No More Dairy?

[January Flower]

I've been having having problems with gas/D...ever since i had the flu a few months ago. My doctor did a blood test and my IgG level was slightly raised so he told me to stop eating gluten. I have but lately i think Dairy is more my problem. I ate Pizza on the weekend, and felt great, if i had a problem with gluten wouldn't i have been sick?

Lately the triggers of my D have been iced-cream (that was gluten free) and chip dip. I heard that if you have problems digesting dairy you experience symptoms right after you consume it. For me my symptoms seem to come hours later of the morning after i eat dairy. Is that normal?? Or does it sound more like IBS?

[BRUMI1968]

Hi. Everyone responds differently to different foods. I was eating gluten for years, and never felt "sick" right afterward. I always had intestinal problems, bloating, gas, extreme bloaty pain, etc. I also had canker sores, itchy skin, bleeding gums, and whatnot. When I quit gluten, all of that went away for the most part.

That said, eating dairy makes me extremely constipated to this day. Even a bit of butter. I mean a BIT. And this doesn't show up for a few days, then it's numbingly bad.

I think lots of things take a spell to accumulate - for example, I can't eat honey w/o getting stomach aches. I can for about two weeks, then suddenly not. By then I don't make the association, and can't figure out what's going on. (this just happened to me AGAIN, so I quit honey AGAIN and my tummy is better again.)

So it is hard to say. I got the blood test for Celiac and tested positive. Most of my symptoms went away when I quit gluten, except for those that were being caused by dairy, so I had to stop that too. I actually hadn't had that for some time anyway, but every time I try to add a bit of butter back to my diet, I get the C big time.

Good luck in figuring it all out. I would say that IBS is a legitimate CONDITION, but it does not address cause at all, which is what makes it a ridiculous diagnosis if a cause is never determined. Yes, my bowel was VERY IRRITATED...I could've told the doc that. What I needed to know what why. In my case? Gluten and dairy.

Take care.

[AndreaB]

If you have an intolerance to dairy you won't feel it right away necessarily. It usually starts within 8 hours but an intolerance response can be anywhere up to 3 days.

[hathor]

I have but lately i think Dairy is more my problem. I ate Pizza on the weekend, and felt great, if i had a problem with gluten wouldn't i have been sick?

Was this cheeseless pizza you had?

[January Flower]

The pizza had a bit of cheese on it not much. The last three times i had D it was after i ate, alot of iced cream, alot of chip dip, and cream cheese. I find that if i eat small portions of dairy all day i just have really bad smelling gas, but if i eat alot at once i usually end up with D.

So its possible not to react to Dairy until the next day?

[hathor]

So its possible not to react to Dairy until the next day?

For me, yes. It might make a difference if you are reacting to lactose versus casein in terms of how quickly you react, but I don't really know. Maybe your body's reaction to gluten counterbalances its reaction to dairy and you ended up balanced

I'm a slow reactor, I guess. My symptoms build slowly and it will be a full day before my worst symptoms strike. Except for egg, that bothers me immediately ... And soy and yeast, to which I apparently react with antibodies according to the testing but I notice no symptoms at all.

Guts are confusing, huh?

You may want to start keeping a food and symptom journal and see if you can tease out what you have problems with. Is there anything in the ice cream and dip that wouldn't have been in the pizza? Could it have been the fat content or something like this?

When I've read descriptions of elimination diets, they say to wait for a couple days to make sure you aren't reacting.

[January Flower]

Its usually takes at least 8 hours for me to react to anything. But i ate the pizza three days ago, and haven't had any problems usually but now i would have had massive D. I've had a couple normal bathroom visit since i ate it.

I really think Dairy is my problem...i hope i finally figured it out!! i'm seeiing my Dr. on friday...they can do a blood test to see if you have problems digesting dairy right? When i dont eat dairy i dont have that bad bad smelling gas...

(i can't believe i'm talking about gas/and D i've never thought i'd be so open)

[hathor]

I don't know about blood testing for dairy intolerance, sorry. Perhaps someone else here knows ... or you can report back what you find out.

Good luck figuring things out!

[Daisy Duke]

For years I thought I was only gluten intolerant, but I continued having other problems, and so I gave up dairy and that literally cleared up everything. I was always constipated, and then would have 4-5 bowel movements in one day, usually diarrhea. I have had no problems for the last couple years, since I have given up dairy.

Give it a shot, give up dairy for a few weeks and see how your body responds. Most of those symptoms should go away.

Daisy Duke