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?

I developed similar myself as an adult, so I did a bit of googling research and found it really interesting

I was diagnosed with gastritis last year and one of the causes for me is a lactose intolerance. Like you OP I can have a small amount of soft cheese but no other cheese as it causes an upset stomach. Also I can have a small amount of dairy but too much (although I dont know how this is worked out) can also cause the same issues. I now have to have coconut milk in porridge and hot chocolate!

Talisin, do please guide your mum towards taking a probiotic (if you haven't already). Essential for repopulating the gut with the good stuff after antibiotics wipe them out.

I developed a lactose intolerance about 3 years ago. Mind you, I've replaced it with soya milk/yoghurt and that seems to be an issue lately. Perhaps it's having too much eg I have soya milk and soya yoghurt every morning for breakfast.

I had an horrific tummy bug in my 20s, off work for a month. Digestion hasn't been right since : completely gluten intolerant eg. Oats are also a major no-no.

I developed it postpartum when I tried to have more dairy for breastfeeding. Became very windy with stomach pains which only stopped when I cut out dairy foods and drinks. Took calcium supplements from then on.

I am the same. I Avoid dairy as much as possible. X

Not quite dairy, but i developed an intolerance to eggs after having DS. Within 20 mins i was curled up in a ball in agony and my back killing. It took me a while to work it out but soldiered through and carried on eating them and it eventually went

I am postpartum and breast feeding, however my DD is 8 months. There has been nothing new/ illness etc in the past month, the gastro I had was just after Christmas. Did people find there was a delay between these triggers and the symptoms occurring?

Yes I developed it aged about 40
I was terrible after cream or ice cream
Now it’s ruled out completely.

Ooh this thread is exactly what I need.

I had been suffering with a rumbly / gassy / burpy tummy for years now. I've been to the doctors numerous times and have been referred for an endoscopy.

Yesterday I wondered if it could be lactose intolerance and have cut out all dairy and replaced milk with lactose free. There has been a dramatic improvement - no bloating or burping / bubbling throat for the first time in ages.

Is it something I can / should be tested for? Advice on food would be very helpful - thank you

@peklafe we did actually pay privately for dd to have blood tests which showed a dairy allergy amongst other stuff.

When I told her nhs gastro consultant he was fairly dismissive of the worth of such tests. He said best thing to do is omit stuff one thing at a time and see if you get better. If you eat something and it repeatedly makes you poorly then stop eating it. He said you don’t need to pay for a test to tell you this. Which makes sense I guess.

Very true Viva

I have been feeling quite worried about my belly for a while now and it did seem to be getting worse too, so this is quite a relief.

Did anyone have similar symptoms to me? It was mainly bloating and loads of air in my throat and constant burping from that, which was both very annoying and uncomfortable.

This us an interesting thread!

The book "gut" says that your lactase(?) ... enzyme that can digest lactose drops off as you get older. For some people it never drops low enough to be one a problem, for others it does.

I got ill last year and my body doesn't like it any more 😭

Not sure I agree with that doctor Viva - when I cut out wheat I felt awful for a week, like flu. After the week I felt wonderful, practically born again. So it didn't happen straight away.

That’s interesting @FridgeOffal. I must be one of the unlucky ones Early 30’s so wouldn’t say old just yet!

I can still eat hard cheeses like cheddar but anything else would give me diarrhea.

To the PP who said lactose free milk tastes the same - I have to disagree. They add lactase to it to break up the lactose into glucose and something else so it has this weird sweet taste. Would never buy it to drink or to put in hot drinks

It is worth getting tested for as I explained earlier in the thread because there is a lot of suspicious looks from people when you say you are lactose intolerant as if google diagnosed you but they soon shut up when you say a doctor diagnosed it. But my doctor said that 95% of the people they test aren’t lactose intolerant - they have other gut issues

Yes. I got it after a bad bout of food poisoning from a trip to Africa.

Had it a couple of years and it seemingly went during pregnancy.

That was a few years ago now but I still don't push it. Have soya/almond milk for cereal/lattes just in case.

I'm haunted by a time before I realised it was lactose that was my problem and I had way too much cheesecake (it was on the buffet what was I to do) and had to spend nearly an hour in a public toilet with my poor DH sat outside waiting. So dairy and myself aren't the best of friends still even 10 years later.

@springydaff have you tried other non dairy products such as oat milk? I think soy causes some people issues too.

@puds11 mid 30s here

Yes kitty, I'm trying almond milk from today. I don't know what to do about yoghurt though - the only non dairy I can find is soya yoghurt. Tesco do a non-sugar soya yoghurt (only one Tesco stocks it but its right in the centre of my large city, I have to schlepp down there every few weeks..).
I can't do oats at all, whereas I can eat gluten sometimes and put up with the discomfort - same with dairy eg I can eat a bit of cheese and I have cow's milk in a cuppa sometimes, but I've given up buying cow's milk because even the smallest bottle goes off before I can get to it.

I drastically reduced dairy once I figured out it was triggering IBS attacks. Might have a bit of pizza or a cheese sandwich occasionally but that’s it. Since then I’ve only had two attacks in two years after thinking I could get away with more dairy than usual. Turns out I can’t.

I'm keen on the yoghurt because I've got my eye on the calcium - not only because of my age (mum had awful osteoporosis when she died) but I've also had chemo. Where else would I get the calcium?

@springy do you take calcium tablets?

Come to think of it, are there vitamins that people take in order to substitute the vitamins lost from no dairy?

If you are in the UK the gp "test" tends to be don't eat it and see if you feel better.
I don't replace it with vitamins. Never have. Gp said if eat an otherwise healthy diet you shouldn't need a supplement

I take vitamin d in the winter but that's it.