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Hi, just feeling my way round this wonderfull site, its comforting to to know there are others out there who understand how we feel, here is a bit about myself; for many years ive had tummy and bowel probs always told it was IBS and more or less told to live with it, had colon polyps removed twice and 4 weeks ago had 4 hemeroids (spelling) banded.
I also suffer from arthritis had hip and knee replacment, my (IBS) really flared 2 years ago when i had my left adrenal gland removed because of a adrenal mass ( non malignant) i could not eat and was never off the loo lost loads of weight, after many tests and colonoscopy i was told i had MC, been on cholestyramine but couldnt cope with it, currently only use loperamide so i can just get out, i also take pregabalin (Lyrica) mostly for muscle nerve pain, no 2 days are the same its either i am C with pain or D with pain i am finding it so depressing not being able to plan anything, I look forward to any help or tips and finding there is a lot of help on here.
Marg
Welcome to our internet family. I'm sorry to hear about all the health problems, and I'm especially sorry to see that your GI specialist doesn't appear to be doing anything worthwhile to attempt to reduce the inflammation that is causing your MC.
I also had alternating D and C when I was reacting, and that reaction pattern is much more common than the doctors realize. When the genes that predispose to microscopic colitis are triggered, certain genes that predispose to food sensitivities are also triggered at the same time, so most of us have at least several food sensitivities, and those foods are what cause the inflammation that keeps the MC symptoms going. When we remove those foods from our diet, the inflammation slowly diminishes, and our gut begins to heal, and eventually (if we avoid all the foods that cause problems for us) we are able to put the disease in remission. And we remain in remission, as long as we avoid those foods and avoid chronic stress.
Most of us here are sensitive to gluten and all dairy products, and over half of us are sensitive to soy and all legumes. Some of us have other food sensitivities in addition to those. Just because we test negative to the classic celiac screening blood tests does not mean that we are not gluten-sensitive. Most of us are just as sensitive as the average celiac, despite negative celiac blood test results, and negative small intestinal endoscopy biopsy results.
Here is a tip: we have discovered by experience that most of us are deficient in vitamin D, and if we take enough vitamin D, not only will our resistance to disease improve drastically, but those colon polyps will either show up in smaller numbers, or stop being created altogether. That's how vitamin D prevents colon cancer. The doctors know that it can prevent colon cancer, but they don't realize that the way it works is by reducing the number of polyps, or completely eliminating polyps altogether.
Entocort helps many people with MC, but unfortunately it doesn't work very well for those of us with either alternating D and C, or C-predominant MC, because it tends to cause C in those individuals. For us, diet changes are the safest and most reliable way to control our symptoms.
Certain drugs can also cause MC, and for some of us, if a drug is causing our inflammation, simply discontinuing the use of that drug can bring remission from our MC symptoms. If you are taking any drugs such as PPIs, NSAIDs, SSRIs, SNRIs, statins, bisphosphonates, or ACE inhibitors, they could be what's causing your symptoms.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.
Thanks Tex for your warm welcome,
I was tested for celiac and it came back negative so you tend to think your not gluten sensitive , at the moment using lactose free milk and avoiding anything containing lactose I do try to eat heathly but I will give the gluten and dairy free diet a try , prescribed PPI - omerprazole for acid malabsorbtion but was took off the statins, the only other prescribed medication I take is felodipine, I take a multi vitamin and omega 3 fish oil capsules daily, thankyou for the vitamin D tip how much would I take daily?
Marg.
Hi, Marg! I assume that is short for Margaret. We have a few Margarets here--I go by my nickname, but my given name is Margaret.
As you can see by the list under my picture, I don't eat grains, dairy, or legumes. I found out through trial and error that I cannot eat these foods without severe reactions. I thought for a long time that I was reacting to the lactose in the dairy, but after being off all dairy for three weeks last summer and then adding lactose-free cheese back into my diet, I discovered that I react to the casein (protein) in the cheese. Since you are dealing with a reaction to lactose, but continue to have problems, I am glad that you are going to be eliminating gluten and dairy. I hope you feel better very soon.
