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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Thanks Tex,
So I'm not going to start from scratch in the healing process? It's more of a delay at the moment.

I ended up getting looked at late in the day after my last post....I'm on a Zpack an tessalon not sure I need the tessalon much but took one tonight.

Hmm, creative huh, I guess since I can have pork maybe I should try different pork options an alternate with turkey. I'm still so new to how I'm supposed to approach this food choice thing I'm afraid to move outside the box. Since I have only seen a tiny improvement I didn't think I could be eating anything else. I don't want fully active MC anymore.

Maybe when I'm feeling more like myself things will start clicking again.
Just hit a rough bump this last weekend.
Hugs ☔️
Erica
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Post by tex »

I meant that you should be more creative with turkey, but if pork is an option, it's probably more versatile. But you can find turkey bacon, turkey sausage, etc., so it's fairly versatile, also. Potatoes and rice can be prepared in many different ways, also.

I'll guarantee that an infection tends to put a damper on everyone's outlook. No one functions well when they have an infection.

Tomorrow is a new day, and it's the first day of the rest of our life. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and I hope that you are too.

Hugs,
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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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Morning Tex,

Thank you for the uplifting words :pigtail:
I feel a bit better today. I forgot that I had picked up some Hormel Natural no nitrate gluten free bacon a couple weeks ago, so I made 4 pieces of that and made a gluten free pancake out of a product that my work suggested by The Cravings Place http://www.thecravingsplace.com/ They gave me one to take home to try, and I can say as long as I don't react I really like this product, the whole experience this morning felt so much better. I will wait a couple days and if I don't feel anything out of whack I will be able to add this to my food choices, this helps with my outlook on life. If the Cravings Place product works I may look at some of their other options, at least for now, until I feel like mixing my own things.

I will even start to go beyond baked or mashed potato and see if I can crisp it a little with coconut oil in the pan for texture :wink:

I'm grateful and thankful that you are feeling optimistic, that makes me smile :grin: If I can get some understanding on my end and a few more hugs I will make it through all this too. My family just wants the 'old' me back but I'm afraid it's never gonna be that way again unfortunately, perhaps this change is pretty hard on them too. Granted my kids are grown 22 and 26 and no longer living with me, but functions tend to be a little awkward feeling especially when food is around. Oh well I guess it is time to not worry about it huh.

Thanks for listening, I really appreciate it.
Erica
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Post by Deb »

Erica, I think once you heal you'll still be able to enjoy your food events. There might be different options but they can be just as good (and maybe even better). In my case food gatherings were a big part of our family. I was the first to have to go GF about 5 years ago. My sister (8 years younger) followed a couple of years later...not because of MC but migraines. I think she saw the handwriting on the wall as our mother probably had MC. Now my husband has quit eating gluten as well after some pretty bad bouts of bloating, etc. Our food gatherings may be a bit different but they're good and even the gluten-eating relatives are enjoying the GF meals. It does get better! Deb
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Thanks Deb,
I think the healing time seems so long and drawn out while a person is waiting (an not so patiently sometimes) while other members of the family go about what you used to be able to go about doing. This includes how active I once was too, food is only part of this MC journey, I wish for more energy and the ability for my gut to not react to hustling around at times.

There are times when I think to myself 'man you really are sick aren't ya' and then I will have a really good moment where I forget I even have a gut issue, but reality comes knocking on the door and off to the Bathroom I go....sigh.

Ha ha, I just thought long ago I had a 'delicate' system...it appears our food that society thought was safe was a slow ticking time bomb for me, and I guess I get so mad inside how we go with the flow and don't listen to our intuition. I was a super picky eater as a kid, I kinda still am but that still didn't save me or anyone that has MC from the gluten chipping away at us.

I am going to be better off in the long run. There is a saying I say to myself at times "To Succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality - Anita Roddick", I'm going to take your kinds words and one day I will make an amazing side dish or meal all Gluten Free/Dairy Free and I wont tell anyone - it wont matter, but I will know it is helping me and them at the same time :wink:
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Erica
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Post by DebE13 »

I avoid anything made with canola oil since it can have soy in it. Not sure if soy is an issue for you but worth a thought.

My insurance covered the Enterolab tests as long as my doctor wrote lab orders for it. Enterolab does not sumbit to insurance companies but are very helpful with providing the coded paperwork that you will have to submit yourself for reimbursement. Very friendly people, in my experience with three rounds of testing. My doctor faxed over the lab orders to them and I completed the rest. Mine were paid 100% but it depends on your plan. The stool test couldn't be provided in-network so I had no issues with coverage.
Deb

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2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Hi DebE,
I've avoided canola the best I can too.

I sent off Enterolab a week ago today, my Dr wanted to wait 3-4 more months, an then it wasn't guaranteed he would order Enterolab because his first choice was Genova....gads I didn't even feel like I had a say in it. That dr must contract thru Genova so he must be obligated to use them as a first choice. Anyway I will tough through paying the $529 for A1 an C1 because there was no way I was messing around a few more months.

Can't wait for some concrete info.
Erica
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Well it appears Gluten and Soy are high on the list, then Dairy and then Egg. Wow, who knew I would need to eliminate nightshades from my diet too...there goes salsa and spaghetti sauce!

