Avoiding Soy

[hangininthere]

There are some state-of-the-art doctors who specialize in testing for behavioral food allergies.

They test you with sublingual liquid drops of food allergens.

This testing is far more accurate than the pin-prick testing on back for allergens, especially more accurate for behavioral food allergies that cause neurological symptoms.

My insurance won't cover that kind of specialist, and I can't afford it in cash myself. But if your insurance would cover it, or you have the cash, it would be well worth the testing.

My constipation isn't caused by soy, I just have 'sluggish bowels' I'm guessing. Magnesium is a good natural laxative, that is if magnesium agrees with you like it does me.

I have severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Bipolar NOS on the Depression side, plus Attention Deficit Disorder, all medical conditions that cause varying degrees of brain-fog and cognitive problems, so I'm gettin' it from every which way but loose.

But getting off of glutens and soy improved my concentration enough to be able to get out into the kitchen and concentrate enough to cook and bake me and son's special diet. I hadn't been able to cook or bake for nine years prior when my brain-fog got worse, but can now.

My brain-fog still bad though in every other way, can't concentrate to read books anymore, shoot.

Good luck to you in finding out why you're having such brain-fog. Keep experimenting around, good job.

I too, am always on the look-out for what other foods may effect me, haven't gotten any further than gluten and soy though yet, but will keep trying.

I think milk spaces me out, I need to get serious about having a milk-free trial. Yet I hate to do that, because milk calms me down nicely at the same time too, without it I get antsy. Calcium pills make me sick as a dog for some reason, so that's out.

Have you tried digestive enzymes? They help me feel better, help me absorb the nutrition I eat. I get mine at GNC, the ones that say gluten-free and soy-free on the bottle.

And acidophilus helps my digestion and overall health, too. I get it at Walgreen's drugstore.

[hathor]

My bowels seem to be working better now that I recently cut out soy lecithin. It turns out that I was getting it in my magnesium supplement, of all things. So now I'm doing better withOUT the pills.

I suppose everyone knows this, but just to make sure -- supplements and drugs don't have to list allergens like soy. You can't assume they don't have soy just because you don't see it on the label.

[melmak5]

Rice apparently is not my problem, things seem to be getting worse rather than better.

I am on a quest to find the answer though.

How is everyone else doing?

[7-cody]

I've been soy free for eight days now... not feeling any better. what does make me feel better though is to eat a lot, like every few hours eat something. meats, seafood, etc... make me feel better. Next Thursday I'm going in to get tested for Hypoglycemia... we'll see what happens.

Anyone know how accurate the enterolab tests are? I got a 17 or whatever... but I've been wheat free for over three months now and don't feel any different. Is it possible wheat isn't my problem after all?

And good melmak, I hope you find out what's bothering you!

[Janeti]

7 cody,

I'm curious, is your stomach bothering you? These last few days I am having the sore stomach and rib pain. Kind of feels like something is ripping at my gut, and I have no idea of what it is. I am wondering now if it is soy. I am soooo tired of playing the"what shall I eat today game". I just don't know what else to avoid. Janet

[7-cody]

7 cody,

I'm curious, is your stomach bothering you? These last few days I am having the sore stomach and rib pain. Kind of feels like something is ripping at my gut, and I have no idea of what it is. I am wondering now if it is soy. I am soooo tired of playing the"what shall I eat today game". I just don't know what else to avoid. Janet

nope, I don't get stomach pain. just C and major brain fog... my brain feels fuzzy. and fatigue... cold hands, etc.

I've tried foods as well, I think I'm going to go a different route for now and keep playing the guessing game. that's all this is, a guessing game. I'm going to get a blood test next thursday and see where my sugar levels are at...

if nothing else works, I'll go back to just saying I'm gluten intolerant. Of course, I'll stay off gluten until I know for sure that it doesn't bother me (even though being gluten free hasn't helped me at all).

[confusedks]

I am soy free as well as other things. I didn't notice a HUGE difference when I went soy free, but I also have other health problems going on. I am EXTREMELY dedicated to my diet and I eat very healthfully most of the time, but I still have other GI an brain symptoms, so I am getting tested for other health problems.

