# How do I know if I'm lactose intolerant



## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

Are there any simple tests I can take to see if I am definitely lactose intolerant?Someone said drink a glass of milk and then a glass of buttermilk but I didn't understand what they meant. Thanks for your help.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Don't understand the buttermilk. It has a similar lactose content to regular milk but a quart of each would make a reasonable test.If you drink a quart or two of milk in one sitting and have gas and bloating and/or diarrhea that starts from 1 to a few hours later it may be reasonable to assume (esp if you repeat it several times) that you shouldn't drink that much milk.Most people who based on a test where they give you a couple of milk quarts worth of lactose (typcially 50 grams a cup of milk has 12-13 grams of lactose) and measure hydrogen in your breath for the next several hours can drink a few ounces of milk at a time and have no GI symptoms.see http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/breath.htm for some info on the breath tests.Note: Some people who test as lactose intolerant have NO symptoms when they drink lactose, so symptoms and lactose-intolerance are only somewhat linked.K------------------I am a scientific researcher primarily in the area of the environment and the impact of environmental factors on human health, I have no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial, natural, or any other product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Don't understand the buttermilk. It has a similar lactose content to regular milk but a quart of each would make a reasonable test.If you drink a quart or two of milk in one sitting and have gas and bloating and/or diarrhea that starts from 1 to a few hours later it may be reasonable to assume (esp if you repeat it several times) that you shouldn't drink that much milk.Most people who based on a test where they give you a couple of milk quarts worth of lactose (typcially 50 grams a cup of milk has 12-13 grams of lactose) and measure hydrogen in your breath for the next several hours can drink a few ounces of milk at a time and have no GI symptoms.see http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/breath.htm for some info on the breath tests.Note: Some people who test as lactose intolerant have NO symptoms when they drink lactose, so symptoms and lactose-intolerance are only somewhat linked.K------------------I am a scientific researcher primarily in the area of the environment and the impact of environmental factors on human health, I have no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial, natural, or any other product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html


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## medietrich (Sep 27, 2000)

I took the hydrogen breath test and it came back negative for being lactose intolerant. But dairy in just about anyform gives me D -- so I stay away from it as much as possible.Strange how the test came back negative.


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## medietrich (Sep 27, 2000)

I took the hydrogen breath test and it came back negative for being lactose intolerant. But dairy in just about anyform gives me D -- so I stay away from it as much as possible.Strange how the test came back negative.


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## AD (Jan 23, 2000)

Even without lactose intolerance, I would think ANYONE would feel bloated after drinking a quart of ANY liquid at one time. My only problem with dairy is that it gives me nausea, and it really slows my stomach down. Even things made with skim milk sit there for many hours.


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## AD (Jan 23, 2000)

Even without lactose intolerance, I would think ANYONE would feel bloated after drinking a quart of ANY liquid at one time. My only problem with dairy is that it gives me nausea, and it really slows my stomach down. Even things made with skim milk sit there for many hours.


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2001)

My doctors have always just advised me to avoid dairy for a week and see if I felt better.It turns out that this never worked for me, because I didn't do a good enough job avoiding dairy. I just didn't drink milk, but I should have been paying attention to ingredients of the foods I was still eating.Anyway, I didn't find out that I am lactose-intolerant until I caught some kind of cold-virus thing that left me without much appetite. I unintentionally didn't eat much besides some dry cereal, soda crackers, and water. After a few days, I realized that my stomach felt better than usual, and it dawned on me that I hadn't eaten anything remotely dairy recently.The lesson is, if you try going dairy-free to see if you feel better, don't just avoid the obvious, you may also want to pay attention to ingredients.


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2001)

My doctors have always just advised me to avoid dairy for a week and see if I felt better.It turns out that this never worked for me, because I didn't do a good enough job avoiding dairy. I just didn't drink milk, but I should have been paying attention to ingredients of the foods I was still eating.Anyway, I didn't find out that I am lactose-intolerant until I caught some kind of cold-virus thing that left me without much appetite. I unintentionally didn't eat much besides some dry cereal, soda crackers, and water. After a few days, I realized that my stomach felt better than usual, and it dawned on me that I hadn't eaten anything remotely dairy recently.The lesson is, if you try going dairy-free to see if you feel better, don't just avoid the obvious, you may also want to pay attention to ingredients.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:Are there any simple tests I can take to see if I am definitely lactose intolerant?


