Lactose intolerance...

Today the GI dr told me all my symptoms might be due to lactose intolerance

For a week and a half i have to avoid ALL dairy products (eggs are not dairy) Even some of breads, cookies, etc containing dairy.

If my symptoms improve, it will conclude that i will have to go a dairy free diet which im very upset about! i love cheese.

I already had to eliminate a lot of foods due to acid reflux and how this?!! i hope lactose intolerance isnt the problem, i dont want to live myself reading labels. SOrry all, i just had to vent =(

Any ideas on what i can eat? Breads, cookies, snacks??

Thank you.

I am lactose intolerant, but I don't avoid ALL dairy. I just limit it. I don't have a problem with butter, but do react to hard cheeses. Soft cheeses and Activia brand yogurt seem OK, but not cottage cheese or narly all other brands of yogurt.

I think I am getting, maybe am, wheat intolerant. That happens to a lot of people as they get older. I feel sick if I eat two thin slices of bread in a day. Of course there are loads of additives in breads today. They seem never to spoil. I have yet to test with home-made bread.

I don't have an IgE-type reaction to lactose, just stomach upset, sometimes severe. But it's closely tied to the amount of lactose I consume. I've been keeping a food log for years, on the advice of my allergist, and this has helped me identify my trigger foods (for GERD and tachycardia).

I've also done "challenge testing" to figure out how much of some foods I can consume. But don't do this if you have a life-threatening reaction!!!! My allergist had me doing it because it takes a long time and my reactions are controllable.

Alcie

have you been checked for celiac sprue?

I was wondering whether I have irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance.. I used this video:
to try to set out what affected me and what didn't before i went to see my Doctor. I found it very helpful because the sypmtoms are similar between the two conditions! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V81uwYDa0Q

Post Edited (Colin4May) : 7/4/2011 5:05:25 AM (GMT-6)

I find there are a lot of products available that have the lactose removed. Arla lacto free allows me to have cheese and milk. Arla cheese is pretty mild so I mix it with a little Parmesan that is so mature and hard the lactose is practically non existent. Have tried the home made bread as most breads contain a product in the flour which is made of lactose(used as binding ingredient.) Home made bread, only use very good ingredients as cheap flour has lactose added to assist rising. I use pure Canadian if you can get it. A good yeast again without additives. They stick lactose(a sugar) in almost everything. Soda bread is sometimes a good alternative and when you have not got much time scone base for a quick pizza.

Enjoying cooking helps but when away from home, restaurant food is a nightmare. Now I ask the waiter to advise what does not contain milk products.

I have read that the low fat skimmed varieties of ice cream have more lactose than full cream.  I have been unable to find a full fat ice cream but have made it from double cream and fruit and sugar and was able to eat a little.  The ones from the shop have me in agony and having accident.  This lactose thing is very confusing as I can tolerate a little bit of cream but skimmed milk, why has it got more lactose.  What do they do to it. 

Lactose in sausages is frightening and I miss a good sausage.  Beefburgers too have it in the rusk and many manufacturers use lactose to bind them.   If Lactose was called lactulose maybe the manufacturers would understand what it does to many of us. Guess that lactulose must be the sugar lactose from milk.  Can remember it years ago, sweet sticky substance that got you running to the loo within an hour.

Then they all trick us and list it under numerous other names.  The only way to beat it is for us to cook our own everything from scratch and today that is not always possible.  But have a go and try to share recipes with other lactose free friends.

Cornish Ice cream is full cream.

I have been lactose intolerant for my whole life. Lactaid milk and lactaid caplets, all by the "Lactaid" brand @ http://www.lactaid.com/ are amazing. The number one thing to remember with lactose intolerance is to limit the amount of dairy you eat, even with taking lactaid caplets; this REALLY helps. You can eat normal things, and by simply cutting back on the amount of dairy you eat a day helps a LOT.

Hard cheeses are ok, such as mozerella, are ok for most lactose intolerant people. Dark chocolate, if it is real dark chocolate, has no dairy in it.

Basically there are foods you can eat that are ok, and you can still live a normal life. Yes, you will have to read labels on products when you eat them, but now companies list under all the nutrition facts if it contains milk. Also, almond milk is my newest discovery and it is amazing!

it saddens me when people who are lactose intolerant do not take advantage of things like lactaid brand products, so give them a try. and remember nothing works over night, this will take some time.


hope this helps

oh, and lactose is a sugar in milk, that is difficult to digest for some people. figured i'd share that. Other ingredients to look for that have/are lactose are whey, and sodium caseinate. (if i think of anymore i'll post them too)

Post Edited (DesignerGirl*) : 7/28/2011 11:14:31 PM (GMT-6)

I have no problem with the milk proteins - whey and casein. In fact, I supplement my diet with whey because I don't get enough protein. The mik sugar - lactose - gives me gas because I don't digest it, but my gut bacteria do.

If you don't have a "true allergy" sith throat closing and other serious symptoms, you can try a serving of lactose-free milk to see if you are sensitive to just lactose or also the proteins.