Hello to everyone. My name is Simon from Liverpool in the UK. I am a 36 year old male and besides my LC in good physical health.
As stated in my subject I was diagnosed last week with LC after 9 years of being told it was IBS or a stress anxiety related disorder. I finally got diagnosed after opting out of our NHS and using private medical insurance. I had previous tests (including a sigmoidoscpy) 7 years ago which confirmed no abnormalities.
I am unsure how mine started for certain, but have me suspicions. I wanted to share this to see if anybody has had a similar journey to diagnosis?
Around 9 years ago I had a case of travellers diarrhoea after visiting the Dominican Republic. It cleared up to a point but never got back to "normal" on a daily basis.
12 months after this I developed a bad gum infection from a wisdom tooth that didn't come through properly. I ended up with a bacterial infection in the soft tissue of my cheek and was given Metronizodol (Flagyl in the US??) which cleared this up. Since that time I have had similar infections in the same gum and sinus, each time a course of Flagyl. This is when I noticed a change in my BM's
I was still only going once in the morning but they were not formed properly and always lighter in colour.
This prompted my second round of tests that reconfirmed the original IBS diagnosis.
Moving forward to 12 months ago I was having acid reflux and visited the Doctor again. Was given some PPI's to stop stomach acid and sent for blood tests which tested positive for H Pylori. I was given the triple therapy of PPI's, Flagyl and amoxocilin. I was warned that the treatment could be 'messy' but advised to take the tablets.
Half way through all symptoms of IBS and acid reflux went away. I thought it was the miracle I was hoping for and felt really happy. Finished the course and still good..... 1 normal BM in the morning, no acid reflux. Then over a period of 3 days around 10 days after finishing the triple therapy the IBS symptoms retuned.....but worse than before. I was having very liquid BM's and 2 or 3 times a day. Doctor told me is the natural flora trying to rebalance.......give it time.
8 months later, no change. Managed to see a GI specialist who performed a colonoscopy this time. After the procedure was advised all looked normal but needed to come back in a week to get biopsy results. That brings me to last week as I was diagnosed with LC in the right hand side of colon near the small intestine. Other parts ok.
I have also suffered with the noro virus twice in 4 or 5 years and took a LOT of NSID's when having the 3 separate bouts of tooth trouble
Here is where I am looking for some advice, and from lurking around this forum for a few days you guys seem to be the people to ask.
I believe my LC has been caused by the antibiotics (tested negative for celiac). My GI agrees (well he doesn't disagree and believes it could of been one of the 3 stomach bugs in the last 9 years). He wants to start me on Entocort for 3 months, 9mg for 1 month, then a month at 6 and 3, in the hope it 'cures' it.
I consider myself lucky as my symptoms are still mild, only 1 (sometimes 2) BM's in the morning with virtually no pain. But the BM's are not formed properly. For this reason I am resistant to taking a course of steroids.
I have started with VSL3 3 days ago but thats expensive, so will need time to help I guess.
I would rather try a less aggressive treatment than Entocort first. I have read a lot about the pepto bismol treatment and GF diets. What are your thoughts with this for me? I started a GF diet 2 days ago, but its been hard at first.
I have never been tested for intolerance other than the gluten which was negative. I have however been researching Non celiac gluten sensitivity. My concern is that the Entocort will not prevent the return of the LC and a more fundamental approach needs to be taken to address the cause of inflammation.
Sorry for giving a full life history, just hopeful there is somebody out here who believes theirs LC or CC started with Antibiotics
Thanks
Simon
Newly diagnosed with LC - Looking for some advice?
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Simon. Welcome!
I'm sure other people will chime in and if Tex does, he is really an expert and great at explaining all of this.. It does sound like the antibiotics "turned on" your MC gene. Once you have MC, it can't be "cured" but it can go into remission. If your MC was triggered by drugs, you may not be gluten intolerant, but sometimes the MC will also trigger food intolerances. most of us are gluten free and it takes a while to see results with a gluten free diet. Most of us also have other intolerances ( dairy, soy, egg...), There is a lab in Texas. It is the only one in the the US that does these tests. I believe others outside the US have used them. They are called Enterolab. Check out their web site.
