Re: lactose intolerance. It seems I have developed it or I think I have. I have not had RAI but have been on 50mg PTU 3x a day for almost 2 years with intervals of 2x a day or once a day (latter did not work.) something is going on with my GI tract and you might want to explore this further. My bowels became very sluggish last summer and after many months of misery and endoscopy revealed esphogeal candida (from anti biotics? prednisone for TED? PTU? large amts of Vit D prescribed by endocrinologist? I got fluconozole and special diet for a month and it got better. Came back again 2 months post surgery for back surgery. Had orbital decompression in May 2011, so that means twice I had general anesthesia within a 12 month period so that could be culprit.
anyway, there is a new diet that had some clinical research behind it out of New Zealand. My gastro enterologist gave me a copy and I did online research. It is called FODMAPS and you do it for one month. Very limiting diet and then you add back one food group at a time, including the lactose group. Go online to see what is allowed and not allowed. BTW, sharp cheddar is allowed as the amt of lactose in it is miniscule, butter too. It did not really work till they added in Xifaxan, an antibiotic given for travelers’ diarrhea. This is an off label usage for me with the hypothesis tht something I am taking is causing small intestine floral overgrowth. This, along with low lactose diet, had helped. Hurrah.
My experience with Graves is that everything they do for you to make it better causes another problem, so just be aware that there may be things other than lactose intolerance alone. There are breath tests for this floral overgrowth and stool tests for the candida. None of this may apply to you but I hope that it is helpful.
