Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
Well, yesterday I finished 6 weeks on Budesonide, and I still get the D & pasty stool.
I called my G.I. Doc's office 1st thing this morning, and left his nurse a message.
I have a question. My stomach hurts, when I eat. Even something as simple as 3/4 of a serving of Cream of Rice made with water, and 1/2 of a small banana.
Oh my....just 6 weeks of Entocort is not near enough. How much were you taking? Did they taper your dose first before getting off? Did the stomach pain happen as soon as you got off? It takes a while for the diet changes to kick in and most stay on Entocort for at least 6 months. This just seems way too soon. Unless you are okay with trying diet alone and just dealing with the D. I couldn't do that as I was losing too much weight and needed to be able to take care of my kid. I'm sure someone will chime in soon in regards to your cessation off of meds and your subsequent pain. I do hope your pain goes away soon.
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
Oh my....just 6 weeks of Entocort is not near enough. How much were you taking? Did they taper your dose first before getting off? Did the stomach pain happen as soon as you got off? It takes a while for the diet changes to kick in and most stay on Entocort for at least 6 months. This just seems way too soon. Unless you are okay with trying diet alone and just dealing with the D. I couldn't do that as I was losing too much weight and needed to be able to take care of my kid. I'm sure someone will chime in soon in regards to your cessation off of meds and your subsequent pain. I do hope your pain goes away soon.
Terri
Hi, Terri.
Thank you so much for your quick response.
I am taking 3, 3 MG. capsules a day. Since I haven't spoken to my G.I. Doc yet, I am still taking that dosage.
No, I can't try diet alone. I've had the D for 17 months. I wasn't diagnosed until 7 weeks ago.
I have MS and I am far too underweight to go back to trying to control the D, with diet. It never worked.
My pancreatic enzymes were slightly elevated, so my G.I. Doc had prescribed Pancreaze, but I am eating a very low fat diet, and I read on the Pancreaze site, that the dosage is prescribed according to the amount of fat in the meal or snack.
Well I totally misunderstood your post....sorry about that! Glad you are still on the Entocort! I hope reducing your Pancreaze will maybe get rid of your stomach pain. Since I've never taken Entocort I don't know if it can cause stomach pain. Has the D improved any at all? With some it takes awhile.
Terri
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis in July, 2012 then with Celiac in November, 2012.
Sydney wrote:I have a question. My stomach hurts, when I eat. Even something as simple as 3/4 of a serving of Cream of Rice made with water, and 1/2 of a small banana.
Is this due to the microscopic colitis?
When did that symptom begin? Did you have it before you started taking the budesonide?
Are you having nausea and/or bloating? While MC can cause nausea and bloating (which can result in pain), without nausea and bloating, something else may be causing the pain. While uncommon, it's even possible that if the budesonide is not helping, it could be causing that symptom.
I wonder if the pancrease could be causing the stomach pain. Did the pain start after you began taking the pancrease? The only time I ever tried an enzyme supplement, I had a burning stomach pain for days from just one capsule.
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.
Sydney wrote:I have a question. My stomach hurts, when I eat. Even something as simple as 3/4 of a serving of Cream of Rice made with water, and 1/2 of a small banana.
Is this due to the microscopic colitis?
When did that symptom begin? Did you have it before you started taking the budesonide? Or, as Terri asked, "Did it begin after you discontinued the budesonide?"
Are you having nausea and/or bloating? While MC can cause nausea and bloating (which can result in pain), without nausea and bloating, something else may be causing the pain. While uncommon, it's even possible that if the budesonide is not helping, it could be causing that symptom.
Now that you've discontinued using the budesonide, if your "pasty" stool soon turns into watery diarrhea, you'll know that the budesonide actually was helping, after all. On the other hand, if your stomach pain disappears, that would indicate that the budesonide was causing it.
Tex
Hi, Tex.
I had the stomach pain, after eating, before I started the Budesonide. I am not nauseous.
I had bloating before I started Budesonide, but, quickly learned that it seemed to be caused by eating foods with fiber.
I haven't discontinued the Budesonide yet. My G.I. Doc had told me to call him when I finished 6 weeks on it, and he would begin weaning me off of it.
So, I put a call in this morning, and now, I have to wait to hear from him.
I alternate between watery diarrhea and pasty stool.
This morning, it was 1st pasty stool, that quickly turned into watery diarrhea.
Are you aware of this doctor's theory about the origin of MS, and her research? She believes that a low vitamin D level may be involved in the development of MS (and I tend to agree with her since a vitamin D deficiency clearly increases the chances of developing an IBD). IMO, a vitamin D deficiency is probably associated with the development of virtually any autoimmune disease. That's why my goal is to keep my vitamin D blood level in the upper part of the normal range.
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.
Are you aware of this doctor's theory about the origin of MS, and her research? She believes that a low vitamin D level may be involved in the development of MS (and I tend to agree with her since a vitamin D deficiency clearly increases the chances of developing an IBD). IMO, a vitamin D deficiency is probably associated with the development of virtually any autoimmune disease. That's why my goal is to keep my vitamin D blood level in the upper part of the normal range.
Tex
Yes, Tex.
My MS Specialist tested my Vit. D levels and they were very low. I was on a high dose of Vit. D, and she re-tests me on a frequent basis.
I agree, I believe Vit. D deficiency is likely associated with any auto-immune disease. Particularly
MS, in my case.
