Reading a lot but still have questions

[Pkw]

I was diagnosed with LMC back in March. My WD started in October. At that point I had no idea what was going on so kept eating whatever is in front of me. Once I got my diagnosis I started reading everything Tex Books, different groups discussions on the topic, medical papers etc. I have spent the last week reading tons of the postings on this site. But I still have questions. I know this is an individual disease as much as it is we all have the same diagnosis.

I have started out eating rice, wild meat, fish including shellfish, well cooked vegetables, a little bit of applesauce, coconut oil, olive oil, and specific carbohydrate muffins I make myself with almond flour
A few eggs and maple syrup or honey, avocado and a bananas or two. ( I did read about the histamines not sure I understand this even with all the reading I have done). I am struggling to get enough calories in and I’ve already lost 20 pounds. I really don’t have any more to lose as I was not heavy at all before.

I am taking Certirizine and Budesonide For my seasonal allergies. I also take to 2 L Glutamine 500 mg Which also contains rice flour cellulose and magnesium Stearate, 2 turmeric 2600mg Which contains cellulose and Meg Stearate, Querecetin 500 mg This contains cellulose, mag Stearate And silicone dioxide., Vitamin D 2000 IU which contains olive oil, bovine gelatin and glycerin, I’ve been having back pain and leg pain and something like restless leg syndrome so I’ve been using CBD cream on those. When I take an Imodium early on I would have no WD but frequent stools throughout the day. I then started the Pepto-Bismol treatment but after three weeks I couldn’t tolerate that anymore and it didn’t seem to be helping as my stool frequency was increasing. I have to admit I wasn’t following the diet I listed above during any of this. I was gluten-free and soy free but that was it. I live in Maryland and cannot get the Ento/lab ordered. If anyone knows a way around this please let me know. I was taking a Statin Livalo But stop that around the time I stopped the Pepto. My cholesterol is 300 with my LDL at 197. The doctor wants me to go back on the Statin .

My questions are should I be taking any other supplements or changing what I’m on? What are your thoughts on the Statin?

This week is when I got serious about the diet. To early to tell if what I am doing will work.
I would love to try chicken and turkey but because I couldn’t get the Ento/lab test. I was able to get a blood sensitivity test. There is no major reactions I did have minimal reactions to chicken fish eggs dairy and turkey. So I have been trying to avoid those until I get my symptoms under control.

I am always full and I got to tell you by the end of the day I’m tired of eating. Trying to maintain in 2000 cal is very hard on this diet. I do use the olive oil and the coconut purified oil to supplement. I only use about 2 tablespoons of each today may be a little more. Is there anything in my diet I can do to help. Also was just diagnosed with arthritis of the back. Haven’t seen the orthopedic Dr yet but I am thinking its inflammatory. I’ve been using E stim And red light therapy along with the CBD cream. That seems to of helped a little. Any other suggestions?


Thanks as always this group is so impressive that I changed my smile on Amazon to support this group. It’s nice to know there are so many going through the same things But my prayer is we can find a cure so we can all put an end to this misery.

[tex]

Hi,

Welcome to the group. The most practical way for residents of New York or Maryland to acquire an EnteroLab test kit, is to have a friend or relative who lives across the state line to order the kit for you. After they receive the kit, they can either send it to you, or you can drive across the state line and pick it up. After you collect the sample, it will be necessary to go out of state to ship it back to the lab.

If you tended to be at a normal or below normal weight level before you developed MC, it's very unlikely that you will be able to avoid losing weight now that you have the disease, because of the malabsorption issue that the disease causes, at least until you get the disease under control. You can regain the weight after your digestive system begins to heal. Although you may feel that you're eating a very restricted diet, compared with what many of us eat during our recovery, you appear to be eating a wide variety of items. In general, the fewer foods we eat during our recovery, the faster we are likely to be able to recover. Instead of trying to eat a wide variety of foods, limit your diet to a few simple, basic foods that are known to be absolutely safe. In other words, eat larger helpings of fewer foods. We don't need variety, we need safe foods that don't cause our immune systems to create antibodies.

