Any suggestions, please

Jskaggs · Post by **Jskaggs** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 12:49 pm

Hi All,
Will I ever get a handle on MC? I was on Budesonide for 6 months and got off of it in December of this year. I have been having very thin bowel movements and even ghost poopies for a very long time, no Normans in sight. And I am still going up to 10-15 times a day. My husband thinks I should go back on Budesonide for a week or so, but I do not want to do that. I have been gf, sf, ef, df since August. I have been eating Udi's bread and that has eggs in it. Other than that, I have tried very hard on this crazy diet! Can anyone tell me if having these thin like, ghost poopies and many times a day normal for MCer's? This sure messes up the exercising program-can't stray too far from the bathroom.

Hope everyone is having a good day today. We have 9 inches of snow here in TN.

Jane

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:24 pm

Jane,
Sorry you are still having issues.

Narrow poop is an indicator of inflammation.
While there is inflammation, the gut is not healing...

Something you are ingesting or having contact with is triggering the inflammation.
Either food, or med/supplements, or environment type things.

Have you tried antihistamines??? H1 and/or h2 blockers.

The limited eating plan diet may seem crazy, the reality is, it works. Once you remove all your triggers, the low inflammation, low histamine eating plan will help a lot to getting the gut healed...
Keep in mind, the healing process can take anything from 3 months to 2 years, depending on much damage there is....

Going back on meds may reduce the symptoms, but it will not help you figure out the food that is causing issues

Jskaggs · Post by **Jskaggs** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:53 pm

Thanks Gabes,
I have not tried antihistamines but will certainly try it. Since you mentioned meds, I checked my meds and found my coq10 and vit. D-3 both contain soy. What a stinky thing for drug makers to add! Could that be the only problem or should I completely start over with my diet? You know, you think you are doing a good job in reading ingredients only to find that you have missed so many things. I think I am still in denial concerning MC.

How is your weather "down under"? I bet it is beautiful!

Thanks again, Gabes.
Jane

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:05 pm

Weather is hot, too hot and humid for things like packing for interstate move, and driving 900kms
I pack the car at 8am and have to have another shower because I am drenched in sweat.

It has been pretty dry for a couple of years so most of the places I am driving through are in drought or near drought conditions.

Keep checking and double checking supps, meds and food. If you are 100% gf, and have been for the 6 months, your sensitivity to soy and/or dairy will be heightened...
Don't forget to check makeup, lipsticks moisturisers, shampoos etc. natural/organic types, quite often have wheatgerm, soy etc

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:08 pm

Re the denial thing.... Read the post I put in Polly's attn Jeanemcl thread...
About acceptance... The mind and the body working together.

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:35 pm

Thanks for your posts Jean, and the comments that have been made. My detective work continues as well. I need to be more diligent about checking lotions and make-up. Already changed shampoo, but will search for replacements of the make-up, etc. as I still continue to have some difficulties.

Gabes - Wishing you safe travels tomorrow. I am jealous over the warm weather you're having, although it may be "too" warm. It was -31F here early part of the week, and today it is +26F (with higher winds so it doesn't feel much warmer than it was at -31F).

Take care all,
Paula

Jskaggs · Post by **Jskaggs** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:40 pm

I have been keeping up with you and hope your move goes smoothly. Being close to family is so special. After living in Nashville, Tennessee for 26 years, we moved to a very small town to be close to our daughter and grandchildren. The best thing we have ever done.

Thanks for your advice on makeup and everything else. I do appreciate it.
Jane

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 6:34 pm

HI Jane. Yes, I would take one step at a time. Once you take all the soy out of your diet, wait a week and see how you feel. If you have had NO improvement, then you may want to keep a food journal for a while. Some of us can eat ALL proteins, but some are reactive to either chicken or beef or whatever. While some of us can eat rice, others can't. Same thing with corn.Have you taken out all nightshades ( white potato, tomato, peppers, eggplant) ?Just remember that if you really want to figure out all your reactive foods, you need to test one at a time for at least three days. You are obviously reacting to something….. or like Gabes said, you may have a histamine problem. It was the last piece of my "puzzle". I take an Allegra in the am and a Benadryl in the pm. It made a huge difference for me. If you try that and you do start to feel better, then you need to look at the high histamine foods that you may still be eating.
Good luck
leah

Jskaggs · Post by **Jskaggs** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:52 pm

Thanks Leah,
In August I did have the EnteroLab test done. I had no reaction to potatoes. In 1+, I reacted to oats, corn, rice, beef, tuna, chicken, pork and cashews. Nothing in 2+ and walnut and almonds in 3+. Gluten 51 units, casein 41 units, egg 21 units and soy 23 units. Do you think I would benefit from the MRT test? I have been eating anything I want in the 1 category. Lots of rice Chex cereal.

