Hi Wayne and All,
I was diagnosed with MC last fall and have been on Budesonide for 4 mos. I started with (3) 3 mg/day for the 1st a month, (2) 3 mg/day for month 2, and (1) 3 mg / day for months 3 & 4. I took my last one a little over a wk. ago. In the meantime, I started getting my anxiety back now and then, can feel that old "gnawing feeling" in my belly (as well as all the animal noises), and much fatigue is setting back in. I was just starting to feel like "me" again after almost 8 months of dragging around! I am now on Zoloft (25 mg.) for the anxiety because I am prett high strung anyway I figure I'd better do something so I don't stress myself out!
I am eating mainly chicken, fish, cooked veggies, rice, soft fruits, fruit and veggie smoothies and am egg free, banana free, pineapple free,soy free, corn free since those showed sensitivities in a recent blood test. I am also GF, and pretty much beef, pork and venison- free as much as possible since my naturopath says digesting meat causes histamine to develop. I am wondering if this is true?? I am a beef & venison eater and really miss it and think I need it. (I lost 15 lbs. and haven't gotten it back over the past 8 mos. - 5 ft. 7 in. and now 124# - everyone tells me I'm too skinny and I know I lost all my wood-stacking muscle)
I have started taking one or 2 Allegra (along with weekly allergy shots) / day and just one "Magtein" (Magnesium L-Threonate, 144 mg each. Bottle says 667 mg - dose is 3 / day) as well as B12, "over-55" vitamins, and D3 drops (approx. 6K mg./day)
Anyway - I just read in your book it is better to taper the Budesonide down as I did, BUT to keep tapering by taking one every OTHER day...and so forth - also, to start the Allegra a week or so prior to completing the Budesonide.
Since I am feeling all those familiar uncomfortable feelings - especially yesterday and this morning - I left a message for my Gastro Dr. to write me a script for the Budesonide again - hoping I might be able to start up again and taper as you recommended in your book, Wayne. He tried calling back yesterday but I missed his call and I know he was going to say, "No". (A month ago I had asked him for a script for the 5th month to take one a day but he refused.)
Any input you have on how to proceed is greatly appreciated. If I am on the verge of relapsing, I would like to try to curtail that while the affects of the past 4 months treatment with Budesonide is still working somewhat.... I work full time, live alone, support my own home, and hate to start missing all kinds of work again. Too young to retire, but I am not functional at work when I am having the MC affects - IF I am even able to get out of bed in the first place. This morning I was exhausted.
Should I push my Dr. for another month or 2 of Budesonide to take every other day then every 2, or am I overreacting and what I am feeling is normal after stopping??
Also, what are your thoughts about meats causing histamines as they digest??
Thank you so much for listening and for all your help!
Respectfully,
Edna
Too late to start Budesonide back up??
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Hi Edna,
Yes, it sounds as though you are relapsing. If you feel that you need to restart budesonide, then restart it, but be aware that you'll need to start with a full dose and then lower the dose at the first signs of constipation. Excessive anxiety is usually a symptom of a chronic magnesium deficiency.
I wasn't aware that eating meat results in an excessive histamine buildup. For that matter, eating virtually anything results in the development of histamine, because it's part of the control mechanism of the digestive system. The stomach uses histamine as a signal to tell it how much gastric acid it needs to produce to digest a meal, for example. So we have to have a certain amount of histamine. But so what? That's all automatically taken care of by the digestive system's autonomic control (nervous) system. Protein is essential to good healing of the intestines and meat is our best (and most complete, nutrition-wise) source of protein.
Allergy shots, to "induce tolerance" only perpetuate the inflammation. Yes, they will reduce the symptoms, but as long as you are exposed to whatever allergen the shots are targeting, your immune system will continue to produce antibodies to that allergen, which will result in inflammation. So allergen shots improve personal comfort at the expense of increased risk of inflammatory diseases (in other words, autoimmune diseases).
I hope this addresses your concerns.
Tex
Yes, it sounds as though you are relapsing. If you feel that you need to restart budesonide, then restart it, but be aware that you'll need to start with a full dose and then lower the dose at the first signs of constipation. Excessive anxiety is usually a symptom of a chronic magnesium deficiency.
I wasn't aware that eating meat results in an excessive histamine buildup. For that matter, eating virtually anything results in the development of histamine, because it's part of the control mechanism of the digestive system. The stomach uses histamine as a signal to tell it how much gastric acid it needs to produce to digest a meal, for example. So we have to have a certain amount of histamine. But so what? That's all automatically taken care of by the digestive system's autonomic control (nervous) system. Protein is essential to good healing of the intestines and meat is our best (and most complete, nutrition-wise) source of protein.
Allergy shots, to "induce tolerance" only perpetuate the inflammation. Yes, they will reduce the symptoms, but as long as you are exposed to whatever allergen the shots are targeting, your immune system will continue to produce antibodies to that allergen, which will result in inflammation. So allergen shots improve personal comfort at the expense of increased risk of inflammatory diseases (in other words, autoimmune diseases).
I hope this addresses your concerns.
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.