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Unexplained recovery from lactose intolerance?

Moof

Senior Member
Messages
778
Location
UK
I developed quite severe lactose intolerance about six years ago – a real pain, because I love dairy. I discovered lactase enzyme more recently, which enabled me to have the odd milky treat. I still got a bit of stomach pain, but it no longer felt as if I'd been kicked hard in the midriff.

When I visited my friend last week for a meal, she'd made fresh cream scones for pudding. I'd no lactase tablets left, and her scones looked so delicious that I decided to eat one anyway and just put up with the stomach ache and other symptoms.

Except it didn't happen. I've tried more dairy since, and drank half a pint of milk yesterday – no reaction at all. My diet and supplements (BCAAs, fish oil, and methylfolate twice a week to support my B12 injections) haven't changed; nor has the level of my ME symptoms, which have been stable for a couple of years.

It's a very welcome development, but I wish I knew how I'd achieved it! Has anyone else experienced this?
 

Hufsamor

Senior Member
Messages
2,768
Location
Norway
Yes!
Take a look at this

Been eating bread, pizza, lasagna, raisin bran for the last 10 days. Better than sex! Not that I would know.

Been a serious gluten avoider since 2011. Virtually none of the symptoms I had before I quit have come back.

Stomach bloat, neuropathy in arms, heavy salivation, feeling like I have been poisoned, death naps after meals, overly sensitive
esophagus, air hunger, pain under right rib, blisters on inside of lips,
Generally Lower blood pressure, high heart rate,
proctola flugex, hard to describe swelling in throat.

Still have fatigue, pem, brain burn, brain fog, mold, chemical sensitivity, weird myalgia like headaches, soars in roof of mouth and gums, pain that travels around my head almost like sciatica does to lower limbs. sleep disorder, and probably some other symptoms. There is some overlap with these between G and GF, and they are not all at the same time obviously these come and go.

I have an appointment to have an endoscopy on the 15th just ten days from now. Don't think that will be long enough to find anything out for sure so I'm going to have to extend that date. Problem is I won't be able to do it till January when I am back in NM.

Anybody have experience with gluten challenges?
You might want to read the whole thread
 

Moof

Senior Member
Messages
778
Location
UK
@Hufsamor – it's weird, isn't it? I assume it must be something to do with a shift in populations of gut bugs, but I'd like to know how it happened in case the intolerance comes back in future!

I'm still a bit sensitive to yeast, but not so much that I have to avoid bread completely – I just limit my intake. When that started I thought it was gluten sensitivity, but I then found that gluten-free bread affected me much more than the ordinary stuff. (Apparently some of them contain particularly high levels of yeast.)
 

Hufsamor

Senior Member
Messages
2,768
Location
Norway
It's very very weird indeed.
I have been eating and drinking replacements for milk and gluten from time to time, but as you, it makes me more or just as much, sick as the ordinary stuff.

I might have to do with the gut, but when I got sicker my diet got worse...
Maybe my gut loves crap?:rofl:

My mother moved into a sheltered resident for old people a couple of years ago.
Both she and another woman at the same place has had to avoid gluten their whole life. But now, old and fragile and with all kind of serious health trouble, they are both able to eat bread again. My mother used to get serious rash around her eyes. But there is nothing of that now.

Someone in the other thread mentioned change in immunsystem?
As the body has plenty of other stuff to worry about, so it can't bother to look after the food any more?
 

Howard

suffering ceases when craving is removed
Messages
1,332
Location
Arizona
@Moof

I debated whether or not to post this, but it is topical and may be of some use to someone.

From birth to age 13 I experienced frequent bloating and intestinal distress. Of course I didn't realize it at the time, and just assumed everyone else felt the same way as I did after having ingested dairy.

Besides eating my mother's meatloaf and copious amounts of hot dogs, I basically starved myself as a child to avoid feeling ill. Everyone assumed I was a picky eater.

But suddenly, at age 13 I began craving all sorts of food and was able to ingest anything and everything. As a result, I grew 9 and 1/2 inches in less than one calendar year.

