As I posted before I stopped eating meat, about a month ago. I began having increased intestinal issues (I had been having some prior to cutting out meat but it seems to be getting worse). At first I attributed it to the increase in vegetables, fruits, high-fiber foods, etc. Last night I had a realization that it may be lactose. I have kept dairy in my diet and I think I've increased my use of things like low-fat cheeses, sour cream, etc. since cutting out meat. I had noticed whenever I ate ice cream(which has been rare) I would experience cramping, bloating, and well let's just say other problems but I will not go into detail. I thought it was the sugar because I had pretty much cut out as much sugar as I could from my diet and thought having something high in sugar was wreaking havoc on my stomach. Well I realized this has been ongoing now for a few weeks and I notice when I eat cheeses, or creams, or other dairy products my stomach is a mess. I am going to try 10 days with no dairy and see if things change.

Anyone else have this problem? And I did not realize you could develop lactose intolerance, I always thought it was something you had from birth.


Jill

I have also considered it could be my gall bladder because I do get occasional discomfort right rib cage area.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jillybean,

I also had gall bladder disease. For quite awhile I thought it was that my lactose intolerance had gotten ghd hair straightenerreally bad, but it wasn't that.Let me put it this way, the lactose intolerance is uncomfortable,ghd straightener but bearable. The gall bladder disease, particulary when it was bad, was REALLY, REALLY bad. It was painful and excrutiating. I think it went on for years before I got to that point though.ghd I don't think it starts out as painful as it ends up being.

Okay I think I had a virus! I was going to do an elimination diet but everything has gotten better. My sister was picking up a prescription and was chatting w/the pharmacist. He said there was a stomach bug thing going around and some people were experiencing "intestinal issues" for up to a month! I'm hoping that's all it was.

Jill

Hey Jill,
I am like Dawn. It took me 18 years to figure out that I was lactose intolerant. I had stomach aches every morning and every evening growing up. I thought it was toothpaste that was bothering me because that was the only thing that I did the same in the morning and the evening. When I got to college and stopped eating cereal with milk for breakfast every morning and a bowl of ice cream every night, the stomach aches went away.
Now I use the lactose free milk. I am not a big milk fan anyway, but it's good for cooking and cereal. I do alright with processed dairy products like cheese and yogurt, but I try not to eat a lot of them at a time.

Allergies and Intolerances to food pop up spontaneously in people for no apparent reason. So I think that it is quite possible that you have become lactose intolerant. Your symptoms seem in line with mine. I haven't heard of sugar having that same effect.

The lactaid pills work fairly well for me, although I usually forget to bring them with me if I am going out to eat.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to cut out dairy for a while and see if it helps. Once you have done that, you might try reintroducing products one at a time to see if they are all triggers or just some of them are.

i have never been diagnosed as lactose intolerant, but have had similar experiences as you all. i was raised on good ole fashioned chinese food. if you look at chinese cooking, you do not see any milk in the recipes. no cheese either. as a kid, i did eat tofu almost every week, which i now know to be a great source of calcium. my own theory is that my body is not made for milk products--probably genetic, ethnic, whatever.

becoming older and independent, i started trying to eat cereal with milk, more cheese , etc. i never quite felt "right" when i did. i do fine with yogurt, though. ice cream bloats me up. (I also find that bloating is connected with feeling grumpy and depressed --at least with ME) right now, i make my yogurt smoothies with soy milk. i drink coffee with soy milk.i melt soy cheese on my toast. i find i just digest food better when i limit milk products.

I am lactose intolerant. I think I have been my whole life, but didn't realize it until I was an adult. I never liked to drink milk as a kid and I think I just couldn't explain that it made me feel bad. I just knew I didn't like it.

I can tolerate small quantities of dairy and cheese doesn't bother me. Most of the time yogurt doesn't, but there are types that do.

I also had gall bladder disease. For quite awhile I thought it was that my lactose intolerance had gotten really bad, but it wasn't that.

Let me put it this way, the lactose intolerance is uncomfortable, but bearable. The gall bladder disease, particulary when it was bad, was REALLY, REALLY bad. It was painful and excrutiating. I think it went on for years before I got to that point though. I don't think it starts out as painful as it ends up being.

Dawn

Jill,

Here, milk is drunk by children and adults alike (not like some countries where milk is considered only necessary for babies and children), and lactose intolerance is *very* common. Hence, there are lots of reduced-lactose and lactose-free dairy products.

I have lactose intolerance and get by tolerably well on low-lactose dairy products. Ice cream, regular cream and regular milk are off limits; fermented dairy and hard cheeses are okay. I was diagnosed as an adult, but looking back, I must have been sensitive to milk even as a child (only they didn't have all those special products then and the whole syndrome probably hadn't even been discovered yet).

I say take a test. Then eliminate dairy for a while and see what happens.

Gall bladder discomfort often comes from fatty foods. You might want to look into that too.

Sheltie - good link!

Here is a Mayo Clinic article on lactose intolerance.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/heal...DS00530/METHOD=print