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Hi everyone,

I am hoping I can get some good advice.  After a trip to the emergency room because of severe bleeding last July,  I was diagnosed with UC.  I have always had problems with constipation ever since I was a young child (I am 44 now).  I am  not lactose intolerant, but I have noticed that over the last two months that I have had severe constipation, extreme acid indigestion (I am already on a prescription for it), and severe bad breath along with the white coated tongue.  My GI doctor wants me eating Activia yogurt 2-3x per day.  I have been doing this since the diagnoses last July.  I never ate the yogurt until then, just cottage cheese and regular cheeses and other dairy.  Does yogurt  cause problems for anyone else?  This problem is really beginning to bother me.  Hoping someone can help.

 Reply posted for conti68.

I am 26 years old and have been lactose intolerant my whole life. I was just diagnosed with Crohn's Disease about 2 months ago after having a major surgery to remove part of my small intestine and my colon. There are certain things that contain dairy that I can handle but regular milk I cannot, and if I have a regular sized bowl of ice cream or an ice cream cone I'm running to the bathroom and in massive pain for the rest of the night. But I can handle cheese and small amounts of other dairy products. I take daily vitamins, Culterelle, and Achidopolus. I'm still waiting for my GI dr to start me on Remicade cause I have horrible joint pain also. Hope this is helpful :)  

 Reply posted for conti68.

I know this topic is a little old, but the reason you dr wants you to eat active (which is disgusting) is due to the probiotics.  I have purchased Trunature,Digestive Probiotic from Costco and they work wonders. I've been living with UC for the last 9 years and they work perfect along side of my mesalimine. 

 Reply posted for conti68.

Hi.  I definitely think I have a problem with dairy.  However I do have 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee but have cut out milk and now drink almond and use rice milk in my cereal.  You have to get used to the rice milk.  Chocolate almond milk is the best!  I have had almond yogurt for something different and it's pretty good.  I just read about lactose free yoplait and if I can find it I will try it. 

 Reply posted for conti68.

Yeah, I've had either UC or CD since I was 12, doctors currently aren't sure which, and I always had a problem with dairy related foods like cakes and ice cream, but just recently I've become lactose intolerant as well. But, luckily, there are a lot of lactose free milk and cheese products out there, so I don't mind it too much. 

 Reply posted for conti68.

My daughter was diagnosed with UC 6 years ago.  She is currently on Lialda (she has been on many meds, 6mp, Imuran, Azathioprine, Cortifoam, Canasa, Colozal).  She also takes 2 probiotics per day called Ultimate Flora Critical Care 50 Billion and she just started taking 2 Florastor's per day also.  When she is having a flare, she has to stay away from dairy.  Dairy causes inflammation in most people anyway but with UC it makes things worse for her.  If you do eat yogurt, don't get Yoplait which has so much sugar.  Sugar is very bad for UC.  My daughter's IBD specialist said some UC patients have bacteria overgrowth and sugar makes it worse.  Probiotics seem to help.  My daughter recently had a Lactulose Hydrogen Breath Test (she had a minor flare with no blood but just major gas and no formed poops) and tested positive for bacteria overgrowth.  Her doctor said sometimes bacteria from the large intestine gets into the small intestine (SIBO) with IBD patients.  She was given an Rx of Xifaxan and Uceris but the cost was outrageous so he gave her another antibiotic (Doxycycline Hyclate) and a short course of predinisone.  With your symptoms, with the bad breath, white on the tongue...maybe bacteria or yeast overgrowth.   Call you doctor about the Activia and ask about taking probiotics instead.

Have you tried eating lactose free yogurt? There aren't many Flavors but yoplait offers cherry and vanilla ( what I have encountered so far) and they are easy to spot because they have a green label as opposed to traditional blue and red. You might also try making your own home made yogurt. You can get more details about that by looking up the specific carb diet. I hope it helps!

 Reply posted for conti68.

