# lactose intol test



## cakemix (Apr 9, 2002)

has anyone had this? im gettig tommorrow


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

My 8 year old had this when he was 6. All it involved for him was drinking a tall glass of a white liquid then every 15 minutes or so he would blow into a device that would measure the lactose levels. It took a few hours but he had no problems with it and we got our answer. He is lactose intolerant. So, if you have the same test, no problems and not to worry!


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## cakemix (Apr 9, 2002)

yeah the thing is, i cant STAND drinking things....I had the upper GI and i swore I would never drink barium again. And then I had the hide a scan and i had to drink corn oil..and now this! Did it taste bad (as far as what your son said)?


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

He didn't seem to mind it at all. He's pretty picky, too. He told me it tasted good, like milk. Oh, he just told me to tell you that they might have changed the taste! Anyway, I had the upper GI, too. I am right with you on the barium thing! If I remember right, this liquid for the lactose test isn't thick like the baruium or like the corn oil would be. They aren't using it to look at anything, so nothing needs to be coated with it. I wish I could remember more for you. Please let me know how it goes for you. I think you will be fine!


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## cakemix (Apr 9, 2002)

I just had the test...well she told me I can take the bags home and do it home! WHoee! That liquid was ORANGE and tasted like orangewater ...kinda gross but i sucked it down.


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

Good for you!







I'm glad you got it down and it wasn't too bad. I guess my son was right...they did change the taste!Let us know how it turns out.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:he had no problems with it and we got our answer. He is lactose intolerant.


Isn't this a contradiction?


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## Shannon21 (Apr 14, 2002)

quote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------he had no problems with it and we got our answer. He is lactose intolerant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Quote:Isn't this a contradiction?I believe it was the child had no problems taking the test! how is that a contradiction?


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

Flux, Let me clarify what I said. When I said he had no problems with it, I meant that he drank the liquid and it didn't taste bad or make him gag. He had no problems taking the test itself.He does have lactose intolerance. This is not a contradiction. It was the actual taking of the test that was not a problem.Lauralee


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:I believe it was the child had no problems taking the test! how is that a contradiction?


If the first part of the statement covers every aspect of how the test affected him then he couldn't possibly be lactose intolerant.


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## Shannon21 (Apr 14, 2002)




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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

Flux,I did not cover every aspect of what happened. He is definately lactose intolerant. As soon as they got his readings proving he is, he took some Lactaid to neutralize whatever lactose was left, leaving him with little or no problems from the test. Any other problems?Lauralee


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## Shannon21 (Apr 14, 2002)

Am i in the Twilight Zone? Someone asks a simple question and someone gives a simple reply, it can't be left at that? Is it necessary to scrutinize a sentence?


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

I totally agree with you Shannon!!!!


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## cakemix (Apr 9, 2002)

I understood it completely...


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:As soon as they got his readings proving he is, he took some Lactaid to neutralize whatever lactose was left, leaving him with little or no problems from the test. Any other problems?


Then I would say he is *NOT* lactose intolerant.


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

Ok, Dr. Flux...as soon as I see your degree from medical school specializing in gastroenterology I will give your posts and your opinion some weight. Until then, I will ignore you. Have a nice day.


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## newlearner (Jun 7, 2001)

I think some people think they were put on this planet to antagonize others. As if people didn't have enough to handle with the day to day b.s.Flux you need to flux off.


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## Shannon21 (Apr 14, 2002)




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## partypooper (Mar 22, 2000)

What are the symptoms for lactose intolerance?


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:What are the symptoms for lactose intolerance?


According to the above, there are none.Science says that dietary doses do not cause symptoms. But large doses, such as what is given in the test, would cause gas and diarrhea.


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

partypooper,My son gets severe stomach cramps and vomiting if he has dairy. I know some people have D, but that has never really been a problem for him, just a few loose stools sometimes.flux,I know you will have a comment here and all I have to say is until you see your child vomit every day for 6 weeks before getting a diagnosis and then seeing him make a complete turnaround after making the appropriate dietary changes, don't be so fast to dismiss what our experiences have been. Not everyone fits the "scientific norm", there are as many variations of different conditions as there are people who have them. A specific disease or condition does not manifest itself EXACTLY the same in every person who has that disease. Please keep this in mind when you respond to this post.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:My son gets severe stomach cramps and vomiting if he has dairy.