There is no easy way. That's because you can't know if you what you are drinking is causing the problem or not. Breath tests do *not* tell if you are intolerant, only if you malabsorb lactose. About 30% of the American-born population is, but they don't seem to be significantly affected by it, at least when it is formally tested.


> quote:My doctors have always just advised me to avoid dairy for a week and see if I felt better.


This test won't work because of what I explained above. In addition, dairy has other components other than lactose.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:Are there any simple tests I can take to see if I am definitely lactose intolerant?


There is no easy way. That's because you can't know if you what you are drinking is causing the problem or not. Breath tests do *not* tell if you are intolerant, only if you malabsorb lactose. About 30% of the American-born population is, but they don't seem to be significantly affected by it, at least when it is formally tested.


> quote:My doctors have always just advised me to avoid dairy for a week and see if I felt better.


This test won't work because of what I explained above. In addition, dairy has other components other than lactose.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.


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## jo-jo (Aug 19, 2001)

What I did is I stopped drinking milk or anything containing whey powder, milk ingredients, and, felt so much better the next day. Hard cheese is o.k. because the lactose is virtualy all removed,but, for some people even that small amount could affect them. Natrel makes a 99.9% lactose free milk,so,you don't have to just drink rice or soy milk. I find the natrel milk tastes better than the lactease or the lactaid because it tastes like regular milk and not sweat like the lactade or lactease.


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## jo-jo (Aug 19, 2001)

What I did is I stopped drinking milk or anything containing whey powder, milk ingredients, and, felt so much better the next day. Hard cheese is o.k. because the lactose is virtualy all removed,but, for some people even that small amount could affect them. Natrel makes a 99.9% lactose free milk,so,you don't have to just drink rice or soy milk. I find the natrel milk tastes better than the lactease or the lactaid because it tastes like regular milk and not sweat like the lactade or lactease.


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## FPHHT! (Feb 1, 2000)

when ibs first started i could not touch milk. then i slowly started on milk with help from lactid pills. as i continued to drink more and more milk i backed off more and more on the lactaid. now i drink about two full glasses of milk every day and it has helped me greatly because the extra calcium seems to keep me from reacting to other things. it also keeps my insides accostomed to dairy so i now do not get any surprized from any dairy product except cheese cake. that's still one that will send me to the pot in short order. (can't quite figure that one out.)HEY MOTTUS HOW YA DOIN YOU GREAT BEAUTIFUL PERSON THAT YOU ARE! Been a while, just wanted you to know I'm still alive.Have a bunch of roses on me!fart fart fart! (ouch) P.S. I know my spelling is a real problem today. Sorry![This message has been edited by FPHHT! (edited 08-28-2001).]


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## FPHHT! (Feb 1, 2000)

when ibs first started i could not touch milk. then i slowly started on milk with help from lactid pills. as i continued to drink more and more milk i backed off more and more on the lactaid. now i drink about two full glasses of milk every day and it has helped me greatly because the extra calcium seems to keep me from reacting to other things. it also keeps my insides accostomed to dairy so i now do not get any surprized from any dairy product except cheese cake. that's still one that will send me to the pot in short order. (can't quite figure that one out.)HEY MOTTUS HOW YA DOIN YOU GREAT BEAUTIFUL PERSON THAT YOU ARE! Been a while, just wanted you to know I'm still alive.Have a bunch of roses on me!fart fart fart! (ouch) P.S. I know my spelling is a real problem today. Sorry![This message has been edited by FPHHT! (edited 08-28-2001).]


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## AnneMarie (Dec 4, 2000)

This subject has been on my mind a lot recently. I do okay with most cheeses and with milk on my cereal, and butter gives me no problems, but if I eat more than just a few bites of ice cream, it gives me real cramp diarrhea within two hours. Would something like lactaid help with this I wonder? I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but every now and then I crave it, but it tears me up.


