Problems with Dairy?

This may be the wrong place for this thread, so please move it to health issues, if you think it needs to go there. I'm just wondering how people know if they are lactose intolerant or have issues with dairy? I have been eating mostly a vegan style diet for a few weeks just for a change, but have had dairy on occasion for convenience, and it seems that I have some problems when I do - heartburn, indigestion, bloating and things tend to get a little blocked up for several days which causes stomach cramps.  I have always thought I had IBS, or that is what the GP said, but now I'm thinking this may have been the problem all along. When I don't eat it (I've even been using a whey-free margarine and soy milks / yogurts, etc.) I seem to not have these problems, so now I'm noticing the issues more, if that makes sense. I mean, I used to have these stomach problems all of the time and just had to deal with it, but now that I am avoiding dairy on some days, the issues come and go, and that's the only thing that has changed.

I don't really want to give up cheese and ice cream forever *gasp* so I'm just wondering what other people do? Is there something I can take to help me digest the dairy, if I do decide to have some? Should I just go back to the GP and mention this to get a test or something? (Not sure if they would bother with one, though, to be honest.) Shall I just avoid eating dairy as much as possible and just deal with the aftermath when I do cave in? Thanks for any advice!

Oh man Jewlz, not the dairy ;-)

I would do the testing part...Eat the way you are then have cheese do you get sick? ok next day take one of those pills (Lactaid) and then eat cheese - nothing then I would assume its the dairy.

It will be give and take away testing but I recommend getting some of the pills because if you are fine after taking those and eating a moderate amount of dairy then I would assume that is your culprit.

I would be careful about your assumptions though on self-testing.  For instance, many who are lactose intolerant can't have milk but are okay with cheese.  There are also big differences between things like lactose intolerance and milk allergies--although many lump them together.  I would keep talking to your doctor, but go to him armed with back-up.  If you are finding things that seem to reduce the trouble though--go for it!

oh yea Cadenza - I meant test as in with all dairy sorry if I didn't state that clearly.

This way when you go to the doctor you have information on exactly what you have done and how you reacted/felt - like a journal.

They might then send you for an allergy test.  At least you would be in tune with how certain dairy products made you feel ect..
 

Yeah, I guess I will just have to try testing it out and see how it goes. I've spoken to the GP many times about my issues, but they always just say IBS and give me the fibre drink stuff, which hasn't really helped me very much. I eat a healthy diet, or at least I think it is healthy  , including lots of the foods they said I should eat for the IBS, but still had problems. Then when I started the vegan style diet, things seemed to get better for a while. But now that I've had a bit of dairy again, things seemed to get bad again. But as my DH said, it could really be lots of different things, not necessarily dairy, so it's hard to tell, really. 

How long have you been doing the Vegan thing?  When you don't eat things like meat and dairy you can lose the ability to digest them properly as the little buggies in your guts that help break them down die off for want of nutrition. That's why they recommend reintroducing foods slowly when you go back to that sort of thing    Of course if it's a long-standing problem you could've succeeded in making it noticeable enough to pinpoint.

My experience with food intollerances, as opposed to allergies for which they can do a scratch test, is that the only thing for it is to give up a given food and see if there's an improvement - either by eliminating a suspect food or cutting back to a very restricted diet and slowly adding things back to see when the problems start up again.

I suspect there's a high correlation between diagnosed IBS and undiagnosed food intollerences, but it's not an opinion I can back up with anything scientific 

DS has had this IBS/dairy intolerance thing going on for a while. He's pretty much given up dairy (which was tough as he's a cheesehead!) This was self-diagnosed -- they did run some tests a while back which were inconclusive.
He does try a little bit of cheese from time to time but he knows it if he's had too much! He has almond milk sometimes -- says the choc. flavour is tolerable.

I think IBS is the catch-call for 'we don't really know what's bugging you so we'll call it this'.

The best way to check for intolerances and allergies is, as noriem says, go down to a super restricted diet (I think you can find it online) and slowly, slowly, slowly add foods back in. It's a giant PITA but that's the 'official' way to do it.

