lactose intolerance symptoms

[Hetty56]

I've recently been diagnosed with Lactose intolerance. I get all the expected symptoms - bloating, stomach cramps, nausea and sometimes headache. They come on really quickly if I eat even the tiniest bit of dairy (today I had a small spoon of Mayo on a salad and it was enough to get a reaction) and seem quite severe. What I didn't expect though was the fatigue I seek to get at the same time. It totally floors me. Is that a normal symptom or is it pure coincidence

[Hidden]

It gets me real bad and can go on for days, I feel severe pain and tiredness.

Sometimes a ginger tea can help ease it all.

[Hetty56 in reply to Hidden]

Do you eat any dairy at all or do you still get symptoms without eating or drinking any?

[Hidden in reply to Hetty56]

I eat lactose free dairy. No symptoms if I don't eat or drink any.

[Hetty56 in reply to Hidden]

Might try the ginger tea x

[Hidden in reply to Hetty56]

Its really good, hopefully it will help you.

[Purplewoman]

Mayo dosnt generally contain dairy? I get all these symptoms and I stay lacto and dairy and gf lol

[Carlettejaque in reply to Purplewoman]

You might have more than one intolerance. IBS and its accompanying intolerances and leaky gut is a real pain in the bum. I have 4 major ones. The top 3 are dairy, yeast and wheat. I am dairy, yeast, sunflower oil and Dextrose. If i eat anything with Dextrose in it , it causes my world to spin violently for days really, really bad, i cant get out of bed and have to literally crawl tl the bathroom it causes vomiting and diarrhrea that lasts a week. It really floors me! So other intolerances can be as bad as dairy.

[Hetty56 in reply to Carlettejaque]

Maybe I'll end up eliminating more from my diet eventually. Im sure the Mayo I had was dairy free but I reacted. One thing that concerns me is where to the vitamins I'll be losing. My GP suggested calcium supplements but I've often heard that supplements aren't very effective

[Carlettejaque in reply to Hetty56]

Calcium is good to have if you can't get it from dairy. I eat Farleys Rusks as a breakfast biscuit and as a snack biscuit. It contains vitamins and minerals as do a lot of other foods on the market. They are quite nice. Eggs are a good source of vitamins but only if you can eat them. They upset my stomach though. The only fruit I can tolerate is banana, kiwi and melon in moderation. Unfortunately, the kiwi is very acidic on the stomach and can cause indigestion and acid reflux. The low fodmap diet says you can eat strawberries but I can't. Do you follow the Fodmap diet? The trouble with IBS is its different for each individual sufferer what is right for one is wrong for another. It causes so many strange intolerances that you couldn't guess them. If you have multiple intolerances it makes things very difficult to find them out (some foods may not affect you for up to 3 days when they finally reach the decending colon). You can get tests done. I had the York Test done. But it's very expensive and I'm not entirely sure the tests are that accurate.

[Luisa22 in reply to Hetty56]

I would think that a good quality vitamin and mineral complex (A-Z) would do the trick. I always take one and it's done me no harm. But I don't know if there's lactose in the tablets. You see I don't appear to be lactose intolerant myself. You'd have to check the ingredients.

If you eat veggies and other foods okay, you would be surprised how much calcium you'll get. Pak Choy is VERY high in calcium. Either raw or steamed (steamed is easier on the gut I think)

Sardines...even white bread contains a medium amount of calcium, as does seed-grain bread, Walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, tinned salmon, spinach, broccoli, peas, dark chocolate (as I imagine you can't eat milk chocolate!), oranges, Mackerel (tinned or not) Crab (tinned or not)

So no dairy in all of thiose but a decent calcium intake if you can eat any of those foods. There will be others I haven't mentioned.

[Hetty56 in reply to Luisa22]

Thank you that sounds positive

[Meleber in reply to Hetty56]

"Im sure the Mayo I had was dairy free but I reacted."

Could be the egg white.

[Starseed67]

Perfectly normal you're not a baby calf 💜

[JimmyJackson]

Could I ask who /where you got the test that showed you are lactose intolerant. I am but only found out by accident but suspect I am intolerant to others but my local Drs cannot advise where I can get tested NHS or private I also have Non alcoholic liver cirrhosis RegardsJimmy Jackson

[Hidden in reply to JimmyJackson]

I thought your gp used to do the test, maybe they have stopped.

Nothing online you could check out?

[JimmyJackson in reply to Hidden]

Like many other things eg Dental/ earwax removal long gone from our NHS

[Hidden in reply to JimmyJackson]

Its not right.

Boots or some of the other chemist/pharmacy type places might have testing kits.

[Luisa22 in reply to JimmyJackson]

Dental has gone it seems, but maybe not earwax removal? I went to the doc with a blocked ear last year, and if it hadn't been for my history of dizzy spells after it, she would have syringed my ears there and then. But the place seemed quiet at the time and she was a nice doctor I think.

