Struggling with idea's of what I can eat. Totally lost!

joanisna4 · Post by **joanisna4** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:07 am

Hopefully this is the right place to post this.
About a month ago I had one of the worst flares I've ever had. If I were to guess it would be the apples I had been eating. But I never fully felt better even after I got rid of the apples. Things were sti upsetting my stomach like they were before the apples. I could never pinpoint exactly what it was. Sometimes gluten would bother me and other times it would be fine. Same with dairy. Its all so confusing and my Dr is no help. He says to increase my fiber intake. Im still new to all of this but even I know what extra fiber would do to my body. So I decided to do the enterlab testing. I sent it in almost a week ago, so I still have awhile to wait for the results.
I can't afford to miss anymore work, so I had to drastically change my diet to foods I know for sure I can tolerate until my results come in. So all I've been eating is chicken, turkey, white rice, bananas, canned peaches, rice cakes, almond milk, rice chex, and bone broth.
I need other ideas that I could possibly tolerate. I can't live on only these foods for the next 2-3 weeks. There HAS to be something else out there that's an option. For right now, I can't risk any dairy, gluten, soy etc. Everything that most of us can't handle. I would try experimenting with foods slowly but I can't afford another flare right now. I'm a single mom of 4 kids and I just can't miss anymore work.
Does anyone have any ideas of safe foods right now until I get my results back?
And any kind if shellfish is out because I'm highly allergic.
I'm going crazy on this diet. And it can't be healthy for me. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of nutrition.

lone observer · Post by **lone observer** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:29 am

I just wanted to write and say I know how you feel. I have had the testing **enterolab done twice and it came back with no allergies. which even surprised my doctor. Even gluten I am not sensitive to it although I still avoid it. I am not a huge bread eater and never have been. I don't why doctors tell us to eat more fiber. They do not understand the issues with fiber. I wish i could help you.....do you know when the flare is over. I tend to eat more red meat very lean because it slows everything down and I think helps my flares subside. Green beans from the canned are ok for me. I don't eat salads except once or twice a week when not in flare....I am getting over a two week flare so no salads for me. no veggies except green beans canned and canned peaches. I hope someone else has some answers for you...hang in there. I do know what you are going through and it does feel like a crap shoot when we eat...

Grahm · Post by **Grahm** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:05 pm

Did you have the enterolab test done or did you have allergy tests at the doctors office? The allergy test very rarely show any results, they are not dependable for food allergies such as what we have with this disease.

I'm betting there are 98% of us that have to be gluten free, most of us have to be dairy free and a big portion soy free and then on top of that so many of us cannot have eggs. It doesn't make sense that one day you can tolerate gluten and then one day not, especially since you are new to all of this and no healing to speak of at all.

I know it is so overwhelming but you are better off eating the few foods that are safe for you until you can heal a little.

Keep reading and you will pick up more information. There is light at the end of the tunnel but you must go slow and easy for now.

Love,
Connie

joanisna4 · Post by **joanisna4** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:22 pm

I did the enterlab test. When I was first diagnosed I asked my Dr to test for food allergies but he said there was no need because there was no proof food caused any sort of issues with MC and I needed to just increase my fiber. So after reading a lot of posts on here I decided to go for the enterlab testing. Their website says the results take about 3 weeks to become available, so I have about 2 weeks to go.
I was just hoping that there was some other safe foods out there, other than the ones that I listed, that I could add. I know nightshades are out right now, but what about sweet potatoes? Are they part of the nightshade family?

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:29 pm

I know this is not what you want to hear but if you have a found a few foods that you know you can tolerate then you should just stick with them. Adding anything in at this point would be asking for trouble. Many of us here stuck with just a few foods for several months until things quieted down and then only added things back in very slowly. Treat what you are eating as if it were your medicine, which in a way it is, but without any nasty side effects. If you tell yourself that you can stick this out for as long as it takes then you will find that you are able to do it. If you tell yourself that eating such a limited diet is just impossible then you will probably find it impossible. Sometimes reality is tough but the way I see it spending my life in the bathroom is tougher than sticking to any diet, no matter how limited. Your doctor clearly knows nothing about MC. Figuring out what you can eat and what you can't eat is the key to healing. You have taken all the right first steps. I have found that working on my attitude is also very important. I tell myself that I am lucky to have found a way to eat that keeps me healthy. I even actually believe it.

Jean

Post by **tex** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:32 pm

Hi Joan,

I have to agree with Jean. It's so easy to derail a recovery plan by adding new foods early on that doing so tends to be very risky. It's much safer to eat larger helpings of the foods that we know are safe, if we need more calories/energy. Simpler is always safer, especially early on in our recovery program.

