Sharaine,
Have you checked out the recipes here?
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
There are several hundred proven recipes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free, and there are instructions on ways to make egg substitutions, and suggestions on how to make gluten-free flour blends that work well.
Tex
I ate Chinese and now my head hurts
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Here's the recipe for the orange sesame chicken:
http://sallyashbrook.com/2010/03/day-4- ... -egg-free/
I steamed some broccoli and added it to the mixture, served it over rice. It's a little time consuming, but it's really good.
Hugs,
http://sallyashbrook.com/2010/03/day-4- ... -egg-free/
I steamed some broccoli and added it to the mixture, served it over rice. It's a little time consuming, but it's really good.
Hugs,
Denise
"Be the change you want to see in this world."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Be the change you want to see in this world."
Mahatma Gandhi
Hi Sharaine and a belated 
I agree that MC can cause fatigue, exhaustion, and brain fog, as well as low grade fever. I had all of the above, and it took several years to get my full energy back. Pre MC, I was exhausted all of the time - would fall into bed at 8 PM and awaken after 12 hours still feeling exhausted. I also had a myriad of muscle and joint aches and pains, especially upon awakening in the AM, which I attributed to getting older. Now, 10 years later after having eliminated my sensitive foods, I have no symptoms at all. In fact, I feel younger now than I did 20 years ago.
Also, I have a weird reaction to MSG. I don't get a headache, but my TMJs (jawjoints) tingle and ache. Another caution - I am sensitive to corn, and many Chinese dishes are prepared using cornstarch in place of flour. Unfortunately, because of my huge number of intolerances, there is absolutely nothing I can eat in a Chinese restaurant (including P.F. Chang's) excect the chicken in lettuce leaves (hold the sauce) and plain steamed rice. Sigh. But hopefully you will have far fewer sensitivities than I do.
Hugs,
Polly
I agree that MC can cause fatigue, exhaustion, and brain fog, as well as low grade fever. I had all of the above, and it took several years to get my full energy back. Pre MC, I was exhausted all of the time - would fall into bed at 8 PM and awaken after 12 hours still feeling exhausted. I also had a myriad of muscle and joint aches and pains, especially upon awakening in the AM, which I attributed to getting older. Now, 10 years later after having eliminated my sensitive foods, I have no symptoms at all. In fact, I feel younger now than I did 20 years ago.
Also, I have a weird reaction to MSG. I don't get a headache, but my TMJs (jawjoints) tingle and ache. Another caution - I am sensitive to corn, and many Chinese dishes are prepared using cornstarch in place of flour. Unfortunately, because of my huge number of intolerances, there is absolutely nothing I can eat in a Chinese restaurant (including P.F. Chang's) excect the chicken in lettuce leaves (hold the sauce) and plain steamed rice. Sigh. But hopefully you will have far fewer sensitivities than I do.
Hugs,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Nice to meet you, Polly!
Thank you for the warm welcome. Your symptoms sure sound a lot like mine. Granted, years and years ago I did have serious hormone imbalances, but those days have long passed and yet I've been tired for years. Like you used to be, I can fall into bed at 8 or 8:30 and sleep until 7am or longer and still want to sleep more. I have noticed since I went GF and DF that I have more energy so that is encouraging.
I stupidly went from 3 pills to 2 pills of Entocort on Monday and Tuesday because of no Norman for three weeks, just little bullets. Then I started reading the Treatment board and "Weaning off Entocort" and realized I was trying to do things too quickly. No way 3 weeks was long enough to heal my gut. So I'm back on 3 pills. My follow up appt is August 3rd.
I am realizing this is more involved than I accepted. I mean, I have been reading the Main Board and Treatment Board for two weeks now ... and I thought identifying dairy and gluten was going to be easy. Sure have learned otherwise!
Have a terrific weekend.
Sharaine
Thank you for the warm welcome. Your symptoms sure sound a lot like mine. Granted, years and years ago I did have serious hormone imbalances, but those days have long passed and yet I've been tired for years. Like you used to be, I can fall into bed at 8 or 8:30 and sleep until 7am or longer and still want to sleep more. I have noticed since I went GF and DF that I have more energy so that is encouraging.
I stupidly went from 3 pills to 2 pills of Entocort on Monday and Tuesday because of no Norman for three weeks, just little bullets. Then I started reading the Treatment board and "Weaning off Entocort" and realized I was trying to do things too quickly. No way 3 weeks was long enough to heal my gut. So I'm back on 3 pills. My follow up appt is August 3rd.
I am realizing this is more involved than I accepted. I mean, I have been reading the Main Board and Treatment Board for two weeks now ... and I thought identifying dairy and gluten was going to be easy. Sure have learned otherwise!
Have a terrific weekend.
