Lactose Free?

I visited my local GNC to pick up a few packs of protein to try out. The guy waiting on me says that almost everyone that has any kind of weight reduction surgery is lactose intolerant, at least for a while. Does this seem to be the case? Can most of you tolerate the whey in the protein shakes at first?

I tried a few of the protein mixes and found that they taste better when made with milk, should I avoid this after my surgery? would it be better for a while to use some kind of lactose free milk?  I do see a lot of  people talking about eating cottage cheese after their surgery so I am guessing that not nearly everyone is lactose intolerant.

 For me it is just milk or ice cream.  Cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and whey protein did not bother me.  I buy Lactaid milk and Lactaid ice cream.

I agree with marycatherine.  I used to drink a gallon of 1-percent milk every other day before surgery -- LOVED milk.  Now, I can only tolerate lactose-free milk (which I honestly can't taste the difference in).  But I have no issues with foods that contain milk, like cheeses, etc.  I can't tolerate ice cream, but that's more from the more liquid version of sugar that it contains.

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance? I am not drinking any milk yet but I am dissolving my calcium in a small amount of milk that I then mix with cottage cheese.

You should know relatively quickly after drinking milk if it bothers ya. :)  For me, it's just a feeling of queasiness that hangs around for a while.  Like I previously mentioned, I don't have an issue with cheese or other products containing milk.  I think it may have to do with the liquid version of the lactose/sugar.  So when it involves sugar, not necessarily lactose, I can eat a piece of cake with no problem, but I can't eat more than a large spoonful of ice cream.

But lactose-free milk works great for me...so maybe it's a combination of things.