Update, 3+ weeks into elimination diet, questions

[PhoenixRising]

I thought I’d post an update, as the last time I posted I was having trouble deciding between cutting out only gluten and dairy initially vs. going right into a full elimination diet, cutting out everything. Well, I decided to do a full elimination diet, and am into week 4 of this. Things have been going pretty well overall, although I’ve had a couple of slip-ups with both dairy (intentional mistake) and soy (accidental mistake – vitamins), as well as the ubiquitous “natural flavor” (accidental mistake – Vanilla Rice Chex). A food label can really get your hopes up, and then bam – natural flavor (which I’ve come to detest) is there toward the end to ruin everything!

Before my diagnosis I was having explosive WD between 5-10 times a day with unbelievably perilous urgency, major gas and discomfort. Upon diagnosis, I went on Lialda and began tapering off of sertraline (October 2015). My BMs just prior to starting the elimination diet would occur anywhere from 1-3 times daily on average, mostly Bristol 6, reduced urgency but still explosive at times, and once in a while I would skip a day. Quality of life was greatly improved, but I realized the damage was still being done. Since beginning the elimination diet, I have mostly been going once a day without the urgency, and have skipped a day a few times. Gas is almost non-existent, which is awesome! I have not felt constipated, as when I do finally go, there is no straining. I have had a lot of back and forth between Bristol 4, 5, and 6, the sixes coming mostly when I ate something wrong.

My diet has been chicken, rice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, almond milk, rice chex (plain only, after reading the label more carefully), bananas, plain potato chips, occasional rice cakes, coffee (plain), tea (plain) and water. I wasn’t sure where I should be on the Bristol scale and for how long, before starting to add things back into my diet. I was feeling good, so I tested yellow summer squash, peeled and well-cooked at the end of week 3 on Wednesday. No problems, so I ate it again Thursday with no issue.

Then Friday, all hell started to break loose. I’ve been keeping a diary since starting the elimination diet. Here’s what I wrote in it on Friday:

3/25/16 – Friday; Day 23
Some gas in the afternoon, not painful or gurgly. Two BMs; medium amount of Bristol 4 (8:12pm), medium amount of Bristol 6/7 (just after midnight). Had chicken bone broth with chicken & rice and baby carrots (very soft after cooking in broth) after work around 3:45pm. Broth was cooked with water, whole chicken (non-injected), baby carrots, two whole onions (not chopped) and celery (4-inch chunks). Had a few more carrots with dinner, which was rice, and chicken from the broth. Probably had a total of one serving of baby carrots (13) in total for the day. Still have headache – might be overtired. I’m thinking the return of diarrhea was possibly brought on by the broth due to the onions and celery – maybe they leached something irritating into the broth. Another possibility is the fact that I was due to get my period today, and hormones might be affecting me. One other possibility is that I smoked a different brand of cigarettes for part of the day, and I have been suspicious of those cigarettes, 305s, in the past. Too many different things were unwittingly introduced all in one day. I unwisely assumed that the onions and celery cooking in the broth would be ok, since I wouldn’t eat any whole pieces of them.

I have some questions regarding my hormones (Saturday got worse after getting my period), and smoking, which I will ask in separate posts, but can anyone shed light on the onions and celery for me? I know actually eating onions makes me hate my life, but would they cause problems in the broth like that? What about the celery? Also, what’s the general consensus regarding when it’s ok to start testing foods? I’ve read many threads here which say to do it when your symptoms have calmed down or gone, but does that mean that your BMs should be back to what used to be normal for you pre-MC, or can you begin testing foods after having some – but not complete – improvement? Pre-MC, I always had BMs once or twice a day, and they were usually Bristol 3, sometimes 2 or 4. Is that what I should be having before adding foods back in, or am I ok having started when I did (mostly Bristol 5 and a few 4s)? Does everyone do it a little differently, depending on how they feel in general?

[Gabes-Apg]

Like many things in MC, what ingredients can cause issues is individual.

Me personally I have never been able to add onions back in.
Some have.

As to when to start adding ingredients, my advice is based on what you have shared above.... Stick with the bland safe eating plan as long as you can... This will oprimise healing.. Like when you break a bone it takes 8 weeks for the bone to heal, for our gut, it takes longer....
3 months of minimal symptoms and optimised healing would be the minimum. If you are changing medication or making lifestyle changes then I would encourage you to consider a longer period.

Trying too many new ingredients too soon could set you back.

Great news that you have seen improvements within weeks.

[Marcia K]

Hi. 2.5 years post diagnosed I just realized that I have issues with olive oil so that could cause issues for you as well. The Chex contain Vitamin E which is soy (that never dawned on me until it was mentioned on here.) What oil is used in the manufacturing of the potato chips that you are eating? I'm not sure about the garlic powder. Do you have Tex's book? There is a list in the back of what foods are safe for us to eat but even then it's not a one size fits all. It takes a lot of detective work to get you where you want to be but it will be worth it once you get your life back. Good luck on your journey to healing.

[PhoenixRising]

Gabes, thank you for your response! I know, be patient, right? My husband has told me a few times to be more patient with regard to dealing with this. I know you both are right. Actually, he's told me to be more patient numerous times over many years... patience has not been one of my stronger traits for the most part. I will continue to work on that, for sure. I am pretty happy that I've seen some improvements. Thank you for your encouraging words!

