Flare & Imodium

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tonik319
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Flare & Imodium

Post by tonik319 »

Hi. I have been having a flare and I am scared. I have been diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis this past summer. Long story short, my first GI who was horribly mean, said I had Crohn's. My new GI, says I have lymphocytic colitis. I don't want to take meds if I don't have to. I have been following the SCD diet 100% for 7 months now. I take 1/2 a SCD multivitamin, fish oil, turmeric, vitamin D, and I make my own yogurt. I tried the Pepto-Bismol and it worked for awhile, but now I am having symptoms again- diarrhea and lots of gas. I did have testing done at Enterolab (A1 +C1). Beef was some immunological reactivity and oats was moderate reactivity. Today I started taking multi-symptom Imodium. I had to take 3 1/2 before D stopped. I still have gurgling and swishing around in stomach and pain (sometimes intense) on right side. How long do I take the Imodium? Is it just for today or do I take it for a few days? How long do I ride this out before I call my GI? I am trying to stay positive, but darn it is so hard sometimes. I would love to hear success stories too.

Toni
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Gabes-Apg
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

Toni
the best place to get success stories is in the success stories area...

When I was first diagnosed, my GI said i could take up to 8 immodium a day....

as to how many or for how long - there is no black and white answer, I would decrease the tablet amount slowly, ie 1/2 tablet, each day. if D returns increase again by 1/2 tablet.

for some people, if there is inflammation Fish OIl and Tumeric can be an irritant more than a help. I would stop both of these, see if the D settles down.
once the D has settled down for a couple of weeks, try them again, one at a time, to see if these are helping or causing issues.

how much Vit D3 are you taking and have you had your levels checked in the past 3-6 months?

What was your enterolab score for dairy/caesin?
Gabes Ryan

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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Toni,

Welcome to our Internet family. Gabes' response pretty much covers what I would have written about, so I'll just add a link that will take you direct to some stories describing various member successes:

Member Success Stories

Again, welcome aboard and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex
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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.
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Vanessa
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Post by Vanessa »

Check out SCD lifestyle.com. Those guys can help you tweak your diet and take the guessing game out of things. I would take out the yogurt...especially if you are adding probiotics to it. The fermentation can be harsh on the gut while it's healing. They talk about the four horseman and common mistakes while following the diet...you could just be one tweak away from relief! Hang in there and be gentle with yourself, things WILL improve!
Vanessa
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nerdhume
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Post by nerdhume »

I take the Imodium as directed on the package. 1 tablet after each WD BM. This usually keeps me from C which is more painful.
Theresa

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in remission since June 1, 2014

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jessica329
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Post by jessica329 »

Have you tried eliminating dairy? At my last visit my GI asked me if I had gone "on a dairy bender" because dairy will trigger a flare. I used to eat cheese and yogurt but have completely stopped. I don't eat gluten or dairy and generally don't have flares. I also get intense pain during flares.
Jessica
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UkuleleLady
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Post by UkuleleLady »

jessica329 wrote:Have you tried eliminating dairy? At my last visit my GI asked me if I had gone "on a dairy bender" because dairy will trigger a flare. I used to eat cheese and yogurt but have completely stopped. I don't eat gluten or dairy and generally don't have flares. I also get intense pain during flares.
Agree with all the above suggestions, especially removing all supps, probiotics and dairy. I can't handle any of these in a flare, and I can't ever handle dairy...I don't even want to eat it now.

My suggestion is to ramp up your safe meats at every meal and snack, limit nuts and nutbutters significantly, only mushy over cooked vegetables and sweet potatoes, potatoes for carbs instead of grains.

Coconut milk is a good source of calories if you're worried about losing weight.

Keep it real simple and try to meditate, pray, relieve stress somehow. Stress is huge for us. Keep repeating, "this too shall pass".

Take care,
Nancy
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~The Dalai Lama
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Post by brandy »

Hi Toni,

Like the others said ditch the yogurt and all dairy for awhile.

You can retest this in about 6 months. I resisted eliminating yogurt for about 4 months and was really stupid. As soon as I ditched the yogurt I started doing much better.

brandy
tonik319
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Acacia Fiber

Post by tonik319 »

Hi all!

