Can Lactose Intolerance Develop After Celiac

[Laurelf]

I have been doing well gluten free for awhile with an occasional hiccup here and there. I am now developing the same bad pains and bloating without gluten in my diet. However, I have kept milk in my diet as I used to tolerate it well. Could I be developing lactose intolerance now or should I search for trace amounts of gluten? When you are gluten free, are you more reactive to trace amounts? I wonder if maybe when I had full blown inflammation, my body didn't bother with trace amounts but now that my system is "clean" maybe trace amounts are starting to bother me?

BTW, I never went back to the dr who wanted me to go back on gluten for a month so he could re-do a negative blood test (despite the fact that I have a celiac gene, fat in my stool, an endoscopy/biopsy that showed flattened folds and possibly the early stage of celiac plus good response to a gluten-free diet and obvious problems after ingesting gluten)

Thanks,

Laurel

[amberlynn]

Yeah, I've been reacting severely to even the tracest amounts of gluten. The reaction is ridiculous, lol. But, yes, you could have developed a dairy problem as well. I, personally, am having a sudden severe issue with egg of all things. I've always had a little trouble with them, but now I can't eat eggs (unless they're baked into something, go figure). So odd.

[AKcollegestudent]

I added dairy back soon after going off of gluten for the very last time (I was in the middle of an elimination diet), and it all looked fine. Until, about two weeks later, I couldn't figure out why I was still having migraines. And I just. kept. itching. My sister-in-law (who has to put up with oblivious in-laws) pried my fingers away and went, "Hey, moron, those are hives."

It took a couple more days, but it was very obviously dairy. I'd never had a reaction before, despite the fact that we'd done intolerance and allergy testing when I was a kid and I'm totally a midwestern-southern kid: I love butter and cheese and milk.

Mind you, my gluten issues have gotten to the point where trace--like under 20ppm--gluten makes me sicker than all Hades.

It could be either one; it could be something that isn't showing up on your radar at all. Many celiacs/gluten intolerant folk on here have had to go completely dairy and soy free in addition to gluten free for the first year or so. Some can add them back; some can't.

[mushroom]

Pondering the question, I think it highly unllkely a lactose intolerance would "develop" after you eliminated gluten. Since the lactase for milk sugar digestion is produced at the tips of the villi, and your villi were flattened, I can't see how you could be digesting a lot of lactose beforehand. Maybe the villous problem was only very patchy, but even so I would think you would have had problems with it. I gave up milk 15 years before I gave up gluten (slow learner ). I definitely think that if you have damage to the villi you should skip milk, cream, ice cream for sure. Probably skip all dairy for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. If it does, then you can challenge with yogurt and low-fat hard cheeses to see if it is all dairy or just lactose that is the problem. Of course, there could be something additional going on, as there was for me as you will see in my signature. Itching and hives were the main symptoms of my other intolerances. You may need to do an elimination diet. How long post-gluten are you now?

[tarnalberry]

Yes, lactose intolerance can develop after you are gluten free - but there may or may not be a connection.

Lactose intolerance in adults is, throughout the world, QUITE COMMON. It is more rare to be able to digest lactose into and through adulthood than to be lactose intolerant. Genetically, once we are done weaning, we tend to produce less and less lactase, the enzyme that digests the milk sugar lactose. Northern European areas that delved into dairy farming a long long time ago gave rise to the mutation that allows some people to consume regular dairy throughout adulthood. You'll see other cultures that have dairy, but it tends to be fermented, or other low-lactose variations.

If it's just lactose intolerance, and you want to continue being able to consume dairy, then you can always get an over the counter lactase enzyme to take just prior to consuming dairy (like Lactaid pills). There is a spectrum of lactose intolerance - it depends on how much lactase you can generate - and the OTC enzymes generally offer enough enzymatic activity for the majority of people who have some degree of lactose intolerance. If you have symptoms despite taking lactase enzymes, chances are you are casein intolerant (a different, IgG immune mediated intolerance to milk protein) rather than lactose intolerant (which is really just an enzyme deficiency, allowing the sugar to go undigested until intestinal bacteria break is down, producing gas (and hence bloatin) as a byproduct).

For reference, any "allergic" symptoms - itching, hives, tingly throat, etc. - would generally be signs of an IgE mediated allergy. More diverse, systemic effects (headaches, aches, abdominal pain, etc.) would generally be signs of an IgG mediated intolerance. Bloating, distention, and gas are generally signs of an enzyme deficiency lactose intolerance. This isn't universal but a good rule of thumb.

