Hi there, I was wondering if I can ask for some advice here from those who have had some progression with their condition. Over the last 18 months, I have been trying to identify foods that I have am sensitive to. I'm based in Australia so unfortunately we can't get access to any allergy-testing similar to what they do at Enterolabs. Its been a rather long process but I think I have identified my allergies (based on my stool).
If I eat these particular foods (eggs, beef, soy etc), they result in watery diarrhoea with undigested food. By avoiding these my stool is soft but not 'normal' . My questions are - is this what foods that you have sensitivities to do to you? I realise that my gut has still lots of healing to do but at what point can I say that I have discovered all of my foods that I have a sensitivity to. Is it when my stools are fully formed or is this soft stool a signal that I am on the road to recovery? I'm just interested is how the progression went for some of you after you eliminated sensitive foods.
I'm not currently on any medication for it. According to my gastroenterologist the only option in Australia is Sulphasalazine(made my condition worse) and Prednisone (which only calmed things down temporarily). I'd be interested to hear from any other Aussies who have had alternative medication/treatment, although I realise there is no magic bullet for this condition...sadly.
I hope this all makes sense.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can give me some direction.
Cheers, Elissa
Looking for advice on allergies/treatment.
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Elissa,
The sucky part of MC is that we are all different. Chicken and rice is my safe meal, but for others it causes major issues.
There are ingredients that affect most, like gluten, dairy. Ingredients that affect many like eggs, soy, artificial sweetners etc. and the rest is very dependant on the individual.
What I have learnt over the past 5 years, I have my safe every day foods, and I have sometimes foods, that I can have 3 times a week.
By the way, The enterlab testing is able to be done from Australia, just a bit pricy with international courier costs. If you are struggling to pinpoint major triggers, then it may be a worthwhile investment for you.
At the time of Dx, I couldn't afford it so used the elimination method to confirm major minor triggers, took me about 6 months.
Are you avoiding fibre? Ie, avoiding raw fruit and salad?
Have you read the section on histamine/mast cells. This is a very common issue for Mc'ers. I took anti histamines most days for almost 2 years. I have now balanced histamine inflammation via high doses of magnesium, Vit C and zinc.
The other aspect that affects healing is any meds you might be taking, any supps you are taking, inactive ingredients in the meds/supps. Double check these for lactose, soy etc.
If you react badly to Soy, you may need to minimise use of soy on your skin, moisterisers, makeup, lipsticks etc. I can't handle any soy on my skin, if you want further info on this, what products are safe, let me know.
Are you taking Vit D3? Even though we get good UV in the aussie sun, it is not enough for the amount of Vit D3 our bodies use while inflammed. I have supplemented my Vit D3 for the past 4 years, 3000-5000iu per day (higher when I am poorly)
Hope this helps
Take care
The sucky part of MC is that we are all different. Chicken and rice is my safe meal, but for others it causes major issues.
There are ingredients that affect most, like gluten, dairy. Ingredients that affect many like eggs, soy, artificial sweetners etc. and the rest is very dependant on the individual.
What I have learnt over the past 5 years, I have my safe every day foods, and I have sometimes foods, that I can have 3 times a week.
By the way, The enterlab testing is able to be done from Australia, just a bit pricy with international courier costs. If you are struggling to pinpoint major triggers, then it may be a worthwhile investment for you.
At the time of Dx, I couldn't afford it so used the elimination method to confirm major minor triggers, took me about 6 months.
Are you avoiding fibre? Ie, avoiding raw fruit and salad?
Have you read the section on histamine/mast cells. This is a very common issue for Mc'ers. I took anti histamines most days for almost 2 years. I have now balanced histamine inflammation via high doses of magnesium, Vit C and zinc.
The other aspect that affects healing is any meds you might be taking, any supps you are taking, inactive ingredients in the meds/supps. Double check these for lactose, soy etc.
If you react badly to Soy, you may need to minimise use of soy on your skin, moisterisers, makeup, lipsticks etc. I can't handle any soy on my skin, if you want further info on this, what products are safe, let me know.
Are you taking Vit D3? Even though we get good UV in the aussie sun, it is not enough for the amount of Vit D3 our bodies use while inflammed. I have supplemented my Vit D3 for the past 4 years, 3000-5000iu per day (higher when I am poorly)
Hope this helps
Take care
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Thank so much for your (speedy) reply :) I'm very grateful to have your advice on this.
I'm very pleased to read that we can access Enterolab from here! I'll look into it more as it would be great to have definitive results....there are a few foods that I sway back and forth with.