Without any EnteroLab test results to verify their safety, you're currently eating more than a few items that might be perpetuating the reactions. And you're taking a number of supplements that may or may not contain ingredients that you may not be able to tolerate. When treating MC, less is more. It's best to try to get to remission first, and then worry about balancing your diet and touching all the bases with nutritional items after you have the MC under control. The problem with eating too many different foods, and trying to take supplements while attempting to recover, is that one or more of them may prevent you from ever reaching remission. Why take a chance? The sooner we can get to remission, the better off we are, because when we get the disease under control, our digestive system will heal, and we'll be able to digest our food properly again. After you're in remission, you can safely test each new food, and every supplement (one at a time) that you that you want to take, before you add them into your diet.

Reading the newsletter from the Microscopic Colitis Foundation at the following link, should help in selecting a diet.

https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 479987.pdf

Restless leg syndrome is usually caused by a magnesium deficiency. Vitamin D and magnesium are essential for proper immune system functioning, and most of us are deficient in vitamin D and magnesium when we developed the disease. In addition MC depletes magnesium and vitamin D, so those are the only two essential Supplements that most of us take while were recovering, unless we need to take a thyroid supplement, or a prescription supplement or medication. It will take a while for the diet to work, so don't be discouraged if it doesn't bring Immediate relief. The digestive system is slow to heal, especially from the inflammation damage caused by gluten.

I know nothing about the statin you're taking, but atorvastatin works great for me.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

[Pkw]

Just to clarify, go back on the Statin?

If I eat just the white rice wild meat, avocado, banana and the oils, That would be better?

Should I pick just one wild meat like the wild boar?

What do you all take for the muscle back pain it’s keeping me up at night. Actually I fell sleep fine it wakes me up and then I find it difficult to get back to sleep.

[tex]

As I said, I know nothing about the statin you were taking, but as someone who had a stroke with a cholesterol level of 229, if I had a cholesterol level of 300, I would be taking a statin. That said, I realize that everyone's cholesterol level is determined mostly by heredity, but the statins can help to lower that level. A low-carb diet can also lower it, but the statins give faster results.

Except for bison, and wild boar, all wild or wild-type (farm or ranch raised) wild meats are safe, including turkey (as long as it hasn't been adulterated with injected "tenderizers"). The problem with bison and wild boar is that over the decades,they have cross-bred with domestic livestock, so that virtually all of them contain DNA from domestic livestock. Lamb or cabrito (goat), is also safe, as is duck, goose, quail, pheasant, rabbit, emu, etc. If you're eating wild-type meat, it's not necessary to stick to just one type — they're all safe.

A few of us react to rice, but it's the safest grain, by far.

Is there a reason why you can't eat potatoes or sweet potatoes? They're a good source of carbs, if you're trying to prevent weight loss. They're safe for most (not all) of us.

Lower back pain is a common symptom of MC. I had arthritis so bad that my knees forced me to use a cane for walking, until I got my diet sorted out. I threw that cane away 20 years ago, and I haven't needed it since. Acetaminophen (Tylenol)is safe to use, as long as your kidney function is not compromised. But for most of us, it works best if we take it with food, and before the pain becomes intense. When I've waited too long before taking it, it didn't seen to have much effect on the pain level. Avoid drinking any alcohol while you're taking acetaminophen, to prevent possible kidney damage.

But difficulty sleeping, staying asleep, or getting back to sleep is usually associated with magnesium deficiency. Taking your last dose of (preferably) magnesium glycinate just before bedtime, will help your muscles to relax, and improve your sleep pattern.

Be careful with olive oil, it's sometimes adulterated with soy oil. Be sure the brand you use is on the safe list at the following site:

https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/certified-olive-oil-list

I hope this helps.

