Elimination Diet

missbutterfly · Post by **missbutterfly** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:37 pm

Hi,

Quick history..Diagnosed with lymphocytic MC 2 years ago. Initially took budesonide and it helped. MC came back and I wanted to try to control it with diet. Got enterolab results and cut out gluten and dairy and it seemed to help for a while. In the last 6-9 months, issues have gotten worse and I can't tolerate much fiber. This is really discouraging to me because I want to become a vegetarian for ethical reasons (already given up beef and pork) and also because fruits and veggies are so nutritious.

So I decide to go to a nutritionist/dietician bc my gastro doesn't believe in a food connection with microscopic colitis so I won't go to him for help. (Would love to find an MC specialist near me, but none of the ones listed on this site are in northern NJ). Nutritionist very quickly puts me on the IFM elimination diet, which she does with all of her patients with GI issues. I'm a week into it and it's not fun to be so restricted but the main problem is that I'm still having digestive issues with fruits and vegetables. I haven't allowed myself to feel sorry for myself over this because I know in the grand scheme of things, it's not serious. But I'm just so discouraged and feeling like no one understands this disease. Or maybe if I find someone who understands the disease, they'll tell me what I already know: that I can eat chicken and rice and that's about it.

I'm going to see the 3 weeks of the diet through, but I'm already spinning about what could be next...acupuncture? Maybe there's a safer medication (than steroids) that I could take long term?

Thanks for listening.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:31 pm

Hi there,

Sorry if this reply sounds short/abrupt but I am not very well post dental procedure but wanted to reply.

- eating plans / supps protocols for other IBD's don't work for MC.
- sadly in early stages of healing fruit and veges don't work, it causes increased inflammation
- in my 8.5 years on this forum I am yet to see someone be 100% in remission and be 100% vegetarian.

With the right approach (eating /lifestyle changes) and right supplements you can definitely eat more than chicken and rice.
With your enterolab results, what was the result for Soy?

Post by **tex** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:44 pm

Hi,

EDIT: Gabes posted while I was writing pretty much the same thing, so you can disregard most of this.

Unfortunately, there are no nutritionists who actually understand MC (unless they have it). Like most GI docs, they assume that all inflammatory bowel diseases can be treated the same way. They can't.

I have no idea what IFM stands for, but if it includes raw vegetables and/or fruit, or even cooked vegetables and/or fruit that are not peeled, it's unlikely to work for most C patients.

There are many mesalamine-based medications that can be used long-term, but they don't seem to be very effective for most MC patients. According to published research, you can safely take budesonide long-term as long as you keep the dose at or below 6 mg per day, but few gastroenterologists keep up with research well enough to realize that.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:20 pm

Forgot to mention, Yes, there are other medication options.
A list of options is included in the guidelines to recovery section

missbutterfly · Post by **missbutterfly** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:50 pm

Thanks Gabe and Tex. IFM = Institute for Foundational Medicine. It's so strange to me that all inflammatory GI issues don't respond to the same treatment -- I would think inflammation is inflammation. Ughhh.

I noticed there is a post about doctors who treat MC, but there was no one near me. Any other suggestions for finding someone?

Thanks :)

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:24 pm

Sadly no, MC is its own breed
Hence why getting good remission is hard work.

Re the doctor, my observations of the couple of thousand of contributors to this group, having a good doctor does not guarantee wellness / remission.

Informed self care, in the way of a good MC management system is how people attain remission and long term wellness.
Talk to your doctor about alternate medication options.
Things like the cholestryamine are available as compounds, so you can use functional practitioner to order this product.
For some, OTC antihistamines (along with diet and lifestyle changes ) to reduce symptoms and start healing (Ie no doctor required)
The eating plan, supplement recommendations, lifestyle changes suggested here are good foundations to long term wellness.
I would encourage you to read through some of the posts/discussions here, areas like the guidelines to recovery, member success stories area etc

Post by **tex** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:44 pm

missbutterfly wrote: It's so strange to me that all inflammatory GI issues don't respond to the same treatment -- I would think inflammation is inflammation. Ughhh.

Some clarification is in order. You can indeed treat all inflammatory bowel diseases successfully with diet changes. That's been proven with published research. The problem is, we all have different food sensitivities, different gut bacteria profiles, and different responses to treatment, so as Gabes often points out, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet for MC patients. And of all the IBDs, MC is almost always associated with the most food sensitivities. I hope this clarifies the issue.

Tex