JennyYou found the best place in the world for information and support.
Newbie
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Change Your diet
I have been dealing with MC for 13 years. Not one GI told me to change my diet. Figured it out after reading "Wheat Belly". I have been GF for 7 months now. ALL of my symptoms except for D are completely gone. No cramping, no pain, no bloating, no looking for a bathroom every 10 minutes. Sleeping all night long without having to get up to go to the bathroom. Able to go out with my husband and have dinner without having to double over in pain on the way home. It is amazing what that one food elimination has done. Now I am getting my test done so I can figure out what else I need to eliminate to get rid of the D completely. Going gluten-free (100%) changed my life. Now to be 100% in remission is what I'm striving for. Can't wait to see what else it is. Good luck! You don't have to suffer anymore....
MCOkie,
You're definitely well on your way to complete recovery. Good luck with tracking down the other foods that are causing the D to continue.
And please keep us posted on your progress.
Tex
You're definitely well on your way to complete recovery. Good luck with tracking down the other foods that are causing the D to continue.
And please keep us posted on your progress.
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.
Medications
Hello Everyone, I really appreciate this forum, and am thankful that there is a place to collaborate on solutions for MC. I read Tex's response to a newbie (which I just joined today), and I was particularly interested in the drug interaction with MC. I do not have MC, but my wife does (just diagnosed today), and her symptoms are absolutely identical to those on the site. Unfortunately, she also suffers from bipolar II disorder and is on a variety of different medications. She tried several, but finally, in the last 6 months, she has started to feel happy and normal from a mental point of view…the best she has felt in her adult life, and I can see the change after several years of going undiagnosed. Unfortunately, at the same time, she has had severe MC symptoms for about 4 months…she was on the medication prior to the intense symptoms. She has not been focused on diet because most things made her sick, but she lost 25 lbs down to 100 lbs. She drinks herbelife shakes sometimes and basically starves until she takes a dose of steroids when she absolutely has to eat. Anyway, long story short, is there anyone that has to be on meds that was able to pull through with changes in diet, and what type of nutritionist should she request to make the changes. Obviously I am a little ignorant of how to help her, but I have seen the pain she goes through and want to do whatever I can to help her get well. I am not sure I am posting in the correct category, but am thankful for any direction that you can give me…Thanks!!
Hi,
Welcome to the discussion board. Unfortunately, many, many cases of MC are drug-induced, and it sounds as though your wife's case may have been caused by one or more of the medications used in her treatment. The good news is that for some patients, just discontinuing the use of a drug (or drugs) that triggered MC can bring remission, and the remission will be maintained as long as the drug (or drugs) is/are avoided. In some cases though (especially if the reactions have been going on for an extended period of time), diet changes will also be necessary before remission can be attained.
The bad news is that virtually any trigger for MC trumps any remedy. IOW, if MC was triggered by a drug (or drugs), then neither diet changes nor additional medications will bring remission, unless the medications causing the problem are avoided. This is because the drugs will continue to perpetuate the production of antibodies as long as they are used, and those antibodies will promote inflammation.
If food sensitivities exist, then avoiding those foods will prevent the production of additional antibodies (specific to those foods), but that will not have any effect on the antibodies triggered by the medications. IOW, antibody production is specific to the trigger, and avoiding one trigger will have no effect on antibodies produced because of a different trigger.
When I got sick, and before I figured out that diet was the problem, I drank a lot of energy drinks, such as Ensure, Boost, Encore, etc. Unfortunately, they are all loaded with dairy protein (and most of us are sensitive to all dairy products), so they just helped to perpetuate my digestive problems.
Most of us are able to heal by cooking from scratch, using whole foods such as meats, squash, carrots, potatoes, etc. We have to avoid all wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy products, and most of us also have to avoid soy and all legumes. We also have to avoid all artificial sweeteners, and we have to minimize fiber. Some of us can tolerate eggs, some can't.
But the medications are going to be the biggest problem in your wife's case. There might be alternative medications that could be substituted, but as you are aware, as difficult as it is to get a combination that seems to help, it's even more difficult to find substitutes that work, and the more medications one takes, the greater the probability that one or more will trigger an MC reaction.
I wish I had better news, and I wish that I were aware of a workaround, but this is a tough disease to control, and developing an effective treatment program can become almost impossible if one or more medications is/are causing the inflammation, and those medications cannot be replaced or discontinued.
Here is what I would do if I were in your situation:
Bipolar disorder is strongly associated with gluten-sensitivity. Your wife does not have to have a celaic diagnosis (or even a celiac gene), in order to have gluten-induced bipolar issues. Virtually all of us who have MC are highly sensitive to gluten, and it causes all sorts of serious problems for us if we eat it. I firmly believe that if your wife will meticulously avoid all sources of gluten in her diet, (along with any other food sensitivities that have been created because of the development of MC), her digestive system will begin to slowly heal, and along with improvements in her gut, her bipolar issues should also diminish. Before the MC developed, she probably could have controlled her issues by avoiding only gluten, but with the MC, she will also have to avoid any other foods that cause her to react.