Cody, are you dairy free? It is EXTREMELY constipating. Also, how much water are you drinking and how much fiber are you getting? These are all very important to take into consideration when you have constipation.

Now if I eat soy, I get REALLY nauseous. It is terrible, even with soy lecithin or soybean oil. I have found out the hard way.

Good luck!

Kassandra

[dgglutenfree]

"nope, I don't get stomach pain. just C and major brain fog... my brain feels fuzzy. and fatigue... cold hands, etc. "

Not to be an alarmist, but those are symptoms of hypothyroidism. Have you gained weight recently? I talked to a Naturopathic doctor in my local Whole Foods today, and she said that chronic constipation that doesn't respond to increased fiber and water consumption can often be contributed to a magnesium deficiency. She advises taking supplements for a few days to cure it. If it didn't respond pretty quickly, I would ask a doctor. :-)

[dgglutenfree]

I had no idea that people could have allergies/intolerances to rice, because it is one of the ONLY things people have been telling me to eat.

If you eat a whole lot of one food, you can develop an intolerance to it. But it just sounds like mom forgot to tell you something! Sorry about that! My own mother (who is in Celiac Denial, which I think should be a disease on its own) "forgot" to tell me that when she eats wheat her "throat closes up." Nice!

In addition to celiac disease, I have severe migraines, and the avoidance diet rules out soy, corn, eggs,bananas, onions, nuts, yogurt, dried fruit and just about everything else on my healthy gluten-free former diet. Literally! Because I can't eat a wide variety of foods, I'm totally paranoid about eating too much of any one thing. ;-P

[hathor]

I've been soy free for eight days now... not feeling any better. ...

Anyone know how accurate the enterolab tests are? I got a 17 or whatever... but I've been wheat free for over three months now and don't feel any different. Is it possible wheat isn't my problem after all?

You HAVE taken out more than wheat, right?

It can take longer than 3 months to get completely better. I know people usually notice some change earlier, but I've read of folks who said it took longer. Your improvement could also be complicated if you are accidentally glutening yourself regularly (do you scour labels, checking out "flavors," etc., eliminate possibility of CC at home, check personal care items, etc., etc.). OR if you have another intolerance you might now feel better until you deal with that too.

You could have the Enterolab tests for casein, soy, egg & yeast.

As far as accuracy is concerned, you would have to look through the slide presentation on the web site. Dr. Fine hasn't published yet. I can't remember offhand what his accuracy and sensitivity figures were.

[7-cody]

"nope, I don't get stomach pain. just C and major brain fog... my brain feels fuzzy. and fatigue... cold hands, etc. "

Not to be an alarmist, but those are symptoms of hypothyroidism. Have you gained weight recently? I talked to a Naturopathic doctor in my local Whole Foods today, and she said that chronic constipation that doesn't respond to increased fiber and water consumption can often be contributed to a magnesium deficiency. She advises taking supplements for a few days to cure it. If it didn't respond pretty quickly, I would ask a doctor. :-)

No, I can't gain weight at all! I'm 19, 6' and I weight a 163 lbs!

I'm getting tested for Hypoglycemia next Thursday... maybe I'll focus on the thryoid next, if it's not sugar levels...

[7-cody]

You HAVE taken out more than wheat, right?

It can take longer than 3 months to get completely better. I know people usually notice some change earlier, but I've read of folks who said it took longer. Your improvement could also be complicated if you are accidentally glutening yourself regularly (do you scour labels, checking out "flavors," etc., eliminate possibility of CC at home, check personal care items, etc., etc.). OR if you have another intolerance you might now feel better until you deal with that too.

You could have the Enterolab tests for casein, soy, egg & yeast.

As far as accuracy is concerned, you would have to look through the slide presentation on the web site. Dr. Fine hasn't published yet. I can't remember offhand what his accuracy and sensitivity figures were.

I'm 99% sure I'm not getting any gluten... I would have felt something by now. I'm going to stay gluten free, BUT if I get tested for hypogycemia or something else... and the treatments on those fix me, I'll probably eat gluten again. doesn't make sense to avoid it gluten if it's not avoiding me... and then after being on gluten again for a while, I'd probably get a real endoscopy test or whatever to see if its causing any damage.