Acute lactose intolerance is a temporary digestive disorder in which your body has trouble digesting lactose, the type of sugar present in milk and other dairy products. To properly digest lactose, your small intestine needs to produce the enzyme lactase. People with lactose intolerance produce insufficient amounts of lactase. Acute lactose intolerance is also commonly referred to as secondary lactose intolerance, although not all cases of secondary lactose intolerance are temporary.
Symptoms
Typical symptoms of lactose intolerance include gas, diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating. Expect to experience symptoms somewhere between 30 minutes and two hours after consuming lactose. Your symptoms may be more or less severe depending on your particular tolerance for lactose and how much lactose you consumed.
Causes
Acute lactose intolerance occurs when the small intestine decreases its production of lactase in response to an injury or an illness like celiac disease, gastroenteritis or inflammatory bowel disease. Taking certain medications or undergoing a medical procedure like surgery or chemotherapy can also cause temporary lactose intolerance. Resolving the injury or successfully treating the condition causing the lactose intolerance will restore your body's lactose levels over time.
Diagnosis
It's difficult to diagnose acute lactose intolerance based solely on your symptoms, since common symptoms may also be signs of other digestive disorders. Most commonly, your doctor will diagnose lactose intolerance using a hydrogen breath test. Your doctor will measure the amount of hydrogen in your breath after you drink a lactose-containing beverage. Undigested lactose will cause your breath to possess higher than normal levels of hydrogen. In lieu of the hydrogen breath test, your doctor could also diagnose you using a stool acidity test or a blood sugar test.
Treatment
Treatment of acute lactose intolerance is as simple as limiting or avoiding lactose in your diet until your body resumes normal production of lactose. People with severe lactose intolerance may need to avoid all sources of lactose, including all dairy products and any processed foods containing lactose. Lactose is also present in certain medications. If you are not severely lactose intolerant, however, you may be able to eat some amount of lactose without suffering symptoms. You will need to experiment to find your individual tolerance. Hard cheeses and yogurt are often well tolerated because they naturally have lower levels of lactose. Eating smaller servings of dairy products and eating them as part of a larger meal or snack can also help you avoid symptoms. You can also try buying lactose-free or lactose-reduced versions of dairy products. Some people are also helped by lactase enzyme tablets or drops that can be added to foods with lactose before consumption.
Calcium
Being lactose intolerant can make it trickier to get enough calcium since dairy products are such rich sources of calcium. If you are not severely intolerant, continue to eat the amount of dairy that does not cause you symptoms. Try lactose-free and lactose-reduced dairy products. Eat plenty of non-dairy sources of calcium, like canned salmon and sardines, spinach, broccoli and calcium-fortified products. You may want to talk to your doctor about taking calcium supplements.
