I didn't start this in March 2015....so I thought I would create a quick timeline to kind of get my journey up to date.
March 2015 - found this support forum
April-June 2015 - hit many bumps trying to find a beginning and how to start my healing process, lots of tears, pain and depression.
July 2015 - June 2016 - still working hard at feeling normal, lots of mental aspect to go along with body ups and downs, will this ever start to get better?
July 2016 - June 2017 - finding there are good days but still not perfect ones too, sleeping better, intestine pain no longer an issue.
July 2017- June 2018 - healing is actually happening, I don't worry so much about where I'm going, have had mostly bristol 5,6 or 7 still not completely healed but doing sooo much better.
July 2018 - December 2018 - working on the mental aspect of MC and find I wish I didn't have to worry so much about what I put in my mouth, still don't cheat on diet and seeing better bristol 5 and 6 all the time. Occasionally a 7 creeps in why I am not sure yet.
January 2019 - March 2019 - I'm not sure when the road turned but I have experienced lots of bristol 4 and 5 and as March progresses there are more 4 than I have seen in the last 10 years. Healing has finally hit a benchmark I believe.
Erica P-G journal
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Erica P-G journal
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
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dolson
- Gentoo Penguin
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- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:35 pm
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Erica
I'm still learning about MC and know a minuscule amount about this dang disease. I'm almost afraid to say it, but my bathroom issues have improved. I am happy. I think it effects our mood big time. One thing I want to ask you Erica...what is bristol? I've never heard about this or the word. Dorothy
Hi Dorothy
Bristol refers to the type of stool 4 is a good normal one and 5 is soft and maybe fluffy or pencil like , 6 is not formed at all and 7 would be water diarrhea. Sorry to be so graphic
Bristol refers to the type of stool 4 is a good normal one and 5 is soft and maybe fluffy or pencil like , 6 is not formed at all and 7 would be water diarrhea. Sorry to be so graphic
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Erica P-G journal
Learning that breast implants are most likely giving me Silicone Toxicity and 4 years after getting them is when my body started to completely fall apart. I wish I knew to consider they contributed to the last 12 years of feeling like crap. I am making plans to have them explanted, and will follow up here after I have had some time to watch for other signs of healing.
Not everyone has this reason for getting a leaky gut, but I do feel that our bodies react to something and finding what that is takes LOTS of detective work. My hope is that everyone finds that culprit that created their symptoms.
Due to the excellent advice and help at this forum, I've learned how to detox and without this valuable information I truly believe I would have been incredibly sick, lost my job, and relationships could have been sorely damaged.
Not everyone has this reason for getting a leaky gut, but I do feel that our bodies react to something and finding what that is takes LOTS of detective work. My hope is that everyone finds that culprit that created their symptoms.
Due to the excellent advice and help at this forum, I've learned how to detox and without this valuable information I truly believe I would have been incredibly sick, lost my job, and relationships could have been sorely damaged.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Just thinking out loud, but if they cause chronic inflammation, that could cause MC, similar to any other form of chronic stress. 
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.
From what I'm learning (from a site of 80,000 women) is a resounding YES, BII causes chronic inflammation due to the degradation of the silicone shell over a long period of time and the emitting of heavy metals and silicone over time. The waves of feeling healed then a flare could be due to the emitting of these toxins and it would keep one in a constant search for why they go into a flare without any reason.
I'll be happy if I can get away from all the other annoying symptoms that keep cropping up.....peeling skin on fingers, dry eyes, floaters, skin eruptions (zits), lesions that come an go. No matter how hard I try to get good sleep, stay moderately active, take appropriate VitD and Magnesium, B's, C and adequate water, I can't seem to beat the symptoms.
I'll be happy if I can get away from all the other annoying symptoms that keep cropping up.....peeling skin on fingers, dry eyes, floaters, skin eruptions (zits), lesions that come an go. No matter how hard I try to get good sleep, stay moderately active, take appropriate VitD and Magnesium, B's, C and adequate water, I can't seem to beat the symptoms.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Updating new blood work (last time was in 2015 and 2017)
My CRP is a 1.6 out of a range of 0-5 = I'm still reacting to something
ESR is 7 = range is 0-20 must be another factor in regards to reacting to something or inflammation
VitD was 83 in 2017 it is now 52 = I still need to be on larger than normal doses of VitD
Magnesium-RBC is 2.2 out of a range of 1.7-2.5 = based on VitD dropping levels that means I do not have enough Magnesium to fulfill keeping that up so I need to up my Magnesium from 400mg a day to at least 500-600mg a day.
