Lactose intolerance during pregnancy?

[Glamourcide]

Hi ladies,
I know I'm leaving this one a bit late (check my ticker lol, nothing to report yet!), but honestly this just occurred to me when I talked to my mum this afternoon and now I'm freaking out a bit.

I have no previous history of lactose intolerance, or any food intolerance for that matter. I'm not asthmatic, don't have sensitive skin, have never felt ill after eating anything (except when I've eaten too much of a good thing lol).

When I was pg with DD, I ate bucketloads of dairy food - yoghurt, ice-cream, cheese on everything, milkmilkmilkmilkmilk (probably too much!) and never had a problem. (Nor has DD, has at least three serves of dairy a day - probably too much actually, but she loves it - and never appears to be adversely affected by it.)

But this time around, and like I said I really never noticed this until yesterday, and it's only today that I've put two and two together (although they may not equal 'four' as I assume they do), I seem to be really ill after consuming dairy products.
I usually eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and put it down to morning sickness that soon after finishing my cereal, I would feel nauseous or just generally lethargic, sick and not good in the belly.
My little 'treats' to myself (seeing as I can't eat some of my favourite foods) are things like milkshakes or flavoured milk - if I'm in town and the craving hits me, I'll pop into Cold Rock (because the meanie at Wendy's won't make me a thickshake with dairy icecream instead of soft serve anymore, I miss my Mega-Choc shakes!) and grab a chocolate thickshake or something, and when I do the grocery shopping I grab a little carton of Breaka to drink on the way home... and yup, I feel absolutely rotten afterwards, for hours!

Soy milk isn't giving me the same gut problems, I've been trying to drink that instead but it just tastes awful in tea lol, so I suck it up, have my tea with full-cream dairy and regret it later, but I'm just wondering if it's at all possible that bub has a lactose intolerance and I'm getting the bad effects on her behalf, or that somehow I've just developed a lactose intolerance out of the blue? Is that even possible? Will it go away when the baby's born and the hormones subside? If it's the baby suffering the intolerance, could I be harming her by consuming dairy products, and what signs do I look for once she's born that she might be allergic to cows? I intend on breastfeeding this time around, if bub does have a lactose intolerance will that mean I have to avoid dairy for the duration of BFing to prevent any getting into breastmilk?

I'm so clueless lol... just looking for any advice on this one.

[visitor1]

You know what....when i was pregnant with my 2nd DD i had the exact sam problem!

When ever id eat anything dairy within about 30 mins id feel rotten and race to the loo....i became a seat warmer....LOL

Once she was born i returned to normal, but for the entire pregancy i couldnt use normal margarine, i had to use some other disgusting tasting marg...cant even think of the name...but it was grotty. I had to avoid ice cream, chocolate , cheese, yoghurt, milk, cream and any foods with dairy in it.

DD was BF for 3 weeks and was fine, then swapped to FF.....she has had no problems with any dairy so far....so i think it was just a pregnancy thing for me.

I never had this problem when pregnant with DS though....just DD2...

[angelaartsstudent]

I have been lactose intolerant all my life but have found it to be WAY worse during pregnancy. Even a little square of chocolate breaks me out into a rash almost immediately, which never used to happen.

OMG Mega Choc Shakes...you have no idea how much i miss them :-P

I have found myself so much more sensitive during pregnancy. I used to be able to eat a bit of hard cheese, or a small serve of pot set greek yohgurt...but get SO sick now it's worth cutting them out of my diet completely.

I don't miss them much anyway becuase my dairy comsumption was almost zero anyway. Be careful with your calcium levels though becuase mine have been shockingly low right through becuase I have no dairy...I'm on 6 caltrate a day and 4 magnesium (to help absorbsion) as suggested by the hospital but still have very low levels.

Low to the point that I can feel that my teeth are soft - there's no calcium in me to keep them hard and healthy.

So maybe get on some supplements while you still can. I've been told "it's never too late" to start taking extra calcium. Would probably help bub too if you choose to bf.

[blondedoctor]

I've had the opposite happen to me! I am normally a soy girl, very very lactose intolerant. But with this pregnancy, wow, I can eat anything!! I have eaten ice-cream for the first time on 15 years!! Cheese on a pizza! And sour cream! Wow - I am just really hoping that maybe I can continue eating dairy once bubs pops out............ fingers crossed

[JellyBean]

It could perhaps be the hormone residues present in mainsteam dairy products - given that the dairy industry in Aust adds large amounts of synthetic growth hormone to cow feed, which subsequently passes into their milk. These hormones (which mimic the female hormone estrogen in the body) are banned in various countries overseas - the UK, and various countries in Western Europe, but still used freely here. The dairy cows develop infections (thrush, mastitis etc) from overuse of the hormones and are then routinely administered antibiotics - the residues of which have also been tested as present in mainstream dairy products.
These hormones are linked with nausea, precocious puberty (early breast development & early onset of menstruation in girls), low sperm count, breast cancer, just to name a few!! The antibiotics are cheifly blamed for interrupting the balance of good bacteria in the digestive tract (probiotics), and antibiotic resistance.
Maybe you will be able to tolerate organic dairy produce - as the use of synthetic hormones and antibiotics are prohibited in organic farming. Just a thought.
If not , don't be concerned - there are plenty of ways to ensure you get enough calcium. You will be amazed how much calcium is in the humble sesame seed!! Get yourself some Tahini - the sesame seed spead. A much healthier alternative to butter or margarine!!

XX

[~Lashes~]

i stumbled on the post, after searching for info on this exact problem, and i am wondering how you have all gone with the problem after bub was born? i have 2 sons and a daughter, have not long discovered we are having no 4 some time early next year, i had a issue with dairy while i was pregnate with my daughter, lasted about a month or 2 and didnt develop untill roughly the 6 month mark, but with this one, i have been unable to stomach amything with even the slightest hint of dairy, we had hamburgurs last night, the yhogurt in the garlic sauce sent my stomache packing! being that im not even at the 12 week mark yet, i have a feeling that it wont bugger off after a few weeks either, very dissapointing considering i basicaly live off dairy, the thought of having to give it up is just upsetting!!! (but would rather that then spending the rest of the pregnancey on the loo!)

[Glamourcide]

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time with it, Sarah!! I am very pleased to report that post-baby, I can eat all the dairy I like and haven't had a single symptom since! It's very strange :/ That being said though, a friend mentioned to me recently that my DD2 might be lactose intolerant as she's been very congested (coughs and lots of phlegm) pretty much since birth, it never seems to go away, and she's never had any attacks that may indicate another illness like asthma... but she was tested for cystic fibrosis not long after she was born so I am considering taking her back for another test just to make sure they didn't miss something that needs attention.
She eats lots of dairy and loves it, it doesn't appear to make her ill or upset her, just that she's got a lot of congestion on her chest and I'm told (although I always thought it was an old wives' tale) that dairy may be the cause?

Here's hoping that in your case, it's just another yucky early pregnancy symptom and that it will settle down, it was so hard for me to give up all my favourite things for the rest of my pregnancy! Congratulations on the growing bub, and welcome to BB Best of luck, keep us posted on how you go with the dairy stuff!