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## AnneMarie (Dec 4, 2000)

This subject has been on my mind a lot recently. I do okay with most cheeses and with milk on my cereal, and butter gives me no problems, but if I eat more than just a few bites of ice cream, it gives me real cramp diarrhea within two hours. Would something like lactaid help with this I wonder? I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but every now and then I crave it, but it tears me up.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

My doctor advised me to avoid dairy for 2 weeks and see what happened. All my lower GI symptoms cleared up amazingly. agnes is right, you have to check ingredients on processed food. I'm pretty good about that but even I was caught by fat-free turkey sausage that has milk powder in it







The test mentioned by kmottus is strange because apparently it shows intolerant to people who don't have symptoms, but shows tolerant to people who do. It's either not very accurate, or there's something else about dairy that causes symptoms in many people. I do well with lactaid if I have to eat anything cooked with butter, and I once drank eggnog with it and had no symptoms. But if I take lactaid with pizza I still get symptoms, not right away but hours later. The last time I ate pizza I had a flare-up that began the next day and lasted a week.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

My doctor advised me to avoid dairy for 2 weeks and see what happened. All my lower GI symptoms cleared up amazingly. agnes is right, you have to check ingredients on processed food. I'm pretty good about that but even I was caught by fat-free turkey sausage that has milk powder in it







The test mentioned by kmottus is strange because apparently it shows intolerant to people who don't have symptoms, but shows tolerant to people who do. It's either not very accurate, or there's something else about dairy that causes symptoms in many people. I do well with lactaid if I have to eat anything cooked with butter, and I once drank eggnog with it and had no symptoms. But if I take lactaid with pizza I still get symptoms, not right away but hours later. The last time I ate pizza I had a flare-up that began the next day and lasted a week.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote: do well with lactaid if I have to eat anything cooked with butter


Butter does *not* contain lactose.This example demonstrates that how the mind can draw false conclusions about the cause of symptoms. The starting point is the common notion, which now know to be largely false, is that lactose causes digestive symptoms in people.Second, most people don't know butter has no lactose. Butter is the fat portion of milk. The lactose portion is "skimmed" from the top and is called "skim" milk. Skim milk has the highest amount .Now our minds like to categorize events and using the preconceived notions above it concludes, albeit falsely that lactose was the culprit and lo and behold a myth is propagated. Even in the face of opposing information, we stick to our beliefs because in this case, they are very convenient. The reality is that conditions wax and wane and could be affected by other factors (including other components in the food, such as the fat in butter), and that also helps lead to false conclusions because our minds tend remember the data that fits our preconceived beliefs.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.[This message has been edited by flux (edited 08-29-2001).]


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote: do well with lactaid if I have to eat anything cooked with butter


Butter does *not* contain lactose.This example demonstrates that how the mind can draw false conclusions about the cause of symptoms. The starting point is the common notion, which now know to be largely false, is that lactose causes digestive symptoms in people.Second, most people don't know butter has no lactose. Butter is the fat portion of milk. The lactose portion is "skimmed" from the top and is called "skim" milk. Skim milk has the highest amount .Now our minds like to categorize events and using the preconceived notions above it concludes, albeit falsely that lactose was the culprit and lo and behold a myth is propagated. Even in the face of opposing information, we stick to our beliefs because in this case, they are very convenient. The reality is that conditions wax and wane and could be affected by other factors (including other components in the food, such as the fat in butter), and that also helps lead to false conclusions because our minds tend remember the data that fits our preconceived beliefs.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.[This message has been edited by flux (edited 08-29-2001).]


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## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

Thanks for all the responses - think I'll try staying away from all dairy stuff for a week and see what happens. I already know to stay away from fat cause I have no gallbladder - gonna be a boring week but worth it I hope.


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## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

Thanks for all the responses - think I'll try staying away from all dairy stuff for a week and see what happens. I already know to stay away from fat cause I have no gallbladder - gonna be a boring week but worth it I hope.


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## jo-jo (Aug 19, 2001)

HI FluxIt is not false that lactose causes digestive symptomes in people. Usually people other than caucasians are more prone to be lactose intolerant, the bloating,gas,pain that lactose gives me is not in my head it is in my intestines!! And your right butter does not contain lactose,I didn't know that and could't figure out why butter caused me no pain because i thought that all dairy contained lactose. So, if it were all in my head butter would have given me pain right?