Thyroglogulin IgG - never paid attention to this one before but it is high at 10.4 in a range of less than 4.11
T. Peroxidase IgG - never paid attention to this one before but it is high at 14.6 in a range of less than 5.61
Blood pressure 122/68 = I've never had BP this high, last time was when I was pregnant....it usually is around 110/70
Resting Glucose is 85 = that's good
Cholesterol 196 = well its under 200 so I'm ok with that
HDL 52.8 = its over 40 that is is good
LDL 128 = its 28 points over the 100 threshold
NON-HDL CHOL 143 = it's 13 points over the 130 threshold
My CRP is a 1.6 out of a range of 0-5 = I'm still reacting to something
ESR is 7 = range is 0-20 must be another factor in regards to reacting to something or inflammation
VitD was 83 in 2017 it is now 52 = I still need to be on larger than normal doses of VitD
Magnesium-RBC is 2.2 out of a range of 1.7-2.5 = based on VitD dropping levels that means I do not have enough Magnesium to fulfill keeping that up so I need to up my Magnesium from 400mg a day to at least 500-600mg a day.
Thyroglogulin IgG - never paid attention to this one before but it is high at 10.4 in a range of less than 4.11
T. Peroxidase IgG - never paid attention to this one before but it is high at 14.6 in a range of less than 5.61
Blood pressure 122/68 = I've never had BP this high, last time was when I was pregnant....it usually is around 110/70
Resting Glucose is 85 = that's good
Cholesterol 196 = well its under 200 so I'm ok with that
HDL 52.8 = its over 40 that is is good
LDL 128 = its 28 points over the 100 threshold
NON-HDL CHOL 143 = it's 13 points over the 130 threshold
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
This update is hard for me to write.... 
I so wanted to be one of the people who had gotten a diagnosis of LC to be a 'light case' but that is not to be.
I need to document my experiment because it proved to me that I will need to be Gluten Free for LIFE.
It has only been 2 weeks and the hits here and there of a small treat maybe a total of 5 times with the last treat being 3 days ago Sunday at my grandsons birthdays led to a horrific allergic reaction last night Tuesday to the degree that I was light headed, felt every part of my body had emptied into the toilet, with major sweating and chills and eventually blacking out and falling off the toilet only to hit my head on the tub, awaking to ringing in the left ear. I eventually was able to fall asleep again, but the next morning my face itched. The only good thing was I wasn't bloated anymore and my gut didn't hurt.
I attribute this to an anaphylactic episode due to tipping the scale of gluten in my intestines, and my immune system getting rid of it as quickly as possible.
This has scared me so bad that I will never trust that I can even partake in a little gluten, as this episode shook me up pretty good. I shared exactly what happened to me with my family and I hope moving forward that if they want me to participate in any food related environment they will hopefully provide something gluten free, if not I will need to be my own advocate, period.
I thank this community for being here so I can vent and document things, even when they are as hard as this one to make.
I so wanted to be one of the people who had gotten a diagnosis of LC to be a 'light case' but that is not to be.
I need to document my experiment because it proved to me that I will need to be Gluten Free for LIFE.
It has only been 2 weeks and the hits here and there of a small treat maybe a total of 5 times with the last treat being 3 days ago Sunday at my grandsons birthdays led to a horrific allergic reaction last night Tuesday to the degree that I was light headed, felt every part of my body had emptied into the toilet, with major sweating and chills and eventually blacking out and falling off the toilet only to hit my head on the tub, awaking to ringing in the left ear. I eventually was able to fall asleep again, but the next morning my face itched. The only good thing was I wasn't bloated anymore and my gut didn't hurt.
I attribute this to an anaphylactic episode due to tipping the scale of gluten in my intestines, and my immune system getting rid of it as quickly as possible.
This has scared me so bad that I will never trust that I can even partake in a little gluten, as this episode shook me up pretty good. I shared exactly what happened to me with my family and I hope moving forward that if they want me to participate in any food related environment they will hopefully provide something gluten free, if not I will need to be my own advocate, period.
I thank this community for being here so I can vent and document things, even when they are as hard as this one to make.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Hi Erica,
I agree with you, that sounds like an anaphylactic reaction. But here's the problem:
Anaphylactic reactions are IgE-based reactions that normally occur from a few seconds to maybe ten or fifteen minutes after exposure to the antigen (not three days).
