Polls relevant to Microscopic Colitis, and related issues, can be posted here, to allow for the collection of data that might help to shed some light on this disease, and it's treatment options.
As everyone is different I can only offer what has been a 'safe food' for me and most generally safe for others. Along with going GF, DF, SoyF and EggF.
Eat LOTS of ....Plain Turkey and Smoked Deli Turkey the nitrate doesn't seem to bother me (but be careful to check it is Gluten Free) There are other proteins to consider (Chicken, Lamb, Cornish Hen, Wild Games of most any type except Bison/Buffalo that tends to wary on the caution side due to its relation to the Beef - which we avoid right now because it is hard on us in the beginning)
Steamed White Rice (brown is hard on us in the beginning) A cup of this a day is ok.
Red or Yellow potatoes peeled and overcooked :-)
Peeled carrot overcooked (some can't tolerate it in the beginning)
Rice Chex cereal (I am ok with Cinnamon Rice Chex)
Coconut milk, Almond Milk, Water, Sea Salt.
Once you try this diet for a few days you will have a better feeling about where your body is taking you. Be sure to eat when you are hungry regardless of proper eating times. Then come back here again and ask questions based on how you are doing.
Along with this be sure to be taking your VitD3 daily and applying your Magnesium (lotion or spray oil) morning and night.
All these things work together.
Good Luck
I wish you noticeable healing soon.
Erica
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
I'm sorry to hear about the reaction. The road to recovery is sometimes bumpy, because it's easy to make mistakes early on, and of course some things are beyond our control (such as the time it takes for healing to progress to the point where our digestive system begins to work much better again). In the meantime, our system tends to be very sensitive, and easily upset.
It's certainly possible that the apple puree might have been a problem, because most of us are sensitive to fiber and sugar while we are recovering. Small amounts are often tolerated, but if we get a bit too much, that can trigger a reaction. And sometimes a combination of certain foods can cause problems. We learn as we go, how to fine tune our diet. You are on the right track with a food diary that you can use to correlate how you feel with what you have eaten over the past few days.
Regarding safe foods, we all tend to have somewhat different sensitivities, but of course the worst problem is almost always gluten, followed by dairy products, then soy, and eggs. Not everyone is sensitive to all 4 of those, but some of us have additional sensitivities. But without the EnteroLab tests for guidance, the safest policy is to avoid those 4 foods and ingredients made from them during recovery, and then after we are in remission we can test them 1 at a time, to see if any of them can be safely added back into their diet. Everyone here seems to be sensitive to gluten, so there is little point in testing it back into the diet, but some of us can tolerate some of the other foods, especially after we have been in remission long enough to allow some significant healing of our intestines.
Erica had some good suggestions for foods to consider. I might add that most of us can continue to drink coffee if it did not send us to the bathroom soon after drinking it before our MC symptoms began. and plain black or green tea is usually safe. Some of the blended teas or coffees though may contain ingredients that cause problems, and most of those products do not list the ingredients on the label (at least they don't in the U.S.).
However, please be aware that virtually all of the so-called non-dairy coffee creamers do indeed contain dairy ingredients, despite their misleading name, and if we are sensitive to the casein in dairy products, then we will react to those coffee creamers. Most of us who continue to drink coffee or tea, either drink them plain, or add a little sugar, or Almond Milk, or Coconut Milk, or Hemp Milk, in place of conventional dairy creamers.
All artificial sweeteners should be avoided, and all raw vegetables should be avoided until after we have been in remission for a while. Most of us can tolerate a banana or 2, but again, too much can lead to a problem with fiber and sugar. Spicy foods should be avoided, and seasonings should be limited to salt and a small amount of pepper (if we can tolerate pepper). After we are in remission, we can usually tolerate a wider variety of seasonings.
In general, the simpler and blander the diet during the recovery period, the faster we will recover. Most of us do not tolerate probiotics very well during recovery, and we usually do better if we postpone taking any supplements other than those that are absolutely essential (such as vitamin D) until after we are in remission. Many of the nutrients in our food tends to end up in the toilet anyway, while we are recovering, so there's little point in worrying about eating a balanced diet until after we are in remission and our digestive system is working much better again.
I hope that some of this is helpful.
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.
Thank you both for your replies - much appreciated at this time. I chose HappyBird as my aspirationsl name because that I really want to be once more.;-)
My ten foods are - tea, coffee, sweet potato, peas, salt, pepper, toast, milk, jelly, Alpro custard. There isn't a decent protein source there so I'll take the custard out and replace with turkey.
I have been GF since 2010. My symptoms are now are very exaggerated and different to what I experienced in 2010 that prompted the GF diet. I think my current state was induced by severe stress and anxiety due to things beyond my control. I need to try and work around the stress & anxiety because unfortunately some of it cannot be removed from my life right now. At the beginning of this year I had two exams - January. Without much effort I managed to amass a further three exams and a very stressful one week long course in the beginning if July this year. The stress of all the exams was enormous and mostly self inflicted. I have now asked for a postponement of my current course, which has been agreed, in order to sort my medical problems out. This delays some stress so I can deal with my newly acquired MC.
