# 16 Year Old, need some advice



## alisonx (Jun 21, 2015)

Hi, I'm a 16 year old girl and I would really appreciate if anyone could give me any advice.

Yes, I am aware I should seek a medical professional / doctor, etc. but I'm posting this hoping that anyone (teen or if you're a parent of a teen) have gone through anything similar and can advise me accordingly.

Last December (2014), when I came back home from an overseas trip with my family, we all fell ill due to *food poisoning*. I will spare you the details but I got over it in 1-2 weeks. However, after this, my digestive system has not been the same.

I have kept a food journal since the start of the year, to record my IBS flare ups, or at least, what I suspect them to be.

During these "flare ups", I experience *nausea, excessive burping (acid reflux), bloating *and *constipation/diarrhea.*

The first flare up I had was two weeks after my recovery from the food poisoning. Initially, I thought of it as PMS but 2 more flare ups have happened since then.

This is what I have noticed - *The flare ups happen about 2 days after the consumption of milk/cream.*

However, I am *not lactose intolerant *and also, I had *two months free of flare ups*, during which I had *pizza (cheese-based), ice cream, cream puffs, mac and cheese, etc*

There is also no apparent link of my period (PMS/Ovulation period) to these flare ups. Stress also does not seem to be a factor even though during my initial flare up I was flustered and stressed out by an incident in my personal life but recently, I sat for exams and it was really stressful, yet I did not experience any flare ups.

It's almost as though I am *"selectively" lactose intolerant *(I can get away with eating cream puffs and pizza, but only sometimes eating cream based products and drinking milk cause these flare-ups).

If it helps, years ago when I was about 7 or 8, I suffered from gastric attacks and though I do not have a "strong" stomach, I had never experienced such "flare ups" that seemingly occur out of the blue.

Has anyone ever experienced this selective lactose intolerance and is it possible that the food poisoning "caused" IBS / lactose intolerant to "enter" my body?

I suspect I have IBS or lactose intolerance, only for it to "disappear" for 2 whole months with consumption of so much supposed triggering food - only to be experiencing such a flare up (this is the 4th day) now after drinking milk?

Thank you if you managed to read so much. I do intend to visit a doctor but I am considered quite a hypochondriac and I do not wish to worry my parents unnecessarily by telling them I have IBS when my symptoms do not appear to be "regular" to what I've read on these forums so far.

I'd really appreciate any opinions/advice. Thank you!


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## dessertivore (Nov 21, 2015)

I obviously don't know if there's such thing as selective lactose intolerance but here are my ideas

a) could just be stress causing those symptoms








hard cheese actually has relatively little lactose compared to cream, so that could be why pizza doesn't cause an issue?

c) another food could be causing these flare ups- like at first I assumed I was gluten intolerant, but when I went to speak to a dietician she immediately said I must be lactose intolerant (which I am)

Just as a side note, usually symptoms of lactose intolerance appear hours after eating dairy, not days.

Oh also, I have IBS-C, and my symptoms aren't actually caused by any triggers which I've found so far (though I hope this isn't the case for you!!!!)


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