As for the drug.... I started Entocort at 9 mg. and it worked wonders for me. I was able to drop down to 6 mg. within a month and went down to 3 even faster than that BUT I drastically changed my diet at the same time. When you are starting out, it is a good idea to take out all most raw fruits and veggies. Cook everything. They are just too hard on an inflamed gut. Later, you can slowly add them back in. If you do decide to do the steroid, just know that when you start to get slightly constipated, that's when you need to taper the dose. I am down to one pill ( 3 mg) every 3 days, but it has taken me 6 months to get here.
Everyone with this disease is different. Read as much as you can on this forum. It's a great place with great people. It saved my life because my doctor didn't know much of anything.
Keep us posted.
Leah
I'm sure other people will chime in and if Tex does, he is really an expert and great at explaining all of this.. It does sound like the antibiotics "turned on" your MC gene. Once you have MC, it can't be "cured" but it can go into remission. If your MC was triggered by drugs, you may not be gluten intolerant, but sometimes the MC will also trigger food intolerances. most of us are gluten free and it takes a while to see results with a gluten free diet. Most of us also have other intolerances ( dairy, soy, egg...), There is a lab in Texas. It is the only one in the the US that does these tests. I believe others outside the US have used them. They are called Enterolab. Check out their web site.
As for the drug.... I started Entocort at 9 mg. and it worked wonders for me. I was able to drop down to 6 mg. within a month and went down to 3 even faster than that BUT I drastically changed my diet at the same time. When you are starting out, it is a good idea to take out all most raw fruits and veggies. Cook everything. They are just too hard on an inflamed gut. Later, you can slowly add them back in. If you do decide to do the steroid, just know that when you start to get slightly constipated, that's when you need to taper the dose. I am down to one pill ( 3 mg) every 3 days, but it has taken me 6 months to get here.
Everyone with this disease is different. Read as much as you can on this forum. It's a great place with great people. It saved my life because my doctor didn't know much of anything.
Keep us posted.
Leah
Hi Simon,
Welcome aboard. I have to get back to work, so this will have to be short, but I believe you are right on target with your assessment of the development of your MC.
It's certainly possible to achieve remission by diet changes alone, and if you can tolerate 8 or 9 Pepto-Bismol tablets or capsules per day without any reaction to it, the Pepto can certainly help to control your symptoms while the diet is beginning to take effect. Healing takes time, so it takes time for the diet to show results for most of us. In the long run though, treating MC by diet changes is by far the safest, most effective treatment available. Drugs work as long as you are taking them, but when the drugs are discontinued, the symptoms return for almost everyone who has MC, unless they have cut all their food sensitivities out of their diet.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome aboard. I have to get back to work, so this will have to be short, but I believe you are right on target with your assessment of the development of your MC.
It's certainly possible to achieve remission by diet changes alone, and if you can tolerate 8 or 9 Pepto-Bismol tablets or capsules per day without any reaction to it, the Pepto can certainly help to control your symptoms while the diet is beginning to take effect. Healing takes time, so it takes time for the diet to show results for most of us. In the long run though, treating MC by diet changes is by far the safest, most effective treatment available. Drugs work as long as you are taking them, but when the drugs are discontinued, the symptoms return for almost everyone who has MC, unless they have cut all their food sensitivities out of their diet.
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 for the replies and the information. You are right there is certainlya lot of information on the board, its hard to know where to start.
I had my appointment with my GI this afternoon. We have decided to hang fire on any drug treatment for now and try the diet changes in conjunction with the probiotic VSL3.
He seems pretty clear I will not seen any changes with the diet, however is a little more positive about the probiotic.
I have been taking this for 4 days now, so much longer needed before any difference can be seen.
I go back to review treatment in 4 weeks.
My main concern is the reports I have read in case studies of how symptoms are exasperated upon tapering the Entocort and subsequent stopping.
My issue is that my symptoms are mild and I am lucky as they do not stop me form doing anything. In many respects I would be 'happy' to remain this way going forward, however there is a chance the drug could help........so I see it as a bit of a gamble.
Does anybody have experience of heard of experiences on symptoms being exasperated on tapering or stopping Entocort? I don't want to go from drug free to drug dependance with a maintenance pill
I had my appointment with my GI this afternoon. We have decided to hang fire on any drug treatment for now and try the diet changes in conjunction with the probiotic VSL3.
He seems pretty clear I will not seen any changes with the diet, however is a little more positive about the probiotic.
I have been taking this for 4 days now, so much longer needed before any difference can be seen.
I go back to review treatment in 4 weeks.
My main concern is the reports I have read in case studies of how symptoms are exasperated upon tapering the Entocort and subsequent stopping.
My issue is that my symptoms are mild and I am lucky as they do not stop me form doing anything. In many respects I would be 'happy' to remain this way going forward, however there is a chance the drug could help........so I see it as a bit of a gamble.
Does anybody have experience of heard of experiences on symptoms being exasperated on tapering or stopping Entocort? I don't want to go from drug free to drug dependance with a maintenance pill
Simon,
Based on the accumulated experiences of many hundreds of members here, the simple fact is that unless appropriate diet changes are made in time to allow the gut to heal, when the anti-inflammatory medications are discontinued, you can count on your symptoms returning. It's a fact of life with this disease. Once triggered, the disease is forever, so it's necessary to follow a treatment program of one type or another at all times, otherwise a relapse is virtually inevitable. Some people choose drugs, some choose diet changes, and some use a combination of the two, but very, very few people are able to remain in remission without some sort of maintenance treatment program.
Tex
Based on the accumulated experiences of many hundreds of members here, the simple fact is that unless appropriate diet changes are made in time to allow the gut to heal, when the anti-inflammatory medications are discontinued, you can count on your symptoms returning. It's a fact of life with this disease. Once triggered, the disease is forever, so it's necessary to follow a treatment program of one type or another at all times, otherwise a relapse is virtually inevitable. Some people choose drugs, some choose diet changes, and some use a combination of the two, but very, very few people are able to remain in remission without some sort of maintenance treatment program.
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.
Hi Simon,
I was diagnosed with LC in feb. 2012 and have been unable to determine what triggered it for me. I would have to agree with Leah 's feeling about Entocort -it too saved my life! I was experiencing worse symptoms than you are though- up to 15-16 bouts of explosive WD daily and so had no choice but to try something. I have been GF/DF/SF and just recently took out eggs and corn from my diet. I now have my symptoms under control with the diet changes in addition to 1 pill of Entocort every 3-6 days. I have not heard of any negative effects of tapering off the drug. In my case, when I tried to stop taking the drug too early (after 2.5 months-based on my GI's recommendations) my symptoms went back to what they were before, not worse. I had an appt. with my GI last week and when I told her this, she was "amazed" , can't explain it and said that when the majority of her other patients had stopped the med's, the symptoms did not return.
Also, my GI told me to "try" going back to gluten....which I told her I as NOT going to do. She too doesn't believe in the diet portion of this disease.
I was diagnosed with LC in feb. 2012 and have been unable to determine what triggered it for me. I would have to agree with Leah 's feeling about Entocort -it too saved my life! I was experiencing worse symptoms than you are though- up to 15-16 bouts of explosive WD daily and so had no choice but to try something. I have been GF/DF/SF and just recently took out eggs and corn from my diet. I now have my symptoms under control with the diet changes in addition to 1 pill of Entocort every 3-6 days. I have not heard of any negative effects of tapering off the drug. In my case, when I tried to stop taking the drug too early (after 2.5 months-based on my GI's recommendations) my symptoms went back to what they were before, not worse. I had an appt. with my GI last week and when I told her this, she was "amazed" , can't explain it and said that when the majority of her other patients had stopped the med's, the symptoms did not return.
