Additional symptoms, (for many of us, but not all of us), can include headache, stiff and painful joints, (including neck and spinal pain and stiffness), body aches and pains, and for some, neurological issues, (such as brain fog, balance issues, gait issues, cognizance and memory issues, etc.)
The theory is that a bacterium may play a part in the initial onset of the disease, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they continue to be the source of the problem. Once the genes that predispose to MC are triggered, for most of us, certain genes that predispose to food-sensitivities are also triggered. The bacterial imbalance, (if present), is usually corrected, over time, but we still continue to react to the food-sensitivities that were triggered along with the disease. At least, that's how I see it.
Tex
Returning to gluten on occasion ?
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Tex,
I agree - (I don't agree that we have 'milder' gluten reactions than celiac as an absolute rule... as you know I suspect a lot of us are undiagnosed as celiac, not that I need a diagnosis at this point!).
Funny that you mention stiffness today - I just suddenly noticed that I was squatting and bending (while gardening and puttering around the kitchen) with a kind of ease that I probably was gradually losing, and am very glad to regain. As you know, the gait and balance issues were only mild for me (I was unaware of them, till they improved), and the brain fog was a disaster at the peak of symptoms. It's awfully nice to be seeing health improvements at my age ;)
I also had recurrent ear infections, occasional skin issues, nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness... most of those were pretty mild and occasional, and all have improved since I fixed my diet. Oh, and my gray hair is getting dark again, which convinces me that I had a serious malabsorption issue brewing.
I believe that bacteria were part of the mix that brought my MC into full-blown flare. But many other factors were also in play. And honestly, I think anyone with genetics for gluten sensitivity should cut out gluten *today* whether they have a single symptom or not - it's just not worth the possibility of long-term health consequences. I'm glad I had horrible GI symptoms, instead of amorphous, full-body symptoms no one could diagnose, till I had full-fledged MS or Parkinson's (or Hashimoto's thyroiditis... you get the idea).
trialanderror, how's your GF experiment going?
--Sara
I agree - (I don't agree that we have 'milder' gluten reactions than celiac as an absolute rule... as you know I suspect a lot of us are undiagnosed as celiac, not that I need a diagnosis at this point!).
Funny that you mention stiffness today - I just suddenly noticed that I was squatting and bending (while gardening and puttering around the kitchen) with a kind of ease that I probably was gradually losing, and am very glad to regain. As you know, the gait and balance issues were only mild for me (I was unaware of them, till they improved), and the brain fog was a disaster at the peak of symptoms. It's awfully nice to be seeing health improvements at my age ;)
I also had recurrent ear infections, occasional skin issues, nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness... most of those were pretty mild and occasional, and all have improved since I fixed my diet. Oh, and my gray hair is getting dark again, which convinces me that I had a serious malabsorption issue brewing.
I believe that bacteria were part of the mix that brought my MC into full-blown flare. But many other factors were also in play. And honestly, I think anyone with genetics for gluten sensitivity should cut out gluten *today* whether they have a single symptom or not - it's just not worth the possibility of long-term health consequences. I'm glad I had horrible GI symptoms, instead of amorphous, full-body symptoms no one could diagnose, till I had full-fledged MS or Parkinson's (or Hashimoto's thyroiditis... you get the idea).
trialanderror, how's your GF experiment going?
--Sara
Sara,
When my symptoms began, I couldn't believe how fast my hair started turning grey. I went from "young" to "old", in a matter of a year or two.
It never occurred to me that I had a malabsorption problem, until the damage was done.
Tex
When my symptoms began, I couldn't believe how fast my hair started turning grey. I went from "young" to "old", in a matter of a year or two.
It never occurred to me that I had a malabsorption problem, until the damage was done.Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I am so glad you said that! I thought I must be dreaming (and I think the B-vites are a definite factor - I'm emulating your Metanx but not following it precisely, plus regular B-complex).
Seems to me that my hair is still (slowly) darkening. I keep thinking I must be nuts (yet another gluten-induced symptom)... Now I look at 'prematurely gray' folks and wonder what is lurking for them, healthwise.
Whatever damage I may have averted by the 'luck' of having MC smite me when it did... I do wonder what damage is less easily undone. I mostly feel lucky to have *any* uphill health statistics, at my age and with MC in the picture. The darker hair is kind of a vanity thing, but if it's a marker for something of deeper health significance... yay.
The funny thing about 'premature graying' is that it's supposedly genetic. Probably it's the gluten sensitivity that's genetic! The debonair gray hair is just a symptom. For that matter, it's possible that MC is also just a 'symptom' - if looked at from the right altitude! Some symptom!
You look very debonair to me, and I hope you're feeling "in the ritz."
Love,
Sara
Seems to me that my hair is still (slowly) darkening. I keep thinking I must be nuts (yet another gluten-induced symptom)... Now I look at 'prematurely gray' folks and wonder what is lurking for them, healthwise.
