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I don't have too much more to add to all the wonderful responses before me but I happened upon a review of quite a few gluten free beers recently which also provide links to the breweries' websites. I'm not a beer drinker so I can't give you much insight on the taste and availability of many of them although I believe some are mass produced. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30583.asp
I have made some gluten free pizza crust that turned out fabulously. If you aren't quite ready for making your own pizza I certainly understand. There are some gluten free bread mixes which only involve adding some water and possibly oil to the mix and can be used as a pizza crust as well. In my area there are some pizza shops that are now advertising gluten free pizza however I would be wary of ordering from them because the shops who are offering it also make regular (gluten containing) pizza (and lots of it) which, to me, screams cross contamination. With all that wheat flour flying through the air and landing on all surfaces, I have no idea how you couldn't get glutened but maybe I'm just overly cautious.
Although I stopped drinking beer many years ago, I suddenly have a craving for some pizza and beer right now!
Welcome aboard- I hope you stick around for a while!
Kelly
Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things~ Joe Paterno
Hi Mitch,
While I wasn't a huge beer drinker before MC, I have been drinking GF alternatives. In my opinion, and that of many other people, Bard's Gluten Free beer from NY is the best brand out there. Redbridge is more widely available, even at ballparks. Both are made with sorghum instead or barley and wheat. I usually drink hard ciders instead (made with apples, sometimes pears), or vodka drinks and martinis. Distilled alcohol is safe. Wine is safe too. Although they may all aggravate your MC symptoms (expecially red wine for me, but that's another story, probably related to sulfites and tanins). Be careful to avoid any "malt beverages" - wine coolers, twisted tea, Mike's hard Lomonade, Smirnoff Ice, etc. But those are more girly drinks.
Many pizza chains and mom and pop shops are offering GF pizza now. I don't buy it because I can't have the cheese (what would be the point?). But I make my own "pizza" at home with Trader Joe's Brown rice tortillas, tomato sauce, calabrese salami and Daiya fake cheese. Hopefully you live somewhere near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, although supermarket GF offerings are really growing too. My favorite fast food option is Five Guys because you can get a bunless burger and their fries and toppings are GF.
I've been on this diet for 9 months. When I get glutened I have immediate bloating, and the bad D follows a few hours later and lasts a couple of days.
Well yesterday I had my first appointment with an arthritis doctor because of the iritis. I have bulging disc's in my lower back not to mention the colitic and iritis. I am a piece of work right now. I told him I am taking the scenic route to death. he he. He bumped up the preglizone from 40 mg to 60 mg and last night I had leg cramps for the first time since I went off the entocort in February. Nice. He did that because he was concerned because it spread to my right eye with a vengeance. I asked him about the gluten diet and he told me that it is most likely a fad and it will come out in a few years but I didn't have anything to lose so he said go ahead and give it a try. He took a bunch of blood test and said he was going to get with my GI and come up with a plan. He said he thinks the arthritis in my back, the colitis and iritis are all related and he is looking at prescribing Sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) arthritic meds with no steroids. Has anyone ever tried this stuff? He told me he prescribed it to a lady with colitis a few weeks ago and she is having good results. I have an appointment with him next Thursday to go over the lab results and confirm this med is what I need. Then i went to Whole Foods and purchased $40 worth of GF bread, pizza, lasagna, cookies etc. Just the good stuff. Hey im weak and it may take a while to dial this in. I also got a 6 pack of Redbridge and a 6 pack of Barts beer. Neither is all that tasty. I feel like at least now I have a plan going forward if those 2 docs work together and get me on something I can handle plus trying to go gluten free. I will let you know what happens after my appointment next thursday. Thanks again. Its nice to be able to talk to people who can relate. Mitch
Mitch,
Many here have tried one of the 5-ASA's (derivatives of Sulfasalazine). The preferred ones are Asacol HD and Lialda. I can't say I've heard overwhelmingly good results with them, but I'm sure there are people who benefit. I'm not sure why that particular drug was offered to you, when it seems to have more side-effects than the 5-ASAs. From Wikipedia:
The use of sulfasalazine has declined due mainly to the fact that it yields the metabolite sulfapyridine which gives rise to side-effects such as agranulocytosis and hypospermia. However, the other metabolite of sulfasalazine, 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is attributed to the drug's therapeutic effect. Therefore, 5-ASA and other derivatives of 5-ASA, are now usually preferred and given alone (as mesalazine), despite their increased cost, due to their more favourable side-effect profile.
I think think has been mentioned, but you should be aware that cutting gluten without also cutting dairy may not produce the desired results. If you consider yourself to be lactose intolerant, there's a good chance you're also reacting to the casein protein in milk and should try to cut both at te same time. But who knows, maybe joining the "gluten free FAD" , may produce some good results. Your doc is probably right about one thing, " the
arthritis in my back, the colitis and iritis are all related."
You must be kind of reeling, with this multi-symptom explosion plus the threat to beer and pizza right before the Memorial Day weekend ;)
You may have some bumps in the road on the way, but you're off to a fine start. I once used a drug (not knowing MC was food related AT ALL back in the dark ages) - Asacol has helped very few people here, but for some reason it helped me. So at some level, you are learning to be your own lab rat. Just remember, your doctors aren't the only "scientists" on this project. You know better than anyone how the medications make you feel, and whether diet change helps, etc.
It is in some ways great and in some ways unfortunate that "gluten free" has gotten so much press, much of it mixed and 'faddish' - but perhaps it's a fad because more people are finally figuring out that the staff of life isn't so life-enhancing. It does seem that more and more people are being diagnosed with MC, celiac, and all kinds of autoimmune issues.
