avoiding milk or just lactose

[kew]

I get almost daily bouts of severe pain in the abdomen that is thought to be gastroenteritis despite a clear stool test.b  X-rays and an internal (as I have suffered severe abdominal bloating for at least a year) displayed nothing of concern. The pain often lasts six hours and tremadol plus paracetamol still leave me in intense pain. After the pain I have excessive tummy rumbling. This has lasted at least 4 weeks. I do not vomit but feel nausea since taking strong antibiotics but particularly now when faced with another bowl of chicken/cod with potato. In between the pains I am fine. I have two protein supplements (AST VP2 protein powder and NY-TRO PRO 40) which i could face together with a little soup and bread but i know i have to avoid lactose. The supplement is lactose free but contains hydrolysed whey protein isolate. Is this still likely to irritate the bowl because of the whey or may it be ok because it is lactose free. I am otherwise beginning to live on toast! Any help will be very gratefully
received. Many thanks!
Kate Wakefield (26 yr).

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Hello - thanks for asking your question.

Without examining you, it is difficult to say what is going on.  

Abdmominal bloating and pain can have several causes.  Irritable bowel syndrome (from increased sensitivity of the colon), inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, or malabsorption can all cause these symptoms.  

If not already performed, I would suggest a colonoscopy to make sure that there is no anatomical deficit and to see if there is inflammatory bowel disease present.  Tests for malabsorption, including a breath test looking for lactose intolerance, fecal fat test (looking for fat malabsorption) or blood tests looking for celiac disease should all be considered.

If all the tests are negative, then irritable bowel disease can  be considered.  Treatment for this can be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[PAJ]

Lactose is milk sugar , feeds yeast. I reply regularly to undiagnosed gastro problems , I now use this as a standard reply .The forum doctor has acknowledged yeast infections [sort of] in past debate , I don’t think he treats the condition though . pity it’s the cause of much illness .Take a look at this article ,the authors link fungi with degenerative disease in general , Believe me I have researched yeast/fungal infections for 4 years their conclusions are correct. .
You might consider a yeast infection , it’s worth considering. You wont get this information from the docs BTW they are [mostly] in denial over the condition . Doctors today are crippled by the politics of medicine , they practice what has been termed “Defensive Medicine” that roughly translates, if it’s not in the book you don’t get treated. I speak from experience , yeast infections are endemic ,& and are believed to be the main missing link in many of our modern day diseases and sub health conditions. I find it extraordinary that doctors especially on a gastro forum totally ignore the condition , Still Forums could have been invented for situations such as this . Read this article , http://drcranton.com/CFIDS.htm#CFIDS%20Paper it turned out to be my personal “Rosetta Stone” it detailed most of the symptoms that had puzzled both myself and my doctors. As you see he favours a trial on drugs for a diagnosis , from your symptoms if you have the condition you should react fairly dramatically to Nystatin .It’s a very safe drug ,but you must take doses that are up to the job ,that is five million units per day [10 tablets ] try it for a couple of weeks. If you [or anyone] take this advise please report back so we may know how the theory is working out. Good luck"WITH THERAPEUTIC USE 1. Toxicity from orally administered nystatin is extremely low. Dermal application or ingestion of even large quantities should produce only minor GI symptoms. Treatment is usually unnecessary.".........."Laboratory: Nystatin is not well absorbed orally. Unless GI inflammation is present, blood levels should not be detectable. Therapeutic or toxic blood levels have not been established."........"Toxicity due to nystatin is negligible. Even when large amounts have been ingested, ensuing symptoms have been minor. Charcoal, emesis and cathartic should not be necessary."......."ABSORPTION...FROM GI TRACT IS NEGLIGIBLE, & DRUG APPEARS IN FECES. WHEN DOSES OF 8 MILLION UNITS OR MORE ARE GIVEN, INDIVIDUALS WITH NORMAL RENAL FUNCTION MAY HAVE PLASMA CONCN OF ONLY 1-2.5 UG/ML. ... NYSTATIN IS NOT ABSORBED FROM SKIN OR MUCOUS MEMBRANES. [Goodman, L.S., and A. Gilman. (eds.) The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. 5th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975. 1236]**QC REVIEWED**" http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~AAAnTaaFg:1
C3 concernedmck(15-Mar-03) .
Thanks Paj for you advice. I'll look into that. I used to suffer alot from sinus problems which were attributed by an "alternative" doctor to candida type symptoms, so I somewhat understand the background to yeast infections. Thanks again - I'll look into it and let you know.
C4 rose25(15-Mar-03) .
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE:Make sure your doctor rules out..HEPATITIS A !!!!!ALSO make sure he rules out...H. PYLORI with the proper tests.
C5 paj(16-Mar-03) Everyone concernedmck
A couple years ago Mayo clinic released a research proceedings claiming they had research indicating that almost all chronic sinusitus is ultimately caused by inflamation (inflammation) induced by a fungal infection. This research has now been independently reproduced by a lab in Europe. http://www.mayo.edu:80/sinusinfo/index.html Mayo clinic now has attracted a massive grant to study the possibility that fungal infections are involved in more health problems. They are currently pursuing one such clinical trial investigating asthma... they believe that the same mechanism found in sinusitus is causing lung inflamation (inflammation) in asthmatics. http://www.mayo.edu:80/research/crpad/trial_126.html Try this forum for more information http://www.healthyawareness.com/_pages/forums.htm
C6 concernedmck(17-Mar-03) .
I've read quite a bit into the subject of yeast infections because I also have a condition called endometriosis which again is often related to Candida. When I saw you're suggestion about checking yeast infections, I kicked myself for not having thought of that before - I just didn't realise one could have an isolated disgestive problem. I've started a non yeast, non sugar diet to see if any improvement starts, and will be seeing my doctor in two weeks when I can talk to him about possible medication. Thanks again for your advice Paj.

