditioning process. So take my info for what it gives ya and best of luck to all you LI readers!

Ears the Problem....

Two Fridays ago we had a feeling Coco wasn’t quite feeling up to snuff. This usually means a double ear infection. However since we had, just the prior Tuesday, finished up her antibiotics for that very condition we were doubtful. Out of an abundance of caution Hubby took her in to see her doctor. Sure enough – her right ear was “very infected”. I was shocked. I was even more shocked when her doctor prescribed the exact same antibiotic she had just completed. I may not have a medical degree but if you finish a 10-day antibiotic on Tuesday and have a raging ear infection by Friday, I’m thinkin’ the medicine didn’t work so well.

Apart from that little quandary, we heard the words we were dreading. Tubes. I had read an article pre-delivery which stated that tubes were the root of all evil and way over prescribed. I had made up my mind at that point that my child was never to have tubes. Under any circumstance. Period.

However, over the past 9 ear infections (if you count double infections as 2), I have begun to dig a little deeper. Oddly enough every mother I’ve asked is a big fan. I’ve heard stories about it changing kids’ personalities, lives, and play habits – all for the better. One mom told me her son, who was a bit wobbly in the walking department (as is Coco), immediately went to walking straight as an arrow and soon to running. One mom told me that the afternoon they got home from the procedure, her little one brought her every book and toy that made noise and piled them in her lap, fascinated that he could hear them clearly. One mom (our daycare provider) said that a little boy she watched went from being a fussy toddler before his tubes to being a happy bright little star the day after.

Needless to say, Coco goes in for her pre-op consult tomorrow. I’m in. I’m all in. Screw whoever wrote the “tubes are the root of all evil” article. I don’t know them. I do know my mom-friends and I know my daughter. If tubes will help her stop toppling over, and if tubes will stop a little voice from saying “owie” while pointing to her ear, and if tubes will prevent a 10th round of antibiotics in 17 short months of life – that’s all I need to know.

Am I nervous? Yes. Mostly about the anesthetic since I know ANY dose of general anesthesia comes with risks. But I also know the type used and the duration (about 5 minutes) greatly, greatly reduce those risks. I’m a little nervous about what precautions we’ll have to take once they’re in. I always loved swimming and want Cora to enjoy that also. In addition she loves bath time and splashes around like a little fish. I’ve had some mom’s tell me they had to use earplugs while some said they never did and had no problems. We’ll jump off that bridge when we come to it.

Tomorrow will be day one on what I’m hoping is a journey to a happier little one.

Tagged and Bagged

I was tagged...

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog-some random, some wierd.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of the post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
I was tagged by: Amy at http://amy-littletreasures.blogspot.com/


So let's see, 7 random facts:
1. I've been to a wedding and a funeral officiated by the late Jerry Fallwell.
2. I was voted most likely to be a rock star (groupie) in high school.
3. I'm on a cross-stitching binge.
4. I met my husband at Motorcycle Safety Class.
5. In my adult life I've only lived away from Iowa for 11 months (in Memphis, TN).
6. At one point prior to meeting my husband I was planning to move to Paris.
7. I love playing video games (XBox 360 and Playstation 2).

And I'm not going to tag..... (ok I don't know that many bloggers...)