tex wrote:Hi Sydney,
Welcome to our internet family. I'm sorry that you have all those autoimmune problems. I hope that we can help you to find the key that is preventing you from achieving remission.
In addition to food sensitivities, CC can be triggered by many medications. Some people who are in that situation are fortunate enough that just discontinuing the use of the medication responsible for the inflammation can stop the flare, without further intervention, while others find it necessary to make significant diet changes in addition to avoiding the drug. At any rate, if a drug is causing the problem, remission cannot be attained until the use of the drug is discontinued. Are you by any chance taking any of these — NSAIDs, PPIs, SSRIs, SNRIs, (or other antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications), antibiotics, statins, beta blockers, bisphosphonates, or HRT? Oral, transdermal, or any other form of time-release hormonal contraceptives can also trigger a CC flare for many/most women.
There is no fixed rule on how much fiber we can tolerate — we all have different tolerance thresholds, so we try to minimize the amount of fiber in our diet, and as we recover, we can usually slowly add sources of fiber (over-cooked, peeled vegetables and fruits) back into our diet. Most of us also have to minimize most or all sources of sugar, also, and artificial sweeteners cause virtually all of us to react.
Some of us cannot tolerate any type of probiotic, while others react to some probiotics, but can sometimes find one that seems to be beneficial.
Most probiotics contain traces of lactose, and many of us cannot tolerate those.
Gluten sensitivity causes a lot of intestinal damage that can be slow to heal. The headaches and fatigue are very common symptoms with CC. As you begin to get the inflammation under control, those symptoms will slowly fade away, and there is a very good chance that your other autoimmune issues will improve also, because gluten-sensitivity seems to be connected with all of them.
Again, welcome to the board, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
Hi, Tex.
Thank you so much for the welcome to this internet family. I feel so bad that so many people are suffering though.
And thank you for your kind words about my having so many auto-immune disorders. I was grateful to receive my MS diagnosis.
I had an unnecessary hysterectomy in '06, and I do use a very low dose bio-identical trans-dermal HRT dot.
I believe that my CC was caused by taking so many antibiotics. I am a Eucharistic Minister, and there is one lady in my church, that always had a severe cold, and drinks from the Cup. I served 3 mornings, during the week, and two masses on Sunday. The Minister is required to finish the Cup. I spoke with my Pastor, privately one morning, and asked him to please suggest to people that are ill, at least at daily mass, that they not drink from the Cup, but he said he felt it was more important that she receive the Precious Blood.
(One receives the complete Body & Blood when they receive the Host, so his defense was a poor excuse.)
I told him that I couldn't continue to get sick-but he did nothing. I finally resigned. He asked me to please re-consider, as I was the only lay person in our Diocese allowed to hold Communion Services in his absence. I told him my terms. He lost. But, so did I. I loved serving Our Lord.
Sorry to run on about religion. Just wanted to explain how I kept getting sick.
The Culturelle is lactose-free. And I just began taking it, 6 days ago.
I have been eating very low fiber, and noticed that the bloating went away.
I don't mind the gluten-free diet, at all.
I have very little appetite due to my MS anyway.
I do take 5 mg. of Diazepam, 4 x a day for a rare kind of small fiber neuropathy, that was diagnosed at Cleveland Clinic, in '08. The neurologist said they had never had a patient with it in their thighs and legs, and they couldn't find the cause.
I find myself wondering if the dye in the yellow pill could be affecting me. So, when I see my D.O. next month, I will have him prescribe Valium in the 2 mg. tablets, because they are white.
I also take 10 mg. of Baclofen for the spasticity from the MS-it has kept me out of a wheelchair, so far.....and just before I saw my MS Specialist, I was headed for one.
And of course, I do Rebif injections 3 nights a week for my MS.
I was on UltramER for 5 years, for my severe back pain, but I took myself off of it this past Summer.....didn't feel it was helping anymore.
It's funny.....never saw the MS coming......and never heard of CC.
Again, thank you for the welcome and all of the info.
Sydney
