Can you suddenly develop lactose intolerance?

[puds11]

I’ve had some quite cheesy meals recently (pasta, macaroni and pizza) and about 30 mins after each one developed horrible stomach cramps that have lasted the night. I have never had an issue with cheese before. Can you suddenly develop lactose intolerance? Is it symptomatic of something more sinister?

Hi OP, I developed it around 14 years old but not diagnosed until 19 by a endoscopy, so yes it is possible! i was the same as you but only with heavy dairy foods such as pizza, macaroni cheese, etc. Here if you'd like any advice.

Thank you @Jaspercatx. That’s how it seems to be. If I have a little cream cheese I’m fine but something with quite a bit of cheese and my gut feels like a balloon! Do you have to have an endoscopy or could I safely assume it’s too much cheese?

Alot of people just rule dairy out themselves with no medical advice needed and are better for it, i was undergoing different tests at the time but it showed up to the doctors after the endoscopy! Alot of people seek advice from a dietitian also, but i would suggest seeking advice from a GP just incase there is anything underlying there

You can develop it randomly, I got it after a bout of food poisoning.

Maybe try some Kefir, many people who are lactose intolerant can still have this

Could be gallbladder issues due to the fat content more than the lactose.

I developed it in my 30’s. Took me a while to realise what was causing regular diarrhea. The GP diagnosed it with a simple test - I drank a high lactose drink and they checked my blood sugars at baseline and then every half an hour for 2 hours. If you are lactose intolerant you don’t get a proper spike in blood sugars.
I’m not in the UK but happily buy lactase Tablets at a Boots type shop and always have them with me. It rarely affects my life now

My Dad seemed to suddenly develop it after food poisoning like Tish008, up until then he'd drink a pint of milk most mornings! Hasn't touched it in around 4 years now, even if someone gives him tea with milk instead of lactofree it's enough to set him off.

Yes, and it can be temporary. Especially after a tummy bug.

Interesting. Thank you for the information. I haven’t had a stomach bug recently but could be generally a bit run down so maybe this? I haven’t had a reaction to milk in tea yet but maybe I should cut it all out and give my gut a break then try it again?

I drank milk in my tea right up to my diagnosis - that wasn’t enough lactose to give me diarrhea but what I realised afterwards when I stopped was that it had been making my poo a bit mushy (sorry TMI). I never had a properly formed poo until I switched to black tea

I got full blown milk allergy at 27, up until then I drank milk with no problems.

I found out you can the hard way. I developed quite a few since 2 years ago. Just randomly, what was okay no longer was.

The body does change I suppose.

Yes dd developed it as a 17yo, at the same time as becoming coeliac.

Yes. Intolerances can be developed at any time in life.
I'm so sorry you're having this bother, I would hate to go without cheese, I love it so much - but in your case, needs must.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I’m a bit gutted as cheese is a strong favourite, but think it’ll definitely be reserved for a treat/when I know I don’t have to go anywhere now. Good for the cholesterol I suppose!

So odd the human body!

Levels of lactose are quite low in hard cheeses, I could eat them for a while after my allergy started but then I couldn’t after a while.

I’m ok with things like goats cheese aren’t I?

You might not be no, you’re best off completely cutting it out of your diet because it’s quite wearing for the body to be constantly dealing with intolerances.

It can be caused by Heliobacter pylori infection, & goes when that it's treat. That's what caused it fir me & I'm fine now. I'd see your GP & ask for a test.

There's lactose, and there's cows milk protein. My ds has a problem with cmp but not lactose, so he can have goats milk / cheese etc. This is wgar we were told by the food intolerance lady anyway.

With both my pregnancies I was lactose intolerant and then had to do the milk ladder to be okay with milk again. Sometimes now though I can't eat too much dairy as it plays havoc with my stomach and I get the awful pain!
Cut it down and see if it's any better.
Also lactose free milk tastes the same as cows milk

Yep. I don’t know how old you are but It hit me in perimenopause and apparently it’s a known ‘thing’ for meno. It also recently happened to my mum after she’d been on a course of strong antibiotics - hopefully in her case it’s only temporary.

As far as cheese goes, I use the Arla lactofree cheddar day to day as it’s easy to get hold of, but there are actually quite a lot of naturally lactose free cheeses out there if you google (generally the longer they mature, the less lactose).

I think you can develop lactose intolerance with age. As I understand it, it is very rare in babies and young children as they need to be able to digest their mother's milk (which contains lactose). Any baby who couldn't digest milk would not have survived prior to modern medicine. So natural selection would ensure that babies are born able to digest lactose. This applies to all mammals.

However, until a few thousand years ago, nobody drank milk beyond infancy, so most people stopped producing the enzyme to digest lactose at some point in adulthood. Very recently in human history, the ability to digest lactose in adulthood has evolved, but only in certain populations where dairy farming was common. I believe that, globally, it is more common than not to be lactose intolerant in adulthood.

There is a gastroenteritis type illness that develops into a temporary (1-2 years type of temporary) lactose intolerance.

That is very interesting @Witchend. I had gastro first week of January. Could it have taken until last week to manifest as an intolerance?

@Kittywampus I always wondered where the intolerance arose, that makes total sense!

Will go and ask the doctor for some tests I think!