Welcome to our little cyber family!!
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
Thankyou both for your warm welcome, Marg is short for margaret, but as you say there are many margarets on here so had to shorten it to marg, its so good to talk with people who have this problem and don't think you have just another upset tummy
At your latitude (GB is pretty far north), you would probably need to take at least 4,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D per day in order to maintain your vitamin D blood level in the optimal part of the normal range. If your level is very low to begin with, you might need more, but if you take 4,000 to 5,000 IU every day, your level should eventually get to where it needs to be for good results. There are two different blood tests available for testing vitamin D levels, but one of them is worthless. The one that is useful is known as the 25 hydroxy D test, or the 25(OH)D test. I'm currently taking 4,500 IU of vitamin D per day, and I live in Central Texas, where we receive much more sunlight than GB, so I get much more vitamin D from the sun.
Felodipine is a calcium channel blocker, and it has been reported to cause MC for a few people, but it's not a high risk drug for MC. If you are unable to achieve remission by changing your diet, you may need to consider asking your doctor for a prescription for a different type of BP medication at some point in the future. If I were in your situation, though, I wouldn't worry about it at this point, because the odds are pretty good that it may not be a problem.
Omerprazole has established a notorious record as a rather common cause of MC, C. diff, osteoporosis-associated fractures, and it has even been shown by researchers to cause the very symptoms that it is prescribed to treat. In addition, it causes a dependency in the body, so that it is very difficult to discontinue the drug, because it causes the GERD to become worse when the dosage is reduced or discontinued. In my opinion (IMO), it should be illegal to prescribe omerprazole and other PPIs, because they cause more problems than they treat or prevent. We have many members whose MC was caused by one of the PPI 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.
Sorry late in replying, been away for the weekend, thanks Tex for the advice, I had to order the vitamin D 4,000 iu as I cant seem to get that strengh locally, I already take 1,000 in my multi vitamin, as you say we get very little sunshine here so possibly I am dificiant in vitamin D but at the moment we are basking in sunshine and temperatures above average so making the most of it, thanks again and I will update on my progress.
Marg
Hello Marg and welcome from New Hampshire. You've already received a lot of great information, I just wanted to say hello and welcome you to the group. This certainly is an interesting place with an incredible set of people.
Take care and keep us updated in how you are doing
Hi Marg,
I only joined this week as well and they are fabulous on this site! I am trying to get my head around it all but it is nice to welcome someone else!
Anne
Hi Marg, Welcome! As you can probably tell, Tex is our absolute expert. He's so full of information, I don't even understand it all yet! I have been on this site now for 4 months and have made great strides. This is a hard disease to get a solid grasp on because we all have slightly different stories, symptoms, and intolerances. Try to read as much as you can here. As Tex said, it's all in the diet. At first it seems daunting, but as time goes on and you start feeling better, and you get to know the foods you CAN EAT, then you just build your new diet around those foods.
Thanks again for all the welcomes, your one big happy family here and so helpful, Tex is great, and so informative.
JLH thanks for the tip on fish oil ,never thought it could contain soy, think i will give them a miss for a while to see how things go, so many hidden (bad for you) stuff in food, I spent so much time in the supermarket yesterday reading labels I lost track of time, what an eye opener.
Well started gluten free yesterday, top of my list was bread which i do eat a lot of, i just love sandwhichs, i cant seem to eat a big meal and tend to eat small and often so i usually have them for a snack, found this bread named Genius from our local Tesco its absolutely gorgeous so tasty and much nicer than I thought, so a good start.
I am reading as much as I can here there is so much information ,help and support, love reading the success stories and the difference a change in diet has helped so many of you, will keep you updated on my progress.
Marg
Hi, Marg! I assume that is short for Margaret. We have a few Margarets here--I go by my nickname, but my given name is Margaret. 
