New member with collagenous colitis

[sarkin]

Like Kari, I am losing less hair now (easier to keep the bath drain unclogged!) - and my hair seems to be growing in thicker and darker (!). I wasn't sure my hair was thinning (my hairdresser thought not - but I have ridiculously thick hair), but now that it's thicker again, I'm sure it was.

Yet another reason for diet change - maybe vanity isn't so bad after all! I am a fan of cutting all possible offending foods out at once, but I find that easier than most folks (I don't have kids, I have great spousal support - and if our military had an special forces unit for 'extreme diet restriction' protocol, they should put me in charge of boot camp - my temperament just works that way). It was actually easier for me to cut everything than to take it in stages, but that is not true for most people, by any means. (But really, it was easier - hold that thought if things get hard.)

I'm not sure whether it was malabsorption, or generalized autoimmune response, or a combo of the two that was causing hair loss, but now I believe that many things we chalk up to 'normal aging' are not normal at all. I'm still getting old, one day at a time, but with so much more energy, and fewer aches, I feel more optimistic about my health now that I'm officially sick with MC than I have in years. I hope you have the same experience.

I started with Pepto on my own - and I 'tapered' off it, reducing from 8/day to 6, then 5... maybe I tapered too fast, but it worked, and I have been managing MC with diet alone, only taking 1 or 2 Pepto when I got 'glutened' inadvertently. You could gently start reducing your dose in advance of going off it - that would give you a good idea of whether it's protecting you from symptoms of a possible additional food sensitivity, and give you time to tweak your diet before you're off Pepto altogether. It does help, for those of us fortunate to be able to tolerate it.

Regarding exercise - I lost a lot of muscle when first sick, and you may have, too. You will build it back, when you get your symptoms under control with whatever combo of diet & medication is best for you, and I think yoga and walking are great for keeping up your strength as well as for maintaining sanity.

Keep us posted, and let us know how we can help,

Sara