There appear to be (at least) four possibilities:
1. The reaction was indeed anaphylactic, but it was caused by something else.
2. It wasn't anaphylactic. Check with your family members to see if anyone else might have recently had a virus. The timeline is about right for the incubation of a virus.
3. It wasn't anaphylactic. It was caused by a virus in conjunction with an MC (gluten-triggered) reaction.
4. It was anaphylactic, and it involved all three of the previous possibilities.
Normally, a gluten-triggered (IgA-based) reaction occurs about 3–6 hours after exposure.
If an IgG reaction is involved, due to progressive accumulation of damage caused by a series of gluten exposures, the accumulated damage has to exceed your reaction threshold. This could occur at any time (over a period of days, not hours), but it would normally occur very soon after the last gluten exposure (as the damage threshold is exceeded). IOW, I'm leaning toward possibility number 3, but your conclusion that it was caused by gluten might be correct — it could have been a severe gluten reaction (without being anaphylactic). The rash the next day could have been because wheat is a high-histamine food.
That said, that's just my opinion. What actually happened, is anyone's guess.
Sometimes unusual events happen with MC. I can recall a few episodes when I was initially reacting (before any diet changes) when I had virtually the same thing happen to me (including the chills and fever), except that I also sometimes vomited at the same time, but I managed to keep from passing out, despite becoming so light-headed that I had to lean my head on a nearby sink for a few minutes and I was afraid to try to stand. This happened at least several times that I can recall. It can be a mighty cruel disease, that's for sure.
Tex
I agree with you, that sounds like an anaphylactic reaction. But here's the problem:
Anaphylactic reactions are IgE-based reactions that normally occur from a few seconds to maybe ten or fifteen minutes after exposure to the antigen (not three days).
There appear to be (at least) four possibilities:
1. The reaction was indeed anaphylactic, but it was caused by something else.
2. It wasn't anaphylactic. Check with your family members to see if anyone else might have recently had a virus. The timeline is about right for the incubation of a virus.
3. It wasn't anaphylactic. It was caused by a virus in conjunction with an MC (gluten-triggered) reaction.
4. It was anaphylactic, and it involved all three of the previous possibilities.
Normally, a gluten-triggered (IgA-based) reaction occurs about 3–6 hours after exposure.
If an IgG reaction is involved, due to progressive accumulation of damage caused by a series of gluten exposures, the accumulated damage has to exceed your reaction threshold. This could occur at any time (over a period of days, not hours), but it would normally occur very soon after the last gluten exposure (as the damage threshold is exceeded). IOW, I'm leaning toward possibility number 3, but your conclusion that it was caused by gluten might be correct — it could have been a severe gluten reaction (without being anaphylactic). The rash the next day could have been because wheat is a high-histamine food.
That said, that's just my opinion. What actually happened, is anyone's guess.
Sometimes unusual events happen with MC. I can recall a few episodes when I was initially reacting (before any diet changes) when I had virtually the same thing happen to me (including the chills and fever), except that I also sometimes vomited at the same time, but I managed to keep from passing out, despite becoming so light-headed that I had to lean my head on a nearby sink for a few minutes and I was afraid to try to stand. This happened at least several times that I can recall. It can be a mighty cruel disease, that's for sure.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.
Yes, yes, an yes....there has been rotating viruses going on amongst All the grandkids and just recently my husband caught a cold last Thursday and between him and watching one of those kids on Saturday, then attending the birthday on Sunday that would have been a prime virus incubation period especially since I sleep with one of them.
I started feeling yucky Monday morning no fever just really bloated and a little itchy on my face, ears. So perhaps it was just a big build up of viruses that help set it all off.
My immune system is getting stronger after my explant but it still reacts to foods I’ve been predisposed to that don’t agree with me.
So Tex, does it sound more like a stomach bug intensified by the fact of having MC?
Thank you for some semblance of real possibilities.
Hugs
Erica
I started feeling yucky Monday morning no fever just really bloated and a little itchy on my face, ears. So perhaps it was just a big build up of viruses that help set it all off.
My immune system is getting stronger after my explant but it still reacts to foods I’ve been predisposed to that don’t agree with me.
So Tex, does it sound more like a stomach bug intensified by the fact of having MC?
Thank you for some semblance of real possibilities.
Hugs
Erica
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Yes it does, especially if you've had that many opportunities to catch a virus. But I also think that the itchy face might have been a histamine reaction caused by the previous gluten exposure.