It does suck that we are all different and sounds like we are all on our own individual journey with this with regards to identifying what each of us are sensitive to. I'm pleased though to have the knowledge that our condition is affected by our sensitivities....it's just a matter of trying to identifying them and also trying to identify our safe food. What a relief for you that you have found that.
I just have a couple of questions. What brand of Vitamin D3 do you take? I have Bioceuticals Vit D3 drops that I take, do you know if that is safe? The only other supplements/meds I take are high dose Curcumin (tumeric) and Tamoxifen (for breast cancer - diagnosed a year ago). I also take psyllium husk sometimes - a soluble fibre - which I find quite therapeutic when my bowels are a bit spasmy. It seems to slow everything down and absorbs water in the bowel. But I know that I can't really do raw fruit (except banana) and salad.
The other question - Are you symptom free? And if so, how long did it take for you symptoms to disappear when you avoided your allergies and stuck to your safe foods and 'sometimes food' 3 times a week? I'm just trying to work out whether or not I should be symptom free as soon as I eliminate all my food sensitivities or will it take some time between removing them all and stools returning to normal.
I haven't read the section on histamines yet but sounds like something I should definitely consider.
Again thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
Elissa.
I'm very pleased to read that we can access Enterolab from here! I'll look into it more as it would be great to have definitive results....there are a few foods that I sway back and forth with.
It does suck that we are all different and sounds like we are all on our own individual journey with this with regards to identifying what each of us are sensitive to. I'm pleased though to have the knowledge that our condition is affected by our sensitivities....it's just a matter of trying to identifying them and also trying to identify our safe food. What a relief for you that you have found that.
I just have a couple of questions. What brand of Vitamin D3 do you take? I have Bioceuticals Vit D3 drops that I take, do you know if that is safe? The only other supplements/meds I take are high dose Curcumin (tumeric) and Tamoxifen (for breast cancer - diagnosed a year ago). I also take psyllium husk sometimes - a soluble fibre - which I find quite therapeutic when my bowels are a bit spasmy. It seems to slow everything down and absorbs water in the bowel. But I know that I can't really do raw fruit (except banana) and salad.
The other question - Are you symptom free? And if so, how long did it take for you symptoms to disappear when you avoided your allergies and stuck to your safe foods and 'sometimes food' 3 times a week? I'm just trying to work out whether or not I should be symptom free as soon as I eliminate all my food sensitivities or will it take some time between removing them all and stools returning to normal.
I haven't read the section on histamines yet but sounds like something I should definitely consider.
Again thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
Elissa.
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Elissa
I use the Bioceuticals Vit D3 drops - I think they are fantastic and the best value for money for good quality product delivered lingually. I tried the Bioceuticals Curcumin, and reacted badly..
if the pysllium works for you stick with it.
Am I Symptom free is an interesting question...
MC wise I would say 'yes'
'yes' means that I still have fluctuations with BM's, right now, with histamines balanced, my BM's are normal 90% of the time. a few influences of triggers and I have a morning or a day of mild symptoms
I was Dx'd 5 years ago and within 2 years the MC was technically 'in remission' strict diet, low inflammation gut healing protocol, support via acupuncture, and other wholistic therapies.
albeit at that time, I was having other health issues, including histamine/mast cell that would cause fluctuations with BM's /IBS
i also had dental issues, hiatus hernia, gerd, renal impairment. over the next 12 months more health issues occurred, MC wasnt the main issue, but there would be MC issues when inflammation levels were high from the other health issues.
This year I was able to figure out the root cause for all the issues and I am now taking the appropriate steps to correct nutrient/mineral deficiencies, clear toxins, rebuild the immune / adrenals, All of which helps the body, MC reactions are not as intense
in my case, I am realistic I will never be symptom free 100% of the time. I have had digestion issues my whole life. and even though I am improving the situation with the other health issues, like the MC, they will always sort of be there, and my body will react to things like stress. My digestion at the moment is the best it has been for over 10 years.
Keep in mind... triggers/reactions are not just about food sensitivities.
Things like stress (mental, emotional, physical) can be triggers, environmental things like pollen, mould, chemicals, weather changes can also be triggers. So even if we manage to get the 'perfect diet' (which not many fully achieve) there will be reactions to other sensitivities...
if Histamines/mast Cells are part of the issue, then reactions can be triggered by all sorts of things... one member used to react to exercise. I used to react to having my hair dyed. another member always reacted when visiting her daughter due to the heating system.
my suggestion is to be realistic, and it will not be possible to eliminate ALL triggers, there will be some that you will just have to manage/minimise.
Will all the symptoms go?? i wont promise that.
there are many that following a MC management plan with triggers mostly eliminated/ minimised then you can be symptom free majority of the time...
there are also quite a few people, more so those aged over 30-40 that have multiple health issues, so even though the MC is managed, wellness and symptom free life has fluctuations..
hope this helps..
