Weight Loss with Collagenous Colitis
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Weight Loss with Collagenous Colitis
I'm trying to understand why the weight loss occurs with Collagenous Colitis. I feel like I'm headed on the right path to healing, although I have a ways to go, I'm feeling better each day. I've been gluten free for about 17 years, but now have cut out dairy, eggs, corn, nuts until I get my test results back from Enterolab. However, I am still eating a lot of food ( chicken, ground turkey, veggies, fruits, sunflower and pumpkin seeds), just not a lot of variety. Yet, I continue to lose weight. What is it that causes the weight loss?
Hi,
The weight loss associated with MC is primarily due to two issues:
1. The inflammation in our intestines causes a fat malabsorption problem that also prevents normal absorption levels of the nutrients in our food, so that most of our nutrients pass through into the toilet. IOW, most of the calories in our food are lost.
2. MC causes our body to devote most of our available energy to fighting the inflammation and attempting to heal. But since the inflammation is slow to subside, and this prevents us from healing, all this energy is wasted. IOW, our body wastes a lot of energy on the disease, and this is why MC causes us to feel so fatigued when the disease is active.
Tex
The weight loss associated with MC is primarily due to two issues:
1. The inflammation in our intestines causes a fat malabsorption problem that also prevents normal absorption levels of the nutrients in our food, so that most of our nutrients pass through into the toilet. IOW, most of the calories in our food are lost.
2. MC causes our body to devote most of our available energy to fighting the inflammation and attempting to heal. But since the inflammation is slow to subside, and this prevents us from healing, all this energy is wasted. IOW, our body wastes a lot of energy on the disease, and this is why MC causes us to feel so fatigued when the disease is active.
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.
Thank you so much for your reply Tex! And so, I continue to work on the inflammation, and try to be patient. I'm working on this through diet alone at this point. My insurance company is making me jump through hoops for approval of the Budesonide. I have gotten the diarrhea under control for about a week now, but very limited on foods. And, I can feel that the inflammation is still very much an issue.
It takes time for the inflammation to subside. The intestines heal slowly. If you already have the diarrhea under control, you're well on your way, and success is in sight. The half-life of anti-gliadin antibodies is 120 days. But the half-life of most other food antibodies is only 5 or 6 days. So if you've been GF for that long, you should begin seeing weight gains in a matter of days to a week or so, rather than months or years, as is the case for the rest of us. You're probably almost there, thanks to being gluten-free for so long.
Tex
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 interesting info about the half-life of anti-gliadin antibodies vs half-life of other food antibodies. It makes me go back to my suspicion about a gluten free bread I had been eating that I purchased from a local health food store, made by a local gal in a home kitchen. I'm not placing any blame whatsoever, but I had become a little concerned about the possibility of cross-contamination. Or perhaps I am sensitive to oats which is one of the ingredients (I thought I was okay with oats, but it's a possibility). I stopped eating this bread in April, so if that was a factor, I'm getting closer to the end of that half-life.
Thanks again for your informative reply!
Cathy
Thanks again for your informative reply!
Cathy
Cathy,
Unfortunately, most of us are sensitive to the avenin in oats because of its molecular similarity to the gluten in wheat. The "experts" are wrong when they reccommend it for celiacs. That's my opinion — it hasn't been proven by medical researchers. The test trials they used to prove its safety were flawed in my opinion — the trials were too short. It's a much weaker allergen (compared with gluten), so if you haven't eaten oats in many years, it can take quite a while for the antibodies to build up to a level that exceeds the threshold above which a reaction is initiated.
A number of years ago (about 10) I did a test (my posts about it are in the archives). I hadn't eaten any oats for at least 5 or 6 years previously, so my antibody level had to be quite low initially. Eating an oat-based (certified gluten-free) cereal for breakfast only twice a week (I was testing the food rotation theory, hoping that would allow me to get away with it), it took 6 weeks before I began to react (the diarrhea started). But once the reaction began, even though I stopped eating oats immediately, it took another 6 weeks before the diarrhea completely stopped, which suggests that the half-life of oat antibodies may be longer than the half-lives of antibodies of most other foods (other than gluten).