[PAJ]

Sorry forgot the address   http://www.mercola.com/2003/jun/18/antibiotics_bacteria.htm

Candida    Forum address  http://www.healthyawareness.com/candida_general/

[yoshi]

i am surprised from reading past threads that the author usually a man has been taking antibiotics for 6-8 weeks and report feeling lousy,mucous in the stool etc,do their doctors ever advise them of yeast infection??6-8 weeks of wiping out the good and bad bacteria,upsetting the flora  in one's system.
a woman would know as she will experience vaginal yeast infection,but men have to look for other clues.
prevacid has antibiotics attributes (it is used in prev pac to kill h pylori bacteria),so would prolonged taking of prevacid cause yeast infection??
i keep a bottle of natural acidophilus culture (made by continental culture specialist) in my refrigerator and i will take a teaspoon and mix it with my tomato juice drink or orange juice sometimes to improve flora in my system.

[PAJ]

Yoshi It’s Interesting that Probiotics do work but are transient , over 400 different species of  microbes make up our gut flora, how a microbe gets elected to this exclusive gut flora club is a mystery. Introduced microbes  do not gel & merge! We take friendly bacteria & sure enough they can be found in the stool , stop & stool detection stops too.  The amount of microbes we host is measured in pounds approx 4 pound for each one of us., yet a few visiting  bugs taken on a lettuce leaf have the ability to overwhelm our  bug partners & cause illness ,travellers diarrhoea !!! After a few days the bugs that were pathogenic now are no longer pathogenic its said we get used to the new bugs !! how we get used to them we don’t know.
We need a healthy gut flora amongst other things  for a fully functioning immune system , to metabolise metals. Autism is linked with a  failure to metabolise metals.
Therefore any action / condition that alters gut flora is potentially disastrous. As per Dr. Pasteur's dying words "The germ is nothing, the inner terrain is everything."
Its not just bacterial antibiotics that have the potential to alter the balance of flora in the gut, Any  drug that alters the PH levels in the stomach has the potential to promote the growth of inappropriate flora. It follows that antacids & the like must be used with caution!  
It all adds up to a nightmare situation fungal infections without doubt are the major cause of illness in the western world, the doctors that should be reacting [they can be cured] have their heads three feet down in the sand. Without doubt we are living in the medical dark ages.

Probiotics: determinants of survival and growth in the gut
11157348 MEDLINE
Extended article
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/73/2/399S
Toxic metal clue to Autism
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993842