Karen
the other thing i just thought of
quite a few people get MC due to medications - SSRI antidepressants, NSAIDS /anti inflammatories, excess use of ibruprofen, statins, some antibiotic type meds, hormone replacement. If you think this might be the case for you, use the search function with the name of the med. quite a few people get very quick remission once they stop the offending medication.
(Keep in mind, that medication names can be different in the USA (and most of the contributors here are USA based) if you wikipedia/google the med name, you will get the name used in the USA, search via that and you will see prior discussions. )
Newbie
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
-
humbird753
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1014
- Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:44 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
Hi Karen - Want to welcome you, and am also sorry you had to find us. I am now 61 yrs. old. My symptoms for MC (lymphocytic colitis) started when I was 56 yrs. old, but I was not diagnosed until 10 months later. I have been gluten, dairy and soy free for 3 years now, and consider myself in remission. I am so happy I found this group. It looks like you're already getting a lot of great advice from Linda and Gabes. There is so much educational information available here.
Paula
Paula
Paula
"You'll never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."
"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass... It's learning to dance in the rain."
"You'll never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."
"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass... It's learning to dance in the rain."
Hi Karen,
Welcome to our Internet family. We consider ourselves a family because no one truly understands this disease unless they actually have it. Here, we all understand it, and appreciate how difficult it can be to live with until we get it under control. I just got back from a long meeting, but I see that you've already received some very helpful support, so I'll just address a couple of issues that you mentioned.
Marcia is correct of course, MC is not rare at all. Many doctors still consider it to be rare because they do not look for it (by taking biopsies), and if they don't specifically look for it, they will not find it, that's for sure. If they fail to properly look for it, they will hand out a diagnosis of IBS instead, leaving yet another patient misdiagnosed. Many doctors consider MC to be a disease of older women, but that's wrong too. As another member pointed out, we have members here of all ages, and both genders.
The truth is, MC is more common that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It's even more common than celiac disease, so that means that it is only rare in the minds of people who are not familiar with the disease.
Sulfasalazine is a very old drug, and it is rarely prescribed to treat MC these days, because many patients cannot tolerate it, especially if they are sensitive to sulfa drugs. So if it causes you to have worrisome side effects, be sure to inform your doctor. There are much better medications available to treat the inflammation, but they are more expensive. All medications only treat the symptoms of course, they do not prevent the inflammation from being regenerated. The only way to do that is to avoid the foods that cause the inflammation.
You mentioned somewhere (possibly in another thread) that a certain food goes through you in 10 minutes. Any food that can make the complete trip through your body in less than an hour is definitely an antigen for you. IOW, you are allergic to it. With MC, the main problem is that we are intolerant of certain foods, but not necessarily allergic to them. A few of us though are allergic to certain foods, so we definitely have to avoid them, also.
Again, welcome to the board, and I hope that you will find the solutions that you are seeking, to get your life back.
Tex
Welcome to our Internet family. We consider ourselves a family because no one truly understands this disease unless they actually have it. Here, we all understand it, and appreciate how difficult it can be to live with until we get it under control. I just got back from a long meeting, but I see that you've already received some very helpful support, so I'll just address a couple of issues that you mentioned.
Marcia is correct of course, MC is not rare at all. Many doctors still consider it to be rare because they do not look for it (by taking biopsies), and if they don't specifically look for it, they will not find it, that's for sure. If they fail to properly look for it, they will hand out a diagnosis of IBS instead, leaving yet another patient misdiagnosed. Many doctors consider MC to be a disease of older women, but that's wrong too. As another member pointed out, we have members here of all ages, and both genders.
The truth is, MC is more common that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It's even more common than celiac disease, so that means that it is only rare in the minds of people who are not familiar with the disease.
Sulfasalazine is a very old drug, and it is rarely prescribed to treat MC these days, because many patients cannot tolerate it, especially if they are sensitive to sulfa drugs. So if it causes you to have worrisome side effects, be sure to inform your doctor. There are much better medications available to treat the inflammation, but they are more expensive. All medications only treat the symptoms of course, they do not prevent the inflammation from being regenerated. The only way to do that is to avoid the foods that cause the inflammation.
You mentioned somewhere (possibly in another thread) that a certain food goes through you in 10 minutes. Any food that can make the complete trip through your body in less than an hour is definitely an antigen for you. IOW, you are allergic to it. With MC, the main problem is that we are intolerant of certain foods, but not necessarily allergic to them. A few of us though are allergic to certain foods, so we definitely have to avoid them, also.
Again, welcome to the board, and I hope that you will find the solutions that you are seeking, to get your life back.
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.
Hi Tex
Thanks so much yes it was corn I will def be avoiding that in future. Its weird one day I might have eggs and I am fine then the next phew gone. Sulvazine is a bit scary as there are a lot of side effects I have only taken 3 tabs so far and I think I am ok I hope so. Jean put up a great post about thr elimination diet that I am going to start strictly on monday. I am so glad I found you guys as all of you have been so helpful. I will keep you all informed how I go.
Cheers
Karen
Thanks so much yes it was corn I will def be avoiding that in future. Its weird one day I might have eggs and I am fine then the next phew gone. Sulvazine is a bit scary as there are a lot of side effects I have only taken 3 tabs so far and I think I am ok I hope so. Jean put up a great post about thr elimination diet that I am going to start strictly on monday. I am so glad I found you guys as all of you have been so helpful. I will keep you all informed how I go.
Cheers
Karen
Karen Moran