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## jo-jo (Aug 19, 2001)

HI FluxIt is not false that lactose causes digestive symptomes in people. Usually people other than caucasians are more prone to be lactose intolerant, the bloating,gas,pain that lactose gives me is not in my head it is in my intestines!! And your right butter does not contain lactose,I didn't know that and could't figure out why butter caused me no pain because i thought that all dairy contained lactose. So, if it were all in my head butter would have given me pain right?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

What is false is that every lactose malabsorber has GI symptoms.Some do.Some do not.What the differernce is between them may or may not be all in their head. And it may be that having IBS is one of the things that makes you a lactose malabsorber with symptoms rather than a symptom-free lactose malabsorber.For the May be in the head types (i.e. the brain has made a bad correlation conciously or unconciously) if you feed them lots of lactose, but they don't know it, they don't get symptoms.However, some people get symptoms even when they don't know the lactose is in the food.So it isn't a simple if you don't digest lactose you will have lots of symptoms.You can be in several categories, including digest lactose perfectly fine and have a bad correlation in the brain that triggers symptoms everytime you think you had lactose.So there are several variables.1 Have symptoms/No symptoms2. Lack the lactase enzyme/Has the Lactase enzyme3 Respond to lactose even when you don't know its there/Respond to lactose only when you think it is there.The category you are in for any one of the 3 variables doesn't predict what category you are in for the other two very well.K.------------------I am a scientific researcher primarily in the area of the environment and the impact of environmental factors on human health, I have no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial, natural, or any other product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

What is false is that every lactose malabsorber has GI symptoms.Some do.Some do not.What the differernce is between them may or may not be all in their head. And it may be that having IBS is one of the things that makes you a lactose malabsorber with symptoms rather than a symptom-free lactose malabsorber.For the May be in the head types (i.e. the brain has made a bad correlation conciously or unconciously) if you feed them lots of lactose, but they don't know it, they don't get symptoms.However, some people get symptoms even when they don't know the lactose is in the food.So it isn't a simple if you don't digest lactose you will have lots of symptoms.You can be in several categories, including digest lactose perfectly fine and have a bad correlation in the brain that triggers symptoms everytime you think you had lactose.So there are several variables.1 Have symptoms/No symptoms2. Lack the lactase enzyme/Has the Lactase enzyme3 Respond to lactose even when you don't know its there/Respond to lactose only when you think it is there.The category you are in for any one of the 3 variables doesn't predict what category you are in for the other two very well.K.------------------I am a scientific researcher primarily in the area of the environment and the impact of environmental factors on human health, I have no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial, natural, or any other product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html


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## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

Thanks for all the info - didn't know that Skim milk had more lactose than all the other milk.


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## Sabrina (Mar 20, 2001)

Thanks for all the info - didn't know that Skim milk had more lactose than all the other milk.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

Well, I thought butter didn't have lactose, and I ate it, and I still had symptoms, and then I stopped using it regularly and took lactaid when I do eat it, and I don't get symptoms from it if I take lactaid with it. And yes, I'm sure. Remember, I'm a techie. I understand variables.


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## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

Well, I thought butter didn't have lactose, and I ate it, and I still had symptoms, and then I stopped using it regularly and took lactaid when I do eat it, and I don't get symptoms from it if I take lactaid with it. And yes, I'm sure. Remember, I'm a techie. I understand variables.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:Well, I thought butter didn't have lactose, and I ate it, and I still had symptoms, and then I stopped using it regularly and took lactaid when I do eat it, and I don't get symptoms from it if I take lactaid with it. And yes, I'm sure


This doesn't compute (pun intended). Whatever is going on, it has *nothing* to do with lactose.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:Well, I thought butter didn't have lactose, and I ate it, and I still had symptoms, and then I stopped using it regularly and took lactaid when I do eat it, and I don't get symptoms from it if I take lactaid with it. And yes, I'm sure


This doesn't compute (pun intended). Whatever is going on, it has *nothing* to do with lactose.------------------I am not a doctor, nor do I work for profit in the medical/pharmacological field, but I have read scientific and medical texts, and have access to numerous sources of medical information that are not readily available to others. One should always consult a medical professional regarding advice received.


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