Tex
Unfortunately, most of us are sensitive to the avenin in oats because of its molecular similarity to the gluten in wheat. The "experts" are wrong when they reccommend it for celiacs. That's my opinion — it hasn't been proven by medical researchers. The test trials they used to prove its safety were flawed in my opinion — the trials were too short. It's a much weaker allergen (compared with gluten), so if you haven't eaten oats in many years, it can take quite a while for the antibodies to build up to a level that exceeds the threshold above which a reaction is initiated.
A number of years ago (about 10) I did a test (my posts about it are in the archives). I hadn't eaten any oats for at least 5 or 6 years previously, so my antibody level had to be quite low initially. Eating an oat-based (certified gluten-free) cereal for breakfast only twice a week (I was testing the food rotation theory, hoping that would allow me to get away with it), it took 6 weeks before I began to react (the diarrhea started). But once the reaction began, even though I stopped eating oats immediately, it took another 6 weeks before the diarrhea completely stopped, which suggests that the half-life of oat antibodies may be longer than the half-lives of antibodies of most other foods (other than gluten).
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.
Wow! Well, that is probably a large piece of the puzzle then. I had been eating this gluten free bread in which oats is the first ingredient. Even though I was getting diarrhea, I looked at other things I was eating for a long time before becoming suspicious about the bread and removing it from my diet. This info is actually giving me a lot of hope that I am truly on the path to healing and just more time is needed. I'm interested to see what the Enterolab test says about Oats for me, but regardless, after reading your experience, I am convinced that this was part of my problem too. It makes complete sense.
Big, big gratitude from me to you once again!
Cathy
Big, big gratitude from me to you once again!
Cathy
This makes me wonder whether that oat-based bread might have triggered your CC in the first place (by provoking celiac disease to cause leaky gut, which led to the CC). But CC involves thickening of the collagen bands in the lamina propria of your colonic mucosa, and I would think that wouldn't happen within a short time frame. It seems logical that such thickening would require at least several months or more. How long did you eat the GF bread before the wheels fell off (it became obvious enough that something else was wrong that you agreed to a colonoscopy)?
Tex
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.
Tex,
I had been eating that gluten free bread for at least a year and a half, but possibly more like two years. It was part of our rotation of breakfasts and I ate it four times per week. Sometimes on hiking trips, I would make a nut butter sandwich with it too, so sometimes more than four times per week of somewhere between one and two years. I wish I had been keeping a food diary then. And, the diarrhea, kind of crept up, and I didn't pay a lot of attention since I always kind of leaned towards diarrhea in the best of times. So, it took until the very bad abdominal pains starting happening and the cramping up when out on a walk or hike that was so bad that it was hard to continue walking. Exercise seemed to speed up and intensify the abdominal pains. This was when I finally started to pay serious attention (I have a pretty thick skull). And then the diarrhea became pretty severe with undigested food (sorry for the TMI) along with the abdominal pains. While I'm writing this and thinking back on how ill I had become, I'm realizing how far I have come in the healing. The abdominal pains started right around February of this year. I didn't suspect the bread right away, and started eliminating other foods and supplements (I had been using collagen peptide powder and I thought that was irritating my intestines) It wasn't until around April that I became suspicious that the bread was a problem and that was when I cut it out of my diet. I put off going to the doc for a while because we don't have a good medical system in our area unless it's a sports related injury. I always tend to try to fix things myself with diet. But, I got so worried, I knew that I needed a colonoscopy so I sought that out. I'm thankful that the surgeon that performed the colonoscopy insisted on biopsies so that I got the diagnosis.
