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Can you develop a milk allergy/sensitivity "late" in life


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I've been feeling bloated lately. Not constantly but there are definite times that I feel over full and it's not that I've eaten a whole lot at the previous meal. But I can usually trace it back to having eaten a big dairy serving, usually milk.

 

For a while I've been making a yogurt smoothie for breakfast - yogurt, fruit and a scoop of protien powder - whey protein. Sometimes I feel bloated. The other night, dd's ice cream cake. DH cut huge slices and the top 2 or 3 inches was ice cream - bloated big time. Today we stopped at Chick-fil-A and got shakes. I fee bloated now.

 

This has only been happening for the last month or so, the bloated feeling. I can have a glass of milk and be fine. It seems to just be the big dairy servings. So have I somehow become sensitive to dairy?

 

I say "late" because I'm 38, but I'm only 38.

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Yes.

 

Also lactose intolerance is a cumulative thing. You can rebuild some lactose tolerance by going dairy free for a while & then adding it back gradually. I have to rebuild my tolerance about once a year.

 

It's easy to test if it's lactose intolerance - just buy a pack of lactase enzyme pills at the drugstore & see if they help. You take some with every dairy item ingested.

 

My lactose intolerance also gets worse when my immune system is otherwise lowered by lack of sleep/stress or illness.

 

True milk allergy would be different but also can change with time. I was never an 'allergic' person but in the last 5 years I've been getting wallopped by seasonal hayfever. :glare: Hate it.

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Yes I think you can. Both my brother and I were in our late teens but I have heard of cases where it wasn't diagnosed until much later. Because lactose intolerance is caused by your body not producing enzymes it could simply be that your body has always had problems producing it but as you got older it had more and more problems.

 

Try not eating any dairy for a week. Then start again. If the feeling comes back then you are probably lactose intolerant.

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After my second child I could no longer have soft cheese/yogurt but could eat ice cream and drink milk. After two rounds of testing I am 'negative' for milk allergy but they have no clue why when I eat yogurt the right side of my face blows up and is very red. same for excessive amounts of mozz cheese, mexican white cheeses, ricotta cheese....

 

so I am not 'allergic' to dairy but have intolerance to many dairy products!

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Yes.

 

Also lactose intolerance is a cumulative thing. You can rebuild some lactose tolerance by going dairy free for a while & then adding it back gradually. I have to rebuild my tolerance about once a year.

 

 

:iagree:

 

My 17 yo is (was) my cheese & milk guzzler. He could drink a gallon of milk in a few days all on his own, and would eat several string cheese sticks a day. This was his norm, for a very long time. Then, all of the sudden, milk began to give him bad stomach pain and acid indigestion.

 

The doctor told him that he should do a colon cleanse because dairy can back up in your system and cause stomach problems and lactose intolerance. He said to lay off dairy for a while. Well, my son did not do the cleanse, but he did cut waaaaaay back on his dairy intake and I purchased organic lactose free milk for him and lots of yogurt (yogurt didn't cause him any trouble). Several months later...it's probably been six...he can now drink regular milk again, as long as it's organic, without any problems. He doesn't overdose on it anymore though, which is a good thing; organic milk is EXPENSIVE! :D

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I would say yes as I've gone from sensitivity to dairy to full blown allergy. All my life I've had diarrhea and excema from dairy and had cut down to just cheese and yogurt. For some reason I'd dropped both for a while then had something with dairy and I had a HUGE hive reaction. Now I will always get hives from simple trace dairy. I've been off all dairy (even trace) since May and recently tried a week of trace dairy (no cheese, no overt dairy) and I'm back to diarrhea, excema and hives.

 

so, I'd say yes.

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with everyone else. You can suddenly develop an allergy to anything, so milk would be no different. Plus, like others have mentioned your body has to work harder and harder to digest it.

 

One other thing I wanted to mention was a possible gallbladder problem...?

 

I recently discovered that I have gallstones, and for a while there I was having gallbladder attacks and a lot of bloatedness and one thing that really seemed to give me a hard time was dairy. One night I had a sundae and it was rough! I'm sure you would be noticing other things bothering you too if it was a gallbladder problem, but I just thought I'd mention it anyways.

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OMG! I could have written this post and I am 38 too! ...

 

Same here, and I'm 41. In fact, I made a doctor appointment (coming up in Nov.) to discuss various issues, including this one.

 

I was experiencing symptoms similar to IBS and even a peptic ulcer, but could NOT figure out what triggered the pain from episode to episode. Greasy Mexican food did, but greasy hamburgers did not, for example.

 

I wish it were just bloating. Mine is accompanied by painful gas, nausea, and and cramping that eventually leads to the passing of very loose stools, after a brief period of constipation.

 

TMI, eh? :001_smile:

 

 

Anyway, I thought I had reduced the food triggers that brought this all on, until a few weeks ago, when I had a large bowl of ice cream, and in a short time, was experiencing all these common IBS-like symptoms. I put two-and-two together, thought about other triggers, like Mexican food -- and realized it was probably the CHEESE, not the grease, that brought the pain.

 

I didn't think you could develop lactose intolerance later in life, but according to WebMD, you can. The symptoms all fit me, too. So, I'm pretty sure I've figured out what my problem is -- but I'm still checking with the doctor, just in case it is something more serious. (And, in the meantime, reducing my dairy intake.)

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I don't have time to read all the posts, but I have to say that I developed a lactose intolerance in my late 20's

 

It seems to come and go. That may be because I don't consume a lot of dairy on a daily basis. If I go over a few slices of cheese or milk in my cereal I get hideous bloating, gas, pain, etc, until I can...well... ummm... use the facilities and get rid of it.

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It can develop later in life. It did with me. The thing that doesn't make sense, though, is why you can drink a glass of milk without problem. My experience is that straight milk is the most problematic form of dairy.

 

Go dairy free for a week or so. If the bloating continues, see a doctor. It can be the symptom of other medical conditions that need attention asap.

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My experience is that straight milk is the most problematic form of dairy.

 

Go dairy free for a week or so. If the bloating continues, see a doctor. It can be the symptom of other medical conditions that need attention asap.

 

I'm wondering if the glass of milk is small enough that it's not an issue.

 

I hadn't thought of the bloating being indicative of something else. Thanks!

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