Turning 21 years old, I became dairy and gluten intolerant almost overnight. No more beer, and no more pizza.

I do not recall anything specific that would have caused these changes, or the temporary remission.

I do recall reading that it takes seven years to replace and cycle through all of the cells in the human body. I don't know why that stuck with me.

And oddly enough, if you map out my digestive history (which is all kinds of fun and highly recommended for each of you), there seems to be a distinct, yet most likely coincidental pattern fitting this unsubstantiated theory (My Case of Seven's).


So there is your magical thinking for the day!

Either way, I'm glad you've been able to enjoy these foods once again.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,932
@Moof ,

could it be an Ambroxol effect?:lol:

I early realized that I couldn't tolerate milk, when I wake up with a strong headache if I had the idea to drink some milk the day before. I got the same effect with cheese, together with an horrible taste in the mouth!:eek:

Then in 2007, after several years without gluten/dairies, I ate them both again and ended with a severe depression so I definitely stopped them all...:cool:
 

Moof

Senior Member
Messages
778
Location
UK
@Howard – I'm glad you did post it, as it's an interesting theory. Maybe I should stick to modest amounts of dairy, in the hope that I don't wear out whatever mechanism it is too soon!!

@pattismith – I'd believe it if it hadn't happened a week before I tried the Ambroxol. I'm really hoping that Howard's theory is correct, and I might be able to eat potatoes again next year! :rofl: (They're one of my favourite foods, but I developed an overnight intolerance in late 2012...)
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
I have long thought that so-called healthy food can be very bad for you...Maybe the stress of going without what you love?
I have both! :rofl: I love the "healthy food" and I love chocolates and biscuits too! Thank goodness so far I haven't had any bad reactions to any foods at all (except Jerusalem artichokes which I like very much, but which HATE my belly with a vengeance.)
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
@Moof ,

could it be an Ambroxol effect?:lol:

I early realized that I couldn't tolerate milk, when I wake up with a strong headache if I had the idea to drink some milk the day before. I got the same effect with cheese, together with an horrible taste in the mouth!:eek:

Then in 2007, after several years without gluten/dairies, I ate them both again and ended with a severe depression so I definitely stopped them all...:cool:
I wonder if there could be some connection with tryptophan? Rather than just dairy?
 

wonderoushope

Senior Member
Messages
247
it's weird, isn't it? I assume it must be something to do with a shift in populations of gut bugs, but I'd like to know how it happened in case the intolerance comes back in future!

Yes, I have had the same experience. Last night I had an almost a whole wheel of Brie, without effect! Lol.
6 months ago I was reacting to everything on a strict elimination diet, now I am able to bring back most things, but FODMAPS are still an issue.

I too think it's the shift in population of gut bugs, because on the strict elimination diet for 6 months and afterwards, I was told by the dietician to eat 1 cup of lentils a day (although FODMAP I didn't react to badly to brown lentils) and at least 5 servings of vegetables a day. It took probably about 8 months of eating like that to see a change in my gut.

However, I am quite aware I still have to be careful. My dietician best described it as I have a bucket tolerance level, and as soon as I go over that limit, my stomach might go out of whack again. Which always seems to be the case. Okay for 6-12 months start to think I can eat normally and then my stomach goes out of whack. So I know not to go too crazy. If I have a naughty day, the next few days I have to balance it out with clean eating. I would also say, you might not see the effects of your introduced items till months later. So for example, I have been able to eat gluten without no effect (use to get tummy cramps at my worst) but I suspect it is adding to back pain of late, so I am making effort to reduce the amount of gluten in my diet.

Through my dietician and the elimination diet, I also learnt it can take a while for you to see an effect for the foods you consumed. For example, I just thought the maximum time to see the effect of foods was a day, but actually, it can take weeks and months for some people to see the build-up effect of that food.

So even though you are able to consume dairy, I still would not go too crazy with it, because it might just take some time for your body to go over its tolerance level.
 

geraldt52

Senior Member
Messages
602
...So even though you are able to consume dairy, I still would not go too crazy with it, because it might just take some time for your body to go over its tolerance level.

