Can Soy, Dairy, (Other) Cause The Same Symtoms?

[zebaldwin]

I'm in the process of going on the diet myself to see if it is what is causing my problems. I have heard that a lot of people that have problems with gluten also have problems with soy and dairy. Is this true even if the symptoms are more neurological? Also, can soy, dairy, etc cause brain fog/migraines/weakness/fatigue etc as well?

I'm asking because I would be able to open up my food options a lot right now if I could eat cheese and soy. Thanks

[October3]

Well, I can tell you my experience. My symptoms to dairy (I'm pretty sure, as I'm doing a dairy trial now and these are what have come back) are joint pain, anxiety, and fatigue (like almost falling asleep in the early afternoon), along with GI symptoms. My daughter's dairy symptoms are GI and congestion/ ear infections. Her soy symptoms are mostly behavioral now - insomnia, almost manic-like craziness (she's 3 and just runs and jumps and gets really intense and can't sleep).

From my conversations with other food intolerant people I think there can be a really wide spectrum of symptoms with any food, not just gluten.

Good luck figuring it out.

Edited to add: another possibility I'm considering for my symptoms is candida which I had worked to get rid of a few years ago and have recently been very bad about my diet (too many sodas and other sugary stuff). The things you list are pretty classic candida symptoms so thought I would throw that out just to add another layer of confusion for you. Probably the best thing to do is eliminate everything you can think of on the front end, get to baseline, then start adding things back in. You could do it the other way around but it might take longer to feel better.

[zebaldwin]

thanks october...

I'm willing to do anything...I just feel like the possibilities are endless!

Plus, neurological symptoms supposedly take longer to "go away" so I might be doing this for a while not even knowing if food (of any kind) is the cause :/

blahhh

Thanks!!

[October3]

Yup, I can recall feeling that sense that I would never figure it out. One thing I will say though is that with soy or pretty much any other food (besides dairy and gluten) you should notice improvements within a week. It may take a little longer to get the rest of the way out of your system, and some things aren't directly symptoms of the food but rather secondary due to nutritional deficits (like my anxiety, for example, I think is due to magnesium depletion which is caused by my food intolerances). But anyway you should notice an improvement within a week if that food is an issue for you. Dairy can take 2-3 weeks to clear your system, and gluten can take longer. So with most foods it isn't necessary to stay on an elimination long term if you aren't seeing a difference.

[zebaldwin]

How did you end up finding what foods you had problems with and what deficiencies followed?

Yup, I can recall feeling that sense that I would never figure it out. One thing I will say though is that with soy or pretty much any other food (besides dairy and gluten) you should notice improvements within a week. It may take a little longer to get the rest of the way out of your system, and some things aren't directly symptoms of the food but rather secondary due to nutritional deficits (like my anxiety, for example, I think is due to magnesium depletion which is caused by my food intolerances). But anyway you should notice an improvement within a week if that food is an issue for you. Dairy can take 2-3 weeks to clear your system, and gluten can take longer. So with most foods it isn't necessary to stay on an elimination long term if you aren't seeing a difference.

[October3]

How did you end up finding what foods you had problems with and what deficiencies followed?

With the help of a lot of really smart ladies on various allergy forums. And it helped that I was nursing my daughter who reacted very violently to things in my milk so it was easier (though still a process) to figure out her intolerances and once I eliminated those I discovered that I felt better. As it turns out (I didn't know this before) babies often react to the foods their parents are sensitive to. Not very helpful if you don't have a nursling, but that's how it happened for me. Then once I realized I had issues with foods I had both of us tested with ELISA testing and that turned up a few more things I didn't know. There was a lot of interest among the moms I was internet chatting with about how detox pathways can help with healing food intolerances and they made suggestions to me about things to try supplementing based on my symptoms. Its all still pretty much over my head - I just don't have to time or attention span to figure all that out, but I have picked up a few things and find that by trying to support our detox pathways my daughter and I really do feel better and I can definitely tell when things are getting clogged up in either of us now.

[Lisa]

Believe it or not, digestive issues are not the most common symptoms of Celiac. Before you get too far into the gluten free diet, I would encourage you to get a full Celiac Blood Panel.

If you choose not to be tested, you can begin the diet. But only full compliance will determine if you have Celiac or a gluten intolerance, by a slow recovery of your symptoms.

If, in fact, you do have Celiac Disease, your healing time will be determined by the amount of damage in your small intestines.

You also have the option of going "clean"..... as in meats, fish, rice and potatoes, fresh veggies and fruit, for a month or so. By adding one suspect at a time, you may determine what is causing your issues.

[cahill]

How did you end up finding what foods you had problems with?

About 7 months after eliminating gluten I realized I was still reacting to something. I would eliminate the suspect food for awhile and then eat it to judge my reaction. I found I was reacting to soy,corn,nightshades.Then in January I stated an elimination diet to find any remaining intolerances or allergys..

[cahill]

I have heard that a lot of people that have problems with gluten also have problems with soy and dairy. Is this true even if the symptoms are more neurological? Also, can soy, dairy, etc cause brain fog/migraines/weakness/fatigue etc as well?

Yes, about 85% of my symptons are neurological.