Is This Lactose Intolerance?

[Beth in NC]

I am on day 10 of being gluten-free. Initially I began to feel my energy return and my chronic constipation of as long as I can remember, disappeared. I did get glutened 3 days ago, I think, because my energy level plummeted, I was ataxic and my fibro pain increased. I'm still have not gotten back to where I was a few days before. Now I am having D. Well, not too frequent, only twice today, but definitely D.

My question is, how will I know if this is part of being glutened 3 days ago, vs the fact that since I'm trying to loose weight, I'm eating more fresh fruits/veggies, or thirdly that I'm not handling the dairy products? Wouldn't I have been having issues with lactose prediagnosis?

I honestly don't want to cut out something else, since many of the great gluten-free things out there I can' have simply because they are too sweet or high in fat. I have FF cottage cheese daily and maybe a cup of skim milk a day too. My cottage cheese and fresh pineapple are my snacks in lieu of ice cream or cookies!

If this is a lactose intolerance, how long does it take the villi to heal before they can produce lactase again? My biopsy said "severe villious atrophy" if that helps at all.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Puddy]

I know there are differing opinions on whether you should cut out dairy the first few months you go gluten-free. Most people seem to think you should until you've healed somewhat and then reintroduce it. That being said, I have been lactose intolerant for the past 30 years but wasn't diagnosed with celiac disease until this past March. I have always handled the lactose problem by using Lactaid milk and taking Lactaid pills before consuming any dairy product. I've continued to do that after I was diagnosed and have had no problem whatsoever with eating and drinking dairy products. I asked my gastroenterologist about using the Lactaid and she said it was perfectly fine. And I know my celiac disease is improving since I've had blood drawn twice since being diagnosed and my numbers have dropped dramatically. So you could possibly give that a try to see if it helps you. Just an idea.

[psawyer]

"Severe villious atrophy" would cause you to be lactose intolerant. Lactose, the enzyme needed to digest lactose, is secreted by the villi. As the villi heal, they will gradually resume production of lactase.

How long it will take is a difficult question. Recovery time seems to depend on many factors. They include (obviously) the severity of the damage, but also how long the celiac has been untreated (how long your body has been attacking itself), and the age of the person. The longer it has been going on, the longer it will take to heal. Older people tend to take longer to heal.

When I was diagnosed eight years ago, nobody told me about the relationship between the villi and lactose tolerance, so I just kept on eating dairy like I always had. I saw improvement in my symptoms almost immediately, but it took about four months for the diarrhea to finally clear up. I was 46 when diagnosed.

You may have had lactose issues prior to diagnosis, but with all the other celiac stuff happening, it may not have been possible to see the link to lactose when lots of other things were also making you sick.

[Beth in NC]

I just turned 45 and I honestly don't know how long I've had this. My GI doc thinks several years?

I read somewhere that another member of this board went really bland at first...chicken, potatoes... I've done that this afternoon and evening, mainly just to calm things down. I think I'll stick it out like this a few days and see if my gut returns to "normal" and then try dairy again just to see if that is it.

I remember when I was a pediatric nurse and a mom called whose kid had D...we put them on the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast). Even after things calmed down we told them to wait a good week or two to put dairy back in. I guess in MY case, it will be gluten-free TOAST!!