Hi peeps. I have been big D free for one month now due, I am certain, to adhering to strict diet. I have started to introduce the odd new ingredient onto my platter - gluten free bread and custard powder for example. Although there hasn't been any dramatic stomach issues I have noticed a sweeping, overwhelming fatigue - reminiscent to that I had experienced almost a year before the arrival of the big D. Could I ask you experienced hands whether this might be a reaction to food or just an integral part of CC that I will need to manage? Any feedback gratefully received amigos.
Love and laughter. Jude
Overwhelming Fatigue???
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh, mbeezie
Overwhelming Fatigue???
Never heard of Microscopic Colitis until yesterday when consultant advised me that my chronic, 3 month long, diarrhea indicated this diagnosis (though not confirmed). Shocked, stunned and reeling a bit, although part of me is pleased to be alive.
Hi Jude,
It's good to read that you've been doing so well in your recovery. It usually takes most of us a relatively long time to overcome the fatigue symptom, because our immune burns up a lot of energy fighting the inflammation in our intestines, and this battle (to achieve healing) typically lasts for a year or 2 for most adults. Kids heal much faster, usually in less than a year, but the older we are, the longer it usually take to complete the intestinal healing phase of recovery.
That said, if you were free of the fatigue for a while, then the return of fatigue might indeed be an bad omen. Many of us have noted that if we are in remission, and we eat something that triggers a flare, the fatigue can quickly become a significant symptom again.
I have no idea what was in the custard powder that you ate, but most commercially-available GF bread contains ingredients that cause many of us to react. Of course not all of us react to all of these ingredients, because we are all different. But ingredients commonly in GF bread that can cause some of us to react include tapioca flour or other tapioca ingredients, dairy products, xanthan gum, guar gum, and locust bean gum, for example. Guar and locust bean trees are legumes, so anyone sensitive to soy will usually also react to legumes and their derivatives. Xanthan Gum is not made from a legume (it's a byproduct of a bacterial fermentation process on corn sugar), but for some unknown reason, many of us seem to react to it.
Still, many members are able to eat commercial GF bread, especially after we have healed for a longer period of time. It depends on the individual's immune system status.
Tex
It's good to read that you've been doing so well in your recovery. It usually takes most of us a relatively long time to overcome the fatigue symptom, because our immune burns up a lot of energy fighting the inflammation in our intestines, and this battle (to achieve healing) typically lasts for a year or 2 for most adults. Kids heal much faster, usually in less than a year, but the older we are, the longer it usually take to complete the intestinal healing phase of recovery.
That said, if you were free of the fatigue for a while, then the return of fatigue might indeed be an bad omen. Many of us have noted that if we are in remission, and we eat something that triggers a flare, the fatigue can quickly become a significant symptom again.
I have no idea what was in the custard powder that you ate, but most commercially-available GF bread contains ingredients that cause many of us to react. Of course not all of us react to all of these ingredients, because we are all different. But ingredients commonly in GF bread that can cause some of us to react include tapioca flour or other tapioca ingredients, dairy products, xanthan gum, guar gum, and locust bean gum, for example. Guar and locust bean trees are legumes, so anyone sensitive to soy will usually also react to legumes and their derivatives. Xanthan Gum is not made from a legume (it's a byproduct of a bacterial fermentation process on corn sugar), but for some unknown reason, many of us seem to react to it.
Still, many members are able to eat commercial GF bread, especially after we have healed for a longer period of time. It depends on the individual's immune system status.
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.
-
Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Jude,
In line with tex's reply, products with lots of ingredients, flour blends in gluten free bread/custard can cause issues.
I had same issue as you. I tested each of the flours separately and had no issues. Put together in a product, I had issues.
Products like that are sometimes foods for me, 1-2 times a week max, generally on the weekends.
For the past near 6 years, I always do better on meals that have no more than 6 ingredients...
In line with tex's reply, products with lots of ingredients, flour blends in gluten free bread/custard can cause issues.
I had same issue as you. I tested each of the flours separately and had no issues. Put together in a product, I had issues.
Products like that are sometimes foods for me, 1-2 times a week max, generally on the weekends.
For the past near 6 years, I always do better on meals that have no more than 6 ingredients...
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama