Wondering if any lactose intolerant people can provide some real life perspective. I’ve been have abdomen pain for several months. Now had numerous blood tests, ultrascan etc. As a women, there is a number of things to rule out. Many of which now have. However in an attempt to try anything, I gave up lactose this last week as my Mum is lactose intolerant and slowly started to feel better. However today, at a mates house, had a pre and post ride coffee with normal milk. It could be total coincidence, but feel pretty lousy again this afternoon. However the one thing Im not sure about is I seem to be getting an upper leg pain/stiffness as well. Two physios have had a look and don’t feel it is a mechanical thing and think it’s associated with the abdomen issues. Do anyone else who is lactose intolerant find they get leg discomfort? And do you ever find exercise (when you have also had lactose the same day) makes it worse?

Know bike forums aren’t doctors, but starting to run out of ideas.

My partner and I will only drink the Lactose free milk now, and whenever we have a ‘normal milk’ coffee out, we feel bloated and sick.

I do think I have made myself this way, as I never used to have the issue. And after moving in with my partner it was easier to just by the Lactose free milk and nothing else.

Regarding the exercise, it not something I would ever relate to it. We find it makes us feel slow and lazy, but I wouldn’t say we get any physical pains anywhere other than in the stomach.
I should add, the gas it pretty terrible too!

I’m not the best person to advise, as i’m not looking at this from a truly medical point of view.

Thanks
J

Try A2 milk, I’m gluten and lactose intolerant but I can drink this. Something to do with protein molecule shapes etc.

Do you put salt in your cooking or on your meal?

Keep a note book. Cut out food groups then see how you feel. Add them in and see what happens. There’s no test but a GP should be able to refer you to a nutritionist.

No associated leg muscle soreness as far as I can tell.
Tried Alpro for a while, now on lactose free milk. Really miss cheese, but found a reasonable cheddar so macaroni cheese back on the menu. Yay. Small pleasure eh.
Can be awkward eating out on occasion with Italian being pretty much a no-no.
The stricter I am in avoiding the better I feel. If anything my sensitivity seems to be worsening, with a reaction within an hour or two so a bit of effort in managing is really a necessity.

Can’t help on the leg pain but I can confirm that it’s normal to become less tolerant of lactose as you age because you make less lactase, the enzyme needed to digest lactose. My cycling buddy is a gastroenterologist and he says it’s normal. If I drink a pint of milk now I feel really bloated and get trapped wind, which is uncomfortable. Try lactose free milk, it actually tastes better in tea as it’s less fatty.

You don’t need a nutritionist, you need a physician who specialises in gastroenterology and who therefore understands what’s going on in your gut and will order tests if necessary.

My daughter got tested for lactose intolerance in the hospital so there is a test.
Lactose free milk doesn t excist really. It is normal milk with lactase added. (or soy, almond or ricemilk).
Old cheese that has 0 gr carbs AND 0 gr sugar is almost completely lactose free.

I’ve been dairy-free for more than half my life, due to a bug that killed off my lactase-producing ability when I was 19. I don’t remember leg pain specifically but before we figured out what the problem was I felt like death, and the doctors tested me for cancer and all sorts, blood tests, scans, scopes, the lot. I lost loads of weight (5’10” and well under 8 stone) and had a wide range of other horrible symptoms. The fact that I drank pints of milk and lived off cream cheese sandwiches and cereal didn’t seem to be related, but when a random nurse suggested cutting out dairy I got better in a matter of days (the docs didn’t have a clue what was up).

Aaaanway, long story short, I’m not totally perfect digestion-wise to this day, but I’m much better and live pretty normally. In case you’re worried about losing nutrional benefits by cutting out dairy: don’t be. You’ll get all the calcium you need from other sources. My skeleton is seriously tough still, I regularly smash myself off of the scenery hard when I crash my bike and I’ve not broken any bones since I was 13. No other deficiencies either, I’m pretty fit physically. You don’t *need* milk to be healthy at all.

There is a test you can do now to establish if you are lactose intolerant, ask your GP about it. There are also lactase pills that you can buy from health-food type places, but I’ve had pretty mixed results with them so don’t count on them working. Bear in mind that lactose is in all sorts of random stuff (Pringles are held together with vast amounts of the stuff, for example, it’s used as a binder in all sorts of processed junk). Get used to reading the ingredients list on everything, you’ll be amazed what manufacturers stick dairy/lactose in for no apparent reason.

Oh and black coffee is way nicer anyway, don’t ruin it by sticking cow juice in it. 😉

Thanks all. Some really useful thoughts there. I have been using Alpro for the last 7 days, until today, and really started to feel better though wasn’t sure if it was coincidence as feel like I’ve tried so many things.

Useful to know there is now a test for it. I’m due a follow up soon so I’ll ask my doctor about it. I certainly fit the profile in terms of inheriting it from my Mum and it can go hand in hand with IBS which I am also taking some treatment for, so certainly is a possibility.

cinnamon_girl – I don’t use a lot of salt, but it doesn’t feel like cramp, more like aching or dead leg. My initial message was a bit confusing in that the stomach aches and bloating get worse after exercise, not the leg discomfort. Sorry about that.

From some googling it does look like some LI/IBS can result in neurological associated aches which is what my physio maybe thought, but maybe it’s not too common.

It might not be the lactose. There’s a fairly niche milk that’s had a particular protein removed that gives a lot of symptoms associated with lactose intolerance. Weird name, B3 or similar.

Try that. But if you’ve made yourself lactose intolerant by avoiding it, it’s likely you now lack lactase to break it down and it doesn’t come back afaik.

I’ve only avoid lactose for 7 days after 4 months of pain so don’t think I’ve killed the lactase off just yet. I’ll have a look. Thanks.

Yes I am lactose intolerant, no I do not get leg pains, just the stomach ache. However everyone is different, I see no reason why the two can’t be connected.

had a pre and post ride coffee with normal milk

There are three things that may be making you feel uncomfortable here- the milk, the caffeine and the ride. I get the shits after a hard ride (usually a road ride as I tend to be pushing it for longer with fewer breaks) and I know from this forum that others do too. Caffeine will do this also.

Arla do lactose free milk, all the supermarkets stock it now. Lidl has lactose free yoghurt. I am fine with eating cheese, you may be too. Cheese has a very low lactose content as most of it is removed with the whey, and much of what remains is lost during the aging process.

If removing lactose works for you, then remove it. You’ll know soon enough, it’s a pretty easy one to work out!! 🙂

Yup – I get muscle ache now if I have normal milk or too much cheese. Had a cup of normal tea with milk Sat am, thought I’d get away with it, and felt crap all day inc a stinking headache and sinus pain which I only get now from dairy. Back to black coffee and green tea.

Kind of related, my son is allergic to milk proteins and drinks Oatley rather than milk. It’s bloody lovely and I’m always drinking it. Give it a try, see what you think? Most other milk substitute we’ve tried are not very nice.

I had thought it was caffeine, so cut it right back, but this week I’ve had a few coffees with lactose free milk and seemed fine. Agree about a hard ride making you have a bad stomach. I have certainly done that before, but this was a social pace for a couple of hours. Don’t think it’s that.

Agree. Not hard to resolve and everyone is different. Thank you.

My middle daughter (now 25) has been dairy free for over 10 years, she has always suffered bowl pains and the diet change really helped her. She is also vegetarian but that’s for animal welfare reasons.