Anyone know anything about Lactose Intolerance?

[Syd35]

Been having tummy issues for nearly a year now. Been back and forth to GP, had various tests etc. Now booked in for sigmoidoscopy in 3 weeks time.

Meanwhile I have just been on holiday and whilst there didn't consume any milk at all and had very little dairy. I felt so much better and realised that my symptoms were absent, no bloating and no constipation.

So back to the UK and resumed having my cereal with milk the past 2 days and the bloating and constipation have come back. Have done a Google search on lactose intolerance and wondering if this is what I have.

I would rather avoid the sigmoidoscopy if possible - could drinking milk be causing my symptoms, what can I do to confirm this?

If you have the sigmoidoscopy, you will know what's going on in there and hopefully rule out anything sinister.

If taking dairy out of your diet relieves your symptoms and then they come back when you put it in again, then it looks like there may be a link. Knock out the dairy now you're back from holiday and see what happens.

It's worth asking your doc about this, but he may be sceptical, but if cutting out dairy makes you feel better then there's probably no reason why you shouldn't do it.

I think there is a test, but it's likely to be expensive and doc may be reluctant.

If it were me I would go by how I feel.

D

Thanks Rockin - you have made me think I really should just go through with the procedure. Guess I'm secretly looking for a reason to back out as I feel a bit of a wimp about the whole thing

Try Lactofree milk (sold in big supermarkets) - no noticeable taste difference. They also do yogurts and cheese.

In America and Australia they have Lactoaid tablets to take with a meal, but have never been able to find anything similar over here.

Thanks for the tip lady, noticed that when I was looking things up the other day and sounds worth a try.

I would personally go for the investigative procedure to rule out anything sinister. However, if avoiding lactose makes you feel better then you have nothing to lose by eliminating it from your diet.

I have an extensive experience of lactose intolerance and the diet - years of gastro irritation have lead me to try every dietary exclusion.

It is very extensive and there is hidden lactose in foods you never thought there would be. If you want advice PM me and I'll give you links and articles etcetera.