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Got a question….
Full of fear here, Before my Diagnosis of CC I was dairy free, Egg free, Soy free and as far as I knew gluten free as well. Is it still possible for me to tame this beast through diet when I wasn't consuming any of the big major allergens for 4 years prior??? I am scared and just want so desperately to be well and know that we all do. My doctor wants me to do another flush OMG!!! so they can have me swallow a picture camera and take a good look at everything and I'm sure that would be fascinating but the last thing I want is to induce the symptom I'm trying so desperately to avoid. My MRT test shows high yellow for chicken, rice bananas cucumbers and Super RED for Wheat and Leeks. No more rice protein for me it seems. Trying to eat turkey now and bone broth and some sprouted nut butters, like 8 Tablespoons a day without a gallbladder just to maintain some weight. Still on the entocort and trying to do an elimination diet to help control my symptoms is difficult when I'm so hungry and just want some comfort. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you all so very much! I hope to realize that I'm more than this illness. I hear others talking about do you want to go for lunch and I literally start to cry. Geeze I need head meds it seems. I always prided myself on being "healthy and exercising" and now I just don't feel like I even know who I am. Had an iron infusion today. Hope that will help my energy some. :
Hi Martha,
What you ate prior to your diagnosis is probably irrelevant, because most cases of MC are not caused by food sensitivities. But food sensitivities are triggered when the genes that predispose to MC are triggered, and food sensitivities can definitely prevent remission, regardless of what other treatments you might try. Also, many medications can cause MC, and if you happen to be taking one of them, it can prevent you from achieving remission, despite doing everything else right.
Controlling the symptoms of MC is a game of getting all our ducks in a row, at the same time. If even one of them is out of line, we probably won't be able to win the game.
Trust me, most of us go through all that, and we learn to shift down a gear or 2, and take life a day at a time (or an hour at a time, if necessary). We certainly don't just stop doing everything, but we find that life is a lot easier if we cut ourselves some slack, and stop trying to live up to the high standards that we may have set for ourselves prior to MC. IOW, we learn to be underachievers, and the goal of perfection in everything drops off our radar. We learn to control the parts of our life that we can control, and we do our best to stop worrying about the parts over which we have no control. We learn to just ride out the storm, and look forward to the things that we will do after we get our life back, and we just go with the flow until we reach that point.
So we strive to eschew perfection, and tip-toe around stress, because clearly, they are not our friends. And guess what? As our stress level goes way down, our symptoms soon follow.
MC changes the rules of the game. That doesn't mean that we have to let it completely control our life, but it does mean that we have to accept it, and respect it (something that is very difficult to do at first, because we despise the disease, and it's tough to respect something that we despise), and it means that we have to develop a plan for reorganizing our life around it. Developing a reorganization plan doesn't have to be done immediately of course, because it will come naturally, as we slowly get our health back and continue to heal.
But worrying about all that now, and worrying about what others are doing, and what we would like to be doing (but are unable to do, at the moment) is counterproductive, and can only increase stress levels. And more stress is the last thing we need, because stress was the culprit that struck the match that light the fire that ignited the inflammation in our gut in the first place. We have to focus on what we can do — not on what we cannot do, and likewise, we have to focus on the foods that we can still eat and enjoy, not on the foods that are now toxic to us, and are no longer a part of our lifestyle.
It's similar to moving to a different country (or even a different planet) — while we enjoyed our life in the past, that life is now out of reach, and we have to concentrate on establishing a new life under new rules. But the good news is that while we always tend to automatically dread change (especially when the change is against our will), surprisingly, many of us find that we eventually reach a point where we are much happier now, than we were in the past. And we appreciate life more now, than we did in the past. That may be difficult to understand now, but hopefully you'll see what I mean at some point in the future.
As one of the world's foremost philosophers (Gabes) would say, we have to embrace the disease, because it is now an integral part of our life, for better or for worse, and the sooner we come to terms with it, the sooner we are able to get on with the task of getting our life back. Yes, there is definitely life after MC, and that life is as enjoyable as we choose to make it.
Tex
What you ate prior to your diagnosis is probably irrelevant, because most cases of MC are not caused by food sensitivities. But food sensitivities are triggered when the genes that predispose to MC are triggered, and food sensitivities can definitely prevent remission, regardless of what other treatments you might try. Also, many medications can cause MC, and if you happen to be taking one of them, it can prevent you from achieving remission, despite doing everything else right.
Controlling the symptoms of MC is a game of getting all our ducks in a row, at the same time. If even one of them is out of line, we probably won't be able to win the game.
We see that phrase or a variation of it very often on this board. That's because most of us here are (or at least we were, before our symptoms got out of hand) overachievers/perfectionists. Most of us were "control freaks", and after we suddenly discover that we are no longer in complete control of every aspect of our life, we tend to panic and/or become depressed.Martha wrote:I always prided myself on being "healthy and exercising"
Trust me, most of us go through all that, and we learn to shift down a gear or 2, and take life a day at a time (or an hour at a time, if necessary). We certainly don't just stop doing everything, but we find that life is a lot easier if we cut ourselves some slack, and stop trying to live up to the high standards that we may have set for ourselves prior to MC. IOW, we learn to be underachievers, and the goal of perfection in everything drops off our radar. We learn to control the parts of our life that we can control, and we do our best to stop worrying about the parts over which we have no control. We learn to just ride out the storm, and look forward to the things that we will do after we get our life back, and we just go with the flow until we reach that point.