When I realised my concentration was that of a gnat and I couldn't keep up with assignments and couldn't face the idea of exams in January 2016 I had no option other than to ask my course leaders for time off and postponement. I pushed myself too hard at the beginning of this year and didn't even need to - now found my limit - obviously.
Thanks again.......
PS. Erica......what is Rice Chex Cereal. I don't think we have this in the UK?
And you will be happy again, after you're able to find the key to the ideal diet that you need to get your health back. You are quite correct that stress is a major trigger for this disease, and severe chronic stress can destroy a long period of stable remission for many/most of us. We often have to downshift a gear or 2 and cut ourselves some slack at times, to allow our body to relax and heal.
If the milk you mentioned is Almond Milk, or Coconut Milk, or even Hemp Milk, then please disregard this. But if it's cow's milk, please note that all of us are lactose-intolerant while our gut is inflamed, because the inflammation compromises the ability of our small intestine to produce normal amounts of the enzymes needed to digest sugars. Lactase is the first enzyme to be lost, and the last to be recovered after remission is achieved. That makes all of us lactose intolerant whenever our MC is in a flare.
But more than that, most of us (roughly 75 %) are also casein-sensitive, and casein is the primary protein in all dairy products. This is a permanent sensitivity that causes the production of antibodies, similar to gluten. Some of us are also sensitive to soy, and for those of us who are sensitive to soy, peas and other legumes are off limits. While still a legume, many find that green beans are more easily tolerated than peas.
The Rice Chex cereals are made by General Mills, and 6 of the different versions are GF. You should be able to locate similar brands in health food stores that do not include the barley malt that puts most breakfast cereals off limits for us. The advantage of the GF Chex cereals is that they are mainstream products, and priced accordingly. The health store options are almost always much more expensive.
The Chex cereals are available online (from Amazon) in the UK, but they appear to be significantly more expensive than they are here in the States (roughly twice as expensive).
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.
My Rice Chex arrived yesterday, thanks for your links. I had my first Rich Chex breakfast with almond milk. It was lovely to have something that looked and felt like breakfast cereal with milk. I'm fine with almond milk - except on tea and coffee!
I'm Day three of my elimination diet and all seems well. BA, happily, normal and there is no abdominal discomfort. My headaches persist as does my extreme tiredness. I haven't started taking my supplements yet - was thinking of beginning Ostercare which contains Vit.D, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Selenium & Boron. The Almond milk has calcium, Vit. D, Vit. E & VitB12.
It's good to read that the Rice Chex seem to be OK, and you're doing better in general. It takes a long time for the fatigue to let up, but hopefully the headaches will disappear soon.
Thanks for the update,
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.
I have just noticed the section on the forum for Personal Journey's - I'm writing a potted history followed by my day to day diet, how I'm feeling & BM's. I think it would be a very good place to keep notes and maybe, just maybe it helps someone else.
I have a wonderful partner - who has takes a great interest in my health and who was once my GP. Since moving to the UK, where family cannot treat family, my medical needs are in the hands of others. It (Rice Chex) wasn't difficult to source apparently there is a USA food shop online in he UK so we'll be sourcing other products no doubt. I saw my GP today - he'd never heard of MC and doubts my GI specialist has either - seeing him in a few days time without the CT Scan he requested. Not sure how that will be received! I had no idea the CT Scan involved a thorough rinse out and dyes. I didn't think my bowels could take it.
I believe it's almost impossible to get a diagnosis on clinical evidence alone. It's not enough to present the history they want you to eat a vast amount of gluten before having a test - I refused in the grounds it would make me so ill I'd not be able to present for the test.
Not sure what medical services are like where you are, would be interesting to hear.
It depends on the Dr or GI here in the USA, I come from a fairly Rural area but there are great Drs. around here. The MC thing is still fairly new to most around my parts and my GI did not know how to treat me, she did a great job diagnosing me though, it was very frustrating. I did happen upon a Med Dr. Naturopath that is trying to learn and help to the best of his ability, he did get me on somewhat of a track and then it ended for him as well, the info just isn't out there regarding MC, and many Drs. do struggle helping with this as Medication is first on their list to help with.
Diet (and the wonderful help of this forum) has helped me completely, and I even had to remove my small helpings of hormone supplements too. Unless we are bleeding or losing so much weight that it requires hospitalization I would not undertake any exams except sending off an Enterolab test kit, that clinched the deal for me and what foods to basically veer away from. I did do a colonoscopy and had numerous biopsies taken and that is how they found LC. Without the colonoscopy it just doesn't get diagnosed.
These are the ones that I have tried and used, not sure, but I think you are able to order these as well. There are others but I'd start with lingual and topical to begin with, it has taken me 4 months to be able to start to take 1 100mg glycinate magnesium tablet and this is the best one for that http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BD ... 1_1&sr=8-1
Well this is a lot of info...Have a wonderful evening.
Cheers
Erica
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Not sure how that will be received! I had no idea the CT Scan involved a thorough rinse out and dyes. I didn't think my bowels could take it.