An update

Updates from members who have been successful in controlling their symptoms.

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WWWB
Little Blue Penguin
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An update

Post by WWWB »

I have just entered my 2nd month of an elimination diet and have been keeping a careful diet journal. My staple is ground turkey with jasmine rice. I add Herbs de Provence to the rice and sage to the ground turkey, which gives a bit of flavor. I am taking 3 mg budesonide (Entocort) every other day. Once I finish this course, at the beginning of June, I expect I will have to tweak my diet once again. I have been extremely lucky in that I have not had D for over a month. Every day I take 3 1,000 IU of Vitamin D, 2 sublingual Vitamin B12 (1000 mcg ea), 1/2 Claritin (a whole tab gives me vertigo), 1 400 mg magnesium citrate , 5-10 sprays of magnesium. All of what I have learned is from this forum and the generous sharing of its members. My doctor does not believe diet plays any role in MC.

Just before I started this diet I was in a free fall, had lost 10 pounds with chronic D, and was struggling with each day. Now I have Normans and I have gained back 5 pounds. I still have leg cramps at night so I try to use the spray several times a day. I feel really good and am back to hiking and playing ice hockey. I know a flare up can be a bite away so I am so careful of every bite.

I have slowly added small amounts of certain foods, most are recommendations from this forum, and the following are what I can tolerate: well cooked broccoli and asparagus, almond butter, rice cakes, occasional eggs, mustard, decaf coffee, vinegar, banana chips, almonds, Rice Chex, almond milk, peppermint tea, tortilla chips, avocado, dark chocolate, bacon, Everbar (hemp bar made with almond and coconut), Lara Bars (banana bead, pecan pie), salmon, deviled ham, sunflower seeds, Boar's Head turkey deli meat, wild rice, gluten free chicken stock.

In 3 weeks I am taking my dream trip - 10 days of white water rafting and camping down the Colorado in celebration of my 60th. I have been planning this for a year and have been terrified about the impact of my MC on this trip - imagine using an outdoor latrine with 14 new best friends. I called one of the managers of the outfit and it turns out he has MC too. He said it is workable if I bring many of my safe foods and we went through meal by meal of what would work and where they were able to substitute foods. This trip will be a huge challenge and I am a bit fearful but determined that this opportunity will not pass me by. I will check in afterwards and share, I hope, a success story.

Weezie
brandy
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Post by brandy »

Hi Weezie,

You will do great on your trip! I find I do better when traveling than when at home.....maybe due to less stress and being outside? I am totally envious of Colorado whitewater rafting!

It sounds like you have a good handle on your safe foods. Consider stay on your existing dose of Entocort until after your trip is complete.

Brandy
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tex
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Post by tex »

Weezie,

I agree with Brandy that as well as you are doing, you should be able to do well on the trip. The fact that one of the managers of the enterprise has MC should definitely be a plus.

Enjoy! We'll be looking forward to a trip report.

Tex
:cowboy:

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.
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Gabes-Apg
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

Congratulations weezie!!

wonderful news that your BM's are better, you are gaining weight and that you have been able to add foods back in!

and thanks for sharing, your post is a great summary for new people that the right eating plan, vit D3 and magnesium are the foundation to wellness...

have a wonderful time on the trip - being away from home and the excitement of doing the dream trip/ relaxation your body will flourish.

a suggestion - have some meals ready in the freezer for when you come home - i find that when the fun stuff stops, and we are not using as much adrenalin each day, mild symptoms can return... be ready to nurture your body if it needs it
Gabes Ryan

"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
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Marcia K
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Post by Marcia K »

Weezie, Have a wonderful time and let us know how it goes. It sounds like you'll be able to take a lot of the foods that you can tolerate along on the trip. That's great that you'll have another MCer along with you. Your trip sounds so exciting!
Marcia
------------
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
WWWB
Little Blue Penguin
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Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:06 am
Location: Maryland

Post by WWWB »

Thank you Brandy, Tex, Gabes and Marcia for the supportive words. When I first came on the forum I was always looking for stories to give me hope that I could live with this condition in a positive way. Perhaps this installment of my story may help someone who is trying to get on top of her diet. Fortunately I have just enough Entocort to make it to the end of the trip. I am pretty sure my doctor would not have given me another prescription. Gabes, having freezer meals of safe foods is such a great idea! I will be needing those foods to settle things down, especially once I stop Entocort.
One of the main things I learned on this MC journey is that this is a process with ups and downs. Thank you for providing a place to share both.
Weezie
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