Sharaine
Hi Sharaine - what a beautiful name!!! Welcome to the PP family - glad you found us. When I read your comment about being exhausted for 30 years, I had to smile, as this is exactly how I feel. To combat my non-stop exhaustion, I've always had to exercise a lot, which helped to some extent.
I went gluten free almost a year ago, and then dropped many other things, like dairy, yeast, eggs, etc. and I'm feeling soooo much better. Instead of needing 9-12 hours of sleep a night, I'm now down to 7-9. That's an enormous improvement, for which I am eternally grateful.
As you heal your gut, please be patient with yourself, it generally takes longer than one would expect. I've been healing with diet alone, and although I feel hugely better in every way, I still feel I have a way to go before I can say that I'm truly healthy. Finding this forum has been one of the best things that has happened to me, and has been a catalyst in my recovery.
Keep reading here, and then, like all of us, you will find your own way back to health. As I'm sure you've already read here, what works for one of us does not necessarily work for someone else. Lots of luck to you on your journey to recovery.
Love,
Kari
I went gluten free almost a year ago, and then dropped many other things, like dairy, yeast, eggs, etc. and I'm feeling soooo much better. Instead of needing 9-12 hours of sleep a night, I'm now down to 7-9. That's an enormous improvement, for which I am eternally grateful.
As you heal your gut, please be patient with yourself, it generally takes longer than one would expect. I've been healing with diet alone, and although I feel hugely better in every way, I still feel I have a way to go before I can say that I'm truly healthy. Finding this forum has been one of the best things that has happened to me, and has been a catalyst in my recovery.
Keep reading here, and then, like all of us, you will find your own way back to health. As I'm sure you've already read here, what works for one of us does not necessarily work for someone else. Lots of luck to you on your journey to recovery.
Love,
Kari
"My mouth waters whenever I pass a bakery shop and sniff the aroma of fresh bread, but I am also grateful simply to be alive and sniffing." Dr. Bernstein
Hi Kari,
Thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. As you may have read, I'm out on the East Coast visiting my MIL and attending a conference. It's been a rough few days, but I think I've got things back under control. I go to the conference tomorrow. I have some food to take with me just in case.
Interestingly, today I had a 30 minute nap at lunch (I took a full hour nap yesterday at lunch) and then when work was over at 5 I laid down for a short nap and slept nearly 2 hours! It's not gluten, that's for sure. It's not soy. Maybe cherries or blueberries. I'm using Blue Diamond Almond Milk. I just noticed Tex recommended Silk Almond Milk. Maybe there's something in Blue Diamond...
I'd like to be off the Entocort, but am trying to be patient. I see my doctor on August 3rd and will see what he says. Part of me wants to believe this is a new thing for me, that it hasn't been going on for years. However, after reading many posts here, I'm becoming convinced that I've had issues for years. Sure hope my healing doesn't take too long. Ah, there I go sounding impatient. I just want to be well.
It's almost 11pm here. Time to go back to sleep.
Hugs!
Sharaine
Thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. As you may have read, I'm out on the East Coast visiting my MIL and attending a conference. It's been a rough few days, but I think I've got things back under control. I go to the conference tomorrow. I have some food to take with me just in case.
Interestingly, today I had a 30 minute nap at lunch (I took a full hour nap yesterday at lunch) and then when work was over at 5 I laid down for a short nap and slept nearly 2 hours! It's not gluten, that's for sure. It's not soy. Maybe cherries or blueberries. I'm using Blue Diamond Almond Milk. I just noticed Tex recommended Silk Almond Milk. Maybe there's something in Blue Diamond...
I'd like to be off the Entocort, but am trying to be patient. I see my doctor on August 3rd and will see what he says. Part of me wants to believe this is a new thing for me, that it hasn't been going on for years. However, after reading many posts here, I'm becoming convinced that I've had issues for years. Sure hope my healing doesn't take too long. Ah, there I go sounding impatient. I just want to be well.
It's almost 11pm here. Time to go back to sleep.
Hugs!
Sharaine
Sharaine,
If I recall correctly, the reason why I never tried Blue Diamond Almond Milk is because it contains soy, (at least I'm pretty sure that it used to contain soy).
Tex
If I recall correctly, the reason why I never tried Blue Diamond Almond Milk is because it contains soy, (at least I'm pretty sure that it used to contain soy).
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.
Sharaine,
Between travel and stress and healing from your recent food-encounter, you might need to rest a little extra even if you're not eating anything you have a severe reaction to.
I think for many of us, MC was on 'low simmer' for years, but the big whammy of terrible symptoms still seems to come out of nowhere. You were more or less OK, and then - YIKES. I know what you mean about impatience - I think that can be a positive way to approach this, because your priority is to be well. I felt that way, too, and in a way my impatience for feeling good makes it easier not to feel sad you can't eat something which you know would cause you to relive these last few days.
