A Question About Other Intolerances

[Nic]

Hi, as I have posted before, I have been trying to figure out if my Celiac son is also lactose intolerant. While constipation was his symptom before diagnosis, very heavy loose bm's became a part of his daily life after diagnosis. In an attempt to solve this problem before Kindergarten the pediatrician suggested challenging his lactose intake. I started using Lactaid chewables when he ingested dairy and the loose heavy bm's turned into normal bm's. Sounds good, right? So I challenged it by taking him off the Lactaid twice. The first time he showed no outward symptoms of discomfort (but this is a child that needs to be in agony before he will admit anything hurts) but his behavior was off, very hyper. The next morning had one of his very heavy loose bm's. I wasn't sure about this being caused by the lactose because he seemed a little off and I thought maybe he was getting sick. So I tried it again. I took away the Lactaid last week for 1 day. No problems with gas or anything (that I know of, as I said, he doesn't discuss discomfort). But the next morning there was the very loose heavy bm again.

Is it possible that he is lactose intolerant and he is not reacting directly after ingestion? I will also add that up until the beginning of July he was being glutened regulary by a take out place that said there was no wheat but there was as it turns out (about 2 times a month for a year). So my guess has been that his insides have not completely healed due to the glutening and that explains the trouble with lactose. Any ideas?

Nicole

[darlindeb25]

The only way you can be sure is to remove the lactose from his diet and go from there--see what happens. Everything about celiacs is trial and error. No simple answers here, sorry. Deb

[kabowman]

My lactose intolerant son is like that too - if it is an internal "hurt" he doesn't seem to notice and has a very high pain tolerance, on the outside, well compeletely opposite (my oldest has the exact opposite issues, on the inside/invisible he is miserable, on the outside, no problem).

Anyway, it was a year after we figured out the lactose thing before he started to really tell me he was uncomfortable, even if I noticed the gas and the running to the bathroom, he didn't seem to realize he was having a problem.

He still will eat foods that bother him, he is very sensitive and we have gone to 3 lactose pills each time he eats any dairy, even hard cheeses. Maybe your son isn't too sensitive - some people can even drink a glass of milk with no or little reactions, only if they eat a bunch.