[Don in Dallas]

Pondering the question, I think it highly unllkely a lactose intolerance would "develop" after you eliminated gluten. Since the lactase for milk sugar digestion is produced at the tips of the villi, and your villi were flattened, I can't see how you could be digesting a lot of lactose beforehand. Maybe the villous problem was only very patchy, but even so I would think you would have had problems with it. I gave up milk 15 years before I gave up gluten (slow learner ). I definitely think that if you have damage to the villi you should skip milk, cream, ice cream for sure. Probably skip all dairy for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. If it does, then you can challenge with yogurt and low-fat hard cheeses to see if it is all dairy or just lactose that is the problem. Of course, there could be something additional going on, as there was for me as you will see in my signature. Itching and hives were the main symptoms of my other intolerances. You may need to do an elimination diet. How long post-gluten are you now?

[Laurelf]

I have been gluten-free for about 5 months. I did have a test done at enterolabs which showed a slight casein intolerance but I figured since it never bothered me before that I was ok. Maybe I didn't notice the problem with the milk because I was already damaged from the gluten and now that the gluten is gone, I am able to notice the dairy.

[sandsurfgirl]

Yes, lactose intolerance can develop after you are gluten free - but there may or may not be a connection.

Lactose intolerance in adults is, throughout the world, QUITE COMMON. It is more rare to be able to digest lactose into and through adulthood than to be lactose intolerant. Genetically, once we are done weaning, we tend to produce less and less lactase, the enzyme that digests the milk sugar lactose. Northern European areas that delved into dairy farming a long long time ago gave rise to the mutation that allows some people to consume regular dairy throughout adulthood. You'll see other cultures that have dairy, but it tends to be fermented, or other low-lactose variations.

There is quite a bit of evidence that dairy isn't really good for us. A long time ago I read about a study on osteoporosis and they found that the countries that eat the most dairy have the most osteoporosis. Dairy products actually take more calcium to process than they have in them, so they think that dairy isn't really getting calcium into your bones.

You don't hear a lot about studies like that and the cynic in me thinks that it's because the dairy council is so ungodly powerful.

[mushroom]

I have been gluten-free for about 5 months. I did have a test done at enterolabs which showed a slight casein intolerance but I figured since it never bothered me before that I was ok. Maybe I didn't notice the problem with the milk because I was already damaged from the gluten and now that the gluten is gone, I am able to notice the dairy.

I had stool testing done through a different lab which showed a mild casein intolerance, which greatly surprised me. I went dairy free for three weeks and it made no difference so I just went back to lactose free which I already knew about. It also showed a mild egg intolerance, but I have not found eliminating eggs to make any difference either. So I am not sure how accurate these "slight" intolerances are.

I did find that once I went gluten free a lot of other intolerances did pop up which were probably always there. I liken it to callers trying to telephone you and always getting a busy signal because the gluten is hogging the line. Once gluten gets off the line the other people are able to reach you (with their little messages of joy ).

Sandsurfgirl, you think your dairy industry is powerful! Try living in a country dominated by the dairy industry, like ours. The government is totally under their thumb, especially our new government who never met a dairy farmer they could say no to. They are giving them all our water (do you have any idea how many gallons of water it takes to make one gallon of milk!!??) I can't remember exactly now, I just know it blew the top off my head when I found out--okay, I just looked it up, anywhere between 1,400 and 2,000!!! and dairying is polluting all our rivers and streams. (Jumps off soap box). Sorry about that little outburst.

[minniejack]

I've been gluten-free for over 1 1/2 yrs and initially eliminated all milk products. Slowly started adding milk back. Drank kefir, had cheese, but still never able to drink a glass of milk.

Now within past couple of months, I can't even had products that have cream cheese in them. Can still have mozzarella or other cheeses, but no ice cream or cr cheese.

Aargh.

[Roda]

I just eliminated dairy a few days ago. I have not been bloated or as gassy and I've been gluten free 1.5 years. I am confident it is a lactose intolerance and not casin. I have always had a "threshold" sort to speak and if I overdid it I would be miserable. Lately I'm always miserable. The last time I went lactose free was when I was breastfeeding my youngest son over 5 years ago. I still could consume yogurt and hard cheese in moderation without problems, but not milk, pudding, cottage cheese or icecream. Right now I'm not eating any, because I've got a lot of inflammation going on and I want to get that heald. Then I am going to slowly add in some yogurt and hard cheese and see how I do. I found Pacific almond beverage and had it on cereal this morning and really liked it. I may not go back to drinking milk at all. Time will tell.

[henny]

Absolutely!

It happened to me....no problem with lactose until about 3 months after I went gluten free. Then it was really bad for about a year and cleared up completely after about 18 months. I hear it doesn't go away for everyone, but it did for me.