I use the Bioceuticals Vit D3 drops - I think they are fantastic and the best value for money for good quality product delivered lingually. I tried the Bioceuticals Curcumin, and reacted badly..
if the pysllium works for you stick with it.
Am I Symptom free is an interesting question...
MC wise I would say 'yes'
'yes' means that I still have fluctuations with BM's, right now, with histamines balanced, my BM's are normal 90% of the time. a few influences of triggers and I have a morning or a day of mild symptoms
I was Dx'd 5 years ago and within 2 years the MC was technically 'in remission' strict diet, low inflammation gut healing protocol, support via acupuncture, and other wholistic therapies.
albeit at that time, I was having other health issues, including histamine/mast cell that would cause fluctuations with BM's /IBS
i also had dental issues, hiatus hernia, gerd, renal impairment. over the next 12 months more health issues occurred, MC wasnt the main issue, but there would be MC issues when inflammation levels were high from the other health issues.
This year I was able to figure out the root cause for all the issues and I am now taking the appropriate steps to correct nutrient/mineral deficiencies, clear toxins, rebuild the immune / adrenals, All of which helps the body, MC reactions are not as intense
in my case, I am realistic I will never be symptom free 100% of the time. I have had digestion issues my whole life. and even though I am improving the situation with the other health issues, like the MC, they will always sort of be there, and my body will react to things like stress. My digestion at the moment is the best it has been for over 10 years.
Keep in mind... triggers/reactions are not just about food sensitivities.
Things like stress (mental, emotional, physical) can be triggers, environmental things like pollen, mould, chemicals, weather changes can also be triggers. So even if we manage to get the 'perfect diet' (which not many fully achieve) there will be reactions to other sensitivities...
if Histamines/mast Cells are part of the issue, then reactions can be triggered by all sorts of things... one member used to react to exercise. I used to react to having my hair dyed. another member always reacted when visiting her daughter due to the heating system.
my suggestion is to be realistic, and it will not be possible to eliminate ALL triggers, there will be some that you will just have to manage/minimise.
Will all the symptoms go?? i wont promise that.
there are many that following a MC management plan with triggers mostly eliminated/ minimised then you can be symptom free majority of the time...
there are also quite a few people, more so those aged over 30-40 that have multiple health issues, so even though the MC is managed, wellness and symptom free life has fluctuations..
hope this helps..
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
That has helped incredibly. I will certainly be looking into the low inflammation gut healing protocol with my natural therapist. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences. That's great to read that you are mostly symptom free with MC and have discovered the root cause for your health issues. I believe that is sometimes the hardest part of chronic illness. I wish you every success with those steps to resolve them.
And yes you are so right about all the other health issues that arise over the age of 30-40yrs. I soon as I hit 40yrs, I immediately added another 3 pretty serious health issues to what was originally quite a v short list ie MC. Breast cancer and osteoporosis being two of them!. Thankfully both in early stages and can be treated, with good outcomes.
Interesting that you say external triggers.....it didn't even cross my mind that anything else could trigger the symptoms, aside from stress of course. So definitely food for thought.
I just noticed your in Toowoomba. I was originally diagnosed in Toowoomba by Dr Robyn Nagel (while I was studying at USQ). I just googled her to see if she is still practicing 20yrs later and yep, still there! I love Toowoomba, it's an such an easy city to live in. I always feel at home on the rare occasions that I visit.
Cheers and keep well,
Elissa :)
And yes you are so right about all the other health issues that arise over the age of 30-40yrs. I soon as I hit 40yrs, I immediately added another 3 pretty serious health issues to what was originally quite a v short list ie MC. Breast cancer and osteoporosis being two of them!. Thankfully both in early stages and can be treated, with good outcomes.
Interesting that you say external triggers.....it didn't even cross my mind that anything else could trigger the symptoms, aside from stress of course. So definitely food for thought.
I just noticed your in Toowoomba. I was originally diagnosed in Toowoomba by Dr Robyn Nagel (while I was studying at USQ). I just googled her to see if she is still practicing 20yrs later and yep, still there! I love Toowoomba, it's an such an easy city to live in. I always feel at home on the rare occasions that I visit.
Cheers and keep well,
Elissa :)
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
I need to update my info,!!!
I moved from toowoomba back to the Hunter Valley in Feb 2014.
I loved living there and miss it a lot...
Robyn was my GI in Toowoomba. The treatments on her pretonious chair fixed my pelvic floor issues. I was originally Dx'd in Brisbane in 2009.
I moved from Brisbane to toowoomba to reduce stress and to reduce humidity, as humidity was a big big trigger for me.