I agree with Zizzle - your issues are almost certainly connected. AND - you may have to keep a close eye on dairy. (I was surprised as how fiercely I reacted.) Meanwhile, have a glorious and festive holiday weekend, and enjoy the heck out of your high-end new groceries ;)
The reason why he was prescribed Sulfasalazine is because he was dealing with a rheumatologist. As you pointed out, sulfasalazine breaks down in the body to 5-ASA and sulfapyridine, and while it's true that the sulfapyridine is the presumed source of most side effects of the drug, it also has beneficial effects for arthritis. Also, sulfasalazine is much cheaper than any of the 5-ASA drugs.
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.
Well it's been a while. Since my last post I have been having fun. The iritis went into both eyes but with steriods and eyedrops it cleared up in about 2 weeks. The steriods also dried up the diarreha for a few weeks. Then in July the iritis came back in the left eye again but much milder. Once again the steriods did their job. On labor day weekend I had an upper endoscopy. Even though an earlier blood test showed negitive for celiac, the scope showed different. The gastro doc said to quit eating gluten. I have been gluten free and alcohol free for 6 1/2 weeks now. Dairy free for 2 weeks. I went to a nutritionist 2 weeks ago and came out of their $200 lighter with a bunch of supplements. She said she was not convince I have celiac but more likely leaky gut. After 6 1/2 weeks of being gluten free should I see at least a tiny bit of releif? The doc said maybe 6 months. I am still having the big D, churning stomach and major gas, 24/7. I cant even stand to be around myself. Then a week ago I got iritis for the 3rd time since May. It was the mildest yet in the left eye again. If that isnt enough I caught my sons cold last weekend. I have talked to the gastro docs nurse yesterday and tomorrow I will be on my 3rd round of entocort. He thinks the colitis is acting up. I would just love to have an answer to what do I have. celiac, microscopic colitis, iritis, leaky gut or all of the above. Maybe I have invented a new diesease, CMCILG syndrome. I guess when the entocort kicks in, in a couple of days i will be back to normal again until about next April.
Mitch,
LOL. I suspect many people have the same or similar "syndrome" . I find it strange that a nutritionist would question the results of your upper endoscopy. Did they take biopsies? Do you have the results you can share? I imagine most or all people with celiac also have leaky gut. It's not a one or the other proposition. Leaky gut probably led to your celiac status. Did you get no noticeable improvement after cutting gluten and dairy? Any chance you could be reacting to one of your new supplements? What are they?
I agree with Zizzle. Taking a bunch of supplements recommended by someone who does not understand MC, (especially someone who questions a diagnosis of celiac disease), has caused a lot of misery for several members here. Most of those supplements are made to sell, (not to cure digestive system problems).
It sounds as though you may be vitamin D deficient, (that tends to weaken your immune system, and it lowers your resistance to autoimmune diseases, colds, flu, and many other diseases and infections). Low vitamin D levels go with the turf for those of us with an inflammatory bowel disease. Many of us here are taking significant doses of vitamin D, and after a while, most of us who do so, rarely catch colds, flu, etc., anymore. I have a hunch that vitamin D would go a long way toward helping to prevent recurring episodes of iritis, also.
It takes a while for the gut to heal, and remission usually doesn't come quickly. For most of us, 6 months to a year is a reasonable "ballpark" time frame, provided that we're meticulous about following the diet.
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.
Tex wrote:Many of us here are taking significant doses of vitamin D, and after a while, most of us who do so, rarely catch colds, flu, etc., anymore. I have a hunch that vitamin D would go a long way toward helping to prevent recurring episodes of iritis, also.
I can vouch for that. While visiting DD, she and both her children came down with colds. DH has a miserable cold at the moment. I've just had a few sniffles which go away after I take some Coldeeze. This has happened before. DD and DH both take vit D supplements, but not as large of an amount as I do.
Interestingly, they've all had the flu shot and I haven't. Also, I'm the one on a steroid which is suppressing my immune system.
I'm deducing that vitamin D boosts my immune system more than Entocort suppresses it.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Mitch, there are a bunch of causes of iritis, so it may not be related to the GI problems. Here's a link that lists some of them. If you have the HLA-B27 gene you may have one of the constellation of diseases associated with that. A rheumatologist might be of more help than a GI or other doc at this point.
If you have the HLA-B27 gene (like I do) you may have one of the constellation of diseases associated with that. Did your rheumatologist look for that gene? Mine determined I also have low vitamin D - no surprise there. She prescribed sulfasalazine, which oddly made my diarrhea much worse.
Pizza: I miss it a lot but I do make Friday-night pizza out of corn tortillas. They taste very good b/c all the ingredients and flavors are there; the crust is the only thing that's different! Also, I have eaten regular pizza on occasion and I don't have a problem with it, but I don't eat it regularly "just in case." Maybe the cheese is binding. Beats me.
Coffee and tea: I just got off of coffee and tea b/c I find it gives me D really fast in the AM; I switched to herbal teas. You might want to get off coffee and tea if you drink either first before you quit all the other foods. Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms though; I felt like I had the flu for two weeks .My BMs are essentially normal now - err, Norman :) - but I'm still on 6 mg Entocort a day, just down from 9 mg last week. We'll see how this plays out. I stopped the coffee b/c I had D even on 9 mg Entocort. The coffee overwhelmed even the Entocort!
, may produce some good results. Your doc is probably right about one thing, " the 
. I find it strange that a nutritionist would question the results of your upper endoscopy. Did they take biopsies? Do you have the results you can share? I imagine most or all people with celiac also have leaky gut. It's not a one or the other proposition. Leaky gut probably led to your celiac status. Did you get no noticeable improvement after cutting gluten and dairy? Any chance you could be reacting to one of your new supplements? What are they?