Please help me.

[finsmummy]

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Hi,
is there anyone who can give me advise. I think I may have so type of intolerence to dairy or cow products. I have been to the doctors and he said that they dont do any tests for dairy/cow intolerance. I dont know what to do. I really need to know if I have this condition. I am not sure of the symptoms. But I really can't eat cheese without having very bad tummy cramps, and feeling really sick. It is the same for milk and yogurt. And I now think that eggs are doing the same. The sicky feeling is terrible.

Please could someone give me some advice. I have had a test done by the York institute. But i am not sure that I trust this.

Many thanks
Claire (fins mummy) :headbang:

[Lan]

Hi there Claire,

My advice would be to go back to your doctor and ask him to register you under a state registered dietician. The dietician will be able to help you explore your diet for culprits, and be able to cut them out of your diet safely. The only problem is you may have to wait a few months to see her/him. They may then put you on an elimination diet which will be cutting many foods out of your diet, and then re-introducing them individually. I will be starting this in a week and be keeping regular postings, so please feel free to look for reference.

If you are thinking of cutting dairy products out on your own then please make sure you are getting enough calium, by going to the local health food shop for calcium tablets and by eating plenty of soya foods enriched with calcium.

I am actually intolerant to dairy produce and am allergic to caffeine and citrus, and this has been for the past 7 years. It took me 3 years to get the doctor to believe me. Please retry with your doctor and if he is still unco-operative then possibly change, but please do not take no for an answer.

Also do not suffer alone as all that come to this website know exactly how you feel, or have watched someone they love suffer with the same problem.

If you would like to e-mail me personally then I will be away for the next week, but my partner will be here and ready to answer any questions you may have.

I wish you luck and please remember to stay in touch.

Kind Regards,

Lan
(Website Owner) :lol:

[Pam]

Hi

Our doctors don't test for intolerances either so it is a case of elimination diets and guesswork. I've read up on tests on a few different web sites and the York lab ones seem to be the most highly recommended, though aren't 100% accurate (neither are the hospital tests unless you have a true allergy).

I really don't think it is all that important to get a positive diagnosis of an intolerance from a doctor (though I know we all feel better having a doctor tell us what is wrong). What is really important is knowing that by cutting out certain foods we feel better and managing our own diet in such a way as to exclude problem foods and as Lan suggested, a dietician can help you do this.

Your best course of action would be to exclude all milk and egg products from your diet for at least 3 weeks to enable your system to be completely clear. After that time you should introduce a little of your problem foods and take note of any reactions. You, yourself will then know for sure if you should exclude milk or eggs from your diet in the future.

I'll be reading Lan's elimination diet diary with interest because I seem to be having more problems these days which I think are due to my diet but I don't think I could live on boiled rice and chicken for weeks on end until I worked out my problem foods. (Lan please will you tell us what foods are allowed in the elimination diet?)

A word of caution though, make sure that any supplements and medicines that you take don't contain milk - a lot of tablets use lactose to bind the ingredients.

[jill]

I followed my own elimination diet to discover that it was dairy that was the route of my problems. I can't remember where I read it but one article said that some foods may take up to 4 days before any symptoms show. which doesn't make life easy when trying to find the culprit. You just have to be patient. I suppose a lot of it depends on how much you are having as well.

Jill

[aprilgrace]

pam, thanks for your advice about medicines, have just discovered that my contraceptive pill contains lactose!!!

Never would have thought milk would be in it, although it must be a tiny amount.

april

[Pam]

You're not safe with condoms either - most of them use casein (I believe) in the manufacture. There is a contraceptive pill that contains no animal products, it is listed in the Vegan Shopper as Femulen made by PD Searle & Co (part of Monsanto) but this is progestrogen only (mini-pill?) and has still been tested on animals. There may be others that do not contain lactose but you will need a helpful pharmacist or doctor to find them. I suppose it all depends how bad your allergy or intolerance is.