Marcia, I've wondered about the olive oil, too. I'm going to be looking for California olive oil the next time I go shopping, as I've seen discussed here. I just bought grapeseed oil to try, although I realize it's higher in polyunsaturated fats, so probably not a good choice for heavy usage. I've considered coconut oil, as I've seen it mentioned here and many other places online numerous times. I'm still pretty hesitant to try it, as I find much conflicting information about it, specifically regarding the saturated fat. I have a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease, and don't wish to open up a whole other can of worms on that front. The brand of rice chex I eat is Millville Rice Squares, and after reading your response, I went and checked the label - no mention of Vitamin E, so hoping I'm ok there. The potato chips label says: Potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: cottonseed, corn), sea salt. I haven't done Enterolab tests yet, so I don't know what to think about the corn oil. I will say that after getting rid of the non soy free vitamins and the Vanilla Rice Chex, things improved and were more consistent. I have Tex's book, and will refer to that section countless times, I'm sure. Thank you so much for your time and advice! I appreciate everyone here who shares their experiences and knowledge. I have already learned so much, and have only begun to scratch the surface. I know I have much more learning to do.

[tex]

All in all, you seem to be making good progress. I agree with you that the onions and celery might have sabotaged your recovery. Combined with hormonal changes, that could have created a perfect storm sort of event. And it's not impossible that stress caused by a change of tobacco might have contributed, also.

But you're becoming a better detective, and that's how we perfect our recovery program.

It's possible to introduce foods at any stage, but we have to remember that the earlier in our recovery program we begin to introduce "new" foods, the riskier the event. Six months or a year down the trail, will make food testing easier, because if a food doesn't work out, the reaction will be milder and shorter duration.

I hope that you'll be back on track soon.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

I know, be patient, right?

yes... with a safe eating plan almost sorted, now is the time to focus on some mental and emotional work -
'progress... not perfection'
peace with what is,
adjusting our thinking process from trying to 'fix' ourselves, to nurturing and healing ourselves. and doing that 'guilt free'

breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, any other relaxing activity,ie craft or colouring in. Find a hobby that calms the mind, reduces stress etc.

there are lots of audiobooks / podcasts / guided meditation tracks that can help with this...
even if you start with 10 minutes a day for a couple of weeks.

my routine is after the evening meal i listen to audiobooks or podcasts while i do some colouring in.
wi fi and mobile are turned off, relaxing scented candle..

(yes... former over achiever and former perfectionist here!!)

[Marcia K]

Gabes is spot on with her evening routine. I am trying to do those things as well. One evening I was on the computer until 10 p.m. and I popped awake at 3 a.m. It definitely makes a difference in my sleep when I sign off by 8 p.m. I bought a child's coloring book at the Dollar Store to try it out. I find coloring relaxing as well so I'm going to buy one of the adult books. I have trouble turning my mind off at night so I definitely have to work at it.

[PhoenixRising]

Tex, I think you're right about the whole perfect storm thing. I should have backed off the new foods with the hormonal changes that were about to occur, as I've suspected the hormones were affecting things in the past. The cigarettes were sort of beyond my control, as the place I buy them had run out of my regular ones, and I had to wait until Friday afternoon when they had more in. It was only part of a pack, but you never know. I surely will guard against that in the future. Also, the next time hormonal changes are due, I'll make sure that nothing else is different so that I can get a grasp on how much that affects things and start looking for solutions to that problem.

now is the time to focus on some mental and emotional work

Gabes, I agree... seems like I've been working on that for years.

peace with what is

I have trouble with that one quite often, and is one of the things I continue to work on. I am not very accepting in some regards, and always feel there has to be an answer or solution to things. (It's what brought me to this forum, instead of being satisfied with my GI doc's limited and vague information upon my diagnosis. There had to be more to it than what he told me.) Even if I know that a solution is not likely, I keep racking my brain for some way out of a problem, and that's what I really need to work on. It's a funny thing... I have benefitted from my tenacity at times, and at other times, I'm pretty sure it has come back to bite me. I try to improve at choosing my battles. It's a matter of knowing which ones are really worth the fight. I will continue working on this. (And yes, current perfectionist here, although I do consciously fight it.)

I am interested in the yoga and meditation, and am trying to find a quiet space to do this. I have always found stretching to be very relaxing both physically and mentally. It releases a lot of tension on both fronts. Getting out into nature is a big one for me. I just love it! Put me in the middle of a forest, and all is right in the world! Everything else just fades away, and I feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Need more of that!

Marcia, I have thought of coloring too. I did it a couple of times as an adult, and found it to be pretty relaxing. I also tried painting years ago and wish I had continued with it. May have to dig that stuff out of storage. My relaxation in the evening is reading, working on photos, writing, etc., on the computer, but phone is definitely on silent mode in a different room. I have always considered myself very lucky, as I am a very heavy sleeper. Once I'm asleep, I might as well be dead! Unless I'm sick, I don't wake up until morning, and usually set two alarms as a precaution. I have slept through countless thunderstorms (supposedly really loud ones), and could possibly even be swept away by a tornado and never know the difference! While tent camping in bear country, I have always been thankful that my husband is a much lighter sleeper, so he could wake me before something tries to eat us! I also am lucky to fall asleep pretty quickly for the most part. I'm one of those people who drinks coffee all day and all evening, right up until bedtime, and I go right to sleep. (It doesn't make much sense, I know.) However, a few months ago I did switch to half-caff to try to ease my transition off of sertraline. I know too much caffeine can make me a little testy at times. I think it has helped calm me down a bit, and I've considered cutting back even further.

[Gabes-Apg]

with the 'peace with what is' aspect. I dont mean give up progressing, researching, looking for better ways - more so - dont obsess about moving forward, figuring everything out, doing things right, or when is the right time to add new ingredients.

Peace with what is - maybe would be better worded 'go with the flow' dont have set milestones and deadlines on health and wellness. Learn to listen to your body if things are going well then embrace an upgrade or a change. if things are not so good, take it easy and nurture things a bit

Dont compare yourself to others too much - everyone's journey is different . Yes there are guidelines and learnings from others but no two people will have the exact same journey.