My MC started after 6-8 weeks of doing something different. 1) I had started an intense first of fruits and vegetables with huge smoothies every morning and big salads every night 2) I also began taking high doses of Zantac for acid reflux (300 mg twice a day)
I'm wondering if either of these things could have brought on my MC?
Bob
Causes of MC
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Causes of MC
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic MC in July 2016, miserable ever since
MC affects
MC may not be fatal but it can be devastating. This forum has been extremely helpful in learning to live with MC, especially when you can talk to people who are having the same issues. I was at my wits end until I found this website and read the MC book. One if the biggest things to know is that most doctors really don't understand this disease as there are so many variables the causes and cures have yet to be accurately identified. Without absolute data doctors shy away from wanting to treat this disease. Most of them have told me to just live with it or they give you meds that either make it worse or adversely effect other things in your body.
Sometimes these meds are needed and really help but you should first try controlling it with diet and meds that have little or no side effects such as Imodium
Sometimes these meds are needed and really help but you should first try controlling it with diet and meds that have little or no side effects such as Imodium
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic MC in July 2016, miserable ever since
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Yes, ongoing symptoms of MC is devastating, demoralising and alienating.
Glad that this website and Tex's book has helped you.
So far as the causes of MC we have found for most people it is a combo of inputs, one, some or near all of the following
- genetics
- damage to the gut / inflammation due to ingestion of trigger foods like gluten, dairy etc
- nutritional imbalances ie Vit D3 deficiency, magnesium deficiency etc
- bacterial/viral infection
- medications NSAIDs, PPI's, SSRI's etc
- Extreme or long durations of stress (emotional, physical, mental)
- for women, major hormonal changes, menopause, pregnancy etc
- other health issues that have contributed to ongoing inflammation / nutritional deficiencies
based on the info you have provided my thought is - you already had some damage to your gut, was maybe deficient in Vit D3 and magnesium, then the combo of the zantac; major eating plan change; huge salads (high risk for bacteria), high fruit sugar intake with the smoothies and no animal protein may have been the elements that put you over the edge so to speak
hope this helps
Glad that this website and Tex's book has helped you.
So far as the causes of MC we have found for most people it is a combo of inputs, one, some or near all of the following
- genetics
- damage to the gut / inflammation due to ingestion of trigger foods like gluten, dairy etc
- nutritional imbalances ie Vit D3 deficiency, magnesium deficiency etc
- bacterial/viral infection
- medications NSAIDs, PPI's, SSRI's etc
- Extreme or long durations of stress (emotional, physical, mental)
- for women, major hormonal changes, menopause, pregnancy etc
- other health issues that have contributed to ongoing inflammation / nutritional deficiencies
based on the info you have provided my thought is - you already had some damage to your gut, was maybe deficient in Vit D3 and magnesium, then the combo of the zantac; major eating plan change; huge salads (high risk for bacteria), high fruit sugar intake with the smoothies and no animal protein may have been the elements that put you over the edge so to speak
hope this helps
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Hi Bob,
I would have to agree with Gabes' assessment of the likely cause of your MC. Often it's a combination of issues that somehow arise simultaneously to create a perfect storm, resulting in a cascade of events that trigger the disease. And if enough dominoes fall, the symptoms can become self-perpetuating.
While those diet changes are not known to cause MC, if something else has initiated the process (such as the presence of some kind of pathogen on any of the fruit or vegetables), then such a diet would indeed tend to accelerate the development (because fiber causes an intolerable amount of irritation when the intestines are inflamed). And while H2 blockers are not a common cause of MC, they are known to be associated with development of the disease or subsequent flares. As Gabes suggests, the mechanism by which this can happen may be the stomach acid reduction resulting from large doses of Zantac. This could allow any pathogens on salad ingredients to survive the trip through the stomach where they would normally be killed by normal stomach acidity. Once they reach the intestines, they would be home free. Of course they wouldn't really be free because the immune system would launch an attack against them. But the point is, once they get past the stomach acidity they are harder to kill.
So here's my theory as a possible scenario:
Acid reflux is a symptom of poor/incomplete/slow digestion. So the initial problem might have been at least partially due to the inability to produce enough enzymes to normally digest such a high volume of carbs. Most of us would probably have had to incrementally work our way up to that level by slowly increasing the volume of fruit and vegetables in our diet, to allow our small intestine to develop the capacity needed to accommodate such high demand on the production of certain enzymes. As we get older (or accrue intestinal damage from other issues) our ability to produce "normal" amounts of certain enzymes may be compromised.
For example, after controlling our MC symptoms many/most of us are able to go back to eating raw fruit and vegetables. But the catch is that most of us find that our maximum (enzyme production) capacity has been reduced because of the damage to the brush border regions of our small intestine as a result of the inflammation in our small intestine when the disease was active. Because of this, our capacity for digesting large amounts of certain foods in a single meal has been reduced. But please don't ask your doctor about this because she or he will almost surely mistakenly argue that the small intestine has nothing to do with MC, despite the availability of many published research articles verifying that the small intestine is indeed typically inflamed when MC is active.
At any rate, the sudden large diet shift might have caused digestive issues resulting in indigestion. And when it was treated by reducing the acid level, this removed one of the primary immune system defenses in the digestive system. This could have allowed bacteria into the gut, which would be attacked by the immune system, but such an attack causes inflammation. And in such a situation, if nothing is changed, conditions can only deteriorate as time passes.
But of course I could be all wet, and something else might have caused your case.
Tex
I would have to agree with Gabes' assessment of the likely cause of your MC. Often it's a combination of issues that somehow arise simultaneously to create a perfect storm, resulting in a cascade of events that trigger the disease. And if enough dominoes fall, the symptoms can become self-perpetuating.
While those diet changes are not known to cause MC, if something else has initiated the process (such as the presence of some kind of pathogen on any of the fruit or vegetables), then such a diet would indeed tend to accelerate the development (because fiber causes an intolerable amount of irritation when the intestines are inflamed). And while H2 blockers are not a common cause of MC, they are known to be associated with development of the disease or subsequent flares. As Gabes suggests, the mechanism by which this can happen may be the stomach acid reduction resulting from large doses of Zantac. This could allow any pathogens on salad ingredients to survive the trip through the stomach where they would normally be killed by normal stomach acidity. Once they reach the intestines, they would be home free. Of course they wouldn't really be free because the immune system would launch an attack against them. But the point is, once they get past the stomach acidity they are harder to kill.
So here's my theory as a possible scenario:
Acid reflux is a symptom of poor/incomplete/slow digestion. So the initial problem might have been at least partially due to the inability to produce enough enzymes to normally digest such a high volume of carbs. Most of us would probably have had to incrementally work our way up to that level by slowly increasing the volume of fruit and vegetables in our diet, to allow our small intestine to develop the capacity needed to accommodate such high demand on the production of certain enzymes. As we get older (or accrue intestinal damage from other issues) our ability to produce "normal" amounts of certain enzymes may be compromised.
For example, after controlling our MC symptoms many/most of us are able to go back to eating raw fruit and vegetables. But the catch is that most of us find that our maximum (enzyme production) capacity has been reduced because of the damage to the brush border regions of our small intestine as a result of the inflammation in our small intestine when the disease was active. Because of this, our capacity for digesting large amounts of certain foods in a single meal has been reduced. But please don't ask your doctor about this because she or he will almost surely mistakenly argue that the small intestine has nothing to do with MC, despite the availability of many published research articles verifying that the small intestine is indeed typically inflamed when MC is active.
At any rate, the sudden large diet shift might have caused digestive issues resulting in indigestion. And when it was treated by reducing the acid level, this removed one of the primary immune system defenses in the digestive system. This could have allowed bacteria into the gut, which would be attacked by the immune system, but such an attack causes inflammation. And in such a situation, if nothing is changed, conditions can only deteriorate as time passes.
But of course I could be all wet, and something else might have caused your case.
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.