Can I eat soy?

[Sylvia]

Hi all, I was dx'd with lymphocytic c. in 2006. I have not had any symptoms for the past couple of years and have been eating gluten, etc with no diet restrictions, until just recently. Went to work at a place with extreme stress caused by a couple crazies as supervisors; all the other employees were in fear and stressed by those sups. High tension. Long story short, after a couple months my schedule became, eat cereal in A.M. go to work in high stress environment, come home after six hours, starving, and literally stuff myself with huge amounts of food then followed by big explosion, D for a couple of hours, etc. After several days of this, I started to eat a little lunch at work, come home and the same thing would happen. Then, it would happen every day no matter what I did. I quit the stressful job, stayed home in my calm environment, and still it continued! All thru this for the past couple years I have had heartburn, took Pepcid, Tums, etc. A few days ago I went GF and DF and by the second day the heartburn vanished! Today I had a colonoscopy by a gastro who I was referred to by my general. Never met the guy before. All went better than I anticipated and he said he didn't see anything remarkable but took biopsies. I asked him about the diet thing and he was in a hurry and not interested. Basically said, eat what agrees with you. Try Pepto Bismol. Gone. So here I am going back to the GF DF diet. I am also drinking soy milk as of today. I notice a lot of you folks don't use soy. Do any of you use soy successfully? I have used it on GF cereal. Sigh, sad to be back in this shape, but grateful to return to this forum and the nice folks here. Sylvia

[Bifcus16]

Hi Sylvia

I have never had any difficulties with soy. Use Tamari (wheat free soy sauce) regularly, have soy milk if I feel like it, frozen soybeans (edamame), foods made with soy flour etc . No problems.

That said, I got used to having orange juice on GF cereal, and now prefer it. Or eggs for breakfast.

About half of us have issues with soy. The usual thing would be to try GD and DF for a while and see what happens. If that doesn't resolve things then look to dropping out the soy as well. It is quite hard to go soy free with GFDF as so many things have soy in them.

Give the GF DF time to work, if you can. The improvement in your other symptoms is a good sign that you are probably on the right track.

Lyn

[starfire]

Hi Sylvia,
We are all different and you will have to decide whether soy bothers you or not (or you could be tested at Enterolab). Several of us here are sensitive to soy, including me and I did have the test which was positive. I avoid it as much as possible, but it does seem to be everywhere. I don't believe that's for "health reasons". It's because it's cheaper for the manufacturers.

Love, Shirley

[ant]

Hi Sylvia,

Sigh, sad to be back in this shape,

Glade you are posting but sorry that you have had this setback.

All went better than I anticipated and he said he didn't see anything remarkable but took biopsies. I asked him about the diet thing and he was in a hurry and not interested. Basically said, eat what agrees with you. Try Pepto Bismol. Gone

It is normal for MC only to show up in the biopsies. Has he had the results of those back yet? I assume he will give you a view on what he does or does not find in them. Since you already were Dx LC in 2006 I imagine you had a colonoscopy with biopsies then? If so, it would be good if the GI was able to compare the two results. Being in a hurry and brushing off diet as a possible treatment (despite mounting research evidence that it should be considered) is, unfortunately, typical of most GIs. It may be right to try Pepto for 8 weeks as a first shot. It should give temporary remission, but is unlikely alone to bring lasting remission. But, I am sure you know all this already so I will stop rambling on.....

Hope you get back to "normans" soon

Best wishes, Ant

[Sylvia]

Hi all, just an update and questions.....I know this is a gross subject, but this "D" has no solids, just explosive liquid. After my colonoscopy yesterday, Dr. said to eat high fiber. He insisted. Ate potato and beef and jello for supper with soy milk. I am getting run down as this has been bad for several weeks now. Anyway, middle of the night rumbling sloshing starts, and barely make it to the bathroom. Continues every 10-15 minutes. I am not a good "pill taker" but had some immodium and took one at 7 a.m. Called gastro at 8. Was told to take another immodium right away and take two at a time a couple more times during the day and see doc tomorrow for results of biopsies. Right now my main concern is dehydration. Very dry mouth and kind of weak. So far the one immodium has kept me out of the bathroom for two hours, so some hope there. If it starts up again, will take more immodium. Had bad reaction from Lomotil many years ago, like an overdose kind of reaction so afraid of immodium, altho don't know if it is the same kind of stuff. Drinking canned chicken broth. Wondering why he didn't want me to bring in a stool sample. Just feeling bad and wondering if the course of this thing sounds like others have had with LC. Wondering if my new blood pressure pills could be causing this altho I have been on them 2 months (Cardizem). Also took antibiotics in Dec and there was a warning about D developing up to a month after treatment.?? Sylvia

[starfire]

What you experiencing sounds like a bad flare of MC but I don't have a definite idea of what caused it because it could be a combination of several things.

It certainly sounds like you are already dehydrated. Don't let that continue for too long. Can you stand any of the drinks that help to hydrate you. Plain water isn't enough. You need something with electrolytes.
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=992

Love, Shirley

[JLH]

NO to the fiber. It will probably make you worse. Do a PP search for fiber and find some of Tex's previous posts.

[JLH]

"NO-NOS:

NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen …

FIBER (particularly INSOLUBLE fiber) often seems to cause more gas and bloating. It has been known to help Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), but many find it does not help with MC; it may actually make it worse."

[Rosie]

Your GI doctor doesn't sound very helpful. Going GF and DF and avoiding fiber are pretty basic when in a flare. I also avoid soy, after being tested positive by Enterolabs. It certainly adds an extra level of complexity to the diet, so getting an Enterolab test to know for sure would be good to do.

I found that the imodium was a temporary help in situations when I was away from the house, but only postponed the inevitable. The Pepto helps for some. And Entocort has helped calm the flare for many others. Unfortunately it can take time for a flare to settle, and I hope your efforts bring relief soon.

Rosie

[ant]

Dear Silvia

I have found that in a flare Imodium and Pepto Bismal gives good short term help (but we are all different). If you eat any vegetables, overcook them, but (as others have written) fiber is not good for MC. If you eat potato do not eat the skin (and no butter only some olive oil - not ordinary vegetable oil). If you eat meat, NO fat, it will just cause bloating. Get electrolytes to give you some strength and prevent dehydration.

Hope these suggestions help....

All best, Ant

[Gloria]

Sylvia,

If you are eating chicken broth, be aware that some of the ingredients in the canned brands can cause problems for us. Many of us find that the boxed Imagine and Kitchen Basics broths have "safe" ingredients.

Gloria