Am I lactose intolerant?

[Lilybeto]

I have been to see my GP and have had blood tests and a stool sample to test for allergies. All the results came back clear.
The reason I had these tests was because I had been having severe diarrhea and stomach cramping. I found that this happened after I had eaten cheese. I stopped eating cheese and the cramping and diarrhea stopped. I was still eating small amounts of yogurt, cream and drinking small amounts of milk. Two weeks ago I had ice cream, which I haven't had for a few months. About an hour afterwards I got cramping in my stomach and then diarrhea. Milk, yogurt and cream all now give me a stomach ache and cramps but not diarrhea, however I only have these in really small quantities. My doctor says that she thinks that I am lactose intolerant. I'm not sure what to do. Should I cut out lactose completely? How do I go about this, as so many things have dairy in them, even bread! Can anyone with lactose intolerance experience help me please?

Sounds like it could be a lactose intolerance to me

My baby has a lactose intolerance and it is a nightmare feeding her as she can't have soya either.

M&S do a wheatgerm bread (small brown loaf) which is dairy & soya free so at least you can have bread!!

the gastroenterologist DD sees (she is 7 and dairy intolerant, dairy free for 3 yrs) says actual LACTOSE intolerance is VERY rare (ie intolerance to the SUGAR in milk). What most dairy intolerant people have is an intolerance or allergy to the PROTEINS in the milk. This sounds more like you, as there is very little LACTOSE left in cheese and yoghurt anyway, so it sounds like you have a problem with a protein. Also, the less you have the more you react, eg friends DS is on dairy free diet, if someone slips up and gives him something with a little bit of milk in such as a single biscuit containing whey powder, he will have diarrhoea. You need to be totally dairy free to give the gut time to heal, and try gradual reintroduction - it is a long slow process, unless you just want to stay dairy free for lilfe!

IMO GPs are very ill informed about food allergies and intolerances, if you are still getting symptoms associated with dairy, ask to be referred to a dietitian, they will give you a list of all the dairy derivatives to avoid, for a minimun of 6 months before gradually weaning yourself back on. A lot of the time these intolerances are temporary, caused by a stomach bug wiping out all the digestive enzymes you need to digest milk properly. Depending on what you substitute eg soya milk with added calcium, and what yr diet is like, they may also give calcium supplements to avoid osteoporosis

HTH.

Thanks for responding. This allergy stuff is quite confusing. I was reading through things on the internet and felt like I was in a science lesson.