[JimmyJackson in reply to Luisa22]

Your lucky nothing available in Cornwall

[Hetty56 in reply to JimmyJackson]

My GP didn't offer a test. She just said to remove all dairy from my diet for 3 weeks and then introduce different foods gradually. I'm guessing therefore that I might be able to eat some foods or maybe it's just to find out if I'm intolerant. I'm a bit in the dark but I'll see what happens in 3 weeks

[Hidden in reply to Hetty56]

Let us know how you get on please...

[Noyfb in reply to Hetty56]

My dr told me the best way to check if it's lactose is take all dairy out of your diet for 30 days the 31st day drink a half of cup of milk. That's after I suspected it, they kept telling me it was ibs and acid reflex. Took dairy outta my diet and 0 stomach problems unless I eat dairy.

FYI lots of food contains milk that you would never suspect. Like McDonald's French fries! Any hostess foods! I look at every label and when I go out to eat I Google the dairy free items for that place!

[Michelle139]

Ice cream does that to me! Even vegan magnums. I’m completely lactose free now. I now use hellmans vegan mayo as I love mayo.

[Hidden in reply to Michelle139]

Hellmans vegan mayo is very nice.....

[Hetty56]

I've just discovered my lupus meds contain lactose too so that'll be interesting!

[Snoopydrop in reply to Hetty56]

I have never been tested for lactose intolerance but a nutritionist told me to cut out dairy. Felt so much better. I use oat milk but worried about trying any other dairy free products. What does everyone eat or drink dairy free? Any one found an ice cream? Manchego, feta and mozzarella also recommended by a nutritionist. Tasty and no ill effects, avoiding any cows milk cheeses. Please share if you have had any success with non dairy. Cheers

[bikerchic44 in reply to Snoopydrop]

Vegan ice cream is delicious

[Flyonawall]

I had numerous food intolerances for many years and the symptoms were primarily fatigue and brain fog,and tiredness, only occasionally did I get an upset digestive system. Read labels and trust your body.

Many foods are what I call cultural habits. There's plenty to eat,change habits.Learn to like different things.Tahini for example has very high calcium levels. Look at food analysis to see what they provide.Some greens can have a negative effect on calcium but provide other benefits.

Our culture has become heavily reliant on a small number of food groups and those ingredients have become so pervasive they become challenging to avoid.

[penelope2]

Hi Hetty. Firstly I suffered with ibs most of my adult life, also suffered with migraines and headaches. Now have non coeliac gluten sensitivity and probably gluten ataxia. And tests have shown that I am also dairy intolerant, which often goes with a gluten intolerance.I cannot be tested as I am not willing to start eating gluten again for further irreversible damage to my cerebellum.

All of this sounds very dramatic and it is.

Health professionals, doctors and neurologists failed to see any link to these conditions so I had to self-diagnosis to try and stabilise the ataxia.

An appointment with the leading Professor in this country agrees with me that gluten has probably caused ataxia. And often headaches and ibs are implicated with ataxia.

My advice is to keep asking lots of questions, query what doctors tell you. Be a nuisance if you have to. It might be worth going gluten free to see how you feel. Be proactive and research autoimmune and what inflammation can do to the body.

Sorry if all of this sounds a bit scary, chances are that you will be OK it's just that the NHS finds it almost impossible to think outside the box. We all know how slowly tests, and getting to see the right knowledgeable specialist can take. The human body is dynamic and one system will have an impact on another and another.

Please look after yourself. Good luck.

[Hetty56 in reply to penelope2]

Hi Penelope

Thank you for your reply. It sounds as if you've really been through the mill. Although you've been left with issues I hope your condition is now manageable

I'd self diagnosed when I went to my GP and she just agreed with me that it's purely a lactose intolerance and to remove dairy from my diet. No tests were offered (from what I w read that's normal) and not a great deal of discussion took place.

Since then I've had reactions to foods that appeared to be dairy free and I've discovered that I can't take lactose free products such as semi skimmed milk with lactase enzyme. I'll keep experimenting.

Questions I did want to ask her but wasn't able to are if this is related to an autoimmune condition I already have - lupus. I'll take your advice, monitor my food intake and keep pursuing my doctor for answers

Best wishes to you

Heather

[Noyfb]

What kinda mayo are you using!? Most mayo doesn't have lactose!

But yes I even get vertigo and the drs say that isn't a symptom but I only get it when I eat dairy.

Have you tried the lactaid pills!? They seem to constipate me and give me about the same symptoms , wondering if anyone has had any luck with them

[Hetty56 in reply to Noyfb]

Hellmans light has milk powder which seems to cause a reaction but ordinary Hellmans doesn't. I haven't looked at any others so far but I will when I run out. I tried the pills and they haven't helped so far but as I'm still at the early stages of cutting lactose out maybe it's a bit early to try.

[Noyfb in reply to Hetty56]

Yea the dr told me none for 30 days so you will know for certain! They have a test but it's only like 50% accurate.

[Hetty56 in reply to Noyfb]

So far it's made a difference although last night I had a reaction to a seafood pasta that had mayonnaise (dairy free). It's all a question of experimenting I guess