DIETARY FIBRE AND ROUGHAGE FOR LYMPHOCYTIC COLITIS

[CarlO]

Recently I was diagnosed with LYMPHOCYTIC COLITIS. I am trying to learn something about DIET. Specifically, should i try to increase the amount of dietary fibre and roughage. Or, should I do the opposite. The web sites I have checked are contradictory. Their instructions are opposite to each other. Thanks for help. CarlO

[Erica P-G]

Hi CarlO
Fiber is not our friend at all especially while in a flare with diarrhea. You will want to follow a bland diet (turkey, white rice, peeled well cooked red, yellow potatoes, carrots, celery, sweet potato. Plus this new diet will need to be Gluten-free, dairy-free and even soy or egg-free as time goes on.

Ask lots of questions, there's more to tell....my brain is tired for the evening, so I hope someone chimes in and covers more that I missed.

Just wanted to reply! This diagnosis can feel like a lonely one.
Hugs
Erica

[tex]

Hi Carl,

Welcome to our Internet family. We consider ourselves a family, because no one truly understands this disease unless they have it, and that includes our doctors.

Erica is correct of course. Despite the recommendations of many so-called "experts" fiber is contraindicated for MC patients. When our intestines are already inflamed, eating fiber is like rubbing our guts with sandpaper. Fiber will prevent our intestines from healing, and it will prevent us from being able to achieve remission. After we are in remission, we can slowly increase the amount of fiber in our diet, but while we are in the recovery stage, the more we minimize fiber in our diet, the faster we will heal.

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

Tex

[brandy]

Hi Carl,

Welcome! At the very top of this page in the right side is a link to buy the only book that has ever been written on MC. If you don't have it already it is very helpful. It was written by our very own Tex. I've been on the forum since 2011. This forum is the best place for MCers to hang out.

Brandy

[Marcia K]

Hi, Carl. Your question made me cringe at the thought of eating fiber. Tex said it well, sandpaper to our guts. I don't have anything else to add, just welcome to our family. Sorry you had to find us, but it's a wonderful resource as you begin your journey.

Marcia

[Blueberry]

Echoing others, fiber is off limits for my MC gut. Even small amounts can cause big problems.

I guess some people with a different IBD condition, Crohn's, are able to find some relief taking a small amount of physilium fiber. Maybe that is where some of the confusion comes from.

[jlbattin]

To add to what Erica already wrote about the bland diet, bone broth is a wonderful healer. I buy turkey back bones from Whole Foods (for cheap) and put them in my crockpot, fill with water and a little sea salt, turn it on low, and forget it for about 24 hours or so. Then I freeze it to eat by itself or to add to rice or potatoes or whatever else you'd like to do with it. It's filled with nutrients and is a wonderful calm, bland, healing food for helping settle us down.

3 months in and my diet is still rather bland (I started with chicken and rice and a banana for days on end), and then after the Enterolab testing, I added in turkey and gold potatoes. I make hash browns fried in a little bit of coconut oil. I've been able to add in almond butter, rice cakes, bacon and most other pork.......................it's still pretty bland, but I have a little more variety now....................

[CarlO]

Thanks to everyone for your responses to my initial query about fibre. I'm VERY new to all this, and just barely getting started on the diet diagnostics. I was diagnosed in mid-May this year. My GI MD is very competent technically and a good person to work with. But, I now recognize that he is tilted toward the use of medications, and has not provided much help with the diet aspects. So, diet is a work in progress - just beginning. I will be 89 on Oct. 7, so this is not a good time in life to deal with new problems. Have a good week end. Carl

[Blueberry]

Best of luck CarlO in working out a diet that settles your stomach! Hope you have things going in the right direction by Oct. 7th so you can celebrate in style.

[CarlO]

Thanks to all the kind responders about fiber. I'm just starting to learn, and your comments have been a great help. …. I will move over to some other topics now - - diet more generally - - the primary meds, and the unusually high costs of the primary meds. Have a good week end.
Carl