Question:
Has anyone turned lactose Intolerant since surgery?

Hi, I am 3 1/2 weeks post op and I am now lactose intolerant. The smallest amount of dairy gives me terrible diarrhea. Before surgery, I loved my milk and never had any problems (except the usually gas). I was just wondering if this has happed to anyone else and if so, can I expect to be this was forever? Not only will I miss my milk, I scared of all the things dairy products can be hidden in. Thx    — D W. (posted on November 10, 2002)

November 10, 2002
My daughter became lactose intolerant exactly 3 weeks after her RNY. She had never had any problems with dairy products in the past. She had been eating lots of yogurt, cheeses, and skim milk during the first 3 weeks post-op, then suddenly developed severe abdominal cramping, nausea, diarrhea and bloody stools. When we contacted our surgeon, he advised her to immediately eliminate all dairy from her diet...called her in some prescriptions for the diarrhea and abdominal cramping....and told us that he was confident that she had become lactose intolerant and that the symptoms should be gone in less than 48 hours. In 24 hours, she was feeling 100% better. He explained that approximately 30% of RNY patients will develop lactose intolerance....some will "outgrow" it over time, and some will never be able to easily tolerate dairy products again. She now drinks only Lactaid milk, and carries Lactaid tablets with her at all times, taking two before any meals which contain dairy. She hasn't found "hidden" dairy products to be a problem....it takes the obvious "real thing" in her meals to cause her to have any symptoms. She is 34 months post-op....Lactaid has been the solution for her, and after a 220 lb. weight loss, she considers lactose intolerance a small trade-off for her whole new life! Best wishes :-)
   — Diana T.

November 10, 2002
Yep! I too am now lactose intolerant. I just take Lactaid or the generic lactase before eating ANY dairy. It is a pain, but if you don't take it...They do have Lactaid milk if you want to try that (and I think cheese too). Good luck!
   — Jen D.

November 10, 2002
I, too have found out that milk doesn't exactly do well with me anymore. I can still eat cheese, yogurt and a tiny bit of cottage cheese, but MILK, no way. It does awful things to me :( So, I just continue to take tums with calcium to help out with my calcium intake.
   — ncgal

November 11, 2002
hiya! i had probs with milk pre op but now i cannot "do" milk at all. my understanding is that milk must be curdled by stomach acid to be digested however we do not produce enough stomach acid for this to happen post op. i don't have a prob with yogurt, cheese or ice cream - they are sort of pre digested because of the processing. i use Vitamite as a milk substitute, it tastes just like nonfat milk. you can also use soy milk, rice milk, almond milk or lactaid. good luck, kate open rny 6-14-01 pre op: 268lbs goal: 135lbs current: 126lbs
   — jkb