You're heading into this conference with as many ducks in a row as possible - and we are all a work in progress, so *next* time you have a conference, you'll be amazed at how many strategies you will learn starting right now. Good luck with it all, get plenty of rest, and thanks for the update. As Kari says, it takes longer than we expect - and I believe that the impatience to feel well is a wonderful sign of health, and a great motivator.
Take care,
Sara
Between travel and stress and healing from your recent food-encounter, you might need to rest a little extra even if you're not eating anything you have a severe reaction to.
I think for many of us, MC was on 'low simmer' for years, but the big whammy of terrible symptoms still seems to come out of nowhere. You were more or less OK, and then - YIKES. I know what you mean about impatience - I think that can be a positive way to approach this, because your priority is to be well. I felt that way, too, and in a way my impatience for feeling good makes it easier not to feel sad you can't eat something which you know would cause you to relive these last few days.
You're heading into this conference with as many ducks in a row as possible - and we are all a work in progress, so *next* time you have a conference, you'll be amazed at how many strategies you will learn starting right now. Good luck with it all, get plenty of rest, and thanks for the update. As Kari says, it takes longer than we expect - and I believe that the impatience to feel well is a wonderful sign of health, and a great motivator.
Take care,
Sara
yikes
Yikes, I'm starting to recoil from certain foods as though from a hot flame. When I think Chinese my stomach panics. This GF diet is no snap. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I keep cheating with just a smidgen of a soft cheese or a sip of carbonated drink. I canceled eating out with friends tonight as I now where they are going (pub grub) no good choices. I'm in what I guess is the research stage. I was diagnosed last September and was on the Entorcorte for 6 weeks and things got better. Until May and a flare up started. When I say things got better that does not mean I got well. So I am just starting to take this MC seriously. I'm willing to try anything my more experienced peers tell me to try. I don't expect to return to normal but better was okay, I could live with better. These flare ups freak me out. In one month it will be a year since my diagnosis and so year two needs to be about diet for me. No messing around. I'll be calling on all of you for advise and support, thanx!
CoryGut
Age 71
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis Sept. 2010
On and off Entocort(Currently Off)
Age 71
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis Sept. 2010
On and off Entocort(Currently Off)
Cory,
I hope you can talk yourself out of using words like 'cheating' - as you've learned (and do not want to repeat that lesson, I am sure), this isn't like eating a little bite of cake when you're trying to lose weight. This is like potentially ruining your *whole week* for a little bite, not to mention the setback to healing and possible damage to your health, which has been accumulating for years, and which we are fighting to stop and reverse. The vocabulary of cheating doesn't help with "dieting" in the weight-loss sense, and it sure doesn't help in this context.
Without Entocort to smooth over glitches, it's all on you. Of course - it's always all on us, given we're the owner-operators of these bodies. Mary Beth's son taught me that it's really not about what you can't eat - it's what you can eat. If you start with a short safe list, you can probably add things back as you start healing. If you don't do that, you're constantly trying to figure out what to drop next, you can't learn what's really messing you up if you always have symptoms.
The GF diet doesn't have to be a nightmare. It's just what's for dinner ;)
If I offered you a tasty food you had never heard of, swore it was delicious, begged you to try it, but added that it might make you sick for a day, maybe as long as a week, of course you'd say NO THANKS to that. These foods are highly addictive, for sure, but once your immune system responds to them this way, they are basically toxins. I'd go back to cigarettes before I went back to gluten, and I'm sure not looking to do that ;)
You don't have to stress, you just have to get some edible foods around you. I'm eating out with friends tonight. I put in my vote for tapas, because I know how to navigate that menu. If everyone else is dead-set on the pizza place, I'll join them for drinks and bail before we order food. I'll have something in my purse so I don't have to leave before we enjoy a visit, and something in the fridge in case I get home hungry. I've carried everything from chicken thighs to potato chips, and I'm sure not done figuring out what works. (I used to carry hard-boiled eggs, till I found out I cannot tolerate them - but maybe you can, and that's not a hard thing to have on hand, unlike an elaborate recipe.)
There is, truly, no such thing as cheating. I don't call it "diet restriction" either. You're eating what's food, and not eating stuff that makes you sick. It's pretty surprising that those lists aren't what we thought, I do agree, but the body has put its foot down. At least we know where to begin.
Hope this helps - it helped me to write it!
And feel better,
Sara
p.s. I do feel mostly normal, most days. Not just "less-worse." And I don't think I'm all the way there yet, either - be ambitious for feeling good, and we will help you get there.
I hope you can talk yourself out of using words like 'cheating' - as you've learned (and do not want to repeat that lesson, I am sure), this isn't like eating a little bite of cake when you're trying to lose weight. This is like potentially ruining your *whole week* for a little bite, not to mention the setback to healing and possible damage to your health, which has been accumulating for years, and which we are fighting to stop and reverse. The vocabulary of cheating doesn't help with "dieting" in the weight-loss sense, and it sure doesn't help in this context.
