Question About Secondary Lactose Intolerance

[mamatide]

My DD (5yo) has Celiac Disease (we're 99% sure) and has been having a sore belly without the associated glutening-type of symptoms.

We're thinking maybe we should be cutting down on the dairy/milk for a while (she's been 3.5 mos gluten-free).

My question is: is giving her Lacteez milk fine, or should I even be avoiding that? She eats cheese, yogurt etc., but we've been cutting back on it (not eliminating it).

But to me, giving her lacteez or lactose-free milk should be just fine and shouldn't affect her belly. Am I right?

I'd appreciate any clarification you all can offer..

Thanks

mamatide

[Nic]

Hi, this was a misconception that I was recently corrected on myself. There are people who are lactose intolerant and then there are people who are allergic or intolerant to the protein in milk. This would be concidered a casien intolerance. If your child is lactose intolerant, then a product like Lactaid that supplies the body with the lactase enzyme to help digest the lactose would be fine (I am unfamiliar with the product that you named). In which case, your child could still eat dairy products as long as they were taking the enzyme. Yogurt does not count. They can eat it on its own due to the bacteria in it.

But, and this is an important but, if your child is intolerant to the protein in dairy, these aids will not help at all. Your child would need to be on a dairy free diet. As I said, I just went through the same thing with my 5 year old and I decided to try taking him off just lactose by using Lactaid but at the same time having him tested for the milk protien allergy (it is called a RAST test and test for all the major allergens, just a blood test). He tested negative for all other food intolerances so I am still trying the Lactaid.

I hope this was of some help to you and I didn't just confuse you more.

Nicole

[ryebaby0]

I am guessing from the header you already know that the lactose intolerance is a side-effect of untreated celiac? Unless your child was actually allergic to dairy prior to the celiac disease dx, avoiding lactose (but not casein/whey proteins) can be enough. Things can be lactose free but NOT dairy free (take, for example, CoolWhip!) We eliminated all dairy for about 4 months, which is hard, but some doctors (ours included) worry about actually setting off a dairy allergy. We re-introduced dairy first in low-no-lactose items, and then gradually added in regular dairy. No ill effects.

To be sure what you are dealing with, keep a food diary. Start with NO dairy, and add only ONE item per week, and record any reactions. A RAST test alone is not definitive -- you can have a positive RAST test but also need to have a clinical reaction to a food to be considered allergic to it. When I wanted to retest my son for egg allergy, his doctors recommended we just feed him some and see what happens, since they consider RAST to be pathologically interesting but clinically insufficient.

joanna

[Nic]

avoiding lactose (but not casein/whey proteins) can be enough.

joanna

My doctor never told me to stop giving my son dairy he was first diagnosed. And now that I am questioning if he is lactose intolerant (it has been over a year since diagnosis) the doc is saying he doubts it but he definitly was when he was first diagnosed (I can't figure out why I was never told this). I know your not an expert, but does it sound possible that maybe since I never took him off dairy, he is still having a problem with it? Maybe some time off will help him heal more? I don't believe it is the milk protein not only because of the RAST but also because now that he is off just lactose and also taking Acidophilus (which the doc thinks is really the one helping him) he has been symptom free.