Greetings everyone,
I am eighty years old, Lloyd by name, diagnosed with MC a month ago, and taking one Imodium tablet a day to lengthen digestive time and get the nutrition I need.
Doing so is working well in that my energy levels are good and visits to the toilet not unmanageably frequent, about eight times a day, and the stools are now standing up like cow plops. My question is can I find remission while using Imodium to lengthen the digestive time in the gut?
Although it has been only four weeks since I excluded wheat, diary, and soy and eight weeks of attention to the avoidance of FODMAPS, I feel able to tell, and am sometimes told in no uncertain terms by the stomach, what is acceptable and what is not.
At this perhaps early stage, it seems possible to me to start introducing new foods into my diet. The question is if it is okay to do this while taking Imodium, or does one have to seek remission without the modifying help of Imodium? Or is it too early to even be thinking about this?
P.S. Tex’s stress theory rings like a bell for me and, though eighty years of age and not likely to experience a great degree of recovery, of remission, the things that I have discovered about myself and stress, I never would have come to learn in any other way. And for this reason, I have come to see MC not so much as an affliction as a teacher (although those two are not necessarily exclusive!).
What say? Am I making any sense?
Questions about Imodium
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Lloyd,
Welcome to our internet family. I have say that as a retired farmer/cattleman, your description of your stool consistency might seem a bit unusual to some members of this board, but it strikes me as a very accurate way to describe it.
It sounds as though you've mostly worked out your treatment program, and you're well on your way toward remission.
I see no reason why you can't continue to take Imodium as long as you feel that you still need it. It's probably the safest medication used to treat MC. Of course, it doesn't actually treat MC (since it does nothing to control the inflammation), but by slowing down motility in the intestines, it does indeed allow more nutrients to be absorbed, and it helps to limit the urgency, and the number of trips one has to make to the bathroom each day. So it certainly helps to make life easier during recovery, and I would have to say that helping to make life easier would definitely qualify as "treating" MC.
For most people, it takes anywhere from about 6 months (for a light case) to a year or 2, or more, for substantial healing to take place in the intestines. The longer we have been reacting, the longer it usually takes to heal, so the sooner after the onset of symptoms that you were diagnosed, and the sooner you changed your diet, the sooner you will heal.
The bad news is that kids heal quickly, and folks in our age group take much longer, but still, if we pay careful attention to the details of our diet, and minimize stress, we will get our life back much faster than someone who fails to take those precautions. If I were in your shoes, I would probably consider it a bit early in your recovery to begin testing foods, but you know your body better than anyone else, and it will tell you whether or not it's too soon, when you try a test food or two. You might be able to reintroduce well-cooked vegetables and maybe a few fruits, for example, if you aren't already eating them. It's always best to minimize fiber and excess sugar until we are pretty far along with our healing. While we're still healing, the worst foods (besides gluten,dairy, and soy) for most of us, are raw vegetables and fruits, and especially iceberg lettuce and chili peppers. And artificial sweeteners seem to cause problems for almost all of us.
That said, if you feel that you are ready to try adding a few foods back into your diet, and you pay close attention to what your body is telling you, you might be able to successfully do it. Remember to try only one at a time, and wait several days before trying something else, so that you can be sure about the cause of any reaction that should develop. Medications such as Entocort and Imuran can make it tough for some of us to determine whether or not a certain food is affecting us, but Imodium doesn't mask any symptoms, so you shouldn't have any trouble detecting any foods that cause an adverse reaction. The only thing that Imodium might do is to delay a reaction, but it won't prevent a reaction to a food to which we are sensitive.
And you're so right about this disease being a teacher. It has taught most of us to slow down, and to appreciate many of the things in our life that we never even noticed, before the disease reprogrammed our lifestyle. It definitely changed my life dramatically, but as you say, some of the changes were beneficial.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
Welcome to our internet family. I have say that as a retired farmer/cattleman, your description of your stool consistency might seem a bit unusual to some members of this board, but it strikes me as a very accurate way to describe it.