Thanks so much for all your kind replies. I really appreciate it.

I have been working hard on tweaking my diet. I have been following SCD for seven months but something isn't working. I am in a flare and back taking Pepto-Bismol. In the last two days have taken out the yogurt & cheese, I have stopped taking supplements except my Vit D3, and I am eating low fodmaps. My new question- Is Acacia Tummy Fiber from Heathers IBS a good thing, or not?

I also called my Chiropractor today, and I am going to get some additional food intolerance testing done. I have had a rough (emotional) couple of days, but today I have a better attitude, and I'm ready to kick this in the butt.

Thanks,
Toni
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tex
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Post by tex »

No fiber is good for MC. MC is not IBS. MC is unique, and it's distinctly different from all other IBDs.

After we are in remission, fiber is OK (as long as we don't overdo it), but while we are trying to recover, fiber is counterproductive because it is so abrasive on the lining of our intestines that it tends to perpetuate the inflammation that already exists. It is serious enough that it will absolutely prevent probably 95 % or more of us from being able to reach remission, no matter how many other things we do right. Fiber is not your friend, when you have MC, regardless of what any so-called "expert" might tell you.

That said, the soluble fiber in the product you mentioned is not nearly as abrasive as insoluble fiber. While the problem with insoluble fiber is its abrasiveness, the problem with the soluble fiber products sold as prebiotics is that they are claimed to feed the "good" bacteria so that they can out-prosper the "bad" bacteria. The problem of course is that in the real world, research and experience shows that those prebiotics are just as likely (or even more likely) to feed the bad bacteria, than the good bacteria, so they are seldom helpful for MC, and they're usually counterproductive at worst or a waste of money at best.

If you have the money to spare, it shouldn't hurt anything to have your chiropractor do those tests (as long as you ignore any results that contradict your test results from EnteroLab). But please don't expect any miracles from them.

Remember that these are just my personal (unprofessional) opinions. As always YMMV.

Tex
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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.
tonik319
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Post by tonik319 »

Thank you so much.

I love this site. I am so thankful for all the help.

Toni
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tex
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Post by tex »

You are most welcome,
Tex
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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.
Marcia K
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Post by Marcia K »

Hi, Toni. When I was first diagnosed my G.I. prescribed 2 Pepto tablets 3x a day for 8 weeks. Within a few weeks I reduced to 4 a day because I was developing C. Pepto Bismol can cause side effects but I was lucky and did not suffer from any. I agree with the others who said to cut out dairy. I'm 1 1/2 years post diagnosis and I have not tried dairy again nor do I think that I ever will. Good luck on your journey. It's discouraging but you've come to the right place for support.

Marcia
tonik319
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Post by tonik319 »

Hi all,

I have another question.

Has anyone heard of or tried COLITIS Pain Free Foods - The catalyst food method?

Part 1 is about exact food combining techniques.
Part 2 teaches you food, health, and eating principles.

They also mention a natural antibiotic = GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract).

I am trying to follow the SCD, but I don't think I can/or want do it anymore. I have taken out the yogurt, stopped all vitamins except Vit D3. I just started to cut back on fruit. I am doing pretty good, but not as well as I'd like. I know it takes time, but I am getting impatient. I think maybe I should go towards paleo... I just ate 1/2 a sweet potato and loved it. I read all your posts about eating rice, sweet potatoes, and etc. and I want to try them too. I just want to be able to eat good foods and be okay. I think I am eating too many vegetables and not handling them well...I started cutting back on a lot of them, because I was getting gas, bloating, and etc. Ate cooked carrots (mashed up) and sautéed spinach yesterday and that was in my BM this morning.

Please help...I am so undecided as of what to do. I just want to cry!

Thanks,
Toni
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tex
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Post by tex »

Toni,

I've never heard of the "Colitis Pain Free Foods" method. Most of us do better during the healing stage if we concentrate more on meats and less on vegetables, because too much fiber can not only be irritating to our intestines, but can lead to fermentation, resulting in gas, bloating, etc. If you can tolerate sweet potatoes (most of us can) it's a good choice for carbs. You might be able to tolerate them better than some of the other veggies.

Tex
:cowboy:

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.
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