To ask about your dairy intolerance?

[FuckOffTom]

I’m sure I’ve been lactose intolerant for about 20 years now - switched to lactose free milk and all seemed fine.
Lately, I feel like I’ve noticed that all dairy is starting to affect me in one way or another. Is it common for it to get worse as you get older?

I had one sip of a hot chocolate to check if it had cooled down for my child and the next day I felt pretty rubbish. Same the day after eating a pasty that had white sauce in it.

Symptoms are cramping, bloating, loose movements, a lot of blood (although I have a chronic hemorrhoid that needs to be treated) but the worst symptom is the fatigue! It leaves me feeling so tired and like I have mild flu. Has anyone else experienced this with a food intolerance?

I did one of those intolerance tests a while back where you send off your hair and it said I had an a-lactalbumin intolerance which I gather is a milk protein but I’m not sure how much to trust those tests!

If you cut out dairy, how long until you started to feel better?

I was vegetarian heavily into dairy but had a lot of digestive issues such as on the loo several times a day . I was also getting odd symptoms such as an itchy nose and random adrenaline rushes . When I put two and two together and quit dairy the symptoms stopped within a few days

Thanks for the reply - I’ve read anxiety can also be a symptom and I have plenty of that!

I’m not officially lactose intolerant but find it makes me really sinus-y and reflux-y. Both of these things make me cough which was not good in the Covid years. Started in peri-menopause (I’m 50) and had never had any problems before!

My take on it is to limit it where I can but also accept that at certain points I take the hit. So on the daily I have lactose free milk in tea, lactose free cheese, coconut yoghurt, avoid creamy sauces etc. (other than tea I am not eating those things every single day, but you know what I mean.) I’m not a massive chocolate fan - more a crisp person - so that doesn’t bother me. This week I have been off work and enjoyed delicious cheese most days, and yesterday cracked open a chocolate orange with abandon.

For me it’s immediate cause/effect - eat the cheese, take the consequences, feel fine the next day. (But as I said, no official diagnosis or testing.)

I too used to sometimes treat myself to proper milk or cream and to hell with the consequences but this fatigue is awful!

I've recently tried lactase tablets and for me they work brilliantly for these moments!

Mine comes and goes. I can have for a year or so, it dies down for a few years, then comes back.

GP confirmed this can happen and sometimes triggered again by illness etc.

I get really itchy skin, hives, sore stomach, diarrhoea and lazy gut which leads to bloating.

Ive always had a mild intolerance but definitely worsened in peri menopause. My symptoms are mostly a hard to describe lethargic 'meh' kind of feeling and sinus issues, reflux in peri.

You soon get used to not having it. If I am accidentally given dairy now it tastes sour and sickly. I had also wanted to be vegan for ethical reasons but was in denial about the dairy because I loved it so much. I found reading about the cruel reality of dairy production genuinely made giving it up easier

I’ve been lactose intolerant for years but then was aware that there were other symptoms that had not been as obvious when I was eating full dairy. I’ve now been dairy free for about 2 years and do so much better. On the odd occasion I can even have full dairy and it not impact me but that’s when I keep it super rare.
I too have entered peri-menopause and now wonder if that’s what triggered my body to be dairy free instead of just lactose intolerant…

I get really bad diarrhoea. It’s gone from being a slight intolerance to really severe. I ate two chocolate truffles on Christmas Day and it floored me.

I have lactose intolerance. It started when I was a teenager and it appears to be getting worse as I get older. It does also seem to be effected by my stress levels, other illnesses and lack of sleep. When I'm going through a good week I can tolerate a small amount of butter or chocolate (never anything high in lactose like cream or ice cream). When I have a cold or am stressed any small amount of lactose makes me really unwell.

My symptoms are bloating, intense stomach cramps, urgency to use the loo, lack of energy, sometimes vomitting etc... I feel so much better when I don't have any dairy but it is difficult.

I had an amazing 9 or so months when I was pregnant and it completely went away - I even had an ice cream chocolate milkshake (something I've not been able to have since I was a kid) with no symptoms at all. Sadly as soon as baby arrived my symptoms came back twice as bad as they had been before I got pregnant 😞

@FuckOffTom can I please ask what sensitivity test you did?

I've been falling asleep every single evening at 830pm, unable to physically keep my eyes open and it's just occured to me it'll be the increased dairy I've had over the Christmas period. I never usually drink normal milk, and I've had milk, cream, cheese, chocolate, and it would have all built up. I had to give up dairy twice for my children (cmpa / breastfeeding) and that seems to have made my intolerance worse. It would be good to get a test

I went gluten free about 10 years ago but recently suspected that I’d now become dairy intolerant too, tried cutting it out for a month and had no really bad do’s but still don’t feel great and IBS is a constant issue just not quite as awful as with the dairy
I’ve just had blood test through gp to test for dairy, red meat and something else food wise - waiting for results
In the meantime if I need to I’m taking the lactase tablets

Anxiety, exhaustion, so bloated it feels like my stomach is going to burst, frequent & horrendous-smelling farts, diarrhoea, nausea and feeling weak. It’s coming up on 2 years since I quit dairy but I’m still learning and sometimes will accidentally eat something containing dairy and my flare-ups can last weeks. The last flare-up lasted a full month.

I do know there are much worse things at sea, but I’ve struggled to adjust, I’m sad I can’t enjoy the food I used to, and frustrated that it takes up so much of my head space. I’ve never been allergic or intolerant to anything before, and I have no idea why this all started.

My DD has a dairy allergy not intolerance. She has no bowel issues but UTI symptoms, body aches, tummy aches and you can see it in her face if she has had it. Fatigue and anxiety, tearfulness too

She has been had twice over Christmas sadly. Makes me realise how good her school is.