I Think A Question About Dairy And Soy

[lilliexx]

first i want to apoligize for flooding the board with so many newbie questions the past couple weeks. everyone has been so kind and helpful.

i have noticed a lot of people have different symptoms than i do. mine are mainly constipation and bloating. ive been on the gluten free diet for almost 3 weeks now and am still so constipated i can barely function. i have been taking psyllium seed, flax seed, citrecel and nothing has helped. when worse comes to worse i use laxetives and enima's but i dont want my body to have to rely on those.

since nothing has changed after giving up gluten i may give up dairy, but i honestly dont think i can live w/o milk, cheese etc. so if i switch to soy, would that be any different? i have heard that soy is also constipating so i'm not sure what to do.

The last time i went to the doctor they just put me on laxatives...so i'm thinking of just trying to solve this issue on my own.

i would love to hear from people that have struggled with the constipation issue and resolved it and if they were able to still consume soy or dairy.

thanks, lillie

[BRCoats]

Lillie,

I'm new too, and have asked a bunch of questions. Don't feel bad....I think it's "normal." :-) I just wanted to say that I drink soy, but have been off of milk for almost three years (Just flat can NOT digest it). I've got the constipation problem too....and soy doesn't seem to make any difference at all, either way. Too much of anything is a bad thing though, so be careful. Every body is different, so I think the thing to do would be to just try it and see what happens.

Hope that helps (?).

Brenda

P.S. I think you're VERY wise to avoid the laxatives. I did that for years, and it totally messed me up.

[lilliexx]

thanks for replying brenda.

my subject title got messed up here and i can edit it it should be " a question about dairy and soy"

anyway many people have mentioned cutting dairy for the first month. i will try that for awhile and if that doesnt help i might try cutting out soy.

[judy04]

Hi Lillie,

I too have constipation. I take Citrucel tabs 2, 3 times a day with a

large glass of water. That usually works in 12-24 hours.

Perhaps you need to drink more water, if you aren't on a restricted

fluid diet. My GI doc says I need more fiber so I try to eat a lot

of veggies, but sometimes that can cause gas, which leads to bloating.

Are you exercising? Even a small amout can help move things along,

if you know what I mean. As far as dairy, I am off it for a few days

because I had a gluten-type reaction to Lo Carb milk. As far as cheese

I can tolerate hard cheddar, haven't tried anything else. I am using soy

milk but I think it is making me itchy. I have used goat's milk as an

alternative in the past.

[Guest barbara3675]

OHMYGOSH.............you just hit the nail on the head for me. I have been so constipated and bloaty/crampy and thought I was the only one. I got a negative blood test but am choosing the gluten-free diet because I don't trust the test....granddaughter/postitive, mother with lots of gastro problems. grown son with ADD, I have migraines, depression and a very tender tummy. I think the dairy connection may just be another piece of the puzzle for me. Thank you so much. Since going gluten free, I am so VERY in control of food, it is just so amazing. I am somewhat overweight and am losing weight/now walking too. I feel so much better. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Please keep talking to me. Barbara

[burdee]

My celiac symptoms have always been bloating, cramping pain, excessive gas AND constipation. Before I learned I had celiac disease I tried FiberCon (which stopped me up even more ), laxatives (which caused more excruciating pains due to sorbitol ), wheat bran (recommended for IBS with constipation and obviously counterproductive ) and magnesium supplements. Magnesium and Vitamin C worked best to keep me regular. However, with each passing year, I became more constipated and experienced more of those (undiagnosed) celiac symptoms. When I first went gluten free, that helped resolve constipation a little. However, when I went dairy free (after receiving Enterolab test results of casein intolerance), that really helped resolve my constipation problem. I couldn't use soy substitutes for dairy because soy gave me the same cramping pains and bloating as dairy. I don't know that it affected regularity one way or the other. However, now I'm pretty regular with just eating lotsa fruits and vegies, a few higher fiber gluten-free breads and grains, lentils, lotsa liquids and those magnesium supplements. Of course, every time I have a dairy, gluten or soy slip, I'm back to square one with constipation for a few days. Staying gluten-free/CF free helped resolve constipation for me.

BURDEE

[Guest barbara3675]

As I have fibromyalgia, I take mega-amounts of magnesium with malic acid, a normal person would have such diareah from that. I am staying off the milk stuff and things are "going" pretty well again today. I am trying to drink more water and observe the veggie/fruit thing. Also I have started walking which I hear helps too. The tenderness in my belly is much better, and that is what I have been the most concerned about. Thanks so much, this particular thread has been the most helpful one of all of those that I have talked on EVER......I REALLY do appreciate it....all the others talk of diareah all the time and my problems were just the opposite. Barbara

[astyanax]

how long should i avoid dairy or soy etc. before deciding it's not the cause of my problems? if i notice no improvement after a week is that enough ? or a month ?

[tarnalberry]

I would advise doing a dietary challenge. Avoid ALL FORMS OF SOY for at least a week, then have a fair amount of it in one sitting. If you react to it, you'll know it's a problem. The reason for doing this is because it can be hard to isolate the effect of ONE food out of all of the foods that we eat.

[Guest barbara3675]

What is the correct web address for enterolabs? I tried everything on a search and came up with nothing. I want to try having testing with them, possibly. Thanks, Barbara

[lilliexx]

Open Original Shared Link

i have been taking the advice in this thread this week, and allready its helped a lot. i have been consuming a little dairy, but increased my fruit/water intake and its working!!

[jaycee30]

Lillie,

Don't feel bad about the board! I've done the same thing the last couple of weeks and everyone has been wonderful!

Anyway, my main symptoms are constipation, and gas and bloating and pain. I also have MS, so have really poor motility. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know I was gluten intolerant, so was just working on the constipation thing constantly. Mine would get so bad, I had a heartbeat that I could feel in my tummy....sort of a throb.

Anyway, here is what worked for me. I had to work up to it to avoid gas, but it really did work.

First, I always have a glass of water in my hand. I mean, I drink about 10 -12 16 oz glasses a day. I eat an orange every morning at 9 am and one after lunch. And then a large bunch of red seedless grapes every late afternoon. I also eat 3 servings of vegetables at lunch and 3 to 4 more at dinner, no matter what else I leave on my plate. And brown rice twice a week and sweet potatos twice a week. I stay off dairy and soy....very little cheese.

Hope this helps...........

Jen

[Guest barbara3675]

Thanks so very much for the address for enterolabs......just ordered the complete kit and am going to see if I am gluten sensitive and also milk sensitive by their standards. Should be interesting. I am also going to take heed to the good information from Jen about water veggies and fruit. The fruit wont be that hard, but the veggies are my problem. I am trying, though. I sure do know that I am eating healthier, though. I got to wondering if several of the supplements that I have been taking on a daily basis had gluten in, so took them out of my life for awhile to see what happens. You all are so much help. Barbara

[lilliexx]

thanks for your advice jaycee!! that was really helpful!

i'm beginning to think milk may be the main culprit in my constipation issue. for two days i switched to soy lattes in the morning, but today i went back to milk....and am now back to square 1.

the next week i will be increasing my fruit veggie intake even more so and cutting dairy all together.

all of the advice here has been great and i'm glad this thread has helped you too barbara.