Living with Lactose Intolerance
Forgive me for writing another food related post, but they just keep a coming! This one is about me discovering that I was lactose intolerant.
Growing up I had a friend who was lactose intolerant and she would always complain about not being able to drink regular milk and so on. I was never worried about that because it wasn't a transferred disease or anything like that. I couldn't catch it. But I never knew a person could grow into it, until it happened to me. I had been drinking milk everyday at high school like a good girl but towards the end of sophomore year I noticed that I would get stomach aches after drinking milk or eating pizza. And it would stay constant because I drank milk at home as well. This went on for a few weeks and I didn't really think anything of it.
Then came the ice cream from McDonald's; the devil ice cream! My parents and I stopped by one on the way home from somewhere and I got a sundae to go. We got home and started eating our desserts. After the first few spoonfuls of mine I started to feel a horrible pain inside my stomach. I thought for sure my intestines were eating each other! The pain was so bad that I couldn't even finish my snack and I thought that I'd be done for.
When the pain finally stopped I was overjoyed! But my parents told me that they had given me an informal diagnosis of being lactose intolerant. What? No. I couldn't have that. It was impossible. So we decided to do a test. I wasn't allowed to drink milk, anywhere, for a whole week. I went through the experiment and my constant stomach ache went away.
So now that I've had this for a few years I've learned some things. I have to take pills with foods that are milk rich. So like actual milk, ice cream, and pizza. But normally I drink lactose free milk. Other cheeses are okay. If I eat some lactose laden food and I don't take a pill my stomach gets all rumbly. And every once in awhile I test myself by eating ice cream without a pill. Each result is the same, a rumbly stomach and a bit of pain. I also discovered that if I eat cheesecake without a pill I will regret it later. I don't know how long this will last because it's possible to grow back out of it too. So now I'm just taking my pills and hoping for a day when I don't have to take them anymore!
Also, these pills are my best friend. Always in my purse when I need them!
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Growing up I had a friend who was lactose intolerant and she would always complain about not being able to drink regular milk and so on. I was never worried about that because it wasn't a transferred disease or anything like that. I couldn't catch it. But I never knew a person could grow into it, until it happened to me. I had been drinking milk everyday at high school like a good girl but towards the end of sophomore year I noticed that I would get stomach aches after drinking milk or eating pizza. And it would stay constant because I drank milk at home as well. This went on for a few weeks and I didn't really think anything of it.
Then came the ice cream from McDonald's; the devil ice cream! My parents and I stopped by one on the way home from somewhere and I got a sundae to go. We got home and started eating our desserts. After the first few spoonfuls of mine I started to feel a horrible pain inside my stomach. I thought for sure my intestines were eating each other! The pain was so bad that I couldn't even finish my snack and I thought that I'd be done for.
When the pain finally stopped I was overjoyed! But my parents told me that they had given me an informal diagnosis of being lactose intolerant. What? No. I couldn't have that. It was impossible. So we decided to do a test. I wasn't allowed to drink milk, anywhere, for a whole week. I went through the experiment and my constant stomach ache went away.
So now that I've had this for a few years I've learned some things. I have to take pills with foods that are milk rich. So like actual milk, ice cream, and pizza. But normally I drink lactose free milk. Other cheeses are okay. If I eat some lactose laden food and I don't take a pill my stomach gets all rumbly. And every once in awhile I test myself by eating ice cream without a pill. Each result is the same, a rumbly stomach and a bit of pain. I also discovered that if I eat cheesecake without a pill I will regret it later. I don't know how long this will last because it's possible to grow back out of it too. So now I'm just taking my pills and hoping for a day when I don't have to take them anymore!
Also, these pills are my best friend. Always in my purse when I need them!
Comments
I keep a pack of Lactaid pills handy if I eat at other people's homes; you never know how much milk they add to their recipes.