I wrote this response once before and I guess I lost it somewhere. I did have another question, but have forgotten now. But I do want to say, thank you all for helping us to deal with this disease. As Gabes said--we are all dancing this dance together.

Thanks,
Jane

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:19 pm

Bang for your buck suggestion....

I would see if the antihistamines work/improve things.

If they don't, then invest in the mrt to try and gain information as to what items maybe causing you issues.

Keep in mind that mrt is only about foods. If you are having histamine reactions, it might be other things that are not food related, causing the inflammation....

Some of the Non food triggers for histamines (that will cause the gut to react) are things like;
- nature allergens, pollen, plants etc,
- enviro things like change of season, pollution, cleaning chemicals, mould, ( I have a memory of Gloria mentioning she reacts at her ?daughters place because of the heating system.... Happy to be corrected if this recollection is wrong. )
- hair dye treatments
- anaesthetics /dental cleans etc
- exercise, again I recall Marybeth having mast cell/histamine reactions when running/jogging
- toiletries / make up etc

Keeping a food/activity/symptom diary will help to solve the mystery.....

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:24 pm

Jane, if you think you can't figure this out on your own, then the MRT could help you. You may be one of those people who have some "unusual" intolerances. I didn't do it, so I can't really say much about it.

I do know that once I was in a pretty good place, it was much easier to see what was bothering me. I can eat almonds and cashews, so I thought all nuts ( except peanuts) would work. Well, it seems that pistachios and hazelnuts both bother me. Go figure.

Plus remember, when we still have inflammation, some foods irritate and make the inflammation worse, but that doesn't mean you are REACTING to them. When I was still inflamed, I couldn't eat anything spicy, raw veggies,beans, spices that come from peppers,or anything with cooked tomatoes. Once I felt ready, I tested all these things one by one and found that my much healed gut could now handle all these things. So the more simple you keep it for now, the better. Keep telling yourself that down the road you may be able to add things back in.

Leah

Post by **tex** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:32 pm

Jane,

I notice that your overall score on the 11 Antigenic Foods was 15. That's not an extremely high number, but it's high enough to be significant. I believe that if I were in your situation, before trying the MRT, I would try this:

First, as Gabes and Leah have suggested, I would get rid of all medications or supplements (and cosmetics, etc,) that contain soy. That in itself might be enough to make a big difference in your symptoms.

If that didn't resolve all my symptoms after a week, I would cut out all oats, corn, rice, beef, tuna, chicken, pork, and cashew for a week or 2, to see if that helps. With an overall score of 15, the odds are fairly high that one or more of these foods may be a problem, even at a level of only 1+. If avoiding them brings substantial improvement, and you don't want to continue to have to avoid all of them, then you might carefully test them, one at a time (testing the same food for several days in a row), to see if any of them do not seem to cause any problems.

If none of this seems to help, then the MRT would probably be worth a try.

Tex

Jskaggs · Post by **Jskaggs** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 6:12 am

Thanks Tex,
Guess there is so much detective work involved. I will heed your advice and stop all 1+ foods for a week and check make up and supplements. This sure is frustrating!.

I do so appreciate all of your advice. (Gabes, Leah And Tex). Honestly, I don't know what I would do without you all. Guess I would be sitting in a corner drooling! Maybe one day I will get to where I can give advice, but certainly not now.

Hope you all have a great day and Gabes drive carefully.

Jane

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:34 pm

Jane,
The mysteries our bodies present once mc is active, don't seem to go away, it may get a bit easier, and bad flares don't happen very often, albeit, here and there a niggly symptom will appear needing some detective work....

Thanks for safe drive wishes.... In a couple of hours I will start the last 300 Kms

The awesome part, all my belongings got there a few days ago, So far, my bed is built, dirty washing has been done, bathroom boxes unpacked and mc essentials are by the toilet, this morning mum is making fresh batch of gabe safe bone broth... does it get any better than that??!!??

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 1:05 pm

Gabes, Drive safe and yes, you are very lucky to have all of that waiting for you when you get there :)