Doctor's visit on Friday

[cmiller]

Okay, PA at GI doctors office said they use Zyrtec and Zantac to help with the inflammation. also, sent in an order for the Questran since that helped last time (7 years ago). Didn't know any thing about diet issues of course but was like if it makes you feel better then go for it. I gave her a packet from Dr. Finer's website explaining treatment for MC.
Of course they want to repeat my colonoscopy to see if the MC has gotten any worse.

So on the Zantac and Zyrtec, how long does it typically take the beginning healing the intestines, does anyone know?

Doing the elimination diet to see what foods I can eat, I already know for sure, Dairy, maybe gluten, I am thinking I am beginning to develop an allergy to nuts.

But for now the D has calmed down, maybe it will stay that way.

Thanks all.

[tex]

Of course they want to repeat my colonoscopy to see if the MC has gotten any worse.

And how would that information be beneficial? How would they know if it is worse? Published research shows that there is no correlation between lymphocyte counts or any other laboratory markers and clinical symptoms for IBD patients, so on what would they base their determination that it was worse? We either have MC or we don't, and if we have it, and it is active, then whether or not it is "worse" at any given time is pretty much irrelevant as far as treatment is concerned. MC is a life-long diagnosis, so it is always an accident waiting to happen (if we slip up on our diet). If you are suffering a relapse of symptoms, then obviously you are having an active flare. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a colonoscopy) to figure that out.

Your GI doc probably just wants to use you as a guinea pig to learn more about the disease. It's nice that that your doctor wants to learn more about the disease, but you shouldn't be undergoing such an intrusive procedure and paying for her/his education unless you really want to do that. She/he should learn on their own nickel. It's your choice whether you want to agree to that colonoscopy.

If your doctor doesn't understand the simple fact that diet control is the key to controlling MC, then obviously she/he doesn't understand how to properly treat the disease. It's interesting that she/he would promote an unproven treatment (unproven by published medical research) such as antihistamines, while not recognizing the benefits of dietary control. But at least she/he didn't try to discourage you from using diet changes as part of your treatment. That puts her/him way ahead of most GI specialists.

I would try either Allegra, Claritin Redi-Tabs, or Zyrtec, to see if it helps. H1 type antihistamines typically do not carry a risk of making MC symptoms worse. They either help, or nothing happens. Zantac is an H2 antihistamine, and H2 type antihistamines can make MC symptoms worse for some of us, and should only be tried if an H1 type antihistamine is not beneficial, or helps but does not quite resolve the symptoms. H2 antihistamines decrease stomach acid, which can adversely affect digestion. In some cases, where an H1 antihistamine helps, but is not sufficient, a combination of an H1 and an H2 antihistamine has been beneficial.

If an antihistamine is going to help, you will typically see improvement within 24 hours or less. If you don't see any improvement after 2 or 3 days, it's probably not going to help.

Based on our accumulated experience here on the board, if you are one of the very few who is not sensitive to gluten, then your MC is probably due to a drug you are taking. In that situation, stopping the drug will sometimes resolve the MC symptoms, and no further intervention is necessary. If you are not taking any drugs that can trigger MC though, then it is highly unlikely that you're not gluten-sensitive — it's not impossible, but about as likely as winning the lottery.

Good luck with trying the antihistamines, and please let us know if they help.

Tex

[Leah]

I guess Tex said it best. Why would you want to go through another colonoscopy? Once we have MC, we have it. "Worse" means you are flaring. You certainly don't need a procedure to know when that is happening!
I also agree with Tex that you should avoid gluten for at least 4 months to see if it helps. Almost all of us react. There is no such thing as being "somewhat gluten free". It's all or nothing with that one. Most of us also have problems with dairy, and many have issues with soy. If you really want to HEAL your gut, you must figure out what foods are causing you to flare. Drugs will mask your symptoms though, not heal you though.

Leah

[lisaw]

Have you considered the Enterolab tests? You would then know your intolerances. The 4 majors that most of us have issues with one or more are gluten, dairy, soy and eggs. Since you already feel dairy and nuts are an issue, you should add at a minimum gluten, and see how you do eliminating those. Regarding the antihistamines, many here do have histamine issues, and take antihistamines. I take one daily, but have also cut out the "big 4" plus reduced fiber significantly. I've cut out all raw vegetables, and keep fruit to a banana each day. No legumes, either, as those are irritating to an inflamed gut. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Lisa

[cmiller]

Oh, I agree about the colonoscopy. I told her I wanted to wait until after the first of the year, but plan to put it off as long as I can. Especially, changing my diet and using the antihistamines with the questran and see if I cannot get control of this.

Thanks for the support and advise.