Whatever damage I may have averted by the 'luck' of having MC smite me when it did... I do wonder what damage is less easily undone. I mostly feel lucky to have *any* uphill health statistics, at my age and with MC in the picture. The darker hair is kind of a vanity thing, but if it's a marker for something of deeper health significance... yay.
The funny thing about 'premature graying' is that it's supposedly genetic. Probably it's the gluten sensitivity that's genetic! The debonair gray hair is just a symptom. For that matter, it's possible that MC is also just a 'symptom' - if looked at from the right altitude! Some symptom!
You look very debonair to me, and I hope you're feeling "in the ritz."
Love,
Sara
Sara wrote:it's possible that MC is also just a 'symptom'
I not sure that I'm quite in the "ritz" category, but at least I finally crawled out of the gutter, when the diet started working.Sara wrote:I hope you're feeling "in the ritz."
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I'm fascinated with your comments on greying, Sara and Tex. In the last 6 months I've noticed more and more grey showing up. I don't mind, but I wonder if it's related to my MCC. I'm still brunette and figure at least the grey can be my highlights. 
I need direction on what vitamins to take. I forgot to take the ones I brought with me to DC last week so haven't had anything in more than 10 days. I've only been taking a senior multivitamin, biotin, and calcium citrate. Does one brand do a better job than another? Should I be looking for other supplements?
Sharaine
I need direction on what vitamins to take. I forgot to take the ones I brought with me to DC last week so haven't had anything in more than 10 days. I've only been taking a senior multivitamin, biotin, and calcium citrate. Does one brand do a better job than another? Should I be looking for other supplements?
Sharaine
Sharaine,
I dropped everything while symptomatic (and a tad desperate to make the D stop). I now take a B-100 complex, plus additional B-12; Vitamin D3 (liquid drops); and Rhodiola, and herb I love. I also use transdermal magnesium, which I make from nigari flakes (just dissolved in water - the nigari is used to make tofu, and is a much less expensive form of topical magnesium than you can sometimes get... plus, if it's food grade, I don't mind it on my skin).
B vitamins, and D, and magnesium are among the vitamins that are poorly absorbed when our gut is inflamed. I also have recently added some fish oil, several days a week, and it seems to be going well, so I may make that a daily thing.
If you are still having digestive symptoms, I would recommend waiting, rather than add something and then wonder whether it was the new supplement, or something you ate. I found that even tried-n-true supplements became problematic - my B-complex in particular. You will find brands that work for you; many here have used the Freeda brand, and I had good luck with Bluebonnet, but each of us is unique (and take your time).
If you are graying suddenly, it might be connected? (I'm still gray - just a little less salt and more pepper in the mix.)
--Sara
I dropped everything while symptomatic (and a tad desperate to make the D stop). I now take a B-100 complex, plus additional B-12; Vitamin D3 (liquid drops); and Rhodiola, and herb I love. I also use transdermal magnesium, which I make from nigari flakes (just dissolved in water - the nigari is used to make tofu, and is a much less expensive form of topical magnesium than you can sometimes get... plus, if it's food grade, I don't mind it on my skin).
B vitamins, and D, and magnesium are among the vitamins that are poorly absorbed when our gut is inflamed. I also have recently added some fish oil, several days a week, and it seems to be going well, so I may make that a daily thing.
If you are still having digestive symptoms, I would recommend waiting, rather than add something and then wonder whether it was the new supplement, or something you ate. I found that even tried-n-true supplements became problematic - my B-complex in particular. You will find brands that work for you; many here have used the Freeda brand, and I had good luck with Bluebonnet, but each of us is unique (and take your time).
If you are graying suddenly, it might be connected? (I'm still gray - just a little less salt and more pepper in the mix.)
--Sara
Sharaine,
Yes, I agree that the "B" vitamins are critical for healthy hair, and adequate vitamin D is probably also essential. I believe that the article at the following link is pretty much accurate, except that you can ignore the comments that claim that high cholesterol foods such as eggs and organ meats are "unhealthy". That's BS - eating foods that are high in cholesterol does not cause high cholesterol in the body, any more than eating fat causes obesity. The digestive system breaks all those foods down into their individual amino acids and uses those amino acids to form new tissue - it most definitely does not just add the cholesterol to existing cholesterol in the body, nor does it add the fat to our existing lipid deposits.
Anyone who doubts that eating eggs will help the health of their hair, should try feeding eggs to a dog that has a rough, dull coat, and see what happens. Within a couple of weeks, that dog will have a glossy, smooth, healthy-looking coat, and much more energy and stamina, to go with it. Back in the good old days, when everyone had egg-laying chickens, on the family farm, you could always spot the dog that was sneaking into the hen house and stealing eggs, because he or she had the shiniest, smoothest, slickest-looking coat in the bunch.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/15122 ... gray-hair/
Tex
Yes, I agree that the "B" vitamins are critical for healthy hair, and adequate vitamin D is probably also essential. I believe that the article at the following link is pretty much accurate, except that you can ignore the comments that claim that high cholesterol foods such as eggs and organ meats are "unhealthy". That's BS - eating foods that are high in cholesterol does not cause high cholesterol in the body, any more than eating fat causes obesity. The digestive system breaks all those foods down into their individual amino acids and uses those amino acids to form new tissue - it most definitely does not just add the cholesterol to existing cholesterol in the body, nor does it add the fat to our existing lipid deposits.
