Lactose Intoleratn And Celiac

[Paigie]

I've had lactose intolarance off and on for several years. When I went on a low carb diet, which eliminates alot of wheat products it got much better and was able to have milk products again.

Recently the intolerance has returned while still eating low carb and not even taking lactaid helps. I'm in the process of being tested for celiac and was wondering if there is a connection between the two? Thanks.

[kabowman]

Lactose intolerance can be a first, if you miss the rest because they are and can be very general or are asymptomatic sympton of celiac disease.

[Paigie]

Lactose intolerance can be a first, if you miss the rest because they are and can be very general or are asymptomatic sympton of celiac disease.

Thanks for the reply.

Please forgive my confusion, are you saying there is a connection?

[tarnalberry]

I've had lactose intolarance off and on for several years. When I went on a low carb diet, which eliminates alot of wheat products it got much better and was able to have milk products again.

Recently the intolerance has returned while still eating low carb and not even taking lactaid helps. I'm in the process of being tested for celiac and was wondering if there is a connection between the two? Thanks.

Lactase, the enzyme that breaks apart lactose, is secreted by the tips of the intestinal villi. If the villi are damaged (say, due to celiac disease), lactase production may be severely or completely impared. So, yes, there is definitely a connection. If large quantities of lactaid don't help, however, it may be something more (like a casein intolerance).

[Paigie]

Lactase, the enzyme that breaks apart lactose, is secreted by the tips of the intestinal villi. If the villi are damaged (say, due to celiac disease), lactase production may be severely or completely impared. So, yes, there is definitely a connection. If large quantities of lactaid don't help, however, it may be something more (like a casein intolerance).

Thank you for responding and helping me to understand.

I haven't tried large quantities of lactaid, what you would you consider a large quanity?

If a large quanity helps, then could I assume that the intestinal villi are not involved?

I had a latte yesterday and now I'm severly bloated and constipated, does that sound like a casein intolerance? I'm sorry for all the questions, but this is all new to me and I do appreciate the help, thanks again.

[eKatherine]

Thank you for responding and helping me to understand.

I haven't tried large quantities of lactaid, what you would you consider a large quanity?

If a large quanity helps, then could I assume that the intestinal villi are not involved?

I had a latte yesterday and now I'm severly bloated and constipated, does that sound like a casein intolerance? I'm sorry for all the questions, but this is all new to me and I do appreciate the help, thanks again.

You clearly reacted to it. Everybody's different.

My "hot milk drink challenge" ended up giving me two bouts of diarrhea and swollen hands, feet, and ankles for a week.

[tarnalberry]

Thank you for responding and helping me to understand.

I haven't tried large quantities of lactaid, what you would you consider a large quanity?

If a large quanity helps, then could I assume that the intestinal villi are not involved?

I had a latte yesterday and now I'm severly bloated and constipated, does that sound like a casein intolerance? I'm sorry for all the questions, but this is all new to me and I do appreciate the help, thanks again.

A large quantity would probably be two of the 'ultra' ones. I'm casein intolerant, so I don't remember what the dosage was... If a large quantity helps, I WOULD assume that the villi are not involved - it's the villi that produce the lactase, and if they're so damaged that they don't produce any, you would have to take plenty of lactase to make up for that. If you still react despite a large dose of lactase, then I'd consider casein intolerance - the symptoms can be difficult to distinguish.

[Paigie]

A large quantity would probably be two of the 'ultra' ones. I'm casein intolerant, so I don't remember what the dosage was... If a large quantity helps, I WOULD assume that the villi are not involved - it's the villi that produce the lactase, and if they're so damaged that they don't produce any, you would have to take plenty of lactase to make up for that. If you still react despite a large dose of lactase, then I'd consider casein intolerance - the symptoms can be difficult to distinguish.

Thank you for all your help and insight into this, it's becoming over-whelming quickly.

From what I understand, once and if the villi are restored that one can try introducing milk products. Does that hold true for casein? I dread giving up all milk products for life. And may I ask how you were dx'd for casein intolerance? Thanks again.

