Early on when I was having awful D, my doctor recommended that I eat only meat. Eating only meat really slowed the frightening watery diarrhea. Soon after I began the meat diet I also began Entocort.
If I could turn back time, yet have my current knowledge base, I think I would have tried a very restricted diet alone before beginning Entocort. Having the sudden improvement with the meat diet is indication that slow introduction of the most benign foods might have worked without Entocort.
There is one problem with the hindsight story. It doesn't clearly express the time it takes to understand not only what is most easily tolerated but also the complexity of avoiding offenders.
If you are thinking of a trial of controlling MC without Entocort, here are a few thoughts:
- Order the book on the right hand side of your screen on the main page of this site: "Microscopic Colitis".
Eliminate all gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, NSAIDs (such as aspirin and ibuprofen) and PPIs (such as omeprazole) in the beginning plus avoid things you know have upset you in the past and don't make exceptions and eat just a little! Eliminate completely!
Focus extremely heavily on meat .....beef, bacon, turkey, ham, other types of pork, fish, chicken --but be careful to read labels. Some hams and turkeys and cold cut forms of ham, turkey, chicken and beef contain soy or gluten. Canned tuna almost always contains soy.
Slowly add a little rice, quinoa, sweet potato, coconut milk (sold in the dairy case), and gluten-free Rice Chex and Corn Chex to your diet but don't over do it. Corn taco shells are nice with meat in them but read the label. Not all corn shells are free from the things you are avoiding.
If you add the above foods and your stools become loose/watery again, cut back and focus more heavily on meat.
Find some multivitamins, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D that are free of the things you are avoiding - gluten, dairy, soy, and nuts.
If you are still having diarrhea, eliminate eggs.
Become a member of this group and ask questions. It's free and amazingly helpful.
In my opinion, if you have tried moving forward without Entocort for a period of time and continue to have watery D, it might be best to take the medication. As we all know, going too long with watery D and weakness fogs the brain and makes it difficult to move forward.
Welcome and Good Luck!
