lactose intolerant

alereyes228

how do i know if i'm lactose intolerant? lately i've been having stomach discomfort after eating what i presume is dairy...although, could it be flour or gluten?

lt_mrcook

If you're not sure, then you should find out exactaly what you're eating first off.:sick: It might be none of the above. The best way to find out about an intollerance is with elimination. It's time consuming, and a pain in the ashes but it will direct you to what is bothering you. Google elimination diets and you should get something that will explain the details to you. You could also try taking digestive enzymes to help your body break down what you are eating. We over steralize and over cook all of our food so much that there are no natural enzymes left. Good luck either way.

P.S. This is how we found out our oldest daughter had a food allergy.

Dee678

A few years back, I thought I was lactose intolerant. When I eliminated dairy from my diet, I still had issues. FInally, I went to my doctor, who referred me right away to a gastroenterologist. Through a series of elimination (Gastroscopy, colonoscopy, blood tests, etc), they diagnosed me w/ IBS. WHich basically means, they don't know. They told me to increase fiber in my diet, but not what kind of fiber. I found helpforibs.com and it was a godsent for my ails. However, it is very important to find out exactly what is going on. many Gi issues have similar symptoms. Some are benign, others are life threatening.

I plan on having a new blood test for food allergies (it measure antibody response), to see if I can narrow it down even further!

Good luck!!!

raleigh

I am lactose intolerant, I have been since before i was 11 or 12. I got severe stomach cramps and other GI issues when I ate milk products. But, now whenever I am going to eat something with lactose, I take lactase enzymes and I pretty much am solved. But, sometimes for different foods I have to take 2 or 3, and when I don't take enough or when I get cocky and eat just a little something my stomach reminds me that yes, I still am lactose intolerant.

About a year ago I started to get more symptoms, even without lactose foods so I thought I was gluten intolerant or Celiac, so I got a blood panel to see if i was Celiac (I'm not).

I recommend starting out taking Lactase enzymes (found at any drugstore) with milk meals ( I have to take 2 or 3 for a glass of milk, for example) and seeing if you feel better. If not, maybe its time to look at your diet and some foods that seem to pop up when you have stomach aches.

I hope this was helpful!

kookla33

My daughter is lactose intolerant. We paid thousands of dollars in medical tests and took her to specialists before she finally took a simple test and we found out she was lactose intolerant. They had her drink some stuff that had lactose in it. When they called with the results they said her symptoms didn't show up until an hour and a half after having lactose! That's why we had such a hard time pinpointing what it was.

I am sooooo glad we figured out what was really going on! She had stomach pains, bloating and diahrrea regularly until she was ten. Poor kid. Now, she eats ice cream, and drinks milk all the time- but takes the lactase enzyme with anything that has dairy.
It's great because the stores have them individually wrapped so I can keep them in my purse and we always have them when we need them.

I would say to definitely get a test done to rule out lactose intolerance, and then you can get a blood test to check for gluten intolerance, etc.

Good luck!

Dee678

It's great because the stores have them individually wrapped so I can keep them in my purse and we always have them when we need them.

Target has their own brand that works just as well and are much less expensive! For me, it helped w/ the initial nausea that I would get, but then . . . the rest of the components of milk products kicked in and I was miserable . . .

Good luck & feel better!!!

FireMonkey

Check with your doctor. Like kookla33 said, there is a test for lactose intolerance. "Stomach discomfort" is a pretty vague symptom that can mean a lot of things. If you find out you really are lactose intolerant, there are lactase drops you can add to your milk (lactase being the enzyme that breaks down lactose, normally produced by your pancreas) and other dairy products that already include lactase. Plus there are other ways to get your calcium, but first of all get a check-up. It would be a shame to avoid healthy food when it could well be something else that's bothering you.