This is *clearly* not lactose intolerance. More simply, it is an allergy to milk protein. This is consistent with the negative result on the LI test.


> quote: specific disease or condition does not manifest itself EXACTLY the same in every person who has that disease.


This statement is does not really apply to lactose intolerance.


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

He had a POSITIVE result for the lactose intolerance test. I don't know where you got the idea it was negative!


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:He had a POSITIVE result for the lactose intolerance test. I don't know where you got the idea it was negative!


Quite the contrary. The on-paper result is an indication of *lactose malabsorption*. *Lactose intolerance* are the symptoms one gets. They are *not* the same thing.







So the test was positive for malabsorption, but the lack of symptoms is a clear indication he is *not* intolerant. It didn't make any sense to give the Lactaid. The test was already over when you gave it to him.


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

So, what is lactose malabsorbtion? I have never heard that term and the doctor told us when he did the test that my son is lactose intolerant. He DOES have symptoms when he has dairy. He DOES NOT have symptoms when he has limited dairy and Lactaid. Does this not indicate lactose intolerance?


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:So, what is lactose malabsorbtion?


Here is my writeup on this subject...The most common one is called lactose intolerance, which would be better named lactose maldigestion. Persons suffering from this condition have either low or no amounts of the enzyme lactase. This enzyme speeds the breakdown of lactose into its component sugars, glucose, which is called dextrose by the food industry, and galactose, which are both readily absorbed. Undigested, lactose cannot be absorbed and eventually reaches the colon. There it increases what is called the osmotic potential of the water present, forcing more to enter the colon, which can trigger diarrhea. In addition, bacteria in the colon can digest the lactose, and some of them produce gas (carbon dioxide and hydrogen). The simplest and most accurate test for lactose maldigestion is the hydrogen breath test. This test involves breathing into a special bag before and for a few hours after consuming some lactose. A significant rise in breath hydrogen (e.g., > 10 ppm) is diagnostic of lactose maldigestion.However, there are a variety of myths regarding lactose intolerance. First, some people believe that butter contains lactose. In reality, it contains only trace amounts. Simplistically, milk consists of three components, the liquid water (whey), the protein (casein) and the fat (butter). To make skin milk, for example, the fat portion is skimmed off the top. This top portion eventually is processed into the butter. The remainder (whey and protein), which contains the lactose, is called skim milk ( ). Thus, skim milk contains the highest concentration of lactose and butter the least. Whole milk, which is all the milk components mixed or homogenized, contains a considerable amount of lactose (about eight g per cup). In general, the more fat a dairy product contains, the less lactose it contains. Hard cheeses, such as cheddar, for example, contain very little lactose.Another mythï¿½and a very big myth it isï¿½surrounding lactose intolerance is how much lactose is required to cause symptoms. For example, many who believe they are lactose intolerant avoid all forms of lactose as if it is a poison. They may even be afraid of medications that contain very tiny amounts of lactose. Two major scientific studies ( , ) have discovered that many who are lactose maldigesters can actually tolerate up to two cups of milk daily when they are mixed with food. Taken this way, lactase enzyme supplements, such as Lactaid, are probably unnecessary, despite their widespread popularity. In addition, a third study has recently found that lactose maldigesters can handle enough dairy products daily without enzyme supplements to consume enough calcium to lower the risk of osteoporosis ( ).


> quote:He DOES have symptoms when he has dairy. He DOES NOT have symptoms when he has limited dairy and Lactaid. Does this not indicate lactose intolerance?


This does seem to correlate with LI, but it's hard to be certain since there is no way to know how well you are recording everything and you know beforehand what he is consuming and could unconsciouly be expecting a certain result. I also don't how know how much diary is versus how much limited diary is. The symptoms don't sound like LI symptoms. And the test itself doesn't seem to fit either. So I think it's hard to draw a good conclusion from this. But practically speaking, it probably doesn't matter much.


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## JackieGian (Mar 23, 2002)

Flux, If "practically speaking, it probably doesn't matter much", then why did you start all this anyway? Can we all just agree that Lauralee's son can't have a lot of dairy, whether we call it "lactose intolerance" or "lactose malabsorption". This thread got totally off topic and poor cakemix got lost in the controversy.Shannon210 - loved the graemlin. Where did you get it?


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