Of course in order for her to completely heal, any medications that trigger her MC will also have to be avoided, so that is going to really complicate her recovery. I would first adopt the diet changes, while continuing to use the essential medications that are effective for controlling the bipolar symptoms. It takes a long time for the gut to heal from gluten damage. So after 6 months to a year of following a safe diet (EnteroLab stool testing can tell you which foods must be avoided), then it may be time to try to wean off the medications, in order to complete the treatment program.
If you ask her doctors, I'm sure that they will insist that diet has nothing to do with either MC or bipolar disorder. When they tell us that, we just smile and nod our head in agreement, and then we go home and continue to fine tune our diet until we get our life back. It's not easy, but it's so worth it, to be able to get our life back, and to not have to take drugs for the rest of our life. You may find the articles at the following links to be informative and/or helpful.
Diary of a Mad Bike Woman
Markers of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease in bipolar disorder.
Gluten and Bipolar Disorder - Is There a Connection?
Wheat and Serious Mental Illness
Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome to the discussion board. Unfortunately, many, many cases of MC are drug-induced, and it sounds as though your wife's case may have been caused by one or more of the medications used in her treatment. The good news is that for some patients, just discontinuing the use of a drug (or drugs) that triggered MC can bring remission, and the remission will be maintained as long as the drug (or drugs) is/are avoided. In some cases though (especially if the reactions have been going on for an extended period of time), diet changes will also be necessary before remission can be attained.
The bad news is that virtually any trigger for MC trumps any remedy. IOW, if MC was triggered by a drug (or drugs), then neither diet changes nor additional medications will bring remission, unless the medications causing the problem are avoided. This is because the drugs will continue to perpetuate the production of antibodies as long as they are used, and those antibodies will promote inflammation.
If food sensitivities exist, then avoiding those foods will prevent the production of additional antibodies (specific to those foods), but that will not have any effect on the antibodies triggered by the medications. IOW, antibody production is specific to the trigger, and avoiding one trigger will have no effect on antibodies produced because of a different trigger.
When I got sick, and before I figured out that diet was the problem, I drank a lot of energy drinks, such as Ensure, Boost, Encore, etc. Unfortunately, they are all loaded with dairy protein (and most of us are sensitive to all dairy products), so they just helped to perpetuate my digestive problems.
Most of us are able to heal by cooking from scratch, using whole foods such as meats, squash, carrots, potatoes, etc. We have to avoid all wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy products, and most of us also have to avoid soy and all legumes. We also have to avoid all artificial sweeteners, and we have to minimize fiber. Some of us can tolerate eggs, some can't.
But the medications are going to be the biggest problem in your wife's case. There might be alternative medications that could be substituted, but as you are aware, as difficult as it is to get a combination that seems to help, it's even more difficult to find substitutes that work, and the more medications one takes, the greater the probability that one or more will trigger an MC reaction.
I wish I had better news, and I wish that I were aware of a workaround, but this is a tough disease to control, and developing an effective treatment program can become almost impossible if one or more medications is/are causing the inflammation, and those medications cannot be replaced or discontinued.
Here is what I would do if I were in your situation:
Bipolar disorder is strongly associated with gluten-sensitivity. Your wife does not have to have a celaic diagnosis (or even a celiac gene), in order to have gluten-induced bipolar issues. Virtually all of us who have MC are highly sensitive to gluten, and it causes all sorts of serious problems for us if we eat it. I firmly believe that if your wife will meticulously avoid all sources of gluten in her diet, (along with any other food sensitivities that have been created because of the development of MC), her digestive system will begin to slowly heal, and along with improvements in her gut, her bipolar issues should also diminish. Before the MC developed, she probably could have controlled her issues by avoiding only gluten, but with the MC, she will also have to avoid any other foods that cause her to react.
Of course in order for her to completely heal, any medications that trigger her MC will also have to be avoided, so that is going to really complicate her recovery. I would first adopt the diet changes, while continuing to use the essential medications that are effective for controlling the bipolar symptoms. It takes a long time for the gut to heal from gluten damage. So after 6 months to a year of following a safe diet (EnteroLab stool testing can tell you which foods must be avoided), then it may be time to try to wean off the medications, in order to complete the treatment program.
If you ask her doctors, I'm sure that they will insist that diet has nothing to do with either MC or bipolar disorder. When they tell us that, we just smile and nod our head in agreement, and then we go home and continue to fine tune our diet until we get our life back. It's not easy, but it's so worth it, to be able to get our life back, and to not have to take drugs for the rest of our life. You may find the articles at the following links to be informative and/or helpful.
Diary of a Mad Bike Woman
Markers of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease in bipolar disorder.
Gluten and Bipolar Disorder - Is There a Connection?
Wheat and Serious Mental Illness
Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.
-
Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
welcome
sorry that you had to find us - your wife is very lucky to have you search and ask questions to try and improve quality of life.
I am one that multiple health issues and MC; PCOS, renal impairment, hypertension, lichen sclorsis, hiatus hernia, and pyrrole disorder, most have made themselves known post MC diagnosis. Many members are dealing with multiple health issues / medications.
I also got my MC into 'remission' via a mostly diet approach, being a low inflammation, leaky gut healing eating plan. plus good quality supplements and the use of treatments such as acupuncture.