Also, my GI told me to "try" going back to gluten....which I told her I as NOT going to do. She too doesn't believe in the diet portion of this disease.
Hi Simon. I know it's hard to not trust what your doctor has to say, but most of our doctors do not believe or are not convinced of the diet connection. But if you stop and think about it, does it make sense that diet would have nothing to do with an intestinal disease? We are all living proof that it does.
As for the drug, Like Tex says, if you don't make the diet changes necessary , then your symptoms will come back when you get off the Entocort ( but not worse). Since you are not that uncomfortable, then I would try diet alone. Probiotics are good because they build up good bacteria, but I doubt that you will notice a significant difference because of them.
Patience is what you need to deal with this disease.
Good Luck
Leah
As for the drug, Like Tex says, if you don't make the diet changes necessary , then your symptoms will come back when you get off the Entocort ( but not worse). Since you are not that uncomfortable, then I would try diet alone. Probiotics are good because they build up good bacteria, but I doubt that you will notice a significant difference because of them.
Patience is what you need to deal with this disease.
Good Luck
Leah
Hi Simon,
Welcome and hopefully some of the other Europeans will chime in as they might mention brand names that might help you.
If you are doing fairly well now suggest try diet changes for 4-8 weeks. You may have significant improvement before then. Think protein, overcooked veggies, and either rice, sweet potatoes (yams) or white potatoes. Try to minimize eating anything with an ingredient list i.e. if there are more than 3 or 4 ingredients on the box don't buy it. Steer clear of raw fruits or raw veggies. Keep fruit to moderation and only have canned or cooked fruit. I think you'll be better before you know it. Don't eat any oatmeal (even if it says gluten free.) Stay away from nuts for awhile.
On the front page of this forum there is a list of things with hidden gluten ingredients to avoid. Print that out and take it with you to grocery.
Down the road after you are better healed swap out your bread with gluten free bread, your crackers with gluten free crackers, your pasta with gluten free pasta and your beer with gluten free beer and your cereal with gluten free cereal. My Mom has been gluten free for 25 years and it is not that big of a deal.
Re: Entocort
I was on Entocort for about 4.5 months. Before I went on Entocort I was actually doing pretty well i.e. one movement a day in morning as softserve. My employer and friends pretty much forced me to get on drugs. I really didn't understand that diet only was an option. If you are doing okay would definitely encourage try diet alone for 4-8 weeks. Entocort won't heal you. It reduces inflamation. It gave me solid stool in three days--but I had a lot of side effects--dizziness (even at lowest dose), mental confusion, anger issues, eye (vision) issues--the benefits of the drug were just slightly better than the side effects. I was able to get off of Entocort and have been off of it for about 6 months. Diet is very very key even now. Entocort helped but at a high cost in terms of side effects. If you are kind of doing okay suggest try diet first and you can always add Entocort down the road if need be. In terms of your maintenance dose question---yes I believe there are a number of posters on this forum that pretty much are using Entocort as a maintenance pill kind of indefinitely.
GI doc #1 said diet no effect. GI doc #2 told me to go gluten free for 8 weeks. GI doc #2 is a little more cutting edge in terms of science and I think more familiar with this disease.
Best wishes and again hopefully some of the Europeans will chime in. Brandy
Welcome and hopefully some of the other Europeans will chime in as they might mention brand names that might help you.
If you are doing fairly well now suggest try diet changes for 4-8 weeks. You may have significant improvement before then. Think protein, overcooked veggies, and either rice, sweet potatoes (yams) or white potatoes. Try to minimize eating anything with an ingredient list i.e. if there are more than 3 or 4 ingredients on the box don't buy it. Steer clear of raw fruits or raw veggies. Keep fruit to moderation and only have canned or cooked fruit. I think you'll be better before you know it. Don't eat any oatmeal (even if it says gluten free.) Stay away from nuts for awhile.
