how i found out

[floliketheriver]

:rolleyes: Hi everyone :D
Glad to know there is a forum for us dairy free peep.

I would like to introduce myself & a little about myself. I am Irmgard 38yr old mum who lives in the UK.

I have suffered since i was about 19 & only diagnosed as IBS when I was 20 then last yr I kept bleeding, the bloating got worse & I looked 6 months pregnant.

I was initially told I was to put up with it, until I had been rushed into hospital x2 in a few months, I ended up having 3 minor ops on my bowe & outside of.

Since then I have had a hysterectomy (sept 2002), been suffereing oseteoarthritis ((1986) and other probs.

Just last week I got my results back saying I was flat lactose and have to go on a dairy free & lactose free diet.

I have been doin my best since march 22 this yr to stick to it until i see a dietician in 6 weeks. But I still have problems. I know also dairy sets off my sinuses which I cannot see thru my eyes and have chronic pains in my head, eyes & face.

Back to the diet I went to the local DSS tp go from income support to incapacity benefit & have been told I cannot claim for special foods. In just a few items a day excluding breakfast dinner & tea, it costs £4 which amounts to £28 week.

I find this disgusting and I have lost in weight 1½stone since march., but still suffering, only 2day I have been in bed all day due to chronic pains in eyes & face and also cramps in my stomach. which I think was due to something from KFC whilst i was on a day out sunday.

Can anyone shed any light on whats best/not best & can I get help for any of this food??

I go to Sainsburys which have a great selection now and Asda have a few but mostly it kills when i am out. As summer is approaching I cannot live on Jacket potatoes & salads anymore lol..

Thank you all for readiing this & hope to get some help & make some great mates with whom can be understanding with what i am going thru & vice versa.

My email is theirm@ntlworld.com

[Lan]

Hi,

You need to be very careful while eating out in fast food places. Many of the foods they have contain some for of dairy.

There's a list of common forms of dairy products listed on this site, which you can see by following this link here. (http://www.dairyfree.org.uk/article_milkdir.php)

There are many ofther people here with dairy allergies and intolerances, so any questions you have, feel free to ask them here and we will try to answer them for you.

Lan
(Website owner)

[floliketheriver]

Thanx, i am waitin 2 c the dietician n i see bowel surgeon on fri, thing is with these places is, like u say you dont know whats in the foods, enen fries have coating on them.

in future i am eating my own food whereever i go lol, even took microwave 2 work lol, only work few hrs on saturday.

its like having baby ..take big bags stuff with u wherever u go lol

[Pam]

Hi Irmgard

Where abouts are you? I'm not far from Huddersfield and judging by your post about local shops you must be somewhere near me. If you want to send me a private message I can help you with shops in my local area who are worth a visit.

My daughter is dairy free as she is intolerant to cow's milk protein and I later went dairy free myself and felt an immediate improvement to my health (hay fever cleared up, fewer hives episodes and better sinuses) so I am used to dairy free catering now.

I don't buy a lot of special dairy free products, only milk, cheese, margarine, yoghurt and ice cream. For the other stuff I just look for brands that don't contain milk. So it needn't be too expensive. If you read the labels carefully you should be able to find suitable supermarket bread (unless you are wheat free too with your IBS).

I also have a breadmaker and substitute butter with oil (it's easier to measure anyway) and I either use soya milk powder or soya flour as a substitute for skimmed milk powder, though there are some recipes in my instruction book which don't use milk at all. I always make my own birthday cakes for the kids and have to cook other things from scratch so I can use dairy free substitutes but most recipes work well this way.

Pam

PS Swedish Glace is another dairy free ice cream which is widely available and is really nice.

[floliketheriver]

Hi Pam

Thanx for replying...HOPE U R OK.. :D

Im in warrington, cheshire.

I am intolerant to not only dairy as i have severe IBS ( had more tests again 2day :angry: ) but flat lactose, stil i bloat and break wind, also have sinuse probs, and lots other probs too. been like this 20 yrs but diagnosed properly 4 lactose last week. been dairy free since march,

recently i have bloated 2 like 6 months pregnant again, and due to all probs have 2 come off all medication, can't even have anti Ds so can't afford 2 get down.

i am really gettin fed up with it and broke down at hospital 2day as don't seem to know what to do.

I have 2 wait 5 weeks 2 c dietician and go back 2 specialist in december, so i am strugglin alone now. seems even DF ice cream (i tried one u mentioned) and tofutti, and soya drinks sets me off. So I am stuck now. Have 2 put up & shut up i suppose.

I went to a jewish shop as there not allowed milk n stuff and found it helpful, i enjoyed pea soup 2nite with proper toast, i had beadmaker it didn't come out nice ..so now i can enjoy salad butties with DF spread yippeee.

How far are u from me??

[Pam]

Hi Irmgard

Warrington is probably about 60 miles away so you're not all that close and it certainly wouldn't be worth you traipsing all the way over here for what is on offer in my locality.

I have heard that Swedish Glace ice cream can cause problems for some people but I don't know which ingredient is the culprit, it is supposed to be vegan so should not have any dairy in it whatsoever. Perhaps you could make your own ice creams or try some sorbets instead.

I hope you get some answers when you see the dietician, but from personal experience I have found that it is often me telling them the answers as they know the nutritional bits but they know very little about allergies and intolerances (or maybe ours is just useless).

We've never been offered testing but most of the tests don't seem to be very reliable anyway. The one done by York Labs seems to give the best results but this is something that individuals have to do thmselves and costs over £100. It sounds like your body is taking some time to settle down and you might possibly have other intolerances beyond dairy but I hope you manage to sort it out soon, it's not nice feeling so ill all the time.

One tip I can offer is to keep a very strict food diary (even if you just have one sweet offered by someone else), write everything down including the manufacturer and quantity, also keep a log of your symptoms. This will help the dietician to assess your problems.

Good luck

[floliketheriver]

Well Pam

I travel at leats once week to leeds which is 70 miles away and will be going to Harrogate sometime next week.

Going back to the Jewish shop 2moz with mate who's just joined this forum also.

Think you may be right about other intolerance. I think that York test is good also, even though not tried it i was ready 2 pay upto £400 before i hit a good DR who sent me to see Gastrointestinal specialist/surgeon. who saved me the money & got tests underhand, some Drs don't believe it do they.

Anyway must go got 2 sort some tea out, I had lovely beef salad barm today (YES DAIRY FREE) and enjoyed it, it tasted so good, also i had dairy free, egg free, mayonaisse from Asda.

Spaek soon

Tek Care

Irmgard

[Pam]

Leeds isn't far from me and I actually work near Junction 27 of the M62 but I rarely go into Leeds - driving around there is a bit hairy for me! There is a large Jewish community in Leeds so I would imagine that they are well catered for. I have one or two small health food/wholefood shops that I use, supermarkets and I also buy from a wholesale wholefood co-operative. I love finding new shops and new products but I get really annoyed that you have to travel far and wide to get a good range of products. I do think that supermarkets are getting better these days and almost all of them now have 'free from' ranges. 2 years ago when I was first struggling with a dairy free child there was very little help or support and suitable products were very difficult to find.

The only things that I really struggle to find now are a good alternative to cheese and a thick cream, let me know if you come across either please.

[floliketheriver]

Hi there

not read all ur post but at bottom cheese & thick cream.

i believe tofutti do cheese ..solid one for toast etc and i found thick cream. its £1-09 ..

listen i am goin to leeds on tuesday stayin over till wednesday. perhaps i can meet u with a tub see if u like it?

i come off at junction 29 on the m62 and join M1 till junction 47.

PM me personnally or better still email me if you'd like this..

the cream we made a cake 2day victoria sponge n put cream n jam in.. 4 peep who dont have dairy free liked it my mate who is DF liked it and so did i yum yum

[floliketheriver]

Hi again its me lol, is junction 27 hartshead?

If u want me 2 meet u there is no prob at all .. and i have 3 tubs cream, its only 15 mile away where i get it from ill be go every week or every 2 weeks as get bread n stuff there now spent £42 2day and £20 other day. let me know asap spo we can make arrangement.

Irmgard

[Pam]

Junction 27 is Gildersome (the M621 link and A62) and also where Ikea is. I won't arrange to meet you this time as I am really busy this week and don't know when I could make it.

Cheese - I use Tofutti too, the slices do eventually melt if you use them on pizzas, lasagne or nachos (breadmakers do great pizza dough too). I don't use the cream cheese one as much but it is good on jacket potatoes especially if you add herbs or something else to give it a bit of flavour.

Cream - what make is it? I have only been able to find Soya Dream by Provamel and the Granose one but both of these are like single cream and won't whip up at all.

Where is the shop in Leeds that you use and is it easy to get to/park a car? I might be brave and try it myself.

[floliketheriver]

Think its by a company called Rich and it does whip up to quite a volume.

The shop I will be visiting is in Harrogate, it will be my 1st visit.

The best thing to do is look for DEli,s as they are Jewish shops.

The one I have been going to is in whitefield off the M62 junction 17. spent £62 there in 5 days, got soups, mixes, ice lollies, biscuits, chicken nuggets, pies, bread, barms, puddings, beans n sasuages, pot noodles, to name a few, and not forgetting the cream.

I have friends in leeds where i need 2 go this week anyhow so Its 10 miles from juntion 47 on M1 or there abouts. I will be coming home wednesday. What I will do is go on their pc and let you know what the stuffs like etc, i know he sells pies etc and bread sliced at 97p,. Heres the addy and phone number, if you ring him can you tell him a lady from warrington passed you on from a DF group, if they know we pass peep on, may get more shops if you know what i mean.

Anyway no worries on cream yet, and heres the addy & tel number.
:D
Yes aswell look out for words like kosher.. that means dairy free ..meats that are prepared in a dairy free environment & PAREVE is also DAIRY FREE as Jews are not allowed to mix dairy with meat.


Myers Famous Kosherie
410, Harrogate Rd
Leeds West Yorkshire
L S17 6PY
Tel: 0113 268 2943

mon 9-5.30
t w t - 9-6
fri 9 - 2
sat closed
sun 8-2
opening hours

and last but not least directions...
M1 follow harrogate wetherby
follow A61 about 7 miles
turn off morrtown which leads onto harrogate rd

Irmgard

[floliketheriver]

Pam theres a shop in harrogate rd leeds that do dairy free hard cheese. I havent tried it yet as everytime i go they have none.

I am due down in next 2 weeks.

also theres another cream called white top, got some in, not tried it yet.

if u get rich cream and don't wanna use it all, i find i waste half, take cardboard off cut into 3 and freeze seperate, obviously don't let it defrost .. its easy to cut and will cut cost down 2 each cake .. 30p per filling lol..

gonna make DF cake 2moz out of book and not bought one at £3 and also shepherds pie..yippppeeee.

i lost all food in big freezer over £100 so stocking up bit by bit..

have u tried packet soup and dumplings? thats nice...

Irmgard