Help with lactose intolerance?

[KathyT]

dd2 has a very "sensitive" stomach. She is nauseated (sp?) VERY easily by smells or goupy looking food and is quite a picky eater. She has always hated milk. She sometimes gets stomach cramps after eating too. It just dawned on me last week that she may be lactose intolerant? She has been at dance day camp for the last 3 weeks and has called me three times with stomach cramps. They start in the morning, after breakfast, which is interesting because I have been forcing her to eat something (she hates breakfast) and it is normally a bit of cereal and milk!

Anyway, our dr is out on vacation for 2 weeks and it's not an emergency, just wondering if anyone has dks with this and what the typical symptoms are and how you handle it. Also, how do they test for it?

Thanks.

[JeannieOR]

I have it and as far as I know they don't test for it. They just change her diet and see if that helps.

With a child it might be differant and I'm afraid it will have a lot to do with what your insurance covers.

I hope they get to the bottom of what's bothering the poor kid. :(

[AnnW]

They can test for it with an allergen blood test. DS had it done when he was sick.
Have her take LacTaid before she drinks milk.

[KathyT]

Thanks for the answers guys.

No insurance woes here Jeannie, it's Canada :) Just long waits I'm afraid.

Ann I would be leary to give her anything without a diagnosis I think. But I am going to cut out dairy products and see if that helps. She loves soy milk smoothies so I will give her those for breakfast and see if that helps.

Did your ds test positive for it?

Thanks again guys!

[AnnW]

It's an over the counter med..it probably wouldn't hurt her. DS didn't test positive for it, but the doc wanted him to get calcium and since he was showing a fructose intolerance (and milk has natural occuring fructose) he wanted him to take the lactaid when he had milk.
Symptoms are usually gas, bloating, stomach pains after drinking.

[KathyT]

Is he on medication for that?

[Diane]

Dd #2 is lactose intolerant. She'd get nauseaus, cramping, some bloating/gas, and sometimes (usually) diarrhea. This would usually begin about 15/20 minutes up to an hour after she ate or drank any kind of food containing lactose. She started taking LacTaid before she ate/drank anything, and that pretty much took care of it... Good luck!!!

Diane...

[AnnW]

No..it was all managed via diet, except for the lactaid with milk. He's over it now, thank God!, so back to eating normally.

[bizymum]

I have lactose intolerence, I got tested at the hospital. Was there for over 4 hours. For the first two hours they took a blood test the first one being before I ate or drank anything(had to fast)

Then after the first two tests Ihad to drink this drink that had tons of lactose in it. ABout 15 minutes after that I had stomach cramps,nausea and diarreha.

After I took the drink they tested my blood every half hour, the results came in that I was intolerant.

We thought DS#2 was intolerant too when he was six months, they didnt test him we just changed his formula to soy. HE had tummy aches and diarreha too. After the formula change he was 100% better. TUrns out though he just has a sensitivity to milk protien, so we now just moniter his dairy intake if he has to much he gets tummy aches and diarreha.

DS#3 is the same way he is on soy, we noticed he had the same thing going on as DS#2, when he was about 3 months. HE seems okay now havent given him any dairy products since.

Good Luck hope you find out whats going on soon.

[Marla]

Kathy, both my oldest ds and I are lactose intolerant.

I never had the test done because the stomach specialist was 99% sure that I had it when I was 18 years old.

Oldest ds started having cramps, and the diarrhea after he had dairy products. I started to restrict his diet, and then watch for reactions when he did have dairy products. He now drinks lactose free milk, and has lactaid pills (on the shelves in the drug stores) before dairy products. No tests done on him, because I am certain that he has it (although it does seem to be less severe as he grows older)

[darlene]

I have never been officially diagnosed, but I often have all the symptoms of it after drinking milk or eating ice cream.
Growing up I had no problems because we drank goats milk. It is much easier to digest. You can buy it in the stores now. We drank it right from our goats, so not sure if the stuff you can buy in the stores would be as easy on a stomache.

I love milk, and it has been hard for me to give it up totally. I have found though that if I stick to skim milk I can get by with having that on my cereal and the occasional glass to drink.

Hope she feels better!

:)

[Linda/NE]

I'm surprised at how many people are lactose intolerant!

I went thru spurts as a kid where I could have milk and then I couldn't have milk. I've dealt with diarrhea most of my life.

I and the doctor thought I was intolerant and I gave up milk products except cheese, completely. I can have cheese in limited amounts like in Macaroni & cheese and on pizza.

When I saw a new doctor about a year ago he was concerned about the history of diarrhea and did some tests. Turns out I have a hiatal hernia which adds to my stomach problems.

I've never tried the Lactaid because I was just too scared to try milk products again.
Hope you find some anwers soon.

[KathyT]

Wow so many people suffer from this don't they? After 48 hrs with no dairy dd has had no cramps and seems much, much better, so whether it's her thinking maybe we have solved this or that we actually have I don't know yet!

Thanks for all the info gals!