I have heard of gastro causing temporary lactose intolerance in children but can it do the same in adults? I had a nasty stomach bug nearly 10 days ago now. In the last 5 or so days I had been staying of dairy and I was almost back to 100%. Then today I had some dairy and within a couple of hours was back with diarrhoea. I am getting so sick of it and paranoid that something more serious is wrong with me. I'm hopefully going to the dr's tomorrow. Has anyone experienced this and did they eventually go back to being able to have lactose and how long did it last?
5 Replies
Yes it can happen in adults
It happened to me
How long did it last for?
It can happen to all ages and can last for approximately two weeks, high fibre foods can have this effect too.
Gastro (or any kind of intestinal upset) can completely throw off the naturally occurring bacterial fauna in our gut. That's why we can develop sensitivities to foods we normally wouldn't have an issue with. That's also why it can take what feels like a lifetime to recover because your gut is all out of whack!
How long does this triggered lactose intolerance last? That's entirely dependent - sometimes it's a permenant change, sometimes it could be days, weeks, months...
My advice is definitely get checked out by your Dr first and foremost just to rule out anything else, then get a good pro biotic. Find yourself some dairy free alternatives and slowly start reintroducing dairy and I mean slowly, like a few cubes of hard cheese, small amounts of milk in your cooking and so on until (if) you build up that tolerance again.
Sure can! Gastro can also aggravate your stomach for longer than the “24hr bug”.