You clearly reacted to it. Everybody's different.

My "hot milk drink challenge" ended up giving me two bouts of diarrhea and swollen hands, feet, and ankles for a week.

It's strange, but I can have skim milk on some cereal and the milk won't bother me, but the latte will cause symptoms.

I just don't understand why the majority of people get the diarrhea and I don't...maybe I'm trying to stay in denial. Thanks for sharing your expereince and replying to my questions.

[tarnalberry]

Yep, after the intestines heal, they would theoretically start producing lactase again. But lactose intolerance is *very* common and increases with age, so there's no guarantee.

I discovered I was casein intolerant by doing an elimination diet. When I challenged with dairy (lactose-free dairy), I had headaches, constipation, and intestinal pain. Going without dairy is (IMHO) harder than going without gluten, but still definitely doable.

If just the latte's giving you problems - not milk or yogurt or cheese - then I would suspect the latte. What kind of latte is this? (A few of Starbuck's lattes, for instance, *do* have gluten - but it's like two or three of them.)

[Paigie]

Yep, after the intestines heal, they would theoretically start producing lactase again. But lactose intolerance is *very* common and increases with age, so there's no guarantee.

I discovered I was casein intolerant by doing an elimination diet. When I challenged with dairy (lactose-free dairy), I had headaches, constipation, and intestinal pain. Going without dairy is (IMHO) harder than going without gluten, but still definitely doable.

If just the latte's giving you problems - not milk or yogurt or cheese - then I would suspect the latte. What kind of latte is this? (A few of Starbuck's lattes, for instance, *do* have gluten - but it's like two or three of them.)

You know, the funny thing is regular skim milk, cheese nor yogurt seem to give me the kind of reaction having a latte will.

I do get lattes from Starbucks, but mostly I make them at home. I have, at both places, a decaf latte made with heavy cream and sugar free vanilla. I use the heavy cream because I've low carbed since the year 2000 and the heavy cream has no carbs. They've just recently started giving me stomache upsets with the bloat, constipation and heart burn of all things. It seems like the cream just lays in my stomache.

Now, mind you I can have sugar free ice cream and not get the same reaction.

I will definatley dread giving up dairy far more than gluten and I can't imagine how hard that's going to be.

It's pretty confusing to me and I sure appreciate your insight.

[penguin]

I would say it's a coffee problem. Coffee is pretty harsh and can tear your stomach up. Personally, sometimes I can have it, sometimes I'm not so lucky. Try cutting out the coffee and don't change anything else and see if that makes a difference.

[eKatherine]

I think that the more the milk is heated, but more reactive it is. I first realized I has a sensitivity to casein after eating too much dulce de leche, which is boiled for hours. My hot milk drink contained no coffee, which I can't have any of.

Some people say that raw milk will not provoke these responses, but since I don't have access to raw milk, I can't test it.

[kabowman]

My youngest son, who is lactose intolerant, cannot tolerate ANY dairy products, including hard cheeses, without 3 lactaid ultra pills - at 82lbs. We started with one, then two, but three is all that will help. As long as he takes his lactaid, he is OK so it is not a casein intolerance (and we tested the theory with an elimination diet).

Maybe there is something else in the latte that is bothering you and not the lactose.

[rinne]

I've been told that the combination of coffee and milk is hard on the liver, I was told this by an Italian/German who swore that only at breakfast would any Italian have milk in their coffee and then it was expresso all day long. He had some reason for why breakfast was o.k. but I don't remember it. For myself, I can only drink coffee that is organic, any other coffee seems to upset my stomach and make me very jittery. I only drink one cup of coffee when I am drinking coffee and I did have to give it up totally for a while, only recently have I been having a little.

After going on a gluten free diet and not improving I had to admit that dairy was giving me a problem, bloating, constipation and gas with some nausea and I gave it up. I didn't want to but now that I have I am feeling so much better. I don't miss it nearly as much as I thought it would and have created a substitute for ice cream that I like better.