So many things can affect how your body reacts to food that I always get a little worried when someone (not you specifically, Jewlz!) suddenly decides they are 'allergic' or 'intollerant' to something. It's almost a fad and I'm glad you are approaching this with caution.

How long have you been doing the Vegan thing?  When you don't eat things like meat and dairy you can lose the ability to digest them properly as the little buggies in your guts that help break them down die off for want of nutrition. That's why they recommend reintroducing foods slowly when you go back to that sort of thing    Of course if it's a long-standing problem you could've succeeded in making it noticeable enough to pinpoint.

My experience with food intollerances, as opposed to allergies for which they can do a scratch test, is that the only thing for it is to give up a given food and see if there's an improvement - either by eliminating a suspect food or cutting back to a very restricted diet and slowly adding things back to see when the problems start up again.

I suspect there's a high correlation between diagnosed IBS and undiagnosed food intollerences, but it's not an opinion I can back up with anything scientific 

Well, I haven't really, I mean I sort of started vegetarian about 3 weeks ago or so, and then I cut back on dairy as well, just as a trial, to see if I might lose some weight.  But I only went about one week with no dairy at all. I don't know how anyone could be a vegan all the time, to be honest, it's pretty tough! But I do like a lot of the recipes and I'm finding it's a good way to get all the veggies in, along with good fats, beans and lentils, etc. So I don't think I made myself intolerant by avoiding it, as I haven't really avoided it for very long.

I think IBS is the catch-call for 'we don't really know what's bugging you so we'll call it this'.

The best way to check for intolerances and allergies is, as noriem says, go down to a super restricted diet (I think you can find it online) and slowly, slowly, slowly add foods back in. It's a giant PITA but that's the 'official' way to do it.

So many things can affect how your body reacts to food that I always get a little worried when someone (not you specifically, Jewlz!) suddenly decides they are 'allergic' or 'intollerant' to something. It's almost a fad and I'm glad you are approaching this with caution.

Well, I don't WANT to be intolerant or allergic to anything... especially cheese!    I'm not sure I could stick with a super restricted diet for very long, though, but I will look into it when we get back from Italy. After I overdose on mozzarella.  I guess I have survived this long, so a few pizzas won't hurt. 

Remember that traveling is one of the biggest culprits in digestive probelms! Sometimes it's just the water that can do it!

Well, I haven't really, I mean I sort of started vegetarian about 3 weeks ago or so, and then I cut back on dairy as well, just as a trial, to see if I might lose some weight.  But I only went about one week with no dairy at all. I don't know how anyone could be a vegan all the time, to be honest, it's pretty tough! But I do like a lot of the recipes and I'm finding it's a good way to get all the veggies in, along with good fats, beans and lentils, etc. So I don't think I made myself intolerant by avoiding it, as I haven't really avoided it for very long.

Well, I don't WANT to be intolerant or allergic to anything... especially cheese!    I'm not sure I could stick with a super restricted diet for very long, though, but I will look into it when we get back from Italy. After I overdose on mozzarella.  I guess I have survived this long, so a few pizzas won't hurt. 

I thought it hadn't been very long Even if cow-dairy is a problem, you may still be able to digest goat-dairy.  But yeah, if I had to givie up cheese, it might well kill me 

But yeah, if I had to givie up cheese, it might well kill me 

My thoughts exactly.

I've had problems with dairy for as long as I can remember, but I have problems with a lot of foods. It's probably lactose intolerance but I've never been formally diagnosed. I gave up milk at 8, which resulted in a massive immediate improvement, but I can't give up cheese. I'm generally okay with harder cheeses; soft cheeses are pretty much the equivalent of a laxative for me.

I take a Lactaid pill with any dairy products and tend to do fairly well with that. You can order them online here as they're not available in UK shops: http://lactaid.co.uk/. They don't always work, but most of the time they do just fine. Take it with your first bite and make sure you don't over-do it. If it's something really creamy I often take a second pill halfway through the meal.

Good luck!