You responded to my first post before I had time to finish editing it, after seeing that you had responded to Terri's post while I was writing.
Please reread my post, because it addresses the pancrease issue. Sorry for the confusion, but I try to edit my posts when someone posts new information while I'm writing, and that information changes the facts that were previously available to me .
Thanks,
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.
You responded to my first post before I had time to finish editing it, after seeing that you had responded to Terri's post while I was writing.
Please reread my post, because it addresses the pancrease issue. Sorry for the confusion, but I try to edit my posts when someone posts new information while I'm writing, and that information changes the facts that were previously available to me .
Thanks,
Tex
Hi, Tex.
No, I didn't have any pain when I started the Pancreaze. It actually relieved the stomach pain, that I was experiencing after eating.
But, now that I am eating a very low fat diet, I am wondering if it could be contributing to the diarrhea. I took just 1 Pancreaze capsule after eating 3/4 of a serving of Cream of Rice cereal made with water, and 1/2 of a sliced banana this morning. My stomach hurt, and I ended up with watery diarrhea.
So, I am skipping the Pancreaze until I speak with my G.I. Doc.
Don't enzyme supplements work better if taken before a meal?
Also, I eventually noticed that bananas caused digestive problems for me when I was recovering. I blamed it on the fiber, because it usually took a day or two before they caused a reaction, which would correlate with the time frame for a fermentation issue. With your faster reaction, though, that doesn't sound like a fermentation problem.
As you're well aware, the causes of symptoms can sometimes be tough to track down. Hopefully, your doctor will have some suggestions.
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:Don't enzyme supplements work better if taken before a meal?
Also, I eventually noticed that bananas caused digestive problems for me when I was recovering. I blamed it on the fiber, because it usually took a day or two before they caused a reaction, which would correlate with the time frame for a fermentation issue. With your faster reaction, though, that doesn't sound like a fermentation problem.
As you're well aware, the causes of symptoms can sometimes be tough to track down. Hopefully, your doctor will have some suggestions.
Tex
Tex,
My G.I. Doc told me to take the Pancreaze with my meals. But now that I am eating such a low fat diet, I am not sure I need it.
No, I don't think my reaction is a fermentation problem.
Thank you, I hope my G.I. doc has some suggestions.
HI Sydney. Sorry to hear that your road to recovery is having some bumps.
I agree with Teri that 6 weeks is not nearly long enough for the Entocort. I was on it for 6 months.... weaning the dose down as I healed. But have you had ANY IMPROVEMENT AT ALL with the budesonide? If not, maybe it's not the drug for you. Have you changed your diet and taken out some of the inflammatory foods like gluten and dairy?
I does sound like since you are not eating a lot of fat, you may not need the enzymes and that may be hurting your gut.
For me, bananas don't work. My gut hurts when I eat them. We are all different though.
Hope you get some answers soon.
Let us know how it goes
Leah
Oh, no fun! You said you had the D for 17 months. If memory serves, on a different post, I read Tex said the longer you've had MC untreated, the longer it takes to heal. I am certainly finding this to be the case! I had extremely bad and frequent D for a year and a half, (dx in Oct.) and because of this, believe this is why my healing is taking so long.
Not long ago, I was having a great deal of pain in my ascending colon (or at least, that's where I believed the pain to be located), and extreme indigestion, bloating, etc. I started noticing a pattern, and on days when I ate a lot of potatoes, I'd get the pain. The more potatoes I had, or the more days in a row I had potatoes, the worse my pain. I thought my symptoms were just MC as I am still fairly new and have yet to have reached remission. (D came back again today after intermittent D and not D yesterday. growl.) But, since eliminating the potatoes and sticking with white rice, I am doing MUCH better. Still nauseas almost constantly, but I see this as progress.
However, at the same time, I do have Qs regarding findings in my colonoscopy I plan to pursue, but in the meantime, I am learning to focus on small steps of progress. Right now my greatest sign of progress is that I no longer see undigested food on the return end, or at least, very infrequently.
Leah wrote:HI Sydney. Sorry to hear that your road to recovery is having some bumps.
I agree with Teri that 6 weeks is not nearly long enough for the Entocort. I was on it for 6 months.... weaning the dose down as I healed. But have you had ANY IMPROVEMENT AT ALL with the budesonide? If not, maybe it's not the drug for you. Have you changed your diet and taken out some of the inflammatory foods like gluten and dairy?
I does sound like since you are not eating a lot of fat, you may not need the enzymes and that may be hurting your gut.
For me, bananas don't work. My gut hurts when I eat them. We are all different though.
Hope you get some answers soon.
Let us know how it goes
Leah
[/size
Hi, Leah.
My G.I. Doc's nurse called me and he wants me to continue the Budesonide, but reduce it to 2, 3 MG. capsules a day, and he has prescribed Lialda 3 times a day.
I had some improvement, but it was back and forth, between pasty stool, and then, occasional watery D.
Yes, as I posted in my very 1st post, I am GF, and dairy-free.
Banana's have never caused me stomach pain. I've always eaten 1/2 banana in my oatmeal or Cream of Rice every morning.
And, I eat a small banana in the evening.
I did discover, that Bob's Red Mill GF Quick Cooking Oats do not agree with me. I've always eaten McCann's and never got D from them.
And, two of us have gotten different answers from the company regarding the amount of insoluble fiber in them.
I agree, with as little fat as I am eating now, I am eliminating the Pancreaze.
