Food intolerance

H2B thinks I have an intolerance to lactose. On top of all the tummy symptoms, I recently borrowed his shower gel which has lactic acid in it and I came out in a rash, I'm assuming lactose and lactic acid are related, so I am guessing H2B might be right. To see for certain, I am going on a lactose free diet for 4 weeks after the wedding. I reckon that would be a fairly sure fire way of knowing for certain.

x

Didn't want to read and run being on holiday and all ;

i think most people can draw a likeness to bloating and carbs (particularly wheat based carbs) I would save yourself a few penny's and draw your own conclusions. Hubby went on one of these wowcher type things and said it was rubbish, they tried to sell him a more detailed diagnosis so I would suggest trying it for yourself first.

My thoughts exactly. Mr Erin thought he was allergic to milk, has given it us and now experiences none of the symptoms he used to -nausea, itching etc,

When I suspected I was gluten intolerant yonks ago I paid for a test which was rubbish. It came up with all kinds of intolerances such as oranges but said I was not gluten intolerant. I went to see my GP and was lucky to get a locum who seemed really knowledgable about it all. He said that the tests were a waste of time as they are only really useful for allergies. Intolerances build up over time and tend to be just our guts reacting rather than our whole bodies. (Google leaky gut syndrome).

According to him the only true way to diagnose intolerances was to do an elimination diet, I.e. Have a very bland diet for a few weeks and then introduce things gradually. As I was fairly sure it was gluten he suggested completely cutting gluten out and see if any of the symptoms reoccurred. He also said that if I cut out gluten completely my body would heal and eventually I would be able to have the occasional sandwich or pasta dish and I would be ok.

That was 15 years ago so the tests might have improved but everything he said was spot on. If I avoid gluten most of the time I have absolutely no symptoms if I have the occasional bacon sarni. If I go mad though like in Italy last year (how come all Italians aren't bloated to hell all the food there is FULL of gluten!) when I come home I have to be very strict again for a few weeks until my body calms down.

Peppermint capsules (enteric coated ones) are good as is peppermint or fennel tea for the bloating.

I wouldn't bother with any tests, just draw your own conclusions. About 12 years ago, I had terrible eczema all over my face and eyelids, swollen so much so that my eyes were practically closed some days. Doctors wouldn't do any allergy tests so I went to a private place in Andover. I was tested using electric pulses (or something) through my finger. Although it did come up with some things that I know for sure were causing the eczema (tomatoes, wheat, melon), it also came up with lots of other things - I came out of there wondering what I was going to eat for the rest of my life! Those three things I had kind of worked out for myself anyway. I think it just a case of keeping a note of what you eat and noting symptoms and save your pennies.

Sorry to not contribute anything useful, but 'chatty bum' made me do a lol!

There's something that makes my tummy all rumbley and then I have a 'chatty bum' but I can't work out what it is. It last happened when I had seafood linguine... so it could be pasta, cheese or fish. All my faves.

I think everyone is technically intolerant to bread and lactose etc. Some more so than others. There's a lot of science to back that up, you can research it somewhere but I'm not very science-headed so can't remember all the ins and outs. All I know is since I (and a few people I know) cut out wheat/dairy and grains I haven't had one bad tummy, or suffered with asthma and my PCOS symptoms have died down. So bizarre. Never thought food would be the culprit to those things.

Now when I have some bread, cake, or a bit of pasta or some cheese... I feel so ill.. and my asthma comes back!

Best thing to do is cut out wheat for four weeks and see how much better you feel, if you're still not sure if you're intolerant to it just introduce it back into your diet after four weeks and if it makes you really bloated again and gives you a "chatty bum" (love that term btw!!!) then you know that you're intolerant.