Talking Allergies

Does anyone know if the symptoms of lactose intolerance can be ONLY excessive gas?

Yeah, I think so. Any abnormal digestive symptoms can be a sign of intolerance. While reading about milk allergy lately I read that as much as 50% of the population might have some form of lactose intolerance. Basically humans were never intended to consume the milk of other mammals and do not possess the ability to properly to digest it. I do not consider myself to have lactose intolerance or milk allergy. However, I quit drinking milk and eating ALL milk ingredients (basically so I was free to kiss and show affection to my youngest). Funny thing is, I feel great. Once, about a year ago I had milk and I felt ill afterwards.

_________________
DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

everyone reacts to milk differently so it's very possible that it's the start to your lactose intollerance mine started with sore stomachs after eating certian dairy products, and has developed into my not eating anything with milk

saskmom- i know what you mean about feeling better after cutting out dairy, i've not had a severe asthma attack, i'm not getting sick as much, and i've dropped 35lbs (tho i'm doing other things to stay healthy as well) dairy has a lot vitamins that are good for you, but if you know where and how to get those vitamins from other places you're good to go!

My PA daughter has been having some severe gas lately (it's not botheing her) but I just can't believe that an 8 year old can produce that much gas!! I was beginning to think that it's milk. I think I will try an eliminating milk from her diet for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. Isn't lactose in a lot of things though...not just milk?

Hi laurensmom,

My youngest and I have lactose intolerance. It took me a long time to realize what I had. I would have nausea, excessive gas, occasional diarrhea and sometimes wicked stomach aches that wouldn't go away with Tums or Pepto-Bismol, etc. I first went to my dr. with this when I had lower abomen symptoms. She concluded I had irritable bowel syndrome. Some years later, when I also had the nausea and the stomach aches, I went to my new family dr. (the other one had retired) and she sent me for an upper G.I. series. Nothing.

I finally put 2 and 2 together after eating a small ice cream cone at Dairy Queen and within 1/2 hour I was in pain. I then eliminated milk and dairy products from my diet. Low and behold, I felt better, no more nausea and gas and I have never had a stomach ache since. So 2 doctors could not diagnose it. I went back to my family doctor with my findings and said that it probably was lactose intolerance, but they don't test for it anymore as it is considered a condition and not a disease. But do consult your doctor anyway to rule out anything else.

So now I don't drink any milk, I buy soy milk which I use in my cereal, but I don't like drinking it on its own. I buy the lactose free milk occasionally, but I find it spoils faster. I still have a bit of cheese and ice cream, it seems that a little quantity is okay, but milk itself is the worse. Yogurt is fine. I don't avoid it in commercially prepared foods like margarine, etc., as there is not that much lactose in most cases.

My daughter also had excessive gas and would often complain of a sore stomach. After I discovered my lactose intolerance, I thought that she could be as well, so we cut the milk and she also felt better. She doesn't mind the soy milk and will drink it straight. She sometimes put chocolate syrup in it. At least she gets her calcium that way.

So you might find that you don't need to eliminate all milk products, she might be able to tolerate a bit of cheese or ice cream. (Sometimes I can't resist having a bit of ice cream, even if I have to pay for it later!) Every person's level of tolereance is different.

Good luck! Let us know if it works.

_________________
15 year old - asthmatic, allergic to cats, dogs, horses, waiting to be "officially" diagnosed for anaphylaxis
12 year old - asthmatic, allergic to tree pollen and mold, OAS
Husband - Allergic to amoxycillin
Self - Allergic to housework only

yeah, lactose is in more then just milk, i know chocolate makes me insta-sick, everyone is different, and the sevarity can change over time, my family doctor is lactose intollorant himself so when i figured out that i was lactose intollorant he told me quiet a bit about it from his own experiences which was good, cause when i had first noticed it he the summer that he had some personal issues to attend to so i was going to the walk-in clinic and the doctor there was not helpful

the nice this about an intollorance is there are lots of different kinds of pills, because the intollerance comes from your body not being able to produce the enzymes, and many of them are chewable (which is nice if you're going to have something like ice cream or a glass of milk and you don't want to wash a pill down with that, and great for kids!) i personally used the lacteez pills because they were more economical the the lactaid pills (i could get 100 pills for 13 dollars as apposed to 18 for 10), and one of my friends swears by a store brand (wal-mart i believe) brand of enzymes that can be found in the herbal health section, but pretty much the medicinal ingrediants in all of them are the same my mom's a PSW who's taken a pharmacy tech course so when i'm looking to save some money i have her check boxes for me to make sure that i'm getting more or less the same thing buying the store brands!