On the front page of this forum there is a list of things with hidden gluten ingredients to avoid. Print that out and take it with you to grocery.
Down the road after you are better healed swap out your bread with gluten free bread, your crackers with gluten free crackers, your pasta with gluten free pasta and your beer with gluten free beer and your cereal with gluten free cereal. My Mom has been gluten free for 25 years and it is not that big of a deal.
Re: Entocort
I was on Entocort for about 4.5 months. Before I went on Entocort I was actually doing pretty well i.e. one movement a day in morning as softserve. My employer and friends pretty much forced me to get on drugs. I really didn't understand that diet only was an option. If you are doing okay would definitely encourage try diet alone for 4-8 weeks. Entocort won't heal you. It reduces inflamation. It gave me solid stool in three days--but I had a lot of side effects--dizziness (even at lowest dose), mental confusion, anger issues, eye (vision) issues--the benefits of the drug were just slightly better than the side effects. I was able to get off of Entocort and have been off of it for about 6 months. Diet is very very key even now. Entocort helped but at a high cost in terms of side effects. If you are kind of doing okay suggest try diet first and you can always add Entocort down the road if need be. In terms of your maintenance dose question---yes I believe there are a number of posters on this forum that pretty much are using Entocort as a maintenance pill kind of indefinitely.
GI doc #1 said diet no effect. GI doc #2 told me to go gluten free for 8 weeks. GI doc #2 is a little more cutting edge in terms of science and I think more familiar with this disease.
Best wishes and again hopefully some of the Europeans will chime in. Brandy
-
Christine.
- Gentoo Penguin
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:15 pm
Welcome Simon
I too had relatively mild symptoms but very significant food sensitivities when I did Enterolab testing. So... I tried diet without drugs and it worked. I have occasional flares of D and/or mouth sores if I accidentally step off the diet regimen, but at least I know what works. We are all somewhat different but also share lots of similarities. Best of luck.
Christine
I too had relatively mild symptoms but very significant food sensitivities when I did Enterolab testing. So... I tried diet without drugs and it worked. I have occasional flares of D and/or mouth sores if I accidentally step off the diet regimen, but at least I know what works. We are all somewhat different but also share lots of similarities. Best of luck.
Christine
Hi Simon,
I have been able to control my MC by diet alone. In fact at my recent 5 year follow up colonoscopy the GI decided the inflammation count is so low I no longer meet the diagnosis criteria.
In my case, dairy was always a bigger culprit than gluten. Even though I can now sometimes eat a problem food without getting D, I rarely do, as it just isn't part of my diet.
Do the simple diet (rice, meat, potatoes, cooked fruit, read labels and make sure nothing has gluten dairy or soy in it) for your month and see how you go. Check labels on any meds, including your vitamins and probiotics - a lot of probiotics are based on dairy. For me it took 4 days of eating 'clean' for the D to stop. A day and a half for it to start again if ate the wrong thing.
Yup, it is difficult to change your diet, but having an 'accident' is pretty difficult too. If you let it go and try to live with it you will end up with some level of malnutrition, which causes it's own issues.
Good luck.
I have been able to control my MC by diet alone. In fact at my recent 5 year follow up colonoscopy the GI decided the inflammation count is so low I no longer meet the diagnosis criteria.
In my case, dairy was always a bigger culprit than gluten. Even though I can now sometimes eat a problem food without getting D, I rarely do, as it just isn't part of my diet.
Do the simple diet (rice, meat, potatoes, cooked fruit, read labels and make sure nothing has gluten dairy or soy in it) for your month and see how you go. Check labels on any meds, including your vitamins and probiotics - a lot of probiotics are based on dairy. For me it took 4 days of eating 'clean' for the D to stop. A day and a half for it to start again if ate the wrong thing.
