Can lupus cause lactose intolerance?

[Sandy1212]

Hi all!

Pre-diagnosis, i have never had any issue with any dairy products whatsoever.

Almost two years in however, i have noticed that when I have full fat milk in cereal/tea regularly I have lactose intolerance symptoms.

I know there’s varying degrees of lactose intolerance, it seems that semi-skimmed is fine (i am going to test it again) and if i have full fat milk in like pancakes or something it’s cool.

Or is this not lactose intolerance at all? Maybe an intolerance to something else in full fat milk?

But yeah, can lupus cause an intolerance to things?

[Spanielmadlady]

Hello.lupus can cause digestive issues.i now have a degree of irritable bowel which I've never had before becoming Ill. I'm now prescribed mebeverine and slowly figuring out my triggers x

[Sandy1212 in reply to Spanielmadlady]

Hi thanks for posting! I hope you find out your triggers soon x

[Spanielmadlady in reply to Sandy1212]

Thank you.one is spice I suspect chilli.i hope you get some answers and relief soon xx

[PMRpro]

Intolerances with lupus yes - but I can't see how yours can be lactose intolerance if semi-skimmed is OK because the lactose is milk sugar and present in milk whatever fat has been left in.

[Sandy1212 in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for letting me know, yeah i found it quite odd myself. I am going to look into it and see if i can find an explanation

[Apricot100]

Hi Sandy

I have lupus and a number of years pre diagnosis, following an operation, use of anaesthesia and shed loads of antibiotics (common triggers for intolerance apparently), I can't tolerate full fat or semi milk. I can't take cream, yogurt or ice cream either. I can however eat hard cheeses and greek yogurt but still call it a dairy intolerance - I just assume it's something to do with how the dairy is treated in different products and how I can then break it down. Hope you find some relief x

[heatherevans28]

I am lactose intolerant but it seems to go through phases of severity (often in the year after a severe infection or virus - generally worsened by immunosuppressants). I had it as a baby following a serious bout of gastroenteritis, but grew out of it. 23 years later, it re-emerged following an infection. Lasted about a year and then recovered to a manageable level. This year it has again re-emerged with severe symptoms following some nasty kidney infections.

During these times I cannot eat any lactose without feeling the repercussions. That being said, inbetween times I still get symptoms if I have something with a lot of lactose (think macaroni cheese etc). I have been told that this is a very common pattern and some people only get intolerance while they recover from an infection. I'm not sure if this applies to you but thought it was worth explaining.

I am also mildly intolerant to chilli and any spicy foods, which giveS me nausea and discomfort. This has only happened since starting medication for lupus but its been over 6 years now and it persists.

In your case it really is worth keeping a food and symptom diary to see if there are any other correlations. Being able to have skimmed milk and full fat in pancakes would suggest it is not lactose. It may however be dairy or something more specific. I hope you work it out x

[Sandy1212 in reply to heatherevans28]

Yeah i do also notice that mine varies in severity! Ah yes maybe something else in dairy then. Thanks i will keep a diary and see if i can find a link! X

[Becky1995]

Last time I saw my specialist I told them that I had suddenly developed a lot of intolerances today certain foods they just said it was unrelated. I didn’t agree as it only started after taking Hydroxychloroquine. After a lot of late joint anger google searching 😂 I found that some people were developing intolerances from the make of Hydroxychloroquine. Once I changed the make, all of my intolerance have completely eased and gone! Might be worth a look! It literally changed my life from not being able to eat barely anything to being back to normal! Turns out the different fillers in the tablets that different brands use can make a huge difference! X

[Sandy1212 in reply to Becky1995]

Yeah i find drs know different symptoms or have never heard of it being a cause. Once I literally just read the pamphlet that you get with all medication and they went ‘oh’ lol but i guess we can’t expect them to know EVERY symptom. But thank you i will have a little google search and see! Xx