So we strive to eschew perfection, and tip-toe around stress, because clearly, they are not our friends. And guess what? As our stress level goes way down, our symptoms soon follow.
MC changes the rules of the game. That doesn't mean that we have to let it completely control our life, but it does mean that we have to accept it, and respect it (something that is very difficult to do at first, because we despise the disease, and it's tough to respect something that we despise), and it means that we have to develop a plan for reorganizing our life around it. Developing a reorganization plan doesn't have to be done immediately of course, because it will come naturally, as we slowly get our health back and continue to heal.
But worrying about all that now, and worrying about what others are doing, and what we would like to be doing (but are unable to do, at the moment) is counterproductive, and can only increase stress levels. And more stress is the last thing we need, because stress was the culprit that struck the match that light the fire that ignited the inflammation in our gut in the first place. We have to focus on what we can do — not on what we cannot do, and likewise, we have to focus on the foods that we can still eat and enjoy, not on the foods that are now toxic to us, and are no longer a part of our lifestyle.
It's similar to moving to a different country (or even a different planet) — while we enjoyed our life in the past, that life is now out of reach, and we have to concentrate on establishing a new life under new rules. But the good news is that while we always tend to automatically dread change (especially when the change is against our will), surprisingly, many of us find that we eventually reach a point where we are much happier now, than we were in the past. And we appreciate life more now, than we did in the past. That may be difficult to understand now, but hopefully you'll see what I mean at some point in the future.
As one of the world's foremost philosophers (Gabes) would say, we have to embrace the disease, because it is now an integral part of our life, for better or for worse, and the sooner we come to terms with it, the sooner we are able to get on with the task of getting our life back. Yes, there is definitely life after MC, and that life is as enjoyable as we choose to make it.
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.
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Gabes-Apg
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not sure I am in the league of 'foremost philosophers' Agree that Tex's response should be included in the newbies area or at the top of board..
I read the following in a biography recently (someone with parkinsons disease);
For everything this disease has taken, something with greater value has been given - sometimes just a marker that points me in a new direction that I might not otherwise have traveled. So, sure, it may be one step forward, and two steps back, but after a time with parkinsons, I have learned that what is important is making that one step count; always looking up.
my other motto, its about progress.... not perfection.
I read the following in a biography recently (someone with parkinsons disease);
For everything this disease has taken, something with greater value has been given - sometimes just a marker that points me in a new direction that I might not otherwise have traveled. So, sure, it may be one step forward, and two steps back, but after a time with parkinsons, I have learned that what is important is making that one step count; always looking up.
my other motto, its about progress.... not perfection.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Tex, that was brilliantly delivered. Well said.
Gabes... That Parkinson's quote is great. Exactly the way I tackled my diabetes diagnosis. Although I got a disease, I did lose weight(48lbs), began exercising, ate healthier, and now look at me, I look amazing & am controlled by diet only. Many positive life changes came out of that diagnosis. Including that my husband said he got back the gal he married in 1986. Lol
Good advice to myself when I was feelin like crap!
Gabes... That Parkinson's quote is great. Exactly the way I tackled my diabetes diagnosis. Although I got a disease, I did lose weight(48lbs), began exercising, ate healthier, and now look at me, I look amazing & am controlled by diet only. Many positive life changes came out of that diagnosis. Including that my husband said he got back the gal he married in 1986. Lol
Good advice to myself when I was feelin like crap!
Diabetic DX June 2012
Diverticulosis/ MC DX Feb.2014
I am thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength.
What are you willing to let go of so you can live the life you know you deserve?
Diverticulosis/ MC DX Feb.2014
I am thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength.
What are you willing to let go of so you can live the life you know you deserve?
Tex,
I agree with the others, that post needs to be the first thing newbies read here.
Also, I had not realized a large percentage of us were perfectionists and overachievers. I have been both and also mildly OCD all my life. I say mildly because being highly organized has always helped me be more productive and hasn't been a handicap.
Being a control freak makes me a naturally born leader. I think the lack of being able to control any aspect of mc really bothers me.
I agree with the others, that post needs to be the first thing newbies read here.
Also, I had not realized a large percentage of us were perfectionists and overachievers. I have been both and also mildly OCD all my life. I say mildly because being highly organized has always helped me be more productive and hasn't been a handicap.
Being a control freak makes me a naturally born leader. I think the lack of being able to control any aspect of mc really bothers me.
Theresa
MC and UC 2014
in remission since June 1, 2014
We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ~Jim Rohn
MC and UC 2014
in remission since June 1, 2014
We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. ~Jim Rohn
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I agree that this is a great post by Tex. One of the things that really helped turn things around for me was being able to say to myself "why not me?" rather than "why me?". I realized that it was a kind of arrogance to assume that I should be immune from bad things happening to my body. If you have tried to live a "healthy" life style and have ended up decidedly unhealthy then it is probably worthwhile to look at what factors in that lifestyle may have helped lead to unhealth rather than health and try to change them, with food choices and attitude being at the top of my list of what needed to change. It is in the nature of being alive to have bad things happen, that cannot be avoided, but we can change our attitude towards those bad things when they arrive, changing what needs to be changed to make things better, and accepting the new reality that does not respond to change but simply is what it is.
Jean
Jean
Well, I'm gratified to see that the post is so popular. I'll touch it up a little and add it somewhere in the Welcome to Newbies forum.
Thanks for all the input, and all the kind words.
Tex
Thanks for all the input, and all the kind words.
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.