Yup, it is difficult to change your diet, but having an 'accident' is pretty difficult too. If you let it go and try to live with it you will end up with some level of malnutrition, which causes it's own issues.
Good luck.
Thanks everyone for the help, support and advice. It is very much appreciated as once the doc has discussed entocort there was little to no advice after that.
I am on day 2 of the diet. Been on a modified diet for 5 days but 3 of them I had Kellogg's for breakfast which isn't gluten free. Have been on almond milk now for 5 weeks.
It's strange, can't quite explain it but my intestines 'feel' different, which I am taking as a positive. I have actually experienced more pain (which I am surprised at due to little or no pain), they are still noisy and some bloating, but there was no urgency to go the toilet this morning, in fact it was a full 3 hours before I had to go. My normal routine is alarm goes. Glass of water then dance to the toilet! Results were pretty good too as would say it was a good 5 on the Bristol chart. Not back to normal but no where near as bad as previous 12 months.
Meals have been planned for the next week to stay gluten and dairy free.
To be honest I think this MC has been a blessing in disguise. I cycle a lot and really step it up in summer months (well the British summer!!!) and the weight falls of too quick. For around 18 months now my diet has been centred around bread. So much so it was the base of 3 meals a day for 3 days a week. I was eating bread every day of the week, sometimes 4 sandwiches a day as well as normal meals. We have been amazed how much bread and cereal I was eating to keep the carbs up. Swapped it for rice now!
Will check back in to let you know how it goes, but pretty certain I won't be taking the Entocort. I actually do feel quite bad about that in some ways, as I have the pills at home and only cost me £7 through the NHS. I was shocked at how much people in the US are having to pay, or there are people who cannot afford them. All I am doing is moaning about maybe having to take them!
Thanks again everyone and best of luck with your journey!
I am on day 2 of the diet. Been on a modified diet for 5 days but 3 of them I had Kellogg's for breakfast which isn't gluten free. Have been on almond milk now for 5 weeks.
It's strange, can't quite explain it but my intestines 'feel' different, which I am taking as a positive. I have actually experienced more pain (which I am surprised at due to little or no pain), they are still noisy and some bloating, but there was no urgency to go the toilet this morning, in fact it was a full 3 hours before I had to go. My normal routine is alarm goes. Glass of water then dance to the toilet! Results were pretty good too as would say it was a good 5 on the Bristol chart. Not back to normal but no where near as bad as previous 12 months.
Meals have been planned for the next week to stay gluten and dairy free.
To be honest I think this MC has been a blessing in disguise. I cycle a lot and really step it up in summer months (well the British summer!!!) and the weight falls of too quick. For around 18 months now my diet has been centred around bread. So much so it was the base of 3 meals a day for 3 days a week. I was eating bread every day of the week, sometimes 4 sandwiches a day as well as normal meals. We have been amazed how much bread and cereal I was eating to keep the carbs up. Swapped it for rice now!
Will check back in to let you know how it goes, but pretty certain I won't be taking the Entocort. I actually do feel quite bad about that in some ways, as I have the pills at home and only cost me £7 through the NHS. I was shocked at how much people in the US are having to pay, or there are people who cannot afford them. All I am doing is moaning about maybe having to take them!
Thanks again everyone and best of luck with your journey!
Dear Simon,
Just wanted to say welcome from Hong Kong. I too am a Brit, but live in Hong Kong. Occasionally I go back to UK.
One thing I find in UK supermarkets is a snack bar called 'Nakd' - I think that is the spelling (the brand is a deliberate misspelling of 'Naked'). Some of those snacks are gluten, diary, soy and peanut free (but not all). I always stock up on them. Also the last time I looked there was a dark chocolate at Starbucks that used coco butter rather than soy lecithin as the emulsifier. This I also stock up on. Note that most dark chocolate that is diary free use soy lecithin instead of milk, and that off limits if you are intolerant to soy.
