Lactose Intolerant at 20
My Denial to a Sudden Change in My Body
It was my last night as a sophomore in college. My finals were done. Everything was packed. I move out of my tiny dorm room in the morning. Everything was quickly coming to a close.
My friends and I were having a ‘Final Family Dinner’ as we say. It’s weird, to be surrounded by the same people all day everyday and then, not. So we were celebrating the end of another semester and mourning the loss of another year with no responsibilities. But, we were EATING. It was my last meal in my campus’ dining hall (I’m moving into an apartment this fall) so I was enjoying all the food it had to offer. One of those is white pizza which isn’t that complicated; just pizza dough, garlic, oil, and cheese (and it is PHENOMENAL). We ate and talked about our plans for the summer and after my friend had the brilliant idea of going to Insomnia and (of course) I got a cookie (and again, it was PHENOMENAL).
But then the next morning happened, and…I didn’t feel so good. At first it was extreme discomfort in my lower stomach. I felt my insides moving with a pain similar to the craps before a woman starts her menstrual cycle. I knew immeditally that I ate something that didn’t agree with me. Then I had to go to the bathroom, over and over and over again. I wouldn’t consider what I experienced diarrhea, but it was loose. But once I went to the bathroom, the discomfort went away.
I figured that I accidentally ate a bad fruit or my body was just having a bad reaction to a high fat meal (I had been sick for the last few weeks and was on a simple and clean diet beforehand). It wasn’t a big deal, people get indigestion/stomachaches/bad reactions to food sometimes. So when I had lunch that day, I had a salad with fruit, nuts, and goat cheese (it was really good guys) and successfully moved out of my dorm. But the next morning, I had the same symptoms, and that continued the next day and the next day. I was beginning to get concerned.
I started watching what I was eating. I made sure I wasn’t accidentally eating something with meat (I’ve been a vegetarian for over ten years), or something rotten or expired. But, everything seemed good, only the symptoms were starting to last all day (as opposed to stopping when I went to the bathroom). So I tried something. Something that seemed totally crazy: I cut out dairy for the day.
I had zero stomach issues the next day. No indigestion. No loose stool. Nothing. Everything was normal again and I was freaking out.
I had my annual physical that day and told my doctor of my sudden issues and she looked straight at me and said “that’s textbook lactose intolerance”.
Lactose intolerance? Lactose intolerance? The inability to digest milk? Are you kidding me? I was TOTALLY in denial. Who becomes lactose intolerant at 20? Isn’t this suppose to happen at 3? My body has had no problem digesting milk in the past, so why now?
I completely refused to listen to my doctor (not my smartest decision in life, I’ll admit). I had mono last April and just said that this was a lingering symptom of the illness and that it’ll pass. It just didn’t make sense. I never had an issue with dairy, I don’t fit into the common person to develop lactose intolerance (lactose intolerance affects Caucasians the least). I saw this as a mind-over-matter game. If I believed I could still digest milk, I would. Simple as that. I can’t all of a sudden just not handle milk. Right?
Even though I didn’t believe my doctor, I still watched what I ate. I didn’t avoid dairy, but chose not to eat it all the time. My go-to snack were berries and dried fruit (as oppose to snacks with dairy), but if there was cheese in my dinner, I ate it and if my friends went out for ice cream, I had a cup. (and yes, I did have a stomach ache and loose stool the next day).
The constant stomach aches and trips to the bathroom were really making my life a pain. I genuinely didn’t feel good. There were days where I couldn’t get close to enough school work done because I was going to the bathroom all the time (my record is 5 times). I didn’t expect this issue to take such a big toll on me. I didn’t want to work out, I didn’t want to spend time with my friends, I just wanted to be near my bathroom.
I started thinking about what my doctor said, that anyone can become lactose intolerant at any time and that it is a common condition to have. Yes, I do know people who are lactose intolerant and I do know there’s a pill that helps. But the thought of cutting out another food group from my diet was scary, especially a food group where I get a decent amount of protein from (vegetarian diet remember).
Yesterday, I didn’t have any dairy foods and I felt great. My morning run went well and I didn’t have any stomach aches. Everything was going great until my friend and I had pizza for dinner. By the end of the meal, my stomach started to hurt. I had never experienced a stomach ache this fast after consuming dairy (the time lapse was under an hour) and to make it even worse, we had ice cream after and I couldn’t finish my cup because I felt so bad. So on our way home, we went to a CVS and bought Lactaid.
I did it. I gave in and accepted what I’ve been trying to will away for two weeks now.
But maybe this all goes away soon. Maybe it’s not lactose intolerance but just some weird adjustment-thing or lingering symptom of mono. All I know is that when I eat dairy, I have indigestion and once I took that pill, I felt better. So, it’s time to officially adjust my diet and take this seriously becuase I don’t want to feel like this anymore. If I have to choose between dairy (which is SO GOOD) and feeling physically good, I pick my health. So for now, goodbye cheese.
Wish me luck guys.
