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Original poster

I think I am lactose intolerant!

23 replies

colditz · 05/08/2006 10:55

I was looking on Google for possible causes of my persistant diarrhoea, and I can tick every single box for mild intolerance. So I drank a pint of milk before bed and was up all night with stomach ache and diarrhoea!

So what's the next step? Do I need to tell the doctor? Get tested? get the kids tested?

OP posts:
Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 11:16

1

OP posts:
liquidclocks · 05/08/2006 11:25

Yep, next move is GP. Ideally you want a proper test to make sure before yo change your diet as there's a lot of foods affected by lactose intolerance and you'll need to see a dietician if you are so you know how to keep a healthy diet.

Don't worry about the kids until you're sure unless they're showing signs of an allergy. These things don't always get passed on.

Poor you, must have been a horrid night - hope you feel better soon.

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 11:29

No it was my own fault for drinking the milk but I just had to know!

OP posts:
liquidclocks · 05/08/2006 11:36

Don't worry, you're not the only one to try it. After DS1 I suspected i'd become intolerent to uncooked egg so I ate 3 boiled eggs with runny yolks and soldiers...ahh, they lovely - BUT I had the worst night ever afterwards

NotQuiteCockney · 05/08/2006 11:55

Lactose intolerance isn't an allergy, it's an intolerance (an inability to digest lactose, essentially).

You don't have to totally cut out lactose to reduce your symptoms, but cutting down on milk will help. (Butter has very little lactose, ditto hard cheeses.)

If your kids have it, from what I know, lactose intolerance tends to kick in around 7, anyway.

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 11:58

If I do have it, i think I only slightly have it, if that is possible. I am fine with milk in tea, and used to be fine drinking milk, but obviously now I am not.

I am cutting all dairy for a few days to see if it has any effect on the diarrhoea, and I might try to drop gluten as well.

Something is not right with my digestion, and never has been, but it seems to be getting worse by the day

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bettythebuilder · 05/08/2006 12:22

HI colditz, I'm lactose intolerant, was diagnosed when the GP refered me for a hydrogen breath test. (You drink a glass of lactose and breath into a tube every 15 mins. This registers the hydrogen in your breath. If you can't digest lactose you have a high level of hydrogen.)
My intolerance is a bit 'delayed' ie the first few results were normal, and after a couple of hours the nurse was about to send me home, when the hydrogen levels started to rise ( and then hit the roof!)
I've cut out all dairy and lactose, and am tons better. If I inadvertently have any, I have the same symptoms as you.
Dd (who is 3.7) has no intolerance, and I hope it stays that way!
I was also refered to a dietician, who was useless - he didn't seem to know anything, and just gave me a 1 page leaflet with recipes on where milk was substituted with soya milk!

FanjoFanjoWhosGotTheFanjo · 05/08/2006 12:58

colditz, it is a matter of degree.

I'm not a fan of cutting out all dairy, as from what I've read (and what friends have experienced) that can make the problem worse not better - your body stops making the enzyme to digest lactose entirely. I find it's best to have a moderate amount of dairy in the diet, and be aware of your dairy intake if you're having other gut issues.

Straight milk is the worst for lactose content. Cheeses are ok, the harder the better. Milk with other things (e.g. cereal) is better than straight milk.

psychomum5 · 05/08/2006 13:09

I have three kiddies with lactose intolerance.

for them, anyhting with a high milk content is a no no, but some things only cause probs with 'build up'.

for them they have....

soya milk for drinking

soya ice cream...the swedish glace one (I buy it in tesco, but I think it is avaliable most places). it is very creamy and I even prefer it to 'normal' ice cream.

soya yoghurts...provamol are the best and nicest. you can have a dessert form found in the free from aisle or there is a fresh yoghurt in the chilled section.

mine can tolerate tho......

chocolate

milk in mashed potato

milk in a drink (they like hot chocolate but soya in hot drinks tends to curdle)

cheese pizza

and as long as they don't have too many, they can also eat fromage frais.

butter on toast/in sandwiches

butter/milk/dairy in biscuits/cakes/pastry goods

they can and do suffer from build up tho at least once a month (two months in the girls cases....tis DS2 who is the worst effected now!), and so they then have to avoid any and all forms of milk for about a week.

HTH...and good luck. it isn't as bad as it sounds, and very easy once in the swing of it all. Ice cream avoidance is the hardest now for mine in the summer, but it is easily remedied with a bit of afore thought.

strongmints · 05/08/2006 13:10

colditz dd is lactose intolerant and at least two of the others definately have many of the same symptoms - you can get lactose free milk - my children all have times when they seem more and less able to deaal with dairy. They manage their own dairy intake - one of mine really does not like dairy stuff and the pediatrician sys its prob. because his body can't deal with it (*although he has never been formally diagnosed)

I was told that unlike some other digestive intolerances lactose intolerance will not do long term damage to your gut - it is not degenerative. Rather that the dairy stuff hurries through and you do not absorb the goodness from it. Initially we were also told that for most people a period of abstinence allows the gut to recover and and then you are back to normal - a stomach bug can cause the problem and your body needs to have a chance to build up the enzyme that breaks down the lactose (not the case for my children).