Moving back to the hunter valley, the reduced humidity is helping.
My eating plan was designed by me with help from Naturopath, who is best friend and also has Gut issues, (very mc like!!! )
The main part of the eating plan was Home made bone broth, I made mine on lamb and chicken as both these settled well for me. I used the bone broth as the basis for meals. Cooked veges in it, cooked gooey rice in it, soups/stews etc.
For the past near 5 years I ate the same 5 veges and safe proteins. Bland, well cooked, lots of bone broth.
2 years or so ago, I started having small peeled Apple a couple of times a week. Mostly as I was C dominate MC at that stage
Since fixing the histamine inflammation I have been able to add a few more vegetables to the eating plan. A couple of months ago, had meals with major triggers (gluten, soy, fibre etc) and didn't have any major reactions.
If you do have multiple issues, ask your therapist about methylation issues and if she can test for them.
Glad this helps.
Happy healing....
I moved from toowoomba back to the Hunter Valley in Feb 2014.
I loved living there and miss it a lot...
Robyn was my GI in Toowoomba. The treatments on her pretonious chair fixed my pelvic floor issues. I was originally Dx'd in Brisbane in 2009.
I moved from Brisbane to toowoomba to reduce stress and to reduce humidity, as humidity was a big big trigger for me.
Moving back to the hunter valley, the reduced humidity is helping.
My eating plan was designed by me with help from Naturopath, who is best friend and also has Gut issues, (very mc like!!! )
The main part of the eating plan was Home made bone broth, I made mine on lamb and chicken as both these settled well for me. I used the bone broth as the basis for meals. Cooked veges in it, cooked gooey rice in it, soups/stews etc.
For the past near 5 years I ate the same 5 veges and safe proteins. Bland, well cooked, lots of bone broth.
2 years or so ago, I started having small peeled Apple a couple of times a week. Mostly as I was C dominate MC at that stage
Since fixing the histamine inflammation I have been able to add a few more vegetables to the eating plan. A couple of months ago, had meals with major triggers (gluten, soy, fibre etc) and didn't have any major reactions.
If you do have multiple issues, ask your therapist about methylation issues and if she can test for them.
Glad this helps.
Happy healing....
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Elissa,
Pardon me for butting into the great conversation that you and Gabes are having, but I couldn't help but notice the word "osteoporosis" in your last post. That is a huge red flag. Osteoporosis at the age of 40 can mean only 1 thing — you are an undiagnosed celiac.
I notice that gluten is not listed among your food sensitivities, so you may well be asymptomatic (many celiacs are), but the damage that gluten is doing to your body is most likely the source of the inflammation that significantly increased the risk of developing MC and cancer. If you haven't been tested for celiac disease, please get tested ASAP. If you have been tested, and the result was negative, please have the test redone, if it has been a year or more since the last test. If you received a negative result on a celiac blood test recently, then please disregard that result, because the celiac screening tests are so insensitive that they typically only detect approximately 5 % of existing celiac cases. It's possible that you might have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and that's causing the osteoporosis, but either way, it is very likely that gluten is damaging your body.
If you need confirmation by a test, the EnteroLab test results will reliably determine whether or not you are sensitive to gluten. EnteroLab's tests are much, much more sensitive than the blood tests, for detecting food sensitivities. I'm not a doctor, and there's a chance that I could be wrong (a very small chance), but osteoporosis at the age of 40 is a very, very strong indicator of gluten sensitivity.
Tex
Pardon me for butting into the great conversation that you and Gabes are having, but I couldn't help but notice the word "osteoporosis" in your last post. That is a huge red flag. Osteoporosis at the age of 40 can mean only 1 thing — you are an undiagnosed celiac.
I notice that gluten is not listed among your food sensitivities, so you may well be asymptomatic (many celiacs are), but the damage that gluten is doing to your body is most likely the source of the inflammation that significantly increased the risk of developing MC and cancer. If you haven't been tested for celiac disease, please get tested ASAP. If you have been tested, and the result was negative, please have the test redone, if it has been a year or more since the last test. If you received a negative result on a celiac blood test recently, then please disregard that result, because the celiac screening tests are so insensitive that they typically only detect approximately 5 % of existing celiac cases. It's possible that you might have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and that's causing the osteoporosis, but either way, it is very likely that gluten is damaging your body.
If you need confirmation by a test, the EnteroLab test results will reliably determine whether or not you are sensitive to gluten. EnteroLab's tests are much, much more sensitive than the blood tests, for detecting food sensitivities. I'm not a doctor, and there's a chance that I could be wrong (a very small chance), but osteoporosis at the age of 40 is a very, very strong indicator of gluten sensitivity.
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.