Just Found Out I Can't Have lactose...No More Dairy for Me !

I have a lot of problems with dairy. I would violently vomit dairy as a child. I don't drink milk, but I LOVE cheese. I can have cheese without complications, if I don't have it all the time. (That's hard for me!) I get terrible headaches with too much red meat, so I limit myself to a palm sized amount of ground beef a week...on tacos. I'm a Texan, the red meat thing hits me hard!! I am deathly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. My sister has celiac, and I have to be careful with gluten.

IN my experience, doctors have next to no experience with food allergies/intolerance's. Many think it's a myth, and they don't exist much. Elimination diets can help more then most doctors.

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, which is the sugar primarily found in milk and dairy products. Is that what you're asking? Because, yes, I'm lactose intolerant.

LACTAID Milk doesn't contain genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST), I don't know about the pills.

Welcome to the club! ...said rather dubiously :)

I discovered I was lactose intolerant in my early 20s. Some people do well with using the Lactase/Lactaid sort of pills/milk. I have had varied luck with those and twenty years later, just avoid most dairy, period. I have discovered, however, that I can have goat/sheep milk cheeses (in thoughtful moderation), cows Parmesan and feta-- in small servings--with no trouble. I have to be careful with butter, as a lot of restaurants use it for cooking (anything sauteed, now, I ask them to use olive oil or just avoid that dish entirely--Prawns Fra Diavolo is meant to be lavish with butter-- no point otherwise!).

I agree with avoidance/prevention. Kristen, sometime the lactaid/lactase pills simply didn't work and then, the consequences were dire. So if you do decide to use them, do it on nights when you are close to home. I had a bad experience on a date once (pizza-- that's right, loads of mozzarella) and those damn pills just didn't work... and I was at the guy's house when my body went into full rebellion mode. His roommate gave me an acupuncture treatment, but seriously- what an embarrassing nightmare! Now I just say "No thanks!" and order my pizza with no mozzarella-- the local pizza place knows my 'special slice' thank goodness!

(ps- I second the Tofutti Cuties and the coconut milk ice cream! And FWIW, yes, the docs aren't always 'prevention aware'. After my colonoscopy for suspected IBS, I asked the doctor what foods to avoid-- he replied I could 'eat what I liked'. I wanted to ask "are you nuts? That's what got me here!" A friend sent a Wall Street Journal online article to me with diet for IBS which has actually changed my life for the better. Sometimes, being well-read is more helpful than a medical degree!)

I quit eating dairy for health reasons, I'm not intolerant. Just to ease your pain-its really no big deal. Sure, I used to like to eat some cheese and yogurt sometimes, but meh. No biggy. In the grand scheme of life, I like being slim and energetic better. My ex used to love ice cream but it always made him into a mucus balls of suffering, so he quit eating ice cream. I haven't heard him complain. Try not to focus on the loss and how you could possibly still eat some dairy with pills and stuff...just find healthy yummy replacements for your favorite snacks. There are tons of top ten lists of vegetarian calcium sources too. You'll feel great and it won't be as hard as you think. And you're so right about the American medical field: Clueless about nutrition and prevention.

There are lactose pills available over the counter that you can take just before you eat foods with lactose in them. You don't have an enzyme that breaks it down right. I was the same way when I was younger - it's changed since I was pregnant but it's still kinda there. The pills work - they have the enzyme in them and it helps break down the lactose, so keep it in your purse and if you want to have an ice cream occasionally, then you can. I usually get the non-brand name.

Also, visit Webmd.com and type in lactose intolerance. It'll give you more info and some alternatives. There are cheeses that work, etc. And the tofutti ice cream sandwiches are GREAT because they aren't ice cream but they taste very good.

I would suggest that you try raw milk. The high heat used to pasteurize commercial milk changes the lactase (the enzyme inside milk that breaks down lactose) and prevents it from doing its job.

I was showing signs of being lactose intolerant, but now that we have our Jersey cows all my symptoms are gone. We also make Kiefer with the raw milk and it is amazing for digestive problems.

I would to give you some of ours to try, but Colorado is pretty far from you. 8-)

I would suggest you google raw milk and read about it. it is pretty interesting what you will find out about commercial milk too.

You can drink it raw or you can also lightly pasteurize it on your stove if you are concerned.

I also have to be careful of what I eat. I will not go on an RX ( other than my HRT) unless it is crucial to my well being.

I had a bout with gout of all things . I thought it was an old man disease. Nope... I'm a lot if Native American and it is norm there. I've found by eating cherries fresh when I find them it's great but I also drink cherry juice and eat cherry tablets from the health food dept.

You are so correct... So many things can be relieved by diet alone!!

I found out in my early 20's that all of a sudden I was lactose intolerant!I was so ill.

BUT I have discovered I can tolerate Nofat milk in small amounts.

Hard cheeses, low fat versions of dairy items.

IF I have real ice cream.. I can have a small portion.

Yogurt seems to be ok for me also.

