Milk and milk products as bowel irritants?

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Can anyone give me feedback as to whether you've been able to drink milk, eat yogurt, and/or enjoy some cheeses? I'm missing them so much, while I'm attempting an "eliminate-the-irritants" diet. Soon I'll attempt to put milk back in to see how it affects the urge incontinence, but I'm sure wishing.....

 

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Milk doesn't bother me as much as coffee. Coffee works as a laxative on me and I sometimes barely make it to the bathroom.

 

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Sorry. I meant to ask about milk and milk products as BLADDER irritants. Thanks for any feedback you can share about effects on URGE INCONTINENCE

 

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Have you been tested to see if you have an allergy or food sensitivity to those item. Could be lactose intolerance too.

 

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Thanks, Deb, for this question. No, I've not been tested so far. My therapist has me doing diet eliminating possible BLADDER IRRITANTS. And then I'm to gradually add them back in to see if there's a difference in the frequency of URGE INCONTINENCE.

 

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Since I am dealing with bowel incontinence and have some food sensitivities I too am wondering if anyone else has the same problem. I am trying to avoid all the food items on my list to see if they are affecting my leaking. Anyone else have this problem?

 

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I have the same issues with milk and dairy. I take lactaid. 3 pills a couple minutes before dairy and that does help quite a bit.

 

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I have tried that but I do continue to leak. Not sure yet if it is related to the food.

 

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I would definitely take a shot at trying some lactose free dairy products when the timing is right. I definitely after I turned 50 started becoming more and more lactose intolerant and I believe my parents were the same way.

 

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Thanks,Richr. Do you think that your lactose intolerance caused bladder issues?

 

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I doubt it, the bladder issues were here long before

 

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Hi @marciafry, I joined this discussion rather late but I would cast my vote for possible lactose intolerance too!!! But I'm afraid I can't tell if dairy products may also irritate the bladder but that may be possible. If I were to entertain that possibility myself I would maybe try lactose-free products and see what happens from that point!

 

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Thanks, Bill. Yes I can try this for BLADDER IRRITATION and URGE INCONTINENCE.

 

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Go for it!!! You never know until you try!!! And please let us know if it works out!!!! It may take several days before you see a difference (if there is a difference to be seen!) however!

 

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I haven't noticed a correlation between my urinary issues and dairy products. I eat cheese but that's about it as far as dairy goes. Coffee pretty much goes through me instantly and it is my one weakness. I just can't do without it completely. Drinking less has helped a bit though and switching out coffee for other caffeinated drinks at work has been a lifesaver. Whist caffeine is a diuretic full stop, coffee's definitely worse for me incontinence wise than other drinks.

@debvollmer Bread's always been a big IBS trigger. I used to eat a fair amount of it as I'd always take sandwiches to work. Since switching from sandwiches to pasta meals for lunch I've definitely noticed an improvement. My biggest IBS triggers however tend to be changes to meal times, stress and lack of sleep. The latter two are unfortunately not always controllable.

 

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I am doing well since I eliminated those items that came back from my blood test. (Egg whites, wheat, casein, tomato, peanut, maize/corn, soybean, yeast, coffee and chocolate). It has been extremely difficult to adjust my eating habits. I will try to introduce one item at a time to see if that item affects my bowels. The interstim device has helped tremendously to have regular bowel movements. So for me I may need both the interstim and modified diet.