Your EnteroLab test results should make diet decisions much easier when they become available. If you just absolutely have to try additional foods before your results are available, if I were in your shoes I would substitute lamb for chicken, because virtually everyone here can tolerate lamb and turkey, but a surprising number of us cannot tolerate chicken. Also, most of us (but not everyone) can tolerate sweet potatoes (even if we cannot tolerate regular potatoes).

Tex

ldubois7 · Post by **ldubois7** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:53 pm

Joan,
I understand the way you feel about not being healthy on such a diet as you've adopted, but it really is the only way to do it......
I ate the same foods for a very very long time to give my gut a chance to heal. I ate lamb, wild game meat, turkey, and white fish. Protein is very important in healing early on in your recovery. I ate squashes, carrots, & green beans, all well cooked.
I gave up all grains and processed foods. It certainly wasn't easy to do...but, it helped to heal the leaky gut, too.
My diet is still somewhat limited, but that's ok, as Jean mentioned, food can heal you, or be your poison.
I didn't do well with broth or soup.....just meat, veggies, coconut products, and some nuts.
It is so individualized for each person, that it's hard to advise you.
I would choose a meat and eat it for a couple of days, and see if your system calms down...then try another...like an elimination diet.
Hope this helps and best of luck to you!

joanisna4 · Post by **joanisna4** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:11 pm

Thanks everyone for your input. Changing my attitude with all of it is an excellent idea! I've never really thought of certain foods being like poison. I mean, I knew certain things were bad but I never had the mindset as this food is healing, and this food is like poison. I need to look at it like a piece of bread is no different than eating rat poison. Ok, maybe not that extreme, but running to the bathroom 10-15 times a day sure makes it feel that extreme. So thank you for that new way of thinking! I really do think looking at it like that will help. I only have a few weeks until I know what foods I can't tolorate, so I think I can handle this now. Thank you guys!!

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 6:26 pm

I use the 'poison' analogy to explain my eating plan to others. Would they knowingly ingest poison? No. I am doing the same.
what is poison to them, and poison to me is slightly different.

the items causing inflammation and extreme D are poison, they are damaging your gut, putting stress on your digestion, it causes toxins to get into your blood stream and cause inflammation and pain through your body...

If you go into the main message board and look at some of the posts/discussions with new people, you will see recent discussions about sticking to bland, low ingredient eating plan.... in amongst these discussions we also talk about the mental and emotional work - being at peace with what is. MC is for life. some good authors and audiobooks that can help with that.

Also- you can live on that small base of ingredients ok for a few months..... if it allows the inflammation to heal then it is best thing you can do. (While you are inflammed you are not absorbing nutrients properly)
In remote civilisations people have for hundreds of years and current day still do, live on a eating plan of about 10-15 ingredients - and in these localities they dont have diabetes, IBD's, skin issues, heart disease etc. Truth be told you can successfully live on a base of 10-15 ingredients for your whole life!! it is the mental/emotional side of things in our society that we struggle with the acceptance of this...

hope this helps!
good luck on your MC healing journey.

Hopeful · Post by **Hopeful** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:38 am

I agree what others have said here. And Gabes is so right that it's all about your mindset.

I was new on the forum about 5 months ago. Another frightened voice calling out in the wilderness for some answers and relief. The advise you will find here is the gold standard. It's provided guidance to so many over the years.
I am (was?) a real foodie -former chef and restaurant owner yada yada. The idea of confining myself to a relatively small set of ingredients felt like a death sentence at first. I deeply mourned the loss. I have also been interested in the "latest" nutritional information for the last 25 years and have espoused every brand of high fiber, low fat, high carb, vegetarian, raw foods, fermented foods, locally grown, organic foods etc. etc. which have all promised, in their day, to heal what ails mankind. It can be daunting to set aside "all that you know" about what's good for you, and follow this eating plan on blind faith.

But MC is unique. And permanent. So, the sooner that you can wrap your head around the idea that "all that good food out there" will be off limits to you, at least for a while, the sooner you can get on with healing into your new YOU. "Health food" mind be good for others but it's poison to us. It makes us worse, wears us down, and leads to all kinds of secondary inflammations around the body. Heal the gut and you will make a lot of progress on your other issues.

