Could I be lactose intolerant?
I'm okay with having milk in tea or coffee or cereal, but if I drink milk or milkshake alone I get a huge painful bubble in my stomach and chest, that I call a 'milk bubble', and it's really hard to pass (burp out), but feels too big to go anywhere except sit in my stomach and it feels like I have an inflated balloon inside my stomach and just want to burp.
I manage to burp after a while, which often tastes and smells foul, but it relieves that bubble pain.
Does this sound like lactose intolerance or is it just me?
I am not a medical professional but it does sounds like you can be lactose intolerant. I think there are degrees of it and you may have a mild kind being that you can tolerate milk in certain ways. I would just try to stay away from dairy for a month or two then slowly introduce it back into your diet moderately. Have you considered meeting with a Dietician for Nutritionist? -Elizabeth (team member)
We have lots of information about lactose intolerance and testing here: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/testing-and-diagnosis/lactose-intolerance-tests, if you're interested.
I don't think I'm lactose intolerant but I'm the same where I can have certain types of dairy but not others, so I just stay away from the types of dairy that don't work for me.
However, I agree with Elizabeth that it might be interesting to test how you feel without any dairy, just so you know if it's generally a trigger or if it's just the plain milk.
If you end up trying this, please let us know how it goes!
Karina (team member)If this doesn't happen when you drink other liquids, then it has to be the milk which causes it.
I have heard that some people with lactose intolerance often don't get any negative symptoms with very small amounts of lactose-containing foods and drinks (such as the small amount of milk you add to tea.)
And lactose intoleramt people can often eat butter because it actually is very low in lactose (would you believe?)
Can you get something like "Lactaid" prescribed by your doctor? It is the enzyme needed to be able to digest lactose, which some people naturally have, but lactose-intolerant people don't.
Giving up milk-containing food and drink is another option, but the downside is dairy is an actual food group, and it's never great to shun a whole food group if possible.That's great advice, thank you so much for sharing!
I just wanted to add: You're completely right about cutting out dairy as a whole. I had to do it for 6 months at one point and ended up with deficiencies. A dietitian might be able to help with that!
Karina (team member)