It sounds as though you've mostly worked out your treatment program, and you're well on your way toward remission.I see no reason why you can't continue to take Imodium as long as you feel that you still need it. It's probably the safest medication used to treat MC. Of course, it doesn't actually treat MC (since it does nothing to control the inflammation), but by slowing down motility in the intestines, it does indeed allow more nutrients to be absorbed, and it helps to limit the urgency, and the number of trips one has to make to the bathroom each day. So it certainly helps to make life easier during recovery, and I would have to say that helping to make life easier would definitely qualify as "treating" MC.
For most people, it takes anywhere from about 6 months (for a light case) to a year or 2, or more, for substantial healing to take place in the intestines. The longer we have been reacting, the longer it usually takes to heal, so the sooner after the onset of symptoms that you were diagnosed, and the sooner you changed your diet, the sooner you will heal.
The bad news is that kids heal quickly, and folks in our age group take much longer, but still, if we pay careful attention to the details of our diet, and minimize stress, we will get our life back much faster than someone who fails to take those precautions. If I were in your shoes, I would probably consider it a bit early in your recovery to begin testing foods, but you know your body better than anyone else, and it will tell you whether or not it's too soon, when you try a test food or two. You might be able to reintroduce well-cooked vegetables and maybe a few fruits, for example, if you aren't already eating them. It's always best to minimize fiber and excess sugar until we are pretty far along with our healing. While we're still healing, the worst foods (besides gluten,dairy, and soy) for most of us, are raw vegetables and fruits, and especially iceberg lettuce and chili peppers. And artificial sweeteners seem to cause problems for almost all of us.
That said, if you feel that you are ready to try adding a few foods back into your diet, and you pay close attention to what your body is telling you, you might be able to successfully do it. Remember to try only one at a time, and wait several days before trying something else, so that you can be sure about the cause of any reaction that should develop. Medications such as Entocort and Imuran can make it tough for some of us to determine whether or not a certain food is affecting us, but Imodium doesn't mask any symptoms, so you shouldn't have any trouble detecting any foods that cause an adverse reaction. The only thing that Imodium might do is to delay a reaction, but it won't prevent a reaction to a food to which we are sensitive.
And you're so right about this disease being a teacher. It has taught most of us to slow down, and to appreciate many of the things in our life that we never even noticed, before the disease reprogrammed our lifestyle. It definitely changed my life dramatically, but as you say, some of the changes were beneficial.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
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 Lloyd,
Just wanted to say "Welcome"! You will learn so much from this forum. You are already on the right track giving up those foods. Glad the Imodium is helping you. Before I was diagnosed, I took Imodium....one pill a day. I'm guess I'm one of the few who didn't react to any foods while taking it and I was eating gluten, dairy, soy, everything!! I never had one symptom while on it....weird! However, when I got off it, two days later "boom"! D was back with a vengeance. Then I learned about the diet.....made big changes there and got on Pepto and now I've been med free since Dec 10th (except for the occasional dosages over the holidays just for peace of mind.) I think once your diet takes affect...which could be awhile especially when it comes to gluten, you may be able to wean off the Imodium. And like Tex says, it's a safe drug to take. I've known people who have taken it for years with no issues.
Good luck with the diet and be patient with adding more foods in. I waited 6 months before I added a new food.
Keep us updated!
Terri
Just wanted to say "Welcome"! You will learn so much from this forum. You are already on the right track giving up those foods. Glad the Imodium is helping you. Before I was diagnosed, I took Imodium....one pill a day. I'm guess I'm one of the few who didn't react to any foods while taking it and I was eating gluten, dairy, soy, everything!! I never had one symptom while on it....weird! However, when I got off it, two days later "boom"! D was back with a vengeance. Then I learned about the diet.....made big changes there and got on Pepto and now I've been med free since Dec 10th (except for the occasional dosages over the holidays just for peace of mind.) I think once your diet takes affect...which could be awhile especially when it comes to gluten, you may be able to wean off the Imodium. And like Tex says, it's a safe drug to take. I've known people who have taken it for years with no issues.
Good luck with the diet and be patient with adding more foods in. I waited 6 months before I added a new food.
Keep us updated!
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
