Milk

[GlutenFreex4]

Can you please tell me if you stopped milk for a period of time to allow healing of the intestine? If so, for how long? Would it take longer for healing to occur on milk or is this a case-by-case situation? Milk and milk products are a big part of my son's diet and I would prefer not to have to take him off this unless absolutely necessary.

[shadowicewolf]

Case by case. I removed it because it was irritating my throat when i would drink it (didn't remove cheese though). Reintroduced with no issues.

[kareng]

I don't really drink milk but I eat cheese and yogurt, etc. I didn't take it out. I reduced it a bit. If I put cheese on my sandwich then none on my salad.

You could try to keep the milk in for a month and see if he is getting better. The reason is that the part of the intestine that gets damaged is the part that digests milk. If he only has a small amount of damage, he could be able to digest it OK. I don't think it effects the healing from Celiac but it could make you think nothing is happening if he has a problem digesting milk.

Google lactose in foods. Some cheeses, yogurts etc have a lot less than milk does. Maybe you could get the OJ with the calcium and he could still have cheddar cheese at one meal. Just reduce a bit.

[Adalaide]

A nurse practitioner advised me with no reasoning or solid advice behind it to cut out all dairy with the exception of yogurt which she told me to eat every day. She told me to read on the internet how to be gluten free and sent me home. I've always drank a few gallons of milk a week and while I cut back significantly I found I just couldn't stop. I went through dozens of milk substitutes but when all you want is a tall glass of cold white milk there is no substitute. Milk doesn't make me sick and frankly without a sound medical reason not to be drinking it I find the idea of not having it positively absurd.

[SMDBill]

I've been lactose intolerant since birth. If lactose is the problem, have you tried switching him to Lactaid? I'm not a fan of white milk but to me, Lactaid tastes nearly identical. I use it daily now that I have celiac in order to start the healing. Is he lactose intolerant or can he process smaller amounts of lactose? It really depends on the condition. Milk causes severe D in me so I know when I have it that I'll pay the price. Lactaid has nearly solved that and I have not yet cut out milk in products, such as candy or baked goods. I use lactaid in mashed potatoes and other baked things that I make myself, but I still ingest if something has milk within it. The small amounts seem to not create an issue, but a glass of milk causes major problems.

Can you try cutting him down and substituting where possible? Have him try Lactaid? I drink a glass of milk every day and Lactaid was the answer. Soy was nasty to me and I couldn't adjust. Almond milk was ok. Lactaid was my answer, but others prefer the other varieties so you could experiment until you find his preference.

[shadowicewolf]

Lactaid does not taste similar at all >_< Waaaaay too sweet and watery and tastes off.

[GlutenFreex4]

As far as I can tell, he has NO problem with milk whatsoever. He drinks at least a couple of glasses everyday, has it on his cereal (now gluten free) and loves cheese. I would only remove it from his diet if I had to! I am anxious for him to start growing and if this helped him, we definitely would give it a try.

[SMDBill]

Lactaid does not taste similar at all >_< Waaaaay too sweet and watery and tastes off.

I must be a lucky one because I'm guessing my lactose intolerance kept me away from milk long enough to not remember exactly how pure white milk should taste. I gulped some Lactaid down last night and it met my memory of how milk used to be, but that memory is probably skewed from reality from the years of passing up milk. I drank the 2% variety and I'm not sure I could handle the taste of whole or skim.

[shadowicewolf]

Yeah thats probably the reason.

[Mary5757]

Hi, I asked my dr a similar question. The milk does not cause further damage or slow down the repair but if they develop temporary lactose intolerance it will just create discomfort and it will be hard to tell if they are getting better. My daughter is currently lactose intolerant, if she consumes dairy she gets really fussy and irritable and uncomfortable. If your son seems to tolerate it fine then there is no need to remove it from his diet. The milk isn't causing the damage, it's just so hard to digest that those with a lot of damage experience pain when drinking it. Once the gut is healed the pain goes away (in some/many cases but not always). Good luck! I wasn't seeing much improvement on my daughter, but once I cut out dairy I noticed a lot of improvement. If you are noticing improvement without cutting dairy I'd keep it. No gluten and no dairy is hard!