"D" again - How do I get back to where I was?

[mzh]

I was on Entocort for several years and got off it on Jan 10. I stayed normal until a couple of weeks ago when I started having normals ending with D. I took a couple of Friendly Flora capsules (from Procaps). The problem stopped immediately. It seems my gut bacteria needed a little replenishing. Might work for you. Incidentally, none of the other probiotics ever worked for me - just this one.

[brandy]

Carol, thanks for the kind words!

Barb, sorry for the delayed response, i've been on vacation. Im on my netbook in airport so forgive my typing.

During mini flares i do better on homemade chicken broth but a lot of times i'll use the boxed gf chicken broth, put it in my coffee mug at work and it looks like i'm drinking coffee. I also revert back to same safer 3 food regimen for b,l&d. it looks something,
Like chicken,rice overcooked carrots for all meals day after day until i start doing better. I also eliminate supplements during mini flares. Still to this day i do better without foods with ingredient lists.

I used clritin reditabs 24 hour (but onlu b/c) i didnt see the 12 hour on the shelf. Some people respond to
Allegra, the dairy free zyrtec, or the childrens dye free benedryl. U might try them consecutively for 7 day trial and see if one works. just a thought.

Question for anyone--------is there a better time of day to take the anti histamines? i take claritin ready tabs in evening but not sure if there is a better time of day?

Barb, hope u feel better, brandy

[tex]

Question for anyone--------is there a better time of day to take the anti histamines? i take claritin ready tabs in evening but not sure if there is a better time of day?

Good question. For pollen-related allergies (or non-household allergens), taking an antihistamine first thing in the morning usually works best for me, because the antihistamine has to block the receptors before the antigens get there. Once an allergen attaches to a receptor, it's too late for an antihistamine to block that particular receptor. Pollen (and mold spores) are usually at a minimal level first thing in the morning, and build up during the day, as the dew dries and the wind picks up.

On the other hand, if food contains the antigens that are causing the problem, then that would suggest a need to take an antihistamine before a meal, or at least before the main meal of the day. The problem is that I'm not sure that we understand what's triggering the release of those histamines in our gut — is it solely histamine (or histamine triggers) in our food, or is it conventional air-borne allergens, or is it a combination of both (or even something else)?

Tex

[JFR]

I had read that for pollen related allergies it is best to take an antihistamine in the evening since pollen levels start to rise around dawn. I have certainly found this too be true, having been awakened too many times in my life at around 5 AM sneezing and with the roof of my mouth and my eyes itching, so that is when I take Allegra, in the evening. I am not sure how much if at all the Allegra helps my gut. I take the Allegra primarily for pollen type allergies. If it is helping my gut then that is a bonus. Never any easy answers I guess. What works best for one may not work best for another.

Jean

[birdlover3]

Well, even following mostly the meat, rice, broth, soft veggie diet and taking Claritin, I'm still no better. Last night I couldn't stand it and had to have an ice cream bar, but I was no worse off. Still "D" about 6 times a day....no signs of improvement. Now what?

frustrated and ready to throw in the towel.

[Gabes-Apg]

I am sorry you are still having symptoms.
and apologies up front if what I say next sounds harsh

the reality is.... you have two choices....

stay as you are, or get better.

I know it is really sucky that you are suffering, that there is no quick fix. Right now, the only person who can help you, is you! you have to embrace this challenge, with all the patience, tenacity, courage you can muster.....

giving up after a week and having dairy is not a good idea. that small amount of dairy could take days if not weeks to heal from...

it will take weeks (if not months) to reduce the inflammation, and let the body heal. Please give it a chance to work...... be realistic in your expectations of progress, and don't let the MC monkey take over your mind (and your life)

[Leah]

It does take a long time to heal, but maybe one of the proteins you are eating is bothering you. You should look at this like a science detective. Take one protein out ( chicken, beef, pork...) for one week and see if you feel better. Keep everything else the same. if nothing changes, switch it out for a different one and so forth. If that doesn't give you an answer, then take out the rice for a week and see if that helps. We all are very SIMILAR in what we can't eat, but we are not all the SAME with what works for us.

Good luck

Leah

[birdlover3]

I am sorry you are still having symptoms.
and apologies up front if what I say next sounds harsh

the reality is.... you have two choices....

stay as you are, or get better.

I know it is really sucky that you are suffering, that there is no quick fix. Right now, the only person who can help you, is you! you have to embrace this challenge, with all the patience, tenacity, courage you can muster.....

giving up after a week and having dairy is not a good idea. that small amount of dairy could take days if not weeks to heal from...

it will take weeks (if not months) to reduce the inflammation, and let the body heal. Please give it a chance to work...... be realistic in your expectations of progress, and don't let the MC monkey take over your mind (and your life)

I don't understand how I know if I'm on the right track. Does it take weeks to see ANY difference at all? How do you know when it's time to try something different? If I'm only sensitive to gluten (through Enterlab testing) why is it bad to have dairy? This is why I'm so fraustrated. I cannot understand or know how to know when I'm on the right track or why I should eliminate rice or think it could be an issue if Enterlab tells me it isn't. Can you help me to understand? Thanks, Barb

[birdlover3]

It does take a long time to heal, but maybe one of the proteins you are eating is bothering you. You should look at this like a science detective. Take one protein out ( chicken, beef, pork...) for one week and see if you feel better. Keep everything else the same. if nothing changes, switch it out for a different one and so forth. If that doesn't give you an answer, then take out the rice for a week and see if that helps. We all are very SIMILAR in what we can't eat, but we are not all the SAME with what works for us.