Those are words to the wise.

It is not uncommon for food allergies and sensitivities to wax and wane, and for a period of avoidance of a food to be followed by a period where you don't react to the food. Almost always though, the allergy or sensitivity will return if you return to eating it regularly. The exceptions to that might be puberty and menopause, during which food allergies and sensitivities might appear or disappear completely, even permanently.

Once an allergy or sensitivity is established it's a good idea to treat eating that food as a privilege, not to be abused...not too much, and not too often, and you can probably get away with it.

Another common phenomenon with food allergies and sensitivities is that more often than not it will be a food that you crave that will turn out to be a problem food for you. Kind of a cruel irony...
 

Hufsamor

Senior Member
Messages
2,768
Location
Norway
The exceptions to that might be puberty and menopause, during which food allergies and sensitivities might appear or disappear completely, even permanently.
I had no idea!
do you know why?
I do know a lot of people develop new allergies during menopause, but I'm the first I've heard of who's been better
 
What I learned in my food chemistry classes is that lactose intolerance can wax and wane, go in and out of existence like a radio station going in and out of range.

The intolerance does seem to be dosage-related, so while you may be able to tolerate a little lactose, more might cause a reaction. Each person has his/her own threshold.

Bear in mind, some dairy products have no or very little lactose, or the bacteria in them, like in yogurt, help digest lactose. And while milk in coffee may be OK, drinking it straight would not be.
 

geraldt52

Senior Member
Messages
602
...do you know why?...

I don't...and I don't think anyone else does really. Clearly has something to do with hormones, but what exactly? There's still a lot we don't know about allergies. When I was a little kid my allergy doctor was an outcast, branded a quack by other doctors, because mainstream medicine didn't recognize allergy as a real "thing". Now there's an allergy specialist on every corner...
 
Messages
33
This is fascinating.

My daughter is 14 (not diagnosed with CFS yet) and had a food sensitivity test thing done. It showed she had a slight allergy to dairy to where the doctor said to cut out all dairy except cooked (used in cooking, cheese on pizza, etc).

She loves milk. That is ALL she would drink. No soda. Milk. So I am wondering if maybe slowly introducing it and in small amounts is why you can have it?
 

jesse's mom

Senior Member
Messages
6,795
Location
Alabama USA
I was completely gluten free since June, and can cheat a little, in moderation.

I take lots of pre and probiotics, along with the new addition of Saccharomyces boulardii, My refined sugar is almost nil and low small servings of carbs from oats and rice.

My daughter is lactose intolerant so we use lactose free milk. Notice the sugar content in milk. I am suspect of that. Cream does not have nearly the sugar content. Cooked milk foods and cream seem fine for me now, still in moderation and small portions.

Glad you are loving your milk. Another small note have your seen the research on A2 milk? Many stores are starting to carry it, not here yet.
 

Moof

Senior Member
Messages
778
Location
UK
Another small note have your seen the research on A2 milk?

They've sold it here for quite a while, but there seems to be no whole milk on offer; I really don't like skimmed and semi-skimmed, it just tastes like water.

You can buy lactase in liquid form, though, to drop into a bottle of milk. I didn't do that whilst I was suffering from the intolerance, as it felt as if it was the wrong thing to do – I just had small amounts of dairy maybe once a week as a treat. If I drank tea or coffee I'd probably have used lactase-treated milk in that, but I've always loathed the taste of both. My main drinks are water, diet Coke, and milk when I can have it.

As a side note, the research on low levels of phenylalanine found in ME patients has always interested me. A glass of diet Coke makes me feel much more human, but other drinks (including standard Coke) don't have the same effect. The sweetener in diet drinks contains a source of phenylalanine, and I wonder whether 'supplementing' in this way helps with ME symptoms – I'm not sure, but it's a possibility. Initially I thought it was just the caffeine content, but if were just that, ordinary Coke would boost my sense of wellbeing as well.