Why is my lactose free milk causing lactose intolerance symptoms?!

I was drinking my protein shake, which I am reeeeally struggling with (they taste like soap to me all of a sudden). About 15 minutes into it, I got the cramping, bloating and diarrhea. It felt exactly the same as when I drink regular milk. Is this a weird coincidence? I dont think it is a milk allergy because I never get the itching, runny nose, wheezing, etc that also comes on. Also, I seem to tolerate the protein powder just fine. A milk allergy is to the whey and casein proteins, not the "milk" itself. So if I can tolerate my whey protein powder, I highly doubt its a milk allergy. But my shake was made with lactose free milk, so how can it be lactose intolerance?

It would have to be a crazy coincidence, because I have been normal in the bowels area for a few days. Today was my first run with the lactose free milk and that happened. I dont know. Ugh. I hate the tummy discomfort, I hate my shakes, I hate milk.....ugh. OKAY, whiny time is done!

There is no such thing as lactose free milk.  If you're talking about Lactaid milk or similar brands, those still have lactose in them.  They have added an enzyme called lactase, which we need to digest the lactose.  Milk naturally has that enzyme in it but pasteurizing milk destroys it.  So the Lactaid brands have added that enzyme back in.

How about trying your protein shake with soy or almond milk?

I always used almond as it sits well with me. But my doctor pretty much told me I should not use anything but skim milk to get enough protein. But I think I am going to go against her wishes and use my almond milk instead. She wants me having 3 shakes a day on top of adding new foods. It is just a lot for me. Not to mention 3 shakes a day with milk comes to 102g of protein a day. Seems a little excessive to push onto someone who is only a week out.

I guess I thought if the lactase was added, I wouldnt have problems. Guess my silly tummy is just difficult.

Kelly, is it okay for me to have original almond milk? It has 7g of sugar per serving. I dont know what the suggested cutoff is for sugars to avoid dumping.

It depends on how sensitive you are to it. I can tolerate anything under 9g. I had no problem with original almond milk.

I think eight ounces of skim milk has eight grams of protein, while eight ounces of soy milk has seven grams of protein.  That's only one gram difference.  Now, almond milk has almost no protein, but still, if you're getting enough protein without the extra from skim milk, then the almond milk should be fine.

Is the original almond milk unsweetened?  Does it have added sugar?  Like, is sugar listed in the ingredients?  Even if it is, you probably won't dump on seven grams of sugar, but the only way to know that for sure is to try it.

Skim milk has 12 grams of sugar per serving, by the way, in the form of lactose.  It's not added sugar, but milk has natural sugar in it.

I dunno if it's the lactose or something else that's bothering you.  Doesn't really matter, though - if milk gives you tummy issues, drink something else for now.  Six months or a year from now, you might tolerate the milk OK.

Thanks, Kelly! You are always a huge help!

I made the same mistake, I bought the "Lactose free" milk thinking it was going to be great, and it made me so sick and ruined pretty much all of my Saturday. So instead of shopping with my sister, I stayed home with stomach ache, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain!

I love the unsweetened almond milk in Vanilla and Chocolate, but they are so low in protein I try and stick with Soy milk. I buy the unsweetened silk original and it has never made me sick or dump.

This is an adventure in new foods, unfortunately I like to learn my lessons the hard way :)

How is the soy milk? I tried it once years ago and it kind of majorly grossed me out. Lol.