Lactose Intolerance

Lactose Intolerance


Here’s a free collection of resources about lactose intolerance (also called milk intolerance).

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Lactose Intolerance Survey

We’re surveying people about their experiences with lactose intolerance. Here will be a collection of their responses.

*This information is not meant to replace medical advice, and the information gathered via surveys may or may not be correct. Hopefully it will be helpful to you!

*Response format = Answer (Name, Age)

**Click here to share your experience with Lactose Intolerance**

Lactose Intolerance Symptoms

What symptoms have you experienced?

  • Diarrhea, nausea, and sickness in the mouth. (Polly, 13 years old)
  • Bloating, heartburn, indigestion, and constipation. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Constipation, mental fog, stomachache, bad breath, and gas. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Excruciating pain, sickness, diarrhea and constipation, and wind. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • Sinusitis and chest infections. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Very bad diarrhea, abdominal pain, gas and bloating. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Causes

Is there anything you believe contributed to or caused your lactose intolerance?

  • An overabundance growing up? (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Adult-onset, it began when I was pregnant with my son who is ALLERGIC to dairy and never went away but has just improved a bit with time. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Fine until I gave birth to my last child. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • The fact that it seems to be hidden in so many foods and I was brought up having to drink cows milk on a daily basis. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • The only thing my doctor and I thought is any dairy product. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Facts

What are some interesting facts about lactose intolerance?

  • There are different levels of lactose in different cheeses. Parmesan being the lowest. Ricotta being the highest. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • It can be temporary when you are pregnant or not go away. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • It can vary from week to week some weeks can only eat a square of chocolate and have a severe reaction and other times I could eat a whole bar with just some major wind as a reaction. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • It surprised me how many products I found it in. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • It’s horrible. It disrupts your life. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Pain Management

What’s your experience with Lactose Intolerance-related pain and pain relief?

  • Supplements used to help. Not anymore. It’s easier to avoid. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Lactaid hurts my stomach more than dairy itself. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Pain is indescribable as if all my internal organs are swelling up and trying to push through my chest, mint can relax it slightly or make me vomit which helps but the pain is there for hours sometimes days. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • Most medicines I am prescribed for pain relief have lactose as an ingredient. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • If I stay away from dairy I feel better. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Difficulties

What are the hardest aspects of living with lactose intolerance?

  • Cheese is on everything or everything is cooked in butter at restaurants. All the GOOD desserts at restaurants have dairy. It’s ridiculous. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Not being able to enjoy foods I like without knowing if it will stop my digestion for a couple days. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Ice cream in the summer, and finding milk in something that you wouldn’t expect so you have a reaction. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • Difficulty eating out, other people think it is just in milk so they think you are just being difficult. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Worrying about being near a bathroom. Not wanting to go anywhere. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Advice

What encouragement/advice can you give others who are lactose intolerant?

  • Do your research. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • There are many options for dairy-free foods these days, more than in the past and it is possible to live dairy free if Lactaid doesn’t work for you. My son has lived nearly 5 years without dairy and I’ve been dairy free a great deal of that time with him. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Read every label, if going out for a special occasion get lactase enzyme tablets, they really do help. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • I find that lots of probiotics can help. There are some quality dairy substitutes available now (nut milk, ice Cream) I use Alpro unsweetened almond milk mostly, but I like to use cashew sometimes too as I don’t want to overuse one particular nut. Also, try different brands as you may prefer one over another, but it’s the hidden products you need to read the labels on (ketchup, crisps, sauces). I think having one lactose intolerant person in a supportive household can improve the diet of the whole family. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Talk to a doctor. Hopefully, he can help with tx and meds. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Treatments

What’s been your experience with treatments (medication, etc.)?

  • Not helpful, or they help temporarily only. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Lactaid hurts my stomach. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Laughable, as so much medication, contains lactose. (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Some are better than others. One fantastic med is not off the market. The company is not making it anymore. Very depressing, but hang in there. Try to live a productive life. It’s very hard. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Recommendations

Anything you’d recommend for someone with Lactose Intolerance?

  • Switching to nut milk. Enjoy life chocolate chips are amazing. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Almond milk, you get used to it and if you can handle Lactaid use it for cheese, you will miss cheese a lot. (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • For day trips out with friends and family pack your own snacks, saves a lot of label reading. Learn to bake! (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Try to live your life, even though it can be very hard. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Resources

What specific resources have you found most helpful?

  • Aria. (Polly, 13 years old)
  • Godairyfree.org (Marissa, 30 years old)
  • Facebook group. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • Google! (Bernie, 57 years old)
  • Online pamphlets, friends, and doctor. (Cindy, 60 years old)

Lactose Intolerance Stories

Share an experience you’ve had related to living with lactose intolerance.

  • There isn’t much education on it. Baby boomers don’t even know what is considered “dairy free”. They think cooking with butter isn’t bad or is only a little and it won’t be a big deal. (Hannah, 26 years old)
  • Having severe toothache at work someone offered me painkillers which I took gladly only to be worse off 20 minutes later as they were coated in lactose. (Teresa, 42 years old)
  • Having a bad episode while out. In long bathroom line and not being able to get in. Stressful. (Cindy, 60 years old)