Lactose Intolerance

D

dogs2birds

Cathlete
Does anyone suffer from lactose intolerance? If so, what kind of symptoms do/did you have? Do you like soy milk? What kind is the best? I haven't had it for years. I LOVE LOVE LOVE milk and wonder how I'll live without it, if this turns out to be what's affecting my stomach. I just love a tall, cold glass of milk with evertying - even pizza. I eat cottage cheese and yogurt for some of my meals during the week. What on earth am I going to replace with all that dairy? I also like string cheese and apples. Am I doomed???

Thanks!

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
Were you diagnosed by a doctor? I have not been diagnosed but by deduction I realized that much of dairy REALLY upsets my stomach big time. Milk, and especially any soft serve dairy leaves me doubled over in pain, yet I can tolerate yogurt/cottage cheese just fine. Not sure how that figures out but whatever...I used to get Starbucks drinks like lattes and cappucinos but cannot; I realized they were why I was getting bad stomach cramps. Soy milk did the same thing to me oddly enough and it tasted sooo good.

I haven't tried any of the lactose pills or lactaid milk or any of that, I just live without it; use Coffeemate in my coffee at home and don't have soft serve frozen yogurt or ice cream. Once in a while a few bites of regular hard IC on a dessert doesn't hurt me as much...

K
 
This is usually not something diagnosed with by a doctor. It's a process of elimination a lot of times. I found out in college that I was lactose intolerant. I do drink soy milk, my DH does as well and our favorite is 8th Continent Vanilla flavor.
Milk is the usually culprit, processed milk like yogurt, cottage cheese and hard cheeses (parmesean) have a low occurance of "bothering" me because they have low levels of lactase (milk enzyme). Ice cream and milk have to be taken with the lactaid supplement for me to tolerate them.
My symptoms, horrible lower abdominal pain (feels like my intestines are being ripped out, literally), bloating and bad gas.
HTH
 
K - no, I haven't been diagnosed by a doctor. I figured I'd rather try the process of elimination and see if that helps. So soy bothers you too? That's interesting. I think a food log will help me to see what the triggers are. I hope anyway.

Amy - thanks for the tips. So maybe yogurt and cottage cheese can stay. :9 Cutting out ALL dairy seems so difficult, as I sit here preparing my grocery list. But maybe I should try and then add things in slowly. Or maybe just cut out milk for now. What to do, what to do. :) I guess I'll decide once I get to the store.

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
Suz, my DH has been lactose intolerant for 20 years. He drinks lactose-free milk, such as Lactaid or Lacteeze. He can have regular milk, or pizza, or cheese, as long as he takes Lactaid tablets with them. Before he was diagnosed he had terrible gas, bloating and diarrhea -- he virtually never gets those now (just when he gets careless). I think those Lactaid tablets are a miracle.
 
Thanks Stebby! I've been almost 2 days without dairy and actually my stomach has felt pretty darn good this afternoon and evening - I hear it can take up to 3 days to clear your system. If this is the cause of my stomach issues, I wish I would have thought of it years ago. In high school my mom took me to the ER one night b/c I'd had a stomach ache for days and I couldn't sleep (I got them all the time). The doctor said it was one of the worst cases (don't they always say that?) of "gastritis" that he had seen. So he told me to stay away from milk b/c of the acid, caffeine, nicotine, chocolate - mostly stuff for ulcers maybe? And that was that. About 25 years ago. I kind of just learned to live with it I guess. I suppose I should have pursued it. I think I'll check into those Lactaid tablets if this is where I end up. Does he just do that once in awhile?

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
I have suffered from this for about 15 years. The best thing I have done is purchased dairy care (www.dairycare.com). It has active enzymes similiar to yogurt. You take 1-2 a day and you don't have to think about remembering to take a Lactaid pill before you eat something.

I use lactose free milk or Silk soy milk for everything. My DH doesn't even mind. I still eat yogurt, cottage cheese, and harder cheeses. Ice cream on occasion. Of course if I eat too much I might have a stomach ache. I also suffer from IBS so it's hard to pin point what is the culprit sometimes!

I hope you find something that works for you!

Jeanette
 
Thanks Jeanette!

I didn't even realize they had lactose free milk until yesterday. I think I like it a little better than soy. It reminds me of the milk after you finish cereal - a little sweet. I got the fat free one. It's a little more expensive than regular skim milk, but if it does the trick it's worth it.

I'll check out that dairy care. Sounds interesting. That way I guess you can live a little more free. :)

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
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