Best wishes, Ant
Just wanted to say welcome from Hong Kong. I too am a Brit, but live in Hong Kong. Occasionally I go back to UK.
One thing I find in UK supermarkets is a snack bar called 'Nakd' - I think that is the spelling (the brand is a deliberate misspelling of 'Naked'). Some of those snacks are gluten, diary, soy and peanut free (but not all). I always stock up on them. Also the last time I looked there was a dark chocolate at Starbucks that used coco butter rather than soy lecithin as the emulsifier. This I also stock up on. Note that most dark chocolate that is diary free use soy lecithin instead of milk, and that off limits if you are intolerant to soy.
Best wishes, Ant
----------------------------------------
"Softly, softly catchee monkey".....
"Softly, softly catchee monkey".....
Hi Simon,
My journey was similar to yours...multiple bouts of gastroenteritis growing up abroad and travelling in my 20's, then "IBS" symptoms for 10 years, then lactose intolerance. I also took antibiotics every time I went to the dentist for mitral valve prolapse. After the birth of my first child, I took antibiotics for 3 bouts of mastitis. IBS and lactose intolerance symptoms resolved while on antibiotics. 4 years later the D started, first 2-3/day, then 6-8/day (mild compared to others here). Colonoscopy showed LC, I refused prescription Asacol, and I started the Pepto Bismol regimen on my own which helped somewhat. One week I was on a toast and pasta binge trying to settle my stomach after a perceived bout of "food poisoning." After 8 days of hell, I realized it wasn't food poisoning after all, it was the toast and pasta!!
I ordered Enterolab testing and discovered I had celiac and gluten sensitivity genes, and I was producing antibodies to gluten, dairy and soy. Then I found this forum (it could have saved me lots of time to find it sooner!!) I felt 80% better after a few days GF/DF, but the journey continues...
Given your mild symptoms, I agree with your assessment that prescription meds are not required. You have the power to control this on your own. Note that many here follow an almost Paleo diet, limiting most grains. In general lots of rice and carbs are not going to help you heal. Concentrate on cooked veggies and high quality meats.
Let us know how you tolerate the VSL3. I'm thinking about taking it. I take Culturelle now, but had a horrible reaction to a multi-strain probiotic previously (lots of watery D). Probiotics often require trial and error for us.
My journey was similar to yours...multiple bouts of gastroenteritis growing up abroad and travelling in my 20's, then "IBS" symptoms for 10 years, then lactose intolerance. I also took antibiotics every time I went to the dentist for mitral valve prolapse. After the birth of my first child, I took antibiotics for 3 bouts of mastitis. IBS and lactose intolerance symptoms resolved while on antibiotics. 4 years later the D started, first 2-3/day, then 6-8/day (mild compared to others here). Colonoscopy showed LC, I refused prescription Asacol, and I started the Pepto Bismol regimen on my own which helped somewhat. One week I was on a toast and pasta binge trying to settle my stomach after a perceived bout of "food poisoning." After 8 days of hell, I realized it wasn't food poisoning after all, it was the toast and pasta!!
I ordered Enterolab testing and discovered I had celiac and gluten sensitivity genes, and I was producing antibodies to gluten, dairy and soy. Then I found this forum (it could have saved me lots of time to find it sooner!!) I felt 80% better after a few days GF/DF, but the journey continues...Given your mild symptoms, I agree with your assessment that prescription meds are not required. You have the power to control this on your own. Note that many here follow an almost Paleo diet, limiting most grains. In general lots of rice and carbs are not going to help you heal. Concentrate on cooked veggies and high quality meats.
Let us know how you tolerate the VSL3. I'm thinking about taking it. I take Culturelle now, but had a horrible reaction to a multi-strain probiotic previously (lots of watery D). Probiotics often require trial and error for us.