I wont lie, it is not easy. no matter what approach, the journey to wellness will have a few hiccups. the fastest way is to figure out and eliminate sensitivities, optimise the guts ability to heal.
The pyrrole disorder has explained the last few years of issues, namely depression and anxiety flares and a chronic Fibromyalgia flare. (in short Pyrrole is a gene mutation that impacts body/cell ability to use B6, Biotin, Zinc etc Alot of the symptoms can be attributed to mineral/nutrient deficiency.)
I have recently found a good nutritionist, and we have adjusted my diet/supplements and we are getting fantastic results. I have even started reducing some of the medications.
Along with what tex has mentioned about Gluten and avoiding foods that create a inflammation reaction, alot of the symptoms causing issues can be helped by reducing inflammation in the body, Via;
- Vit D3 supplementation is fantastic way to reduce inflammation, not just in the gut.
- Meals - avoid processed food items, have well cooked minimal ingredients, home made meals (bland) meat and three vegetables type thing. no spices or sauces.
- small meals 4-5 times in the day, maybe have the main meal in the middle of the day.
- do not have items that are too fibrous ie nuts / salad greens
- depending on the ingredients of the herbal shake, if it has more than 5 ingredients, i would it avoid it for the time being. and until you can confirm the main food sensitivities
- if you are having histamine symptoms (mucus, sneezing, itchy throat, skin issues) having antihistamines can help to reduce inflammation (it is a common issue for MC'ers)
- avoid things like beer, soft drinks
Start out with getting the digestion 'stable' and allowing some healing to begin, then look at changing medications.
A nutritionist is a great idea, Look for one that works with people with IBD's/Auto Immune issues/MTHFR Pyrrole /Autism ADHD children. They will be able to help set up a eating plan that works for your wife and her MC food sensitivities, overcome nutrient deficiencies and then help with any medication changes.
Handy to mention that MC is quite different to other IBD's, I can provide you with some information to mention to them that will help them approach wellness plan that will suit (and not make things worse). Any change in diet or supplement needs to occur slowly.
Hope this helps, it can be overwhelming at first, and it probably feels like you woke up in a foreign country. Take your time to read the posts aimed at new people, Tex's book is a great resource (bit a like a lonely planet guide to MC world).
Many have done the hard yards of living with MC, the advice given works for 95% of the people.
sorry that you had to find us - your wife is very lucky to have you search and ask questions to try and improve quality of life.
I am one that multiple health issues and MC; PCOS, renal impairment, hypertension, lichen sclorsis, hiatus hernia, and pyrrole disorder, most have made themselves known post MC diagnosis. Many members are dealing with multiple health issues / medications.
I also got my MC into 'remission' via a mostly diet approach, being a low inflammation, leaky gut healing eating plan. plus good quality supplements and the use of treatments such as acupuncture.
I wont lie, it is not easy. no matter what approach, the journey to wellness will have a few hiccups. the fastest way is to figure out and eliminate sensitivities, optimise the guts ability to heal.
The pyrrole disorder has explained the last few years of issues, namely depression and anxiety flares and a chronic Fibromyalgia flare. (in short Pyrrole is a gene mutation that impacts body/cell ability to use B6, Biotin, Zinc etc Alot of the symptoms can be attributed to mineral/nutrient deficiency.)
I have recently found a good nutritionist, and we have adjusted my diet/supplements and we are getting fantastic results. I have even started reducing some of the medications.
Along with what tex has mentioned about Gluten and avoiding foods that create a inflammation reaction, alot of the symptoms causing issues can be helped by reducing inflammation in the body, Via;
- Vit D3 supplementation is fantastic way to reduce inflammation, not just in the gut.
- Meals - avoid processed food items, have well cooked minimal ingredients, home made meals (bland) meat and three vegetables type thing. no spices or sauces.
- small meals 4-5 times in the day, maybe have the main meal in the middle of the day.
- do not have items that are too fibrous ie nuts / salad greens
- depending on the ingredients of the herbal shake, if it has more than 5 ingredients, i would it avoid it for the time being. and until you can confirm the main food sensitivities
- if you are having histamine symptoms (mucus, sneezing, itchy throat, skin issues) having antihistamines can help to reduce inflammation (it is a common issue for MC'ers)
- avoid things like beer, soft drinks
Start out with getting the digestion 'stable' and allowing some healing to begin, then look at changing medications.
A nutritionist is a great idea, Look for one that works with people with IBD's/Auto Immune issues/MTHFR Pyrrole /Autism ADHD children. They will be able to help set up a eating plan that works for your wife and her MC food sensitivities, overcome nutrient deficiencies and then help with any medication changes.
Handy to mention that MC is quite different to other IBD's, I can provide you with some information to mention to them that will help them approach wellness plan that will suit (and not make things worse). Any change in diet or supplement needs to occur slowly.
Hope this helps, it can be overwhelming at first, and it probably feels like you woke up in a foreign country. Take your time to read the posts aimed at new people, Tex's book is a great resource (bit a like a lonely planet guide to MC world).
Many have done the hard yards of living with MC, the advice given works for 95% of the people.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama