What did reaching remission look like for you?

[alim24]

Hey there,

I am, for the first time in my life, taking healing naturally from MC extremely seriously. For someone who lives for wine, chocolate, cheese, and pasta, to have gone without it for 3+ months is quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself! Unfortunately, cutting grains, alcohol, gluten/wheat, dairy, soy, refined sugar, etc alone has not lead to any immediate improvements. I have ordered my enterolab tests and can't wait to see what I learn from that. But in the meantime, I was wondering what remission looked like for those of you who have reached it. I understand it can take several months to even more than a year before remission, but how did you know you were on the right track? Were there any immediate improvements/changes?

Thanks!
Ali

[Gabes-Apg]

Hi There Ali

as healing takes time, sometimes we dont realise progress if we are monitoring it daily.
my interpretation of remission is majority of days with minimal symptoms
symptoms being - poop urgency, (or reduced constipation for those that constipation is an issue), gas, cramping, aches /pains, fatigue, brain fog,

for me, there was reduction with urgency, cramping in the first few months.
it took 6-9 months for the brain fog, fatigue, aches etc to be improved.

for me now, I can have 'treats' of things like some wine, mature cheese here and there but these are not every day foods.

food wise, the cravings are strong for things like chocolate, cheese, wine etc for the first 6 -9 months. after that time, and with days with minimal symptoms you won't want the impact of having those foods. there is a switch in your brain (thanks Gloria for teaching me this) that you think about the food for about 30 seconds and then you go, nope dont want it, not worth the impact that night/next day.
this is the mental and emotional aspects of life with MC. Acceptance, valuing remission, and enjoying days with minimal symptoms.


are you totally Gluten, Dairy free? or mostly. You have to be 100% gluten and dairy free to reduce the inflammation
if you are sharing kitchen at home or work with others that are having gluten, then you are high risk of contamination and still having exposure to gluten.

are you taking Vit D3 and magnesium to reduce inflammation and optimise healing in the gut?

[alim24]

Thanks for your response

I was dairy-free for 3 months but recently reintroduced goat milk before stumbling upon posts here that say no dairy of any kind -- so, I will be removing that again starting now. I had it in my coffee this morning and the gurgling has commenced (although it did not cause gurgling yesterday). The past week I have essentially gone full carnivore with the exception of rice cooked in canned coconut milk. I quickly noticed i was going once or twice a day rather than 15 times. I even feel a bit more energized. Prior to that week (when I reintroduced dairy) I was very strictly Paleo, so I'd say I've been 100% without gluten for 3 months now, even using separate pans to cook when others are cooking.

I have been surprised that i haven't really had any cravings through all of this. I keep saying that I think it's because my intentions are so pure If it was for something superficial like weight loss, I'd have wanted the candy/alcohol/pasta on day 2, but because this is a matter of feeling sick or not, to your point, it hasn't been that hard.

The hardest thing to lose had been coffee, but seeing that most people here don't have an issue with it, I added it back in last week. I was so happy to get it back in my life, but the only way i've found to enjoy it is with dairy of some kind. Sigh.

[Gabes-Apg]

Re the coffee. I believe that coffee (non instant) in the USA can tend to be bitter/stronger

I have adjusted to black coffee using a blend of beans that is sweater and milder. (here in Australia we are are lucky we have good range of good quality coffee) adjusting coffee source may help to do black coffee


that is great the energy is returning. the improvements with energy, pain, cramping etc can be so gradual we dont fully notice until we get a few months down the track
the other aspect of life with MC - is being aware and conscious without becoming obsessive. we cant avoid every trigger 100%. If we can avoid major triggers most of the time, and live life then that is a good balance.

[Rosie]

You will reach a series of "remissions", based on my experiences and those of others. When I first tackled my food sensitivities, and was somewhat discourage by how "fragile" my initial improvement seemed to be. But as time went on and more healing occurred, I could enjoy a wider selection of food without having a set-back, and set-backs were much shorter-lived. Small victories were eating food with more fiber, like a lettuce salad. Now after 11 years, I am still very careful about my big three of gluten, dairy and soy, but can enjoy a fairly wide range of other foods.

Speaking of coffee, have you tried any of the non-dairy milks for that? If so, you may have found them lacking. They tend to be thin, full of various thickeners, and sometimes have an off flavor. I decided to make my own creamer with home-made almond milk. I make it double strength, so it really does function as a creamer, thick and rich. It is a bit of work, but worth it to me! In fact, I also purchased some pure organic extracts of chocolate and hazelnut to add to the coffee. Then I make my own latte by heating up the almond milk and frothing it with a simple battery-operated frother. It tastes and looks wonderful and feels really special, important when we have given up so much to deal with our sensitivities. If you want the details of my process, feel free to pm me.

Rosie