Could this be lactose intolerance?

[WhenTheDragonsCame]

Hi

Since the summer my DD3(6) has been getting a lot of stomach aches, headaches and says she feels sick, though most of the time she doesn't complain for long. I haven't written it down in a diary but I have started to notice a pattern of it happening after eating something with dairy in.

She had a cheese sandwich today with her lunch and before she finished it said her stomach was hurting and she didn't want to eat anything else. She often complains in the morning quite often of feeling ill after having cereal with milk. Other times though she can drink a cup of milk and not say she feels unwell.

I have taken her to the doctor but DD3 does at times feel quite anxious and this was getting quite bad in the summer, I think related to her dad dying and worrying that others were also going to die. The doctor put down the physical symptoms to this and said she didn't really want to do anything until we had looked into that, which we are doing through Winston's Wish.

I am getting a bit concerned though as I think most days she feels unwell in some way.

Sorry it is a bit long. I was just looking for opinions to decide whether it would be worth taking her back to the doctor. Our surgery normally has a 4 week waiting time so I would try and do a food diary before we went.

Thank you.

[NK346f2849X127d8bca260]

Definitely sounds a possibility to me, my ds was diagnosed lactose intolerant at the age of 4 and now at the age of 15 will complain of stomach ache/bloating after eating cereal or drinking milky drinks. I suspect I am to as I can feel the same after breakfast and a couple of lattes
I would do a food diary whilst waiting for an appointment.

[slightlyinsane]

Definitely do a food diary of food eaten that day but also symptoms that day too.
I would also consider it being a dairy allergy too. If it is an allergy, you can have delayed symptoms of upto 72 hours. Hence the symptom tracker too, gives you the opportunity to look back over the days if she's showing symptoms but not had lactose/dairy that day.
I would consider doing a couple of weeks as normal and then a couple of weeks without to see if there is any improvement before going to the GPs.
I think they can test for lactose intolerance but allergy testing can be massively misleading with delayed reactions.
I have 2 that have allergies, happy to answer any questions about symptoms or food

[DailyFail1]

You could try switching milk to dairy free to see if her symptoms improve. If they do, you're probably right. If not GP might be right & it could be anxiety.

[dementedpixie]

Could also be related to gluten if she is having bread and cereal at the same time as dairy products.

[gunting]

I have lactose intolerance. What kind of cheese did she have on her sandwich? Hard cheese like cheddar have very small amounts of lactose in so it could perhaps be the bread and cereal?

[dementedpixie]

Also could be cows milk protein intolerance rather than lactose which is the sugar in the milk or could be the gluten

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

It could be but it might also be worth looking at Cow's Milk Protein Allergy. Think Slightly's idea of keeping a food diary for 2 weeks and then trying her dairy free for 2 weeks whilst still keeping the diaries are good.

I felt so much better after 3 days of cutting out dairy and after 2 weeks I felt amazing.

[WhenTheDragonsCame]

Thank you.

She seems worst with the type of ice cream they sell in McDonald and Burger King. She has been twice this year, that I can think of, and both times she couldn't finish it and got very upset saying she felt sick. We went to Butlins over Easter and she was sick one evening after eating ice cream with dinner but that is the only time.

The sandwich she had today was white bread, small amount of mayo (she doesn't like butter) and grated cheddar cheese. She didn't finish it as she said her stomach hurt. She seemed to be better then later it hurt again after hot chocolate and birthday cake.

Thank you I will start the diary tomorrow.

[confusednortherner]

My ds 8 has had tummy aches it seems like constantly for a year or so. Gp put it down to ibs but didn't really help much. On Remembrance Day he fainted in school assembly as the pain was so bad and I took him to doctors who packed him off to hospital as he suspected appendicitis. Hospital discharged him as they thought it was food related and suggested cutting out wheat and dairy to trial. We decided to try dairy first and honestly the change after a week was amazing! He's slipped up a couple of times and it's definitely not been worth the treat as he's known about it afterwards.

[WhenTheDragonsCame]

DD3 loves her dairy, she would live on cereal if I let her. I will try the diary for a couple of weeks staying the same and then a couple of weeks cutting out dairy. Not sure how practical that will be with school but will try.

Thank you.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Is it the school dinners yiu are worried about? Look for some alternatives now before you start and then yiu can p,an out some packed lunches for her.

Some wraps are df and 50/50 bread is. Sounds like she may enjoy things like lettuce, chicken and mayo sandwich with a banana and something like a Mrs Crimble's Coconut Macaroon.

I'd avoid youghurt made with soya though. 50% of people with CMPA also have a problem with soya protein as they are quite similar I believe. After 3 days of having soya based desserts, I felt like I had the 'flu.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Sorry about the typos, I really need to get off MN and try and get some sleep.

Have this as an apology

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Just found this article on the Allergy UK websirte and thought it might be useful.

The foods you mention that she has a problem with I've never been able to eat either.

Is she getting any support for her grief too?

[WhenTheDragonsCame]

Thank you JiltedJohnsJulie I will have a read of those. Yes the school dinners but also the teacher is very busy so not sure she would have time to fill in a food diary.

2ndSopranos she doesn't get to get end of a sundae without saying she feels sick.