Diagnosed with MC 2 days ago

scooponpoop · Post by **scooponpoop** » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:17 pm

Hello all!

I'm Nikki. 35 years old. I started having tummy issues in my late teens and diagnosed with IBS when I was 20. Fast forward to almost 9 years ago and tummy issues got worse. Especially the last 2 years. I have been telling my doctor about my tummy troubles for the last few years and he told me to have more fibre. Which I did but seemed to make it worse. I have a mantra when I am having urgency which is "I control my body, my body does not control me" haha- if only this were actually true. I started complaining more to my doc when I started experiecing incontinence because, what 35 year old can't control their BM? He sent me for a lot of blood work and stool samples. Came back negative for celiac which I was almost certain I had. Off for scopes i went. Well, finally... I had the scope done and have found out that I have Collgenous colitis. After reading food triggers on here the last 2 days, I have had a lot of ah-ha moments. It all makes so much sense now.
I am very glad to have found this forum. It's giving me lots of information.

I have so many questions though. Can someone please give me the breakdown of what we can eat Now? This is all so new. I stopped eating dairy years ago because of my IBS. But now.... no gluten, no glucose, only cooked veggies? Lots of protein but no eggs? Am I getting this right? Like tonight I made my daughter mac and cheese but can I get cross contamination? Or does that not count since I am not celiac but we are sensitive to it?

I didn't know what to eat so I boiled a potatoe and had a banana lol.

Do I still have IBS? And this CC? Or am I now just CC?

I was reading that those with thyroid issues can have this colitis. Well, that's me. Did the CC cause it? Or did low thyroid cause this?

How come this is a life disease?

Sorry for all the questions but this is all so new to me I want to be well informed.

Nice to meet you all :-)

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:23 am

First - IBS is not a disease it is a label given to people when the medical profession cannot figure out what is wrong. I used to be told I had ibs and to eat more fiber. Even when I would say to a doctor that fiber makes things worse The advice remained the same, "eat more fiber". I gave up on doctors and found this site, followed the advice given here and now all is well.

Second- If your test for celiac was a blood test then it is a very insensitive test and proves nothing and even if you don't have celiac you can be sensitive to gluten. Virtually every one here is. And yes cross contamination can be a problem

Third - There is no single diet that works for everyone but there are some generally safe foods. Check out this thread for more info on where to start: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22328

Fourth - Many of us here get testing done at Enterolab so that we can know, at least, what our primary food triggers are. A careful elimination diet will work too. It just takes more time and demands diligence and discipline.

Finally - welcome to the forum. If you follow the advice you get here it will change your life. It did mine.

Jean

Post by **tex** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:58 am

Hi Nikki,

Welcome to our Internet family. Jean did a great job of addressing your questions so I can't add much. Regarding the thyroid question: according to our informal poll, we are about 7 times as likely to have thyroid issues as someone in the general population, so it's pretty obvious that there's definitely an association. MC responds to various hormonal changes but it's likely that it's the autoimmune attributes of MC that cause the thyroid problems (due to the production of antibodies against the thyroid gland). This often happens with the pancreas, gallbladder, and other organs as well. MC can affect virtually any organ in the digestive system. MC is a life-long issue because once the genes that predispose to MC are triggered, there's no known way to untrigger them.

Again, welcome to the forum and please feel free to ask anything.

Incidentally, I agree with Jean that IBS is not a disease — it's a cop-out admitting incompetency by not just gastroenterologists and other health care professionals, but maybe our health care system as well. "IBS" is a fabricated disease that was invented to justify incompetency.

Tex

tasmtairy · Post by **tasmtairy** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:44 pm

Hi Nikki! I'm new too

I left my colonoscopy appt last month with a "high fiber" diet sheet, clean exam. 1 week later get a call that I have MC. Thank goodness my dr did biopsies because of the diarrhea and was dx with IBSD! Now it's no to low fiber....go figure!!

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:37 pm

Welcome newcomers

Glad you found us!

I have been healing for 2.5 years now with lots of diet change, rest, trial and error and plenty of patience because this MC stuff is really the SH!TS

Motto around here is "Progress not Perfection" because stress can bring on an episode of bathroom trips quite quickly! I'm still not perfect....but I can tell I am healing and getting better every month.

Ask lots of questions, read over the success stories and see what has worked for some.

Jean did an excellent job of explaining things to the point. Checking out the Eating Stages by Gabes is wonderful information :-)

Be sure to do Minimal fiber - cook your veggies really well, eat protein at every meal, have your VitD3 levels checked and get on the Elemental Magnesium band wagon....this will begin your healing journey very nicely.

Cheers
Erica

scooponpoop · Post by **scooponpoop** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:27 am

You guys are AMAZING!! It's hard to reply to every comment on my cell but i will definitly take everyone's words of wisdom and encouragement to heart. Thank you everyone so much :-)