Dairy Intolerance In Addition To Gluten

[carrielynn]

My husband was diagnosed with celiac disease about a year ago. I went gluten free for 2 months and didn't notice any difference in how I felt. I went ahead with the Enterolab testing and the results indicated I have 2 gluten intolerant genes and that I am having immune reactions to both gluten and dairy. The stool testing results were:

Gluten sensitivity Stool Panel Complete

Fecal Antigliadin IgA 33 (Normal Range <10 Units)

Fecal Antitissue Transglutaminase IgA 18 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score <300 Units (Normal Range <300 Units)

Cow's Milk Protein Sensitivity Stool Test

Fecal anti-casein (cow

[tarnalberry]

casein intolerance isn't like lactose intolerance. the former is an immune response in the gut in response to the protein, the later is a lack of an enzyme that allows bacteria in the intestines to break down the sugar. casein intolerance doesn't go away, like temporary lactose intolerance due to villi blunting.

you can use milk alternatives for things like lattes, but cheese is a hard one to replace. it's not that bad, though.

[hathor]

I haven't heard of casein intolerance going away.

Dairy has a common effect of binding you up. So taking that out can easily make things, uh, more free-flowing. It could be that your body just needs some time to get used to the absence of dairy.

Did you add anything to your diet when you took the dairy out? If so, you could be reacting to that.

I don't know if there is any research about how exact you must be in avoiding casein. I can only offer my personal experience. For over six years, I was following a mostly vegan diet. I would occasionally find that a restaurant would put a little cheese, cream, or butter on things without mentioning it on the menu and I wouldn't send it back. On special occasions, like Thanksgiving or birthdays, I would have desserts containing dairy. A few times I even had a little cheese. But we are talking about a touch of dairy once every month or two. (Except for my idiotic slice of cheesecake during Thanksgiving weekend ... a major mistake my body proceeded to tell me for quite some time )

You can see for yourself the level of my casein antibodies.

So, at least for me, a stricter elimination of casein is necessary.

[carrielynn]

I haven't heard of casein intolerance going away.

Dairy has a common effect of binding you up. So taking that out can easily make things, uh, more free-flowing. It could be that your body just needs some time to get used to the absence of dairy.

Did you add anything to your diet when you took the dairy out? If so, you could be reacting to that.

I don't know if there is any research about how exact you must be in avoiding casein. I can only offer my personal experience. For over six years, I was following a mostly vegan diet. I would occasionally find that a restaurant would put a little cheese, cream, or butter on things without mentioning it on the menu and I wouldn't send it back. On special occasions, like Thanksgiving or birthdays, I would have desserts containing dairy. A few times I even had a little cheese. But we are talking about a touch of dairy once every month or two. (Except for my idiotic slice of cheesecake during Thanksgiving weekend ... a major mistake my body proceeded to tell me for quite some time )

You can see for yourself the level of my casein antibodies.

So, at least for me, a stricter elimination of casein is necessary.

My diet has been the same, except for no wheat or dairy. I haven't added anything new or exotic. I have lost 3 pounds though!

When I took the enterolab test, I was drinking lattes, eating ice cream, cheese dip, etc. So my results were reflective of me eating quite a bit of dairy.

I don't really feel differently, except for the "free-flowing" output, as you put it!

I'm sure the Enterolab results only indicate that there's a casein intolerance, not the severity of it. Your score was quite a bit higher than mine -- that was with your little slip-ups versus my full-blown dairy diet. But I'm thinking that my severity was just limited to constipation from time-to-time. No-one else in my family has ever commented on problems with dairy.

Thanks for everyone's replies! All stories and advice are welcome!

[hathor]

I'm not sure that a positive Enterolab result means more if the score is higher. At least for gluten, they say that the numerical value of the antibodies doesn't indicate the severity of the problem. One shouldn't be producing antibodies at all, the theory goes.

I asked them about what I thought was my "borderline" yeast result. I really didn't want to stop it. But they weren't buying it

You could always email Enterolab, tell them what you are experiencing, and see what they say.

Sometimes one's body takes a while to adjust to cutting something out. I remember that 2 1/2 weeks after stopping gluten, I had some incredible diarrhea (and my problem before was 98% of the time constipation). But that died down ... until 2 1/2 weeks after I cut out soy, when I had another bout. It was as if my body was trying to purge itself of the stuff clinging to the inside of the small intestine. (Gluten, casein, and soy all do this.) Now I'm fine.

I didn't think I had a problem with soy or yeast. I never noticed I had a problem with either. But now my intestines are working better than they ever have. Some persistent dermatitis that nothing has worked on is also clearing up. My menopausal hot flashes/night sweats are also going away. Coincidence?

I would be concerned if your diarrhea continues. Sometimes people seem to get more reactive to other things once the biggies like gluten and casein are taken out of their diets. It's like your system gets healthy enough to say, "Hey, I don't like THAT stuff either!"

I've read enough stories to know that it isn't a simple matter of "cut these things out, feel better and better everyday." Folks seem to have these glitches along the way.

I hope you can work this out. More I think of it, the more I think you should contact Enterolab ...

[GFgirly]

I get really bad stomach aches after the majority of things that I eat and have cut out dairy as of a few days ago. It's really starting to interfere with school, when I get a reaction it feels as though somebody has punched me in the stomach and my thinking gets somewhat distorted. I had surgery on my stomach a month ago and it took suppositories, miralax, and a fleet enima to finally clear out my system (which plugged up again in about 2 days.) I've had a few boughts of laxitives since then and each time my distended stomach and constipation goes away it comes back in a few days. My doctor is starting to suspect that this is something more than just effects of the surgery, it seems ive been what she refers to as "functionably constipated". Do any dairy intolerants remember having this issue? I had blood work done a while ago testing me for all allergies and my doctor told me the only results were celiac's disease. Any thoughts?

[AliB]

The extreme reaction I got to gluten was Diarrhea. As someone mentioned, it was like my body was trying to purge itself of the stuff, to get it out of my body as soon as possible.

As I knew that I was also dairy intolerant I dropped that at the same time, however, here and there I would sneak a bit of cheese. To my surprise it bunged me up - not something I had ever had to contend with. I can only assume that the D reaction I got from gluten was stronger than the C reaction I got from dairy!

About 2 months after I dropped the gluten/dairy, and realising that whilst certain things were helped by that, others weren't, I started following the Specific Carb Diet (SCD). During the first few weeks my elimination ranged from C to D and everywhere in between.

It eventually settled down but even now, 18 months later, certain dairy will still give me C. I do take more fats, even butter, which seems ok, and things like coconut oil, ghee and olive oil and that helps, as does things like magnesium and vitamin C if I need it.

After years of digestive issues, my digestion finally collapsed 18 months ago and it has taken me all that time to rebuild it but meanwhile certain other issues, like IBS, restless legs, burning feet, neuropathy, and Candida problems have either gone completely or are much improved.

I was intolerant to almost everything initially, but gradually I was able to reintroduce other foods to the point that within the diet constraints I can now eat fairly normally. I now follow an SCD/low-carb/Candida protocol and that is helping to mop up the few remaining issues.

I do believe that certain gut bugs are a lot to blame for many of our health problems, especially digestive, but a lower carb regime deprives them of their food source and helps get them under control - they luuuurve carbs! Fats, especially coconut oil, can also help by breaking down their lipid coating and destroying them. That has really helped my digestion which radically improved after I added that to my diet. I now take the equivalent of about two level tablespoonsful a day.