Without Entocort to smooth over glitches, it's all on you. Of course - it's always all on us, given we're the owner-operators of these bodies. Mary Beth's son taught me that it's really not about what you can't eat - it's what you can eat. If you start with a short safe list, you can probably add things back as you start healing. If you don't do that, you're constantly trying to figure out what to drop next, you can't learn what's really messing you up if you always have symptoms.
The GF diet doesn't have to be a nightmare. It's just what's for dinner ;)
If I offered you a tasty food you had never heard of, swore it was delicious, begged you to try it, but added that it might make you sick for a day, maybe as long as a week, of course you'd say NO THANKS to that. These foods are highly addictive, for sure, but once your immune system responds to them this way, they are basically toxins. I'd go back to cigarettes before I went back to gluten, and I'm sure not looking to do that ;)
You don't have to stress, you just have to get some edible foods around you. I'm eating out with friends tonight. I put in my vote for tapas, because I know how to navigate that menu. If everyone else is dead-set on the pizza place, I'll join them for drinks and bail before we order food. I'll have something in my purse so I don't have to leave before we enjoy a visit, and something in the fridge in case I get home hungry. I've carried everything from chicken thighs to potato chips, and I'm sure not done figuring out what works. (I used to carry hard-boiled eggs, till I found out I cannot tolerate them - but maybe you can, and that's not a hard thing to have on hand, unlike an elaborate recipe.)
There is, truly, no such thing as cheating. I don't call it "diet restriction" either. You're eating what's food, and not eating stuff that makes you sick. It's pretty surprising that those lists aren't what we thought, I do agree, but the body has put its foot down. At least we know where to begin.
Hope this helps - it helped me to write it!
And feel better,
Sara
p.s. I do feel mostly normal, most days. Not just "less-worse." And I don't think I'm all the way there yet, either - be ambitious for feeling good, and we will help you get there.
you are so right
Sara,
You are so right. I need to start looking at this issue differently. Not what I can't have but looking at all the tasty, things my body is saying yes to. I like the way you expressed "your body has put it's foot down" As with smoking and drinking years ago my body is now saying no to certain food choices. Actually it is screaming "NO MORE!" Right now, I'm wanting to eat the wrong things but these cravings will subside as my taste buds change. Tonight, I canceled dinner with friends and they called to ask why. I explained I'm trying this GF thing and next week they are letting me pick a safe place/menu. Aren't friends great!
Cory
You are so right. I need to start looking at this issue differently. Not what I can't have but looking at all the tasty, things my body is saying yes to. I like the way you expressed "your body has put it's foot down" As with smoking and drinking years ago my body is now saying no to certain food choices. Actually it is screaming "NO MORE!" Right now, I'm wanting to eat the wrong things but these cravings will subside as my taste buds change. Tonight, I canceled dinner with friends and they called to ask why. I explained I'm trying this GF thing and next week they are letting me pick a safe place/menu. Aren't friends great!
Cory
CoryGut
Age 71
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis Sept. 2010
On and off Entocort(Currently Off)
Age 71
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis Sept. 2010
On and off Entocort(Currently Off)
Cory,
Thanks for taking that in the spirit in which I meant it. (I do realize you can't just throw a switch and change a lifetime of habits - whether eating habits or thinking habits.) Friends are the best - and you find out who your real friends are when the chips are down, so I'm glad to hear you're heading for an evening with the Real Deal folks of friendship.
I think my body was trying to get my attention for years, I just couldn't read the signals. If we reacted the second we put something in our mouths, it would be a lot easier to make the connection. (Actually, that's true about the other kind of dieting as well - if eating "fattening" foods made us look worse instantly, the whole dwillion-dollar weight loss industry would be OVER.)
Have a wonderful evening and a great/safe dinner, and I hope you start feeling better soon. That *really* helps with sticking to a new way of eating, 'cuz feeling good feels GREAT after you haven't for a while.
Sara
Thanks for taking that in the spirit in which I meant it. (I do realize you can't just throw a switch and change a lifetime of habits - whether eating habits or thinking habits.) Friends are the best - and you find out who your real friends are when the chips are down, so I'm glad to hear you're heading for an evening with the Real Deal folks of friendship.
I think my body was trying to get my attention for years, I just couldn't read the signals. If we reacted the second we put something in our mouths, it would be a lot easier to make the connection. (Actually, that's true about the other kind of dieting as well - if eating "fattening" foods made us look worse instantly, the whole dwillion-dollar weight loss industry would be OVER.)
Have a wonderful evening and a great/safe dinner, and I hope you start feeling better soon. That *really* helps with sticking to a new way of eating, 'cuz feeling good feels GREAT after you haven't for a while.
Sara