These results came quick, I just sent them off last Tuesday!
Erica


Laboratory Report
Date: 6/9/2015


Comprehensive Gluten/Antigenic Food Sensitivity Stool Panel

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 51 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 26 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 22 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-soy IgA 57 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 21 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

While all of the foods tested can be immune-stimulating, the hierarchy of reactions detected were as follows:


Food to which there was no significant immunological reactivity:
None
Food to which there was some immunological reactivity (1+):
Corn
Rice
Tuna
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Cashew
White potato

Food to which there was moderate immunological reactivity (2+):
Oat

Food to which there was significant and/or the most immunological reactivity (3+):
Almond
Walnut



Within each class of foods to which you displayed multiple reactions, the hierarchy of those reactions detected were as follows:

Grains:
Grain toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Oat
Grain toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Corn
Grain toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Rice

Meats:
Meat toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Tuna
Meat toward which you were next most immunologically reactive: Beef
Meat toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Pork
Meat toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Chicken

Nuts:
Nut toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Almond
Nut toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Walnut
Nut toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Cashew

Nightshades:
You displayed immunologic reactivity to white potato, the member of the nightshade family usually consumed most often and in greatest quantities. While this does not necessarily mean you would react to all other nightshade foods (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), it is possible. In the realm of elimination diets for immunologic disorders, nightshades are usually eliminated as the entire food class (i.e., all four previously mentioned foods in this class). This is especially important to the clinical setting of arthritis.
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Post by tex »

Erica,

The data for the 11 antigenic foods look much better than the data that you PM'd me. All of those foods in the 1+ category may be possibilities for a rotation diet, especially after you are in remission. You can certainly do without oats, almonds, and walnuts. Virtually all of us seem to be sensitive to oats.

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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Post by Erica P-G »

HI Tex,

Does this mean those 8 foods with a 1+ are off the list right now, or can I rotate them and it will just take longer to reach remission?

I don't know what to eat besides the bone broth soup I have been making. Are the Rice, Chicken and Cashews ok?

I'd be interested in knowing what others have done in this circumstance and how long did it take you to reach your remission point?

Thanks
Erica :???:
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Post by tex »

The 1+ means that they may or may not be a problem, and it might depend on dosage and frequency in the diet. You may be able to tolerate them in a rotation died, for example. But they should not simply be assumed to be safe. Each one would need to be tested individually.

And as I mentioned in my response to your PM, the more "suspect" foods we include in our recovery diet, the greater the risk that our recovery diet might not be able to carry us to recovery. Every concession involves tradeoffs. To minimize risk (since a substantial percentage of us are sensitive to chicken), I believe I would lean more heavily toward turkey, duck, goose, pheasant, etc., or other "farmed" wild game, such as venison, rabbit, etc.

Remember that cashews are in the same family as poison ivy. That doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the nuts themselves. It simply means that if something goes wrong during the processing of the nuts (and they become contaminated by the hulls), they could possibly have traces of urushiol. Some of us are much more sensitive to urushiol than others. That said, I would assume that's a very small risk.

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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Post by Gabes-Apg »

Erica,
I think we have discussed 'time to heal' previously, it kinda depends.

MC triggers are not just about food, it can be stress, histamine, chemical, environmental, alcohol in beauty products etc etc.
good healing happens when you eliminate/minimise your major triggers.
Focussing on eating plan alone is not always enough

Given your results, I would focus on the following;
Remove /minimise soy from your home and daily lifestyle, not just food, check make up, creams, beauty products, toothpaste.
Be cautious of some natural beauty products as they have oat in them.
I use coconut oil, lanolin, rose hip oil as moisterisers (face and body)
I Buy coconut soap made locally with none of my triggers in it.

I react worse to soy than gluten, so it can be a bit of a challenge getting a soy free lifestyle!
It is way way easier now than 5 years ago.

Keep a diary and gauge if histamine reactions are causing inflammation... This can be pollen, chemicals- ie cleaning the shower, or getting hair dyed, or going into an industrial polluted area, going into damp mouldy house.

For now keep the eating plan plain, simple ingredients, while you eliminate/minimise various triggers.
Don't over think it, (stress is not good for us). Do some of the mental and emotional work on acceptance, being at peace with what is, trust the flow of the journey...
Right now, you don't totally control the pace and outcome, a bit of blind faith and patience is needed...
There is no end point, there is .... Whatever happens...

Life with MC is 2 steps forward and one step back, expect/accept hiccups and setbacks...
Gabes Ryan

"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

PS
I have been eating lamb and 3 vege stew based on home made bone broth, most days for over 5 years!!
Becomes a bit of a joke at my work place... What's for lunch? Lamb stew..

It settles well digestion wise, affordable, easy/routine when I make big batch and freeze in meal portions.

When we do the mental and emotional work of acceptance. What we eat or don't eat doesn't really matter that much.
Gabes Ryan

"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Thank you Tex, and Gabes...

"Don't over think it, (stress is not good for us)"

That is exactly what I am doing at this moment...I think I just fried my mother board in the brain as I am staring at my computer not really knowing what I'm going to do next.

Am I at risk working in such close proximity to all kinds of cooking foods, baking items etc....I have to walk right by the very busy baking area to get to the rest room on a daily basis. Could I be exposing myself to Gluten on a daily basis because of this, and based on my reactive 51 units am I harming myself? Not sure how outside the box I have to start thinking when it comes to the things I am reacting to. If I breath it, it's probably going to affect me correct?

Just talking this out right now.
E
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

Oh my goodness Gabes...
It's not like I eat like a 4star restaurant but having worked with Bon Appetit Management Company foodservice for 21 years and have tested and tried practically everything under the sun I have loved being a part of this family here at work, but to think I will never get to interact the way I used to has me crying for this loss. I love my job, I feel like my body has forsaken me and it's never going to be the same ever again.

Eating used to be a way to calm an comfort me, it was a way to slow the day down to reflect, it gave me a reason to be creative in the kitchen. I get the feeling food isn't really important anymore, but to only sustain us to live. There is no joy....I surmise that having MC we find other things to occupy our time with food not being one of them. Just something else I get to learn now. If this isn't STRESSFUL I don't know what is!
E
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Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
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