Can lactose intolerance come and go?

I've kind of wondered the same thing. I was allergic as a newborn to milk. Almost died. My mom put me on soy milk (this was back in 1955, when mothers didn't nurse their babies). I "outgrew" this milk allergy by age 3. But from age 3 until now, there have been times when having ice cream made me feel so ill and so incredibly sick. Then at other times if I eat a different brand of ice cream (with less fat) I did fine. Yogurt tends to make me feel ill too - just a nagging unwell, nauseous feeling. Until it goes thru my system and then I'm fine again. Now I take a probiotic, pill form and skip yogurt.

This past year I had a food sensitivity food panel test performed. I test extremely sensitive to dairy. I was just told to avoid it at all costs. Which brought me back to the dx my mother received when I was a newborn.

Once I eliminated dairy from my diet, I began to feel better in general. But when I indulge and enjoy a small amount of ice cream, I sometimes feel sick and then other times, I do okay.

Like you, it seems to come and go.

That said I do know one thing that will put me in bed, sick with cramps - a fried egg. And yet that is not dairy. And also I can enjoy a hard boiled egg but a fried egg makes me feel, very, very sick.

Food can be our friend or our enemy!

I agree with shawn12, Lactose intolerence is due to a deficiency or inappropriately working enzyme called Lactase. This is an inherited condition (Autosomal dominant) which means that 1 in 4 people have it! Why some experience more problems than others is intriging. Not sure anyone has the answer to that, but it is a reason why some people with chronic bowel conditions find benefit from a dairy free diet. Maybe the 'coming and going' is related to what you have been eating, but not a come and go problem!