alergic to dairy... lactose intolerant...?

Whenever I have cheese I get a bad tummy. Think eggs are having the same effect. Don't think milk does it but I only have it in tea and its skimmed anyway!

How do i know if i'm lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy?

Talk to your doctor. First of all, eggs aren't dairy, but its entirely possible to be separately allergic to them. And milk has a LOT more lactose in it than cheese, and skim milk has just as much as whole milk. There are simple tests for lactose intolerance or a milk allergy (which is much more severe). Try eliminating these foods for a while and see if your stomach improves. But do talk to your doctor.

I have the same problem. And i just figure that if it bothers my stomach, i have an intolerance to it. lol. SO, i switched to soy milk. i think hak1031 has the right idea about talking to your doctor if you really want to know the specifics about it though.

I know many people- myself included, that have a hard time digesting eggs. Stay away from it and see how it makes you feel. If you can still eat things containing eggs, it's probably just that.

Lactose intolerance and having an allergy to dairy are two entirely different things.  I am lactose intolerant and when I eat milk, yogurt, cheese or any kind, ice cream, pudding, or basically anyhting more than trace amounts of dairy I have horrible pains and gas.  It starts with my stomach feeling bubbly and gurgly and then the gas starts and then I start having some tightness and pain and then I usually have really bad diarhhea.  It started abut a year agoa nd has gotten progressively worse.  It used to just be a little gas and only happened when I ate ice cream.  For a long time yogurt didn't bother me (they say that is because of the cultures in it), but just recently I found out the hard way that it now happens with yogurt too - so its basically all dairy.  Which SUCKS b/c I love yogurt...and cheese...and ice cream : (   

Side note, as someone mentioned eggs don't have lactose and I am fine with eating them.  I eat eggs nearly every morning for breakfast.

I guess minie it's good news that you're only lactose intolerant and not allergic to dairy as lactose-free yogurts are available :)

I've discovered that lactose-free EVERYTHING is available!  Most taste reasonbly similar, but I do really miss a nice aged cheese and regular old ice cream.

Hi.  It best to have an allergy test if you are worried, or like everyone else said, eliminate them from your diet and see if it helps.   Gradually add one thing at a time then you can work out what is upsetting your stomach. 

Dairy allergic is a whole new thing.  I am allergic to dairy and it makes life very difficult.  Traces of milk and dairy are in everything.  If I even have a trace of dairy then I have breathing problems, stomach problems and my body responds with immune problems. Not fun.  It sounds like you may be intolerant so try the elimination method and see if it helps. 

Good Luck

Eggs are not dairy. For that matter, cheese has very little lactose in it. If you think you might be lactose-intolerant, you could try drinking a small glass of milk and waiting to see if it upsets your digestion... but if you think you might be allergic that's not a good idea. (lactose-intolerance just gives you digestive discomfort for a few hours, but an allergy can be really nasty.)

My mother can't have cheese - she's sensitive to the mould spores that are found in cheese factories - you know that white stuff that sometimes shows up on the outside of a block of cheese? It's really all through it, and she's allergic to it.  She's fine with milk, cream, butter and yoghurt, but she can't eat cheese or it makes her sick.

Thanks so much everyone. It has helped a lot.

I've tried not having cheese and i have been fine until i have it again- even a small amount.

By the sounds of it eggs are okay but will try introducing them as with milk and yoghurt and see if they have an effect.

Am vegetarian so i find myself eating a lot of cheese and drink milk regularly. It is mature cheddar cheese that i have found i have the problem with whereas cottage cheese, philadelphia, and edam cheese are okay.

If it continues or gets any worse, dont worry i will see my doctor bout it.

Thanks again for your help everyone

Hi,

I'm new to the site so first of all I say hello to everyone!

This is going to sound real strange, but I had the same symptoms you're having and it turned out to be my gallbladder.  It seems the gallstones where a cluster of cholesterol...so my level went up to 224, took out the gallbladder, level dropped to 179 no more stomach problems but I put on 30 pounds w/in the next year.  Hopefully it's not the same problem..

i have this problem. i got tested and it showed a few allergies.

If you are allergic to cows milk becareful to read packets as often whey, cream, dried milk etc are added ingredients in the strangest of places.

I can however have goats milk or sheeps milk as they have much less lactose, this means at least i can still enjoy cheese. Im a vegetarian anyway and am grossed out by animal stuff so rarely have dairy just occasional cheese and butter butwould never drink milk or yogurt so ive been on soya for years and its fine. Theres a great selection of soya milk, yogurts, cheese etc so you wont miss out.

Either speak to your doctor and get yourself checked, or if thats hard cut all milk out for a few weeks and see how you feel. Try reintroducing goat or sheep milk after a few weeks to test if these are ok for you.

It doesn't sound like lactose intolerance to me.  Softer cheeses like cream cheese and cottage cheese are much higher in lactose than mature cheddar cheese.  I would talk to your doctor about it.

 Maybe you should also start thinking about how greasy food that you eat is to see if that is a trigger.  If you are having gallbladder  troubles high oil foods like cheese or eggs if they are cooked in a lot of grease could be giving you problems.

I thought of something else.

You are likely already logging your food on here, but try keeping track of how it correlates to your pain.  Also don't forget to take your overall mood into consideration.  I have complicated issues with chronic pain in my stomach and it is always more of an issue when I am really stressed out and/or not getting enough sleep. 

Hi All,

 Something else to add. I am intolerant to Dairy so I have eliminated it from my diet (aside from the odd ice cream indulgance). When I first got rid of Dairy I couldn't figure out why there was no change. Turns out I am also allergic to Soy (as is my Father - both Dairy and Soy), so all the soy products I was consuming in place of Dairy were not helping me at all! Thankfully it is all digestive issues so there is nothing really severe, just extremely uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing.

Just thought I'd give the heads up. There is nothing more frustrating than being diligent in elimanating foods from your diet and discovering another, previously unknown culprit.

If you feel ill after eating dairy, it's probably intolerance. It's very common. Allergies tend to have different effects, including hives and especially ear infections in children. To confirm an allergy you will need to see an allergist. Either way, it sounds like you should avoid dairy at least.

Eggs are also a fairly common intolerance to have, although not as common as dairy. You could try an elimination diet with your doctor's assistance if you want to be sure what the problem is.