Think about a calcium supplement as you may not get enough

psychomum5 · 05/08/2006 13:12

oooh....they can't have normal milk in cereal. for them it will cause a reaction....but as NQC has said, it is a matter of degree's for everyone. what suits some, won't suit others. Plus, for you, for now you may need to avoid every form of milk for a month or so just to clear you system, and then start a little at a time to see how much you can take before your symptems start bothering again.

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 13:14

There are only some things I like anyway, tbh. I don't like chocolate, yoghurt, fromage frais or ice cream!!

It is straight milk I will miss. I will try the lactose reduced milk, does it taste the same?

Thanks for all your advice here!

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psychomum5 · 05/08/2006 13:17

well mine have soya and they can't stand the taste of normal milk, but I love milk and would certainly taste the difference.

am guessing tho that you will get used to it, or maybe you could try the vanilla flavoured rice milk. I had to avoid during pregnancy because of the risks of passing it on (not that it comes from me.....came from DH as his mother is the one with the milk issue!!!!), and I found I could only tolerate it in a flavoured form.

not that it helped all my kiddies as you can see.....3 of the 5 still have issues!!![resigned to it now emoticon]

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 13:18

Don't really like cereal either

If you saw the size of me you would never believe how fussy I am! LOL

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psychomum5 · 05/08/2006 13:24

well you may get some other joy from this then. apparently intolerances can cause wieght gain too as you body tries to deal with the 'invader'.

I know I have some form of food allergy (keep breaking out in hives), but since I have been avoiding foods in general (am having food issues since the car accident....can't eat for some reason but that is another story), I have stopped having reactions and have lost weight, and lost the bloatedness too wich in fact was the real issue for me.

not explained well there I don't think, sorry, but I am trying to say that intolerances can and do cause bloating and weight gain, so avoiding the food trigger can help stop the bloating and weight gain (IYGWIM??.

bettythebuilder · 05/08/2006 13:36

Yes, I used to bloat horribly, and had a wardrobe of clothes in 3 different sizes. I only get the bloating now if I inadvertently have lactose.
I think the hydrogen breath test can also measure the severity of intolerance. The consultant told me to cut out all lactose.
As psychomum says, there are lots of dairy free products around now.

SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 05/08/2006 13:49

I am lactose intol, as are two of my children (DS2 gor away with it entirely. They were dx'd quickly, as wouldn't grow, even on BF as I wasn't dx'd and was taking dairy.

I can have a certain amount, as can the biys now. That's a little in tea or for them 1 yoghurt a day byut I eliminated the tea for a bit and am a lot healthier now.

Fromage frais is a disaster for me, a total no-no, as is cheese but a little in baked goods has no effect. Also, if I have been good for a week I cn risk a cream cake! It certainly ahs a cumulative effect. being under the weather makes it worse too.

The nicest soya I found is tesco Own brand, but only the one from the fridge. Otherwise only the flavoured alpro ones for me I am afraid. Ds3 not as bad as he has had enfamil (a lactose free formula suitable for children AND adults if you can get it- it's yum) from birth.
he gets it on prescription because he is underweight.

I started off buying lots in Holland and Barratt but rarely go there as my knowledge increased. Saversd ranges are excellent- milok is an additive that costs more than water after all LOL!

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 14:16

Well I have bought a litre of tesco UHT 'soya drink'

It was 67p, it's ok, actually! I won't be drinking it plain though, just in tea. will stick to toast for breakfast.

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strongmints · 05/08/2006 14:27

don't know if ita available in the uk but we get lactaid - it comes in different degrees of lactose reducedness - we get 100% - its slightly sweeter than regular milk. We don't do soya milt - foa a while we used oatly and rice dream - dd is also sucrose intol.(bloody nightmare)

Psychomum your children sound v similar to mine in terms of what they can and cannot tolerate. my children eat pizza - but its a race for the toilet generally before teh en d of the meal - what amazes me is that it seems to take the same amount of time to go through all their systems.I read your thread about ds2 and his problems - that sounds very hard.

Original poster
colditz · 05/08/2006 20:26

Just been to a barbeque - ended up eating a lot of meat end salad! I can see why a lactose free diet would make you lose weight!

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SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 06/08/2006 08:47

Ah that doesn't last LOL! You soon end up on crisps, dark chocolate (check the labels- some do have choc, Tesco Savers didn't used to though and is scarily nice)........

bettythebuilder · 06/08/2006 10:09

And some Green and Blacks Dark Choccy is suitable for vegans...
And dark chocolate Brazils from woolies...
And M&S do some dark choccy mint crisps that are ok..
Sainsburys own brand Jaffa cakes seem ok...

SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 06/08/2006 10:41

And you can even get chocolate copated rice cakes in the free from rqange in Sainsburys.

hee hee hee

(Alpro soya yoghurts are also actually nicer than their dairy rich couterparts too IMO)

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