You can test it and see how severe it is.

My hubby went through something similar. He complains all the time about how so many doctors overlook the simple and obvious. He started getting sever pain in his stomach near his groin. It was debilitating. We thought it was something to do with a recent vasectomy. They treated it like an infection. It never got better, so they did a CAT scan and diagnosed him with diverticulitis. We were then sent to a GI doc. Hubby kept insisting his pain didn't match the descriptions he was reading about in his research. The low fiber diets did nothing.Meds were not helpful. They did a colonoscopy and was told he was "riddled with infection". They wanted to remove part of his colon. There was no way he was going to let that happen. Went to get a second opinion. That doctor looked at the CAT scan results and video of the colonoscopy. "I don't see any infection or reason for surgery". He told us to do a food diary (explaining that intolerances will not show up on allergy testing). Did the diary and discovered hubby has developed a severe reaction to all diary (not just lactose). Went to diary free and he has been fine ever since. My hubby seems to react to casein and lactose. All diary gives him issue - so we have to watch lunch meats, french fries, everything. We have found lots of ways to replace the dairy. Our challenge comes in because he also wants to avoid soy...thank goodness for rice milk.

I do if I have too much lactose, but I can have some. I have totally switched to Rice Milk and try to avoid cheese, but I cheat now and again..... I suffer though! I do find I can cheat a little bit once in awhile. I get into trouble otherwise.

I became a Shaklee Distributor/User a couple of years ago and I drink the protein and meal shakes with rice milk and bananas. This has helped me immensely! You will find other foods you like. It's amazing what we can adjust too.

After I had my baby I was lactose intolerant for a few years. Even now I tend to avoid things high in milk fat, but I can tolerate 1% milk. And if we went to olive garden or somewhere I knew I was probably going to order something with cheese, I took a lactaid and didn't have any problems. Of course, I'm not militant about organic like some people are.

I can't drink milk, but I can eat cheese. I find that non-dairy milk shakes from McDonalds once in a while will cure my ice cream lust. It's not the same, but it cures the craving. I don't take medicine or take lactaid pills. I just avoid that which upsets my stomach or causes gastric distress.
My daughter likes silk - she has been lactose intolerant for many years. She can eat ice cream in small servings, but a real milk shake is out of the question.
Figure out what works for you.

Actually most adults in the world are unable to digest dairy. African, Asian, Indian, Native American... As children it is not usually a problem, but as they enter adulthood, the body starts to reject it.

However, people of European descent typically do not have a problem, as their ancestors possess a genetic mutation that prevents the body from rejecting it. Since many people in the US are descended from Europeans, it is a common drink here for adults as well.

This is well known by most doctors. However, to be able to drink & process milk & other dairy products well into adulthood before having problems is not as common, and probably is not something most doctors would think of, especially in this country.

For a doctor who trained in India, it is likely more prevalent to think of allergies & intolerance to milk for adults, which is probably why he was the first (only?) person to suggest it.

Lactaid (pill) is simply the hormone that many adutls stop producting; when taken while eating dairy, it allows the body to digest the lactose present. The Lactaid milk is produced by taking out the lactose that causes problems, allowing people to drink it without problem.

But, if you were able to digest dairy until recently, & assuming you are older than 20, it's hard to say if Lactaid pills will be effective, or if your intolerance is perhaps due to a different reason than no longer producing the hormone required to digest dairy.

A friend of mine has a son who is severely sensitive to dairy, to the point where he cannot eat things made with butter, or even be touched by someone who handled dairy products.

My personal instinct would be to do this sooner than later, as avoiding dairy for a lengthy period of time may make you more sensitive than you might otherwise be (thinking of someone who goes vegetarian for years & then decides to have a steak) but do check with a doctor you respect & are working with, as the opposite may happen, & more exposure could cause a continuation in your sensitivities.

Best of luck! T.

I can have everything but milk. So, we drink rice milk in our coffee and for cereal and stuff. I can eat cheese, yogurt and ice cream and have no trouble at all. So, don't rule everything out yet. Oh and if the only type of milk I have in the house is regular, I take a "Dairy Relief" tablet and all is well. It pays to have some of those on hand, just in case a cheesecake walks in the door. ;)

Try eating raw cheese and raw milk and see if that works. These raw dairy products contain both lactose and the enzyme lactase. Lactase gets killed off in normal pasteurizing processes. But many so-called lactose-intolerant folks can eat good quality raw cheese.

I am lactose intolerant and I could care less...I don't like milk, ice cream, etc. Hard cheese has no lactose...cheddar, etc...and doesn't bother me, although it can still be a source of constipation for some. I use LF milk on my cereal. I occasionally eat Greek yogurt because I love one certain flavor, and I suffer when I do.

My youngest is also lactose intolerant. She uses LF milk (rarely...doesn't like it) and eats LF yogurt. Again, not a huge issue. On the rare occasion someone is offering ice cream, milk chocolate, etc, I give her a chewable LacTaid.

Is it lactose or casein?