We have been busy with back to school and the first full week of college. The early starts are tough, when the alarm goes off at 6:30am, I feel like hiding under the duvet. But we got there in the end! My husband had the week off too, which was nice as due to staffing issues he hasn’t been able to use up his leave as freely as before. Not many pictures this week sorry. We spent a lot of time figuring out lactose intolerance.

Food Diaries

We have been doing food diaries for my eldest son over the last few weeks. We have finally realized he is most likely lactose intolerant. He had lots of tests at the doctors, and nothing could explain how he was feeling. Then we went down the acid reflux route. But the tablets he was given (Omeprazole) and the changes to his diet weren’t improving matters either. We knew we had to try something else especially with him starting college.

We have also done a Helicobacter Pylori breath test to rule that out. As that bacteria can inflame the stomach lining and cause nausea and heartburn. So its easy to confuse the symptoms with acid reflux. We are awaiting the results on that. There was a bit of a delay as we had to wait two weeks for the Omeprazole to leave his system before he could complete the test. During that time the food diaries seem to have done so much more for giving us answers.

I just wish we had figured out things sooner. As he was even more poorly when we were in Lake Garda. I guess we should have seen a connection given how much dairy he was eating on that particular holiday. Especially as it was a time of giant cheese pizzas and plentiful ice cream at most meals!

My son did some of his own research and told me that Omeprazole doesn’t work for half the people who take it. Given those statistics I am wondering if more people would be better off doing food diaries instead. They may well be dealing with something such as lactose intolerance, which can happen at any age rather than acid reflux needing Omeprazole.

Lots of Products To Try

These past few months have been challenging that’s for sure. But hopefully we are getting somewhere now and have a clear path to sorting out his health. There are also so many fantastic products out there too which has made things better. His food diary at first was very clean living, trying to eliminate fast or fatty food and processed snacks. Then citrus, onions, spicy foods, tomatoes and carbonated beverages. With so much ruled out he was getting well and truly fed up. Now we are gradually introducing certain things and seeing how he reacts. But the only issue so far has been dairy. It means he can eat so much more now, including his much loved Chinese takeaway!

We haven’t tried fizzy pop or ice cream yet. The ice cream would have to be vegan anyway. However just because of the fact it’s cold and can numb the lower oesophagus sphincter, so acid is more likely to come back up has made me a bit weary of it. Even though I feel its lactose intolerance, given the false start to a acid reflux diagnosis I don’t want to steam full speed ahead without some caution!

I will probably share the products he has most enjoyed that are lactose free in case any of my followers are starting out on a lactose free journey. I have done so much research lately just to try and make sense of it all. We went to Tesco yesterday and found a Korma vegan sauce that was very tasty! I think my eldest was pleased to have a change from his set menu of salmon, potatoes and vegetables.

Lactase Enzyme

We have also picked up a lactase enzyme product from Holland & Barrett on the recommendation of someone else who has problems with lactose intolerance. Hopefully it will make our next holiday easier. Naturally we ask in every restaurant now. However we have found some servers more helpful than others. But if he is limited in choice then those tablets break down the lactose and stop him feeling poorly. So they will be handy to have just in case. When we go to Las Vegas it will make it easier for when we have a set meal on the day trips.

Raffle Prizes

We went to a community fundraising event and managed to win two prizes on the raffle! A bottle of prosecco and a bottle of Jim Bean! So quite the result really. Although we were very late for the event. I thought it started at 7:30pm (instead of 6:30pm) so we missed our starter and only just got our main course! I didn’t get a picture of my meal as I needed to quickly eat to catch up with everyone else! It was still a lovely evening despite our late arrival.

Eating Out

Much of the week has been taken up with investigating health and researching lactose intolerance, but because my husband was off work we also fitted in a few lunches and tea and cake! The brownie in the feature picture was lovely.