Tex

[Pkw]

Thanks Tex you are so kind to take the time to reply to all of us.

[Pkw]

Good evening, so to update. I am eating wild meat, white rice, olive oil, coconut oil, black olives, banana, Almond roll I make with on eggs almost twice a day. some salmon, white fish , shell fish, sweet potato, rutabaga, avocado, no more then ever other day. I drink only water and ginger tea I make with fresh ginger and add maple syurp once a day. If I drink more of the tea I drink it plain.

I am taking 2000 -3000 day vit d. Mag spray 8 sprays 3-4 times through out the day. I started my statin again, also take zinc,

I have for the last 2 weeks I have had Bristol scale 4 BM for about 3 -4 days in a row, then I on that last day in the evening I have a very large 4 and then it gets softer till the D is back. I then start taking immodium. It takes about 3 to get it to stop. When I look over my log there is no set thing I can see that causes it. How do I figure this out please.

[tex]

It's very difficult, if not impossible, to figure out a food problem when you're eating several possibly suspicious foods at the same time. You're not really doing an elimination diet, you're attempting to recover by avoiding certain foods. I can't remember everyone's history, but If you're selecting foods based on EnteroLab test results, you may be fine, but if not, how do you know that you're not reacting to the eggs or rice? And how about the tea, olives, ginger, maple syrup, etc.? How can you assume that they're safe? If you're only slightly sensitive to each of several individual ingredients, they may be fine individually, but when you eat them all together, they may cause you to react. Most of us recover by eating five or six simple foods, seasoned with salt, no other enhancements. When you're eating that much variety, there's no way to pinpoint the problem. At least I don't know of a way.

It's extremely difficult to select an entirely safe recovery diet, especially when we try to incorporate more than a few foods. On the other hand it's as easy as falling off a log to selected a diet that's not safe, because all you have to do is pick a few things we like. Sadly, we're much more likely to react to foods that we prefer, from our past experience, than foods that are new to us. That's just the nature of the beast we're attempting to defeat.

Tex

[Pkw]

I have ordered the test I’m waiting for it to come. It was a little complicated living in the state I do. But it says it takes weeks to get the results. So in the meantime I’m struggling to figure this out. And they don’t test for things like maple syrup do they ? I didn’t see it on the list. I did the A1 in the c1. There’s still lots of things it doesn’t test for. But at least it’s a place to start once I get the results. I have to be honest with you I hate rice. I never ate much before this. Thanks as always for your quick response.

[tex]

Hi,

You ordered the best tests. Unless they have a lot more orders than normal, they usually email the test results within a week or two after receiving the test kit with the sample. Personally, maple sugar was the only type of sugar that I could tolerate when I was initially reacting, but I don't know if that applies to anyone else. In general, we have to minimize our sugar intake until we heal, but for some odd reason, I could tolerate normal amounts of maple sugar. Very few people actually react to rice, but when you're trying to recover, it's best not to take any chances, especially if you're having trouble getting to or staying in remission.

EnteroLab doesn't check maple sugar, because in order to keep the cost of these test panels down, they only test foods that are the most likely to cause us to react. Items such as sugar and fiber don't cause our immune systems to produce antibodies, and the EnteroLab tests detect antibody levels to determine sensitivities.

Fiber and sugar are dose based reactions. In other words a very small amount is not a problem, but as we begin to eat more and more of them, at some point we exceed our tolerance threshold, and begin to react. By contrast, a true food sensitivity is not dose-dependent. A few molecules may cause us to react just as severely as a plateful, depending on our sensitivity level. At any rate, a true food sensitivity causes our immune systems to produce antibodies against that food or ingredient, and that tends to make us increasingly sensitive to those items. In fact, as we begin to cut them out of our diet, we become more sensitive to smaller amounts, as our immune systems home in on the problem, and attempts to eliminated it, which of course is impossible.

I hope this helps.

Tex