Good luck

Leah

I was switching off chicken and beef per another person's recommendation. Is a week a good clue to whether something is or isn't working?

Why would rice be a possible issue if Enterlab tells me it is not? Please help me to understand. Thanks, Barb

[carolm]

Barb, here the link that goes directly to the 3 breathing exercises. They are surprisingly easy. I use #2 and #3 several times during the week.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00521/th ... cises.html

Carol

[Gabes-Apg]

Barb,
I didn't do enterlab testing so can not comment on that.

Dairy is a high inflammation food, it takes more energy for the gut to digest it, and people tend to avoid dairy when they have stomach upsets.

Figure out your safe foods. Depending on how inflamed your body is is, yes it may take more than a week to to notice a difference.

[tex]

Barb,

To add to what Gabes said about dairy: The reason why we have to avoid dairy when we are reacting is not because of any EnteroLab test results, but because everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is lactose intolerant when they have an inflamed gut, whether the inflammation is caused by MC, the flu, an infection, or whatever. After the inflammation is gone, they you will no longer be lactose intolerant.

I don't understand how I know if I'm on the right track. Does it take weeks to see ANY difference at all? How do you know when it's time to try something different?

We all respond differently to treatments, so there are no rules that are chiseled in stone, but we all eventually learn how our body responds to various foods, and how we react to foods that we shouldn't be eating. If you don't see any improvements at all after 2 or 3 weeks on a very strict diet, then try something else, but try only one thing at a time, so that you can see what is helping, and/or what is making things worse.

Tex

[Leah]

Hi Barb. I didn't realize that Enterolab said that rice was okay for you. Then it probably is. I know that my system loves rice :)
Since the test shows that you are okay with dairy, then like Tex said, it probably is the lactose IN some of the dairy. You are probably okay with hard cheeses, but should stay away from "milky" products that still have a lot of the sugar in it like milk, cream, yogurt...etc. Right now, you are probably not producing the enzymes to break down the lactose. Maybe in time,,,, maybe not. There are many people in the general population that don't have MC and can't tolerate lactose.

The only other thing I can say, is be patient and give it time.

Leah

[birdlover3]

Barb,

To add to what Gabes said about dairy: The reason why we have to avoid dairy when we are reacting is not because of any EnteroLab test results, but because everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is lactose intolerant when they have an inflamed gut, whether the inflammation is caused by MC, the flu, an infection, or whatever. After the inflammation is gone, they you will no longer be lactose intolerant.

Tex

Tex, Your explanation makes sense to me. That is what I couldn't wrap my head around. Thanks for explaining.

[Gloria]

I'll put in my two cents for what they're worth.

Since you didn't test positive to very many foods with the Enterolab tests, you naturally assumed that you needed to only eliminate gluten and oats. I would have jumped for joy with that result and assumed the same thing.

It's now obvious that you are intolerant to other food(s), but you don't have any experience at determining other intolerances. Most of us think that because we're doing so well on Entocort, we've finally overcome our MC. We go off of Entocort sooner than we should, per our doctor's recommendations (who don't acknowledge any association that diet has with MC.) For most of us, however, the time we're on Entocort should be a time to determine our additional food intolerances while we very slowly reduce the dosage over a time period of at least 6 months.

You could go back on Entocort, perhaps on a smaller dosage, and begin to very slowly reduce the dosage. Typically, once you've reached the one pill a day dosage, you would stay on that for 4-6 weeks, or until you start to get constipated. Then you'd reduce to eliminating one pill every three or four days to see if you begin to deteriorate. Do that for a few weeks and eliminate Entocort one pill every other day, and so on. Your goal should be to get to the dosage where you begin reacting slightly on some days, but not others. It might take several weeks of being at a given dosage to reach that point. Once you begin having some good days and some bad days, you can analyze your food diary to see what food or foods can be bothering you. If you're always reacting, it's pretty difficult to determine what is causing the reaction. One of the reasons that I eat a rotation diet is to have enough differences in my daily diet so that I can pinpoint which food is making me react.

I once started a thread about how Entocort can be very deceptive. It gives the illusion of remission, but we don't find out until a few weeks after we're off of it that we still haven't resolved our MC. Some can determine their intolerances very quickly, some don't have many intolerances, others need to take a long time to determine them or order additional testing. We're all different, but we can always learn from each other's experiences. I hope you are able to get some control soon.

Gloria