I have Crohn's and I'm lactose intolerant. I take Lactaid pills when I eat something with cheese or milk in it, but even with the pills I can't drink a glass of real milk.

 Reply posted for conti68.

I have lactose intolerance as well as UC.

I don't usually eat dairy and use only lactose free milk.

The LF milk does not bother me if I use it for cereal or oatmeal.


Might be some lactose free yogurts out there. Not sure.

 Reply posted for conti68.

Along with my Crohn's I am lactose intolerant and also have an actual IgE milk allergy.  I take Lactaid pills to eat dairy and those work well but, I have to adjust the amount taken depending on how much dairy I am eating, i.e. I take more pills for ice cream than I would to eat a cookie. The allergy causes more congestion symptoms and because it's an immune reaction it's not really a good idea to expose my body to that kind of "reaction" on a daily basis but, there are so many foods I can't eat (eggs, wheat, oat, barley, apples and most fruits, anything with too much fiber so, lots of veggies are off limits) it's hard to stay away from dairy too. Yogurt was a high IgE reaction for me, I can only have it once in a while or it bothers me.  It also depends on what my cycle is like.  If I am going through a good patch symptom wise then I can eat cottage cheese.  But if I've been having off weeks and I eat cottage cheese...forget it! I have learned all the "tricks of the trade" with foods and such these past 18 years that is for sure. 

 Reply posted for conti68.

I can only eat dairy around twice a week.  Otherwise I start having intestinal cramping and sometimes nausea.  Lately I take a probiotic that contains acidophulis (the good bacteria).  The balance between what I can and cannot eat is cumulative.  IN other words if I chose to eat say dairy and a glass of wine one week, then the next week I won't have either of these things.  My GI doc says I should totally stay away from dairy cuz it makes colitis worse.  But I have found by many weeks of experimentation that I can do dairy a couple times a week, just not huge amounts.

 Reply posted for conti68.

I have UC with constipation and never eat yogurt as it can be constipating.  I stay away from most dairy - my belly feels better when I do.

 Reply posted for conti68.

Try limiting milk and see if adding a good probiotic helps balance your system.   Go to Whole foods and get a good one, you may start to see the addition to your daily routine eliminates the whiteness of your tongue.   It is probably caused by yeast overgrowth.   Good luck!

 Reply posted for conti68.

I try to stay away from all dairyi get ,gas cramps pain blood you name it ,but i never have gotten constipated from pretty much anything when i'm flairing or otherwise i'm the exact opposite .The best thing for me is yogurt i get greek yogurt with honey or with blueberries, i also seem to tolerate bananas, if i'm in a severe flair up nothing i eat agrees or for that matter i don't have much of an apatite @ that point ,yogurt & bananas just seem to be easier on the gut for me.

 Reply posted for conti68.

I have problems with dairy and cannot eat yogurt, alot of cheese, milk or ice cream...

 Reply posted for conti68.

Standard commercial yogurt, although it contains less lactose than milk, still contains enough to cause GI discomfort to those with lactose intolerance, which you may well have.

If you make home-made yogurt that ferments for 24 hours (as opposed to the 8 or fewer hours of commercial yogurt), all the lactose is broken down, so the home-made 24-hour version is lactose-free. Then you can also take a probiotic on the side--I think Nature's Way Primadophilus is the best--it's enteric-coated to ensure maximum benefit (it must be kept refrigerated). That way you'll get better, healthier yogurt and better probiotic action than with the commercial yogurt your doctor recommends, Plus it will be cheaper over the long term--the make will more than pay for itself.

So it might be worth it for you to invest in a home yogurt maker--here are links on amazon for the maker and the starter that you need to implant the beneficial bugs in the yogurt:

Yogurt maker with starter (just ferment the yogurt for 24 hours rather than the 4.5 hours recommended by the manufacturer):

http://www.amazon.com/Yogourmet-Multi-Electric-Yogurt-Starter/dp/B0016HM77A/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1366690419&sr=1-1&keywords=yogourmet