A resource that may be of assistance to those wanting to learn more about lactose intolerance:

National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC). The NDDIC is a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/lactoseintolerance/index.htm

_________________
Lance Hill
Regional Food Liaison Officer
Health Canada

.The inability to digest or absorb lactose, a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products.
.A condition in which a person's small intestine doesn't produce enough lactase, an enzyme that digests a sugar found naturally in milk and other dairy products (lactose). Signs and symptoms of lactose intolerance include nausea, abdominal cramps, bloating, gas and diarrhea.
.the inability to digest milk products due to the lack of the ENZYME lactase, which breaks down milk sugar (lactose).
.nability to digest lactose, the sugar in milk. This condition occurs because the body does not produce the lactase enzyme.
.The inability to easily digest lactose. This may be inherited, or may occur after some types of surgery. Surgery-related lactose intolerance may go away over time. Many stores carry special milk products that do not contain lactose.
.The inability to digest lactose because of the failure of the small intestinal mucosal cells to produce lactase.
.a decrease or absence of lactase that results in an inability to digest lactose, the sugar found primarily in dairy products.
Caused when your intestines lack a certain enzyme, called lactase, needed to digest lactose, the sugar in milk and other dairy products. Within 30 minutes to two hours of eating these foods, you may suffer cramps, gas, bloating, and diarrhoea. Lactase tablets and drops can be used to treat the symptoms.
a person with lactose intolerance lacks an enzyme that is needed to digest milk sugar, which causes symptoms such as gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Lactose intolerance is not an allergic reaction, as it does not involve the immune system. lymphocyte - any one of a group of white blood cells of crucial importance to the adaptive part of the body's immune system, involved in fighting infection.
a common and harmless disorder producing abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea and gas after the ingestion of milk or milk products. This may need treatment with a milk-free diet.
A condition characterized by diarrhea, cramps, and other intestinal problems resulting from the ingestion of milk.
A condition that results from inability to digest lactose. Very common in non-european adults
congenital disorder consisting of an inability to digest milk and milk products; absence or deficiency of lactase results in an inability to hydrolyze lactose
Lactose intolerance is the condition (found in the majority of humans) in which lactase, an enzyme needed for proper metabolization of lactose (a constituent of milk and other dairy products), is not produced in adulthood. With lactose intolerance, the result of consuming lactose or a lactose-containing food is excess gas production and often diarrhea. ...
[Edited by moderator to remove link to website selling products]

Hi friend as per your article any food, which contain lactose, increase digest problem with gas farm. In milk, the quantity of lactose is so high. I notice that whenever I took it I was suffered by the similar kind digest problem you maintained in your article. As you think that, this is the main reason for my so-called problem. Please, will reply on it.

_________________
god is gr8

I've had lactose intolerance since the birth of my second child 11 years ago. It took a few months for me to figure it out -- I just didn't understand why I was having all these digestive problems. Then one day I had a fat-free milkshake and thought I was going to explode. I felt so ill. Finally I put 2 and 2 together and realized it was lactose.

I drink Lactaid milk and I take Lactaid caplets whenever I have anything with a lot of dairy in it. I can still eat ice cream and cheese and other dairy products, as long as I take some Lactaid pills. So fortunately it doesn't impact my life very much.

One thing I found out is that low-fat or fat-free dairy products are MUCH WORSE for lactose intolerance. I'm not sure why...maybe the fat helps slow down the digestion, so lack of the fat makes you have worse symptoms?

When dealing with lactose intolerance, you have to remember that you're not only intolerant to "straight dairy" but dairy derrivatives such as whey and casein. One person mentioned chocolate -- remember that milk chocolate does have milk in it! I wonder if you're sensitive to dark chocolate that doesn't have any milk products in it?

I got into a conversation with someone at the supermarket last year about lactose intolerance. He used to have it the same as me, but then it started getting worse for no reason. Now, not even Lactaid fixes the probelm for him. I didn't realize it could get worse, so I was glad he told me about that.

My husband had intestinal surgery 15 years ago and for almost a year afterward he was lactose intolerant. Fortunately it got better. The ability to digest lactose lies in the intestine. I suppose that his surgery must have disrupted something temporarily.

I believe that the reason non-fat milks produce more severe symptoms is that because they have less fat they have more of everything else, including lactose.
Here is an infortmative but rather lengthy article on lactose intolerance:
http://www.medicinenet.com/lactose_into ... rticle.htm

_________________
Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees