Any have a milk intolerance

Soldato
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I was told earlier today that I almost certainly have a severe intolerance to cow's milk causing my digestive system spaz out.

I was wondering if anyone with a similar problem could suggest substitutes for putting milk in tea and coffee etc? I'm told goats milk tastes appalling so hopefully i can find something else.

Cheers.

[Edit] Could a mod change the title to 'Anyone have a milk intolerance?'

I really shouldn't start threads when i'm knackered.
 
I have a mild lactose intolerance, but it just became easier to cut out all dairy.

So I just drink tea black now, like anything it takes a little while to get used to it (same if you add or cut out sugar in tea) but now I love black tea and couldn't face putting milk in it anymore.

The main thing is don't leave the tea bag in the water for very long at all, else it goes very bitter. As a guide, you want to be able to see the bottom of the cup.
 
Majorly. Only developed it last year. I'm sure I made a thread about it a couple of months back, too.

Soy milk for everything now. It's good in tea and coffee.

Whatever you do, don't try to put Sainsburys own brand soy milk into coffee. It turns it.
 
My boy has a milk intolerance we use oatley which is oat milk. There are lots of alternatives though based on other nuts. Oatley isn't too bad in tea or coffee either.
 
There seems to be a history of lactose intolerance in my family. Its mainly the milk sugars (lactose) that some people have trouble digesting. My aunt said that she was told that her stomach lining hds been affected by drinking milk for years and now can't digest it properly without bloating/pain.

I had some digestive discomfort and was advised to go lacto-free over a year ago, so now only buy lacto free milk and cheese (has been advertised on TV and is available in supermarkets) - stomach and digestive system seem much better (less bloating etc). Also those Alpro youghurts and desserts have replaced the other diary products I used to eat. On another note at the same time I gave up caffeine (due to overactive bladder) so no black tea! Herbal and fruit teas all the time now and no major problems since.
 
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Could try something like lemon & ginger tea. I'm not milk intolerant but I drink this stuff instead of tea in the evenings
 
I just ignore it and deal with the pain normally.

Once ate a full pack of Babybel and ended up in hospital after a violent mess up inside my body. X-rays showed loads of thing in my body had swolen so my body was just rejecting everything for about 3-4 days. Very painful experience.

I put normal cheese on practically everything though and love milkshakes every now and then. Normally know when to stop but sometimes get caught out and end up with stomach pains over a few days. (got addicted to strawberry crave cereal last month, then paid for it in pain). Never drank or even tried tea or coffee so i couldn't help you there, hot drinks make me feel sick, never mind the awful smell of tea and coffee.

Basically, avoid a full pack of Babybel like the plague! I haven't touched one since.
 
How did you find out?

My digestive system has been giving me hassle for the last few months..I tried cutting out milk and yoghurt and it seemed to help...but still not normal though.

Will probably give the GP a call when im back from holiday in a couple of weeks, Ill see how I fair eating only fresh food and home cooking in the Med.
 
There are loads of non-cow's milk alternatives on the shelves of the supermarkets, so try some of them to find one that you like. There alre also milks that have some of the lactose taken out, and lactase added to stop it making you sick.

There is even available a milk from cows that don't have the correct gene and fail to make the sugar that causes the problems for those of us that are lactose intolerant.

It's not too dificult to cut out dairy, but you have to make sure you get enough calcium, so if you're having food like cereals, make sure they are fortified with extra calcium. You also have to learn to check out anything you buy. You'd be amazed at how many products have added milk, and it's easier to make your own food to make sure there's no milk in it. It's also worth checking to see which cheeses and butters you can eat, so you don't have to cut all those things out completely.

I also carry around some lactase pills, so if I'm out or have something milky/cheesy, I'm not going to explode a few hours later. You can get them from Holland & Barretts.
 
How did you find out?

My digestive system has been giving me hassle for the last few months..I tried cutting out milk and yoghurt and it seemed to help...but still not normal though.

Will probably give the GP a call when im back from holiday in a couple of weeks, Ill see how I fair eating only fresh food and home cooking in the Med.

If you want to find out properly, you have to go to hospital and do a three hour breath test. I'd recommend following the "do not eat these things" instruction for two days running up to the test (not just one) and then you don't eat anything in the morning.

Then you turn up and they make you blow into a machine a few times over 10 minutes to get a baseline. Then they give you a lactose drink, and you blow into a machine every ten minutes for about three hours. If the gas readings go up significantly, you're properly lactose intolerant, not just "fashionably lactose intolerant". Bear in mind that if you're lactose intolerant, you've just drunk a load of concentrated lactose on an empty stomach, and it will make you really ill a few hours later. They don't tell you that when you take the test.

If you want to try and pin it down youself, just cut out all dairy, pretty much anything made with milk, cheese, butter, youghurt, ice-cream, cream, etc. and see if you feel better. There's milk and cheese in a lot of stuff you wouldn't expect, so you have to read the ingredients carefully if you're not cooking from scratch. Ready made mash, tomato soup, guacamole dip, etc all has milk added. If like me it takes 4-6 hours for the effects to show up, it can be difficult to realise what is causing the probem and what your tolerance is.
 
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Just this year I've had problems with milk.

Would eat cereal in the morning and need to empty what felt like everything from my rear when I got to work.

Cheese is more of a discomfort than the full blown emptying though.

Doesn't help that I LOVE cereal with milk,milkshakes, cheese on toast, cheese pizzas, chips and cheese and crackers and cheese :(
 
Not milk intolerant but drink the alternatives. Some of them barely taste any different and I wouldn't miss milk if I couldn't drink it no more. Well, apart from a decent milk shake perhaps. :p Personally I prefer non-sweetened soy milk.

Guess there's the problem with cheese too. Haven't tried any of the alternatives.
 
I don't have an intolerance, but an allergy (something with the protein? I don't know, just has milk allergy written in some medical papers I have somewhere). My reaction in comparison can be a bit more violent, I don't think I've ever thrown up as violent like I did when younger due to milk since. Although as I grew older I was able to have more dairy, although that seems to be reverting back to what it was annoyingly. Have been allergic since I was born.

Grew up on soy milk though as an alternative, can't stand the stuff really, just horrible. Tastes... of something, very bland. Also I forget what brand it was, but regardless how long it was in the fridge for it never went cold :< But then maybe it was just the brands I had? But yeah, couldn't get on with Soy Milk but not like I had a choice haha. EITHER WAY, I like Rice Milk now, pretty nice! Can be a bit sweet though but imo it's better than the stuff I grew up with :\
 
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I'm not sure if its milk intolerance, but for a long time I'd get pretty bad bloating and diarrhea an hour so after drinking milk. Thing is though sometime it was inconsistent, sometimes i'd be perfectly fine, other times it felt like a nuke was going off in my bowels. I think it was reacting with something else I was eating.

Even stranger is that for the past 9 months or so, I've been perfectly fine drinking milk. Thank god, because I absolutely love the stuff, especially whole milk, not that watery crap. Also goats milk tastes great too, but just a tad bit sour; certainly not appalling.

My suggestion is to give it time, you might develop a tolerance (if that's even possible). Drink milk in smaller amounts, there maybe a cut off point where you start to have problems digesting the lactose.
 
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Since it's just an intolerance rather than allergy, might be worth trying lactase enzyme pills. These help digest the lactose and should be effective if your only having milk in tea and coffee.
 
I used to have, now I'm careful what I eat or drink, after or before having milk. Things like eating or drinking orange (juice) which is acidic when having milk might cause problems. Also drinking milk on an empty stomach. Cold drinks can be a problem. I'm not sure if I had lactose intolerance.
 
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