Hugs,
Tex
Hugs,
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.
Ok then, I can feel a bit better knowing I shouldn’t have such a violent reaction to gluten like that unless it has a partner in crime such as viruses 
All good to know, it helps to put all this into perspective and why it’s still a good idea to be gluten free regardless, it’s just one less symptom to have to deal with when there is so much going on around us that we can’t see.
Thank you so much for your comments, and knowledge.
Hugs
Erica
All good to know, it helps to put all this into perspective and why it’s still a good idea to be gluten free regardless, it’s just one less symptom to have to deal with when there is so much going on around us that we can’t see.
Thank you so much for your comments, and knowledge.
Hugs
Erica
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
It's been 5 full years since I changed my diet....I'm making a note in the journal today that I am still NOT able to eat dairy (ice cream cake) a small 2x2 piece gave me instant (well after 2 hours) WD, complete brown water. It was not urgent but it continued into the next morning, by the afternoon of the day after the bday party a few solid pieces began to show up and the morning of the third the reaction had dissipated even more so.
I am feeling much better these days, I am at my 10 month mark after my explant. Regardless of my dairy indulging, my body has been on a regular detox schedule about every 8 weeks....how I know is for the last 5 years I have not had to wear any antiperspirant and now if I don't during a detoxing my arm pits smell like a skunk! I am not kidding....
I am thinking so much more clearly, I have such better energy and my muscles and joints have improved strength in them.
I need to continue to staying true to my diet, I feel my immune system has strengthened as well.
I'm still taking 5000iu VitD at breakfast and 200mg Mag Glycinate morning and night (whether it is in tablet or lotion form).
I am feeling much better these days, I am at my 10 month mark after my explant. Regardless of my dairy indulging, my body has been on a regular detox schedule about every 8 weeks....how I know is for the last 5 years I have not had to wear any antiperspirant and now if I don't during a detoxing my arm pits smell like a skunk! I am not kidding....
I am thinking so much more clearly, I have such better energy and my muscles and joints have improved strength in them.
I need to continue to staying true to my diet, I feel my immune system has strengthened as well.
I'm still taking 5000iu VitD at breakfast and 200mg Mag Glycinate morning and night (whether it is in tablet or lotion form).
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Another milestone update....
I went on lengthy vacation for the first time since 2004 and did OK!
Ever since I had my breast implants Explanted last July 2019 I have gotten better healing under my belt gradually and I am sure I will continue for a while longer.
Stress still does a number on my body and stool situation but my body seems to handle stress a little differently now than I did in previous years.
My mom and I were able to fly across country North and South numerous flights this Summer visiting a few family members (July 1-July 12) I learned that I could find foods quite easily in the North but the South I had to watch out as being GF wasn't as easy there. Lots of Sugared tea offered in the South and spiced foods (which neither are very nice to my LC situation) but I survived and I didn't lose any weight so I must have gotten just enough sustenance along the way.
I have had more normal stools than I have ever had in the last 16 years, I must finally be healing, less stress, finding the right food combo and no inflammation within the body which I think is the biggest clue to how we are healing. If I hadn't gone with my gut instinct about the foreign material in my body and removing it I may not ever have found this balance yet.
My job has ended for the time being and uncertain if it will resume next Spring or not. I would have thought that stress would have set off a flare but so far I am handling things as well as possible.
I went on lengthy vacation for the first time since 2004 and did OK!
Ever since I had my breast implants Explanted last July 2019 I have gotten better healing under my belt gradually and I am sure I will continue for a while longer.
Stress still does a number on my body and stool situation but my body seems to handle stress a little differently now than I did in previous years.
My mom and I were able to fly across country North and South numerous flights this Summer visiting a few family members (July 1-July 12) I learned that I could find foods quite easily in the North but the South I had to watch out as being GF wasn't as easy there. Lots of Sugared tea offered in the South and spiced foods (which neither are very nice to my LC situation) but I survived and I didn't lose any weight so I must have gotten just enough sustenance along the way.
I have had more normal stools than I have ever had in the last 16 years, I must finally be healing, less stress, finding the right food combo and no inflammation within the body which I think is the biggest clue to how we are healing. If I hadn't gone with my gut instinct about the foreign material in my body and removing it I may not ever have found this balance yet.
My job has ended for the time being and uncertain if it will resume next Spring or not. I would have thought that stress would have set off a flare but so far I am handling things as well as possible.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
on the vacation and the Normans.