To Minnie - thank you for your answer, I still hope to belong to those people who tolerate dairy .
To Sarah - good luck on your new job! And I eat chocolate every day too although I try to limit myself to about 15g per day (I buy that kind that comes in a bag with individually wrapped pieces rather then a bar, less tempting that way ).
To Syl - thank you, your answer is very encouraging. I will definitely give dairy a proper shot next year and see for myself. I'm not going to go overboard, eating tons of sweetened ice cream, etc. but will start with small servings of cheese and will see. Btw, you must own the entire IBS research library .