Could I be lactose intolerant?

There are plenty of different theories out there about how cow's milk actually affects our bodies.

The issues with milk—lactose intolerance

The truth about milk

Milk and dairy products

Milk and osteoporosis

chani said:apparently if you stop drinking milk for a long time, you lose certain gut bacteria, making it hard to digest later on. Meanwhile, people who drink it every day don't have any issues.

I think I remember hearing something like that too.

I agree. Your body can get used to just about anything... but it can also unlearn things.

Casey Palmer5 said:The other day I made myself a little cup of hot cocoa, maybe about 8 ounces, and for the next two hours I was absolutely dying from how heavy my stomach felt. I just wanted to throw up. Talk about greed... 😁

A few days ago I had a cheese pastry and washed it down with an 8-ounce carton of chocolate milk, and man, my stomach was not happy about it... A Coca-Cola actually helped a bit. 😁 Honestly, I always have a Coca-Cola with my pastries... It’s funny, when I was a kid, I used to have cocoa and toast every single morning before school. Now, I might grab a cheese pastry once a week—though I think it's more the grease than the cheese that gets to me—and maybe a chocolate milk or two shakes a month. Interestingly enough, those shakes don't seem to bother me as much...

Here we go again 😬
So, lately I’ve been living on dairy. Chocolate cereal, cheesy tortellini, cocoa for breakfast, you name it.
And honestly? Everything started making me feel sick after I ate. I have some chocolate cereal—stomach turns. I make cheese tortellini—feeling sick. Cocoa with toast and jam? Nausea. I even had fried cheese, and about an hour and a half later, I felt terrible. (I thought maybe it was just the grease from the fries I had with it, but no—the nausea started happening with everything else too.)
Now that I've cut out all dairy, the nausea is gone. 🙏
No diarrhea this time, just straight-up hellish nausea and stomach cramps.
Yesterday, I basically survived on a banana, half a kiwi, and some almonds. I didn't eat a real meal until dinner.
Should I actually bother going to my doctor? What is she even going to tell me or send me for?

(For the record, since I started this thread, I've been eating dairy totally fine without issues. I wasn't sitting there two hours after a bowl of chocolate cereal waiting for my stomach to stop acting like a freaking yo-yo.)

Edward Green said:Given how long this has been dragging on, I really doubt it was just the milk. I’m finally starting to feel human again today, so I might actually be able to leave my room for a bit.😬

My mom called our doctor, and she thinks it might just be some kind of stomach flu. I've been living off activated charcoal, plain white rice, crackers, and Earl Grey tea, and honestly, I'm feeling pretty much okay now. I think I'll skip the dairy for a while just to be safe. And as for getting a gastroscopy? Yeah, absolutely not—unless it's literally life or death, I am never doing that again. One was more than enough for me.😁

Sounds to me like you might have accidentally had some spoiled milk.

Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty nauseous whenever I eat stuff like Cocoa Puffs, Cream of Wheat, or whatever.

Mind you, that was back at the end of last year.
And look, it wasn't just me drinking milk. It wasn't even just about the milk—I'm talking heavy cream straight from the carton, cheese, all that. And it wasn't always the same brand of milk, either. Nothing was expired, and nothing was sitting there on its absolute last day of being good.

chani said:I guess athletes just have higher requirements for that kind of thing.

I don't feel like hunting through various threads to find this specific topic, so I’ll just ask right here:
Is consuming milk actually beneficial for people undergoing intense physical exertion—say, a demanding training regimen three times a week?
Personally, I’ve never been much of a milk drinker, but I am curious if there is any real merit in having a glass of milk in the evening following a workout.

I’ve been a total milk lover since I was a little kid. Just absolutely adored it.

Then, out of nowhere—right around my 19th birthday—everything just flipped. Suddenly, I’m dealing with nausea, stomach cramps, the whole works. It actually took me a while to figure out what was actually going on with my body.

But yeah, for me, it hit right as I was leaving my teenage years behind.
🙂

So, it's definitely possible. 🙂

It’s totally possible. Honestly, even I get a massive stomach ache if I drink too much milk at once!

It’s possible if there’s some kind of crap in the milk

You might want to give goat milk a shot since it’s supposedly a bit healthier 🙂
Besides, I've heard that as we get older, we start losing that enzyme needed to break down dairy, so for some reason, goat milk seems a lot easier on the stomach

I guess it’s just one of those things where getting older makes it way harder to handle dairy. I used to chug milk all the time back in the day without a single issue, but nowadays? Yeah, no thanks. I can manage a little splash in my Black coffee or something, but straight up milk is a total no-go for me now.
Just because someone’s body is acting up about milk doesn't mean they have to ditch everything else! You can totally still enjoy stuff like yogurt or cheese, since those are way easier on your system.

Look, nothing is ever truly impossible. I was basically drowning in milk when I was a kid—it was all I wanted. But fast forward to today? I’m incredibly picky about it. I can only handle cold milk, and honestly, I’m super selective about the brand because if the scent is even slightly off, it drives me absolutely insane. As for warm milk? Forget it. I can't even bring the glass near my face without feeling like I'm going to throw up. Yogurt, sour cream, fresh cheeses—those don't bother me at all. Anyway, I really hope what happened to you was just a one-time stroke of bad luck with some spoiled milk and that you won't have to deal with that mess ever again.
Hey, take care.

I don't think it's your stomach acting up, I mean... it's probably just your fridge!

Oh my god 🙄
Seriously, this happened with all kinds of dairy. I'm talking milk that was freshly opened, liquid yogurt I grabbed from Target and ate five minutes later, sour cream that had been sitting in the fridge for a day, and even some heavy cream I just picked up from Whole Foods...
Is it actually possible that EVERYTHING was spoiled? Like, am I the only one who got sick, or was everyone else hitting the floor too?

And this happened twice, months apart, using the exact same fridge in our house!

Look, I used to chug whole milk by the gallon—the heavy, farm-fresh stuff straight from the dairy—and I was fine. Then I hit my mid-20s and suddenly every cup felt like a punch to the gut. (Back when I was 19, I just drank whatever grocery store milk was on sale). Fast forward to three years ago: got diagnosed with chronic gastritis, so dairy is officially out. But since I’m a total milk addict, I switched to soy milk and honestly? It’s a game changer. Now I can actually eat my Cocoa Puffs again without issues. Even now, if I have to grab some milk, I stick to the processed stuff from the carton; it hits my stomach a little less hard than the organic stuff.👍 😲
Just a heads up, yogurt with probiotics, certain cheeses, and even plain sour cream don't bother me too much, though regular sour cream is a no-go. Heavy cream without preservatives is usually fine, though.👍
So yeah, soy milk, probiotic yogurt, and some basic store-bought milk—that's the list.🙏 👍

I have to be honest, I’ve never heard of anyone actually getting sick from milk in my entire life. Personally, I drink it by the gallon...
People usually grab those big 12-packs of cartons just so they don't have to run to the grocery store every five minutes, plus it's cheaper that way...
But someone actually getting sick from milk? Hmm...

Man, I’m starting to think my reaction to that stuff is just like a cat allergy. It’s nothing major—I picked it up back in elementary school from a friend's cat. Now I have two cats of my own, and I had an allergic reaction to both of them for the first few days, but now? They can sleep right in my bed and I don't feel a thing. 😁My body just gets hypersensitive here and there, then it passes.

I guess. 😕

Give it some time and you'll see.👍

Yeah, you can really feel it...🤣