Oh, and I've always been on the round side with C my issue, not D. I never looked like the idea of what someone with Celiac looks like until this winter when I melted.

This board is a great resource, glad you found it.

[Paigie]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences, it's been so helpful. I really appreciate it!

I think I'm going to try the extra lactaid one last time as an experiment and see what happens.

I don't have a latte everyday, but it's just one of those special treats that brings a little joy in my life, so I don't want to give them up if I don't have to. If I'm convinced either by experiment or testing that I'm lactose or casein intolerant than I will.

I don't know if there are levels of intolerance, so I'm wondering why I can eat cheese, yogurt, butter and even skim milk and not be bothered?

Perhaps it is the heating of the cream as I do order my lattes "extra hot" and make them extra hot at home, I think I'll try making my experimental one less hot at home and see if that helps.

Again, thanks for everyone's help!

[rinne]

Hey, it's summer, why not try an iced latte? That way you don't have to heat up the milk at all.

[Paigie]

Hey, it's summer, why not try an iced latte? That way you don't have to heat up the milk at all.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I would if I liked cold coffee, it's just one of those things that I like hot, even extra hot..bummers, huh?

The good news is, if I turn out to be celiac and or lactose intolerant I'm really good at giving up things I shouldn't have. I've just decided to spend the days leading up to the biopsy eating and drinking things that I may have to give up to have that one last hurrah and experiment and pay closer attention to reactions.

Thanks again!

[dionnek]

I've only been gluten-free for 2 months now and at first was in denial about the dairy, but I am not feeling any better (still D about 8 times a day among other symptoms), so recently "cut back" on my dairy (still have a little bit of cheese in my food every now and then, or a scoop of ice cream and did notice that my D went down to about 4 times per day. But, whenever I do go and get my iced mocha or chai tea latte (even though I'm now getting those with soy milk), I have D right away after drinking it. I thought soy milk was lactose free? Does it have casein and maybe that's my problem? Or maybe it's just the soy, who knows. Anyway, I'm quite sure my villi have not healed since I had "extensive" damage per the biopsy.

[kabowman]

There are levels of lactose intolerance. Many people can even drink a little milk without any problems, I don't know of any but I have heard that, others can tolerate cheese (not american) and yogurt - my step-daughter can but not much more than that--she rarely gets sick at our house because I am very careful with her diet, whether she knows it or not, even if she isn't. She is always sick at her mom's house because they don't see the connection. My son cannot tolerate any without his 3 pills. His doc uses 4 if she is going to have anything with dairy.

You need to find the level you can handle and then after that point, do the pills. If it is just the latte, maybe you find a different treat.

[evie]

[quote name='rinne' date='Jul 12 2006, 07:13 AM' pos

. I don't miss it nearly as much as I thought it would and have created a substitute for ice cream that I like better.

This board is a great resource.

.

[tarnalberry]

You might try doing coffee without any milk (or using a milk sub, like soy milk or almond milk). It really sounds like it's not dairy, but the coffee. If it were dairy, you would have problems with dairy items, which you listed as not having problems with. :-)

[Paigie]

You might try doing coffee without any milk (or using a milk sub, like soy milk or almond milk). It really sounds like it's not dairy, but the coffee. If it were dairy, you would have problems with dairy items, which you listed as not having problems with. :-)

I can see why you might think that, however, I can have a cup of decaf with heavy cream and it doesn't bother me, in fact I can have several cups in a row. It's just the lattes that seem to be the culprit. I'm thinking that may be because I use MUCH more cream in a latte then a cup of coffee. In fact, in a latte it's only two ounces of coffee per 8-10 ounces of cream..depending on the size.

I went and bought the lactaid today and plan on taking 4-6 pills before I do my test latte to see if that helps.

I have the biopsy next week so I'll have a better idea what to do after that is done and the results are back.

I have a feeling that I'm not celiac or lactose intolerant as much as I am suffering from slow motility, but my doctor wants to test first for celiac and SIBO then we'll go from there.