Anyone who doubts that eating eggs will help the health of their hair, should try feeding eggs to a dog that has a rough, dull coat, and see what happens. Within a couple of weeks, that dog will have a glossy, smooth, healthy-looking coat, and much more energy and stamina, to go with it. Back in the good old days, when everyone had egg-laying chickens, on the family farm, you could always spot the dog that was sneaking into the hen house and stealing eggs, because he or she had the shiniest, smoothest, slickest-looking coat in the bunch.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/15122 ... gray-hair/
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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laurenla520
- Little Blue Penguin
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:26 am
Yes the same exact thing happened to me. I was gluten free for nearing two weeks, with improving symptoms, not fully improved, when I second guessed myself and decided to eat some panda express. Bad move, and I could immediately tell my body did not like what I had ingested. As some members said before me, your body starts healing thinking it has removed whats ailing it and WHAM its back on the attack
Thank you for this information, Tex. I read the link and it's helpful. I remember giving raw eggs to my dog in its dinner each night when I was a girl. Now they say a raw egg will hurt a dog. What's the world coming to?
Sara, I took a mature multivitamin and 1200 mg calcium citrate today and have had no issues so far. I'm glad. I hope I can keep this up. I'm not eating a lot and have lost 10 pounds since the onset of my MCC. It's a good thing in that I had 15-20 to lose, but I don't want to end up too light.
You both make my days with your responses. Thank you for your wisdom and kindness.
Hugs,
Sharaine
Sara, I took a mature multivitamin and 1200 mg calcium citrate today and have had no issues so far. I'm glad. I hope I can keep this up. I'm not eating a lot and have lost 10 pounds since the onset of my MCC. It's a good thing in that I had 15-20 to lose, but I don't want to end up too light.
You both make my days with your responses. Thank you for your wisdom and kindness.
Hugs,
Sharaine
Sharaine,
I lost a little over 10lbs, too. I'm eating pretty normal amounts now and feeling pretty good, and my weight is staying stable... I hope yours does, too. I wasn't overweight before and am not underweight now, but would like things to stay steady. My younger weight was right at the very edge of 'underweight' for years. I now wonder whether that was a hint I was not quite processing nutrients...
I hope your supplements continue to agree with you (my symptoms always come the following day - fingers crossed no symptoms find you tomorrow!).
I had no idea a raw egg could hurt a dog! (My dad used to cook our dog an omelette whenever we'd ask them to 'babysit' him for a couple of hours... he was sure the dog was starving, and the dog sure did everything in his power to convince him it was true!) Our dog eats some raw chicken (backs, necks), and I'm sure we've had him lick the bowl when we've whipped up an egg... And the half-pound of mixed nuts he got hold of when no one was looking didn't do him any great harm, either. However - taking him off grains the week we brought him home from the shelter cleared up his awful skin rash and at least some of his gaga-kookoo craziness! A few weeks later, someone gave him a bunch of some commercial dog treat, and w/in five minutes he was barking hysterical over nothing. Gluten sensitivity apparently runs in our *entire* family.
Keep feeling better - you "sound" strong and encouraged ;)
Love,
Sara
I lost a little over 10lbs, too. I'm eating pretty normal amounts now and feeling pretty good, and my weight is staying stable... I hope yours does, too. I wasn't overweight before and am not underweight now, but would like things to stay steady. My younger weight was right at the very edge of 'underweight' for years. I now wonder whether that was a hint I was not quite processing nutrients...
I hope your supplements continue to agree with you (my symptoms always come the following day - fingers crossed no symptoms find you tomorrow!).
I had no idea a raw egg could hurt a dog! (My dad used to cook our dog an omelette whenever we'd ask them to 'babysit' him for a couple of hours... he was sure the dog was starving, and the dog sure did everything in his power to convince him it was true!) Our dog eats some raw chicken (backs, necks), and I'm sure we've had him lick the bowl when we've whipped up an egg... And the half-pound of mixed nuts he got hold of when no one was looking didn't do him any great harm, either. However - taking him off grains the week we brought him home from the shelter cleared up his awful skin rash and at least some of his gaga-kookoo craziness! A few weeks later, someone gave him a bunch of some commercial dog treat, and w/in five minutes he was barking hysterical over nothing. Gluten sensitivity apparently runs in our *entire* family.
Keep feeling better - you "sound" strong and encouraged ;)
Love,
Sara