In the 5 months that I have strictly followed the diet, I have been able to determine that certain foods, like chicken, might work for other MCer's but not for me. I could not have determined that if I had been eating the old way, with all those grain, dairy, soy culprits to try to sort through. I have lost pounds (good in my case), weaned off of 3 medications to treat all my autoimmune problems and I'm almost weaned from Entecort (I was taking 3/day for years). I have more energy, only 1-2 trips to the bathroom/day, a much more balanced mental attitude and a new lease on life. I enjoy life and I enjoy my simple eating plan. I'll be 65 this July and I'm so surprised to find many of my "getting old" disorders are falling by the wayside. Yippee!

So hang in there, kid. Ask lots of questions. Explore the forum and ask questions. Look forward to feeling a lot better. It will take time but it will be well worth it!
Chris

joanisna4 · Post by **joanisna4** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:05 am

Thanks! Trying to change my mindset is making things easier but it's still difficult. I'm really hoping that one day I'll get used to this. When I make dinner for my kids, it's so hard not to swipe bites. I convince myself that one bite won't kill me, then that turns into 5 bites, then 10 and the next day I regret it. I rationalize in my head that this or that doesn't cause me problems. Somehow I need to stop lying to myself. Hopefully in time that will come. Its only been a few weeks of eating like this. Will the cravings ever go away? I'm so burnt out on chicken and rice every day for lunch and dinner. At this point its almost nauseating.

Post by **tex** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:34 am

Chris,

Excellent post! I'm older than you, but looking back, I feel better than I did 10–20 years ago. Even the arthritis is gone. It was so bad about 15 years ago that I was convinced that it would be a major limitation after a few more years.

I've started to notice that when I'm around other "older" people (such as my old high school classmates), I feel sort of self-conscious/guilty about feeling so well, and I'm not quite sure how to act, in view of all their health problems, especially all the arthritis that forces them to move so slowly and deliberately. I've felt those pains, so I know what it's like, and I really feel sorry for them. But I've given up on trying to convince them to try changing their diet. They're sure their doctors are right. C'est la vie. I find it hard to believe that I went to school with all those old codgers.

Life is good, especially when we're feeling great.

Chris wrote:"Health food" mind be good for others but it's poison to us. It makes us worse, wears us down, and leads to all kinds of secondary inflammations around the body. Heal the gut and you will make a lot of progress on your other issues.

When you put it that way, I can't help but wonder how good those foods/health fads are for anyone. Most mainstream nutritional and health information seems to leave a lot to be desired.

It's great to see that you're doing so well.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:52 am

Joan wrote:Will the cravings ever go away?

Like stopping a long-term smoking habit, some of those cravings may not completely go away, but they will eventually become so impotent that when one of them pops into your mind, ignoring it will be the default response. And ignoring it will feel easy and natural, and the craving will quickly fade from your thoughts.

The reason why certain foods/ingredients are so addictive is because they actually contain endorphins that are capable of interacting with opioid receptors in the brain. The process of activating opioid receptors in the brain tends to reduce our perception of pain, and enhances an exaggerated feeling of well-being. IOW, these foods can act similarly to drugs such as morphine and codeine. And as is the case with those drugs, some of us are more susceptible to their addictive effects than others, so some of us have more withdrawal problems than others.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:32 pm

I think for most people, once they strictly stick to gluten and dairy free eating plan, and see the reduction in symptoms, the willpower and diligence to adhering to it comes very easily. Life with minimal symptoms is worth the changes (??sacrifice)

if you can, try having a safe snack BEFORE you prepare the kids meals so you dont have the urge to eat their stuff.

sadly when there is chronic MC inflammation type reactions, whether you have one bite or a whole meal, inflammation is occurring and is causing damage.

and yes, the cravings/temptation does fade. I remember Gloria, a long termer here talked about the 'switch' there comes a stage in the healing cycle where you no longer crave things, even if they are in front of you etc.

I wont lie, making the changes for your MC management plan is not easy. Making these changes takes alot of energy and focus. All i can do is assure you, it is worth every ounce of energy!!
dont feel you have to change everything at once. take it a meal at time, a day at a time. make one change a day. get yourself set up with safe snacks and meals, that get you into the routine of how you can look after the family, and look after yourself with the modified eating plan, if you do it a day at a time, it will be less overwhelming and once it is part of the routine, it becomes really easy. And as the improvements come, the motivation will increase ...

and as Chris mentions above, if you are snacking on the kids foods, the bland low ingredient eating plan has limited scope to work, AND it is difficult to figure out if rice or chicken might be an issue.

hope this helps.
you are not alone, there have been hundreds in the same situation as you, and as you read the success stories etc you will see that they have got through this crazy adjustment period and got their lives back...