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I've been creeping on this site since my cc diagnose in July. What a godsen this site has been. Thank you Tex and everyone else for donating so much time and energy.
A bit about myself - I started having health issue a few years ago that led me to the Paleo diet which I followed perfectly for over a year. Digestion problems started about 13 months later so I went aip and started to feel great. After 7 months, I was worried I was missing out on some nutrient so added eggs back in and that started the WD from hell. I was lucky enough to have my Dr order a colonoscopy after my stool sample didn't show anything concerning. My WD started in May and had a diagnosis by the end of July. Since I had been on a healing diet already I decided on budesonide. This worked wonders within 2 days. I was down to 90lbs so a welcomed relief.
I have since received my enterolab results and it showed that I have sensitivities to everything tested except pork and cashews. I already knew gluten, dairy, eggs and night shades but dang beef and chicken
I was down to 3mg of the budesonide until I over indulged on a few Lara bars(cashew cookie) a few days ago. Don't judge it was my birthday and the turkey soup wasn't cutting it. I'm guessing the sugar in dates is not my friend. Lesson learned! I went back to 6mg for a couple of days and all is back to my normal which isn't saying much. I do have a few questions if you don't mind.
I have a degenerate spine(16 levels) but I have been complaining of lower back pain for a few years now which is different from my usual back pain. I even had my Dr check for a kidney infection like four times and all negative. Do you think this is cc related? I've also had major body aches as well. If it is related, why?
Bone broth and liver from beef or chicken, bad? I haven't had any since my results from enterolab and my freezer is stocked
I was diagnosed with two different autoimmune skin diseases a few years ago and was tested neg to celiac at that time but did show celiac genes. How likely is that test reliable?
I'm sure I have a ton more questions but my brain is ya know done for now. Thanks for reading and any input. Much appreciated! Mary
I have a degenerate spine(16 levels) but I have been complaining of lower back pain for a few years now which is different from my usual back pain. I even had my Dr check for a kidney infection like four times and all negative. Do you think this is cc related? I've also had major body aches as well. If it is related, why?
body aches are common, this is due to excess inflammation and the body being deficient in Vit D3 and magnesium
Are you taking Vit D3 and magnesium??
Bone broth and liver from beef or chicken, bad? I haven't had any since my results from enterolab and my freezer is stocked
if beef and chicken were high on your enterolab results then I would avoid them for now - is there a neighbour or family member you can donate them to?
in these early stages it is best to stick with the safest ingredients majority of the time
I was diagnosed with two different autoimmune skin diseases a few years ago and was tested neg to celiac at that time but did show celiac genes. How likely is that test reliable?
Welcome to our Internet family. To add to what Gabes posted, I'll try to shed some light on your questions.
Normally, when food is digested the molecules in proteins are broken down into individual amino acids. These amino acids are allowed to pass through the tight junctions that comprise the innermost layer (the interior layer that's exposed to the nutrients and everything else that flows through the digestive system) of the mucosal lining of the small intestine into the bloodstream so that they can be transported to wherever they are needed to build new tissue as the body replaces old and/or damaged cells with new ones.
But unfortunately there's a problem with this process. Our digestive system evolved over millions of years, but roughly 10,000 years ago, when the neolithic period ushered in agriculture, a new food was introduced into our diet — wheat. 10,000 years sounds like a long time, but in terms of human evolution, it's only about 300 generations. And unfortunately wheat contains certain protein molecules that we cannot digest, namely gluten and glutenin. This also applies to relatives of wheat, including rye, barley, and others. And among those 3 grains, there are over 300 known proteins that humans cannot completely digest. So unfortunately our digestive system did not evolve to digest wheat, and it has not yet found a way to adapt to it. This doesn't just apply to celiacs — no humans can completely digest certain proteins in those 3 grains.
But when the digestive system is working normally, that's not a major issue, because the tight junctions only open wide enough to allow individual amino acids to pass through, and then they close again to prevent anything else (other than liquids) from passing into the bloodstream. When wheat (or rye, or barley) is digested, certain amino acid sequences in the molecules of certain proteins cannot be completely digested. These short to medium-length amino acid strings are known as peptides, and normally they just pass on through the digestive system without providing any nutritive benefits. (But they also do not cause any problems — they are just undigested matter, similar to fiber.)
Research shows that with repeated exposures, these peptides prompt the production of an enzyme known as zonulin. Zonulin promotes wider opening of the tight junctions. Humans who have one or more celiac genes are more significantly affected by this action, so that the tight junctions in their gut are more likely to begin opening too wide and stay open too long sooner than those who do not not have a celiac gene. Everyone is affected, but celiac genetics cause the problem to develop much more rapidly.
So what does this have to do with all the food sensitivities associated with CC/LC/MC? It turns out that when digestion is compromised (by the inflammation associated with MC), then certain other foods (such as dairy products, soy, eggs, etc.,) cannot be completely digested. And when some of the peptides that result from this partial digestion pass through the tight junctions (because the tight junctions are open too far) the immune system knows that those peptides shouldn't be there so it begins to produce antibodies against them, resulting in an inflammatory reaction similar to the reaction caused by wheat gluten.
But the problem doesn't stop there — those peptides in the blood stream have to go somewhere because the blood certainly can't store them. And they can't be used by the body to create new cells and tissue. So in order to get them out of the bloodstream, they are dumped into joints and organs, resulting in arthritis-like inflammation and pain in joints, and general body aches and pain (sometimes resulting in a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia.
Of course magnesium deficiency can also cause pain — it's reported that magnesium deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. Anyway, that's why some of us develop so many food sensitivities. And as the inflammation is propagated all over the body, this sets the stage for the development of of additional autoimmune diseases. The skin is the site of many issues associated with MC as the inflammation spreads.
So yes, lower back pain is very, very common with CC/LC/MC.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.
Thanks! The best description of leaky gut ever! I've had severe arthritis for years and I'm 52 yrs old so that makes a little more sense. I was diagnosed with arthritis when I was 8 and degenerative disc disease at 10. I also had carpol tunnel surgery on both hands in my early thirties. So I'm starting to see a trend
It seems like a large number of members here are from Texas and Minnesota - does anyone else noticed this?
Mary wrote:It seems like a large number of members here are from Texas and Minnesota - does anyone else noticed this?
Yes, I believe that we've discussed the fact that certain areas seem to be associated with higher prevalence of the disease. IMO this is probably due to past immigration patterns. In Minnesota it's probably due to a significant number of immigrants from the Scandinavian countries. In Texas, Scandinavian immigration has probably been somewhat lower (most Scandinavians probably think that it's too hot down here), but we have a lot of residents whose ancestors came from Germany (including me) and other cultures in that area of Europe with a background of gluten sensitivity.
Also, Texas has almost 2,000,000 residents who are from Irish backgrounds, and Ireland is notorious for gluten sensitivity. Minnesota has only about a fourth that many residents from Irish ancestors, but due to the size of the state, they make up almost 11 % of the population.
IOW, as I have pointed out previously, I believe that celiac disease and MC may not actually be diseases at all — IMO they are both simply symptoms of gluten sensitivity.
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.
That's very interesting about the geography aspect. I actually grew up in Denmark and the only person I know personally who has celiac disease is from Denmark as well.