I had been eating that gluten free bread for at least a year and a half, but possibly more like two years. It was part of our rotation of breakfasts and I ate it four times per week. Sometimes on hiking trips, I would make a nut butter sandwich with it too, so sometimes more than four times per week of somewhere between one and two years. I wish I had been keeping a food diary then. And, the diarrhea, kind of crept up, and I didn't pay a lot of attention since I always kind of leaned towards diarrhea in the best of times. So, it took until the very bad abdominal pains starting happening and the cramping up when out on a walk or hike that was so bad that it was hard to continue walking. Exercise seemed to speed up and intensify the abdominal pains. This was when I finally started to pay serious attention (I have a pretty thick skull). And then the diarrhea became pretty severe with undigested food (sorry for the TMI) along with the abdominal pains. While I'm writing this and thinking back on how ill I had become, I'm realizing how far I have come in the healing. The abdominal pains started right around February of this year. I didn't suspect the bread right away, and started eliminating other foods and supplements (I had been using collagen peptide powder and I thought that was irritating my intestines) It wasn't until around April that I became suspicious that the bread was a problem and that was when I cut it out of my diet. I put off going to the doc for a while because we don't have a good medical system in our area unless it's a sports related injury. I always tend to try to fix things myself with diet. But, I got so worried, I knew that I needed a colonoscopy so I sought that out. I'm thankful that the surgeon that performed the colonoscopy insisted on biopsies so that I got the diagnosis.
Hmmmmmmm. It sounds as though that bread might have at least been the straw that finally broke the camel's back in the development of your CC. Because as I've long maintained, in my opinion, celiac disease and MC are not actually diseases — they're both symptoms of gluten sensitivity. But of course that's just my opinion.
Tex
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.
Hi Cfurer!
Thank you so much for taking the time to chime in. I read your post from 7/28. Indeed, my progress did stall. Perhaps you've given me a good clue as to the reason. I had to have some oral surgery, and thought that could have been the reason for my setback, but I had also been making a seed butter with pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I thought I was tolerating it well, and since I've been sooooooo hungry, I kinda ate a LOT of it! Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea. Plus, I made some buckwheat "bread" with buckwheat flour, coconut milk and baking soda and was spreading the nut butter on it. Maybe another not so great idea. So, I'm back to ground turkey, overcooked zucchini and carrots. Hoping to get it tamed back down. I'll be researching foods high in lectins. Do you happen to know where buckwheat falls in the lectin category?
My diet has always been high in nuts and seeds. Gluten free, but I had been eating an oat based bread, which I think is the reason I became so ill. I have celiac disease, but incorrectly thought I was okay with oats. Now, I seem to react to just about everything! Boo!
Thank you so much for taking the time to chime in. I read your post from 7/28. Indeed, my progress did stall. Perhaps you've given me a good clue as to the reason. I had to have some oral surgery, and thought that could have been the reason for my setback, but I had also been making a seed butter with pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I thought I was tolerating it well, and since I've been sooooooo hungry, I kinda ate a LOT of it! Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea. Plus, I made some buckwheat "bread" with buckwheat flour, coconut milk and baking soda and was spreading the nut butter on it. Maybe another not so great idea. So, I'm back to ground turkey, overcooked zucchini and carrots. Hoping to get it tamed back down. I'll be researching foods high in lectins. Do you happen to know where buckwheat falls in the lectin category?
My diet has always been high in nuts and seeds. Gluten free, but I had been eating an oat based bread, which I think is the reason I became so ill. I have celiac disease, but incorrectly thought I was okay with oats. Now, I seem to react to just about everything! Boo!
Hi Bubba - Oats are a grain and almost all grains contain lectins. Lectins are proteins used by plants as a deterrent for predators. It’s their defense. This is explained thoroughly in The Plant Paradox which I can’t recommend enough. The author has a website in which he provides a great list of foods to eliminate and include in order to implement a low lectin diet. Unfortunately buckwheat is on the eliminate list. He’s a very accomplished heart surgeon with amazing credentials. Here is the link:
https://gundrymd.com/plant-paradox-cleanse/
Since my remission I’ve occasionally eaten many grains and bread and seeds and chips without having a relapse. So it seems once you’ve healed you do develop a resilience, at least in my case.
https://gundrymd.com/plant-paradox-cleanse/
Since my remission I’ve occasionally eaten many grains and bread and seeds and chips without having a relapse. So it seems once you’ve healed you do develop a resilience, at least in my case.
DX CC 2013