After keeping my MC slightly under control with a gluten free diet and avoiding beans, spices, lactose and more for many years, I reached a place where my symptoms became worse and intolerable. I found this site, completed Enterolab testing and took my diet to the next level. Testing showed I needed to avoid all grains, all nuts, chicken, beef, tuna, dairy and soy. I have avoided all these for a year, and discovered other things that I need to avoid as well, like alcohol.
Gradually I have improved, and after I had 3 weeks of the most normal bowel movements I can ever remember having, I decided to add rice back into my diet. For 3 days in a row I ate three very small rice crackers. From the beginning they made me slightly nauseous, but no diarrhea so I continued. After the 3rd day the D returned in full force, and a month later I hope but can’t say for sure yet that I have recovered. And rice was my lowest at +1. Could I have tried too soon? (Obviously I should have paid attention to the nausea.)
Obviously rice is out, but I wonder if I should not ever back add any of the foods I registered sensitivities with in the testing.
I am also wondering if I should consider medication. Peptobismol, lotrimin, budesonide are all out based on side effects, and I hoped to reach remission through diet. I even had issues with psyllium husk, but 1 teaspoon of ground flaxseed added to food three times a day seems to have helped. I do take magnesium, calcium, D, B-12, but no supplements. Should I try some other kind of medication, in the short term? Just to get to a more normal diet?
There are some less-mainstream additions to my diet I would be interested in feedback on as well. I have a buckwheat pancake every morning, and also make grain-free biscuits and muffins with cassava flour, buckwheat flour, tapioca flour, maple syrup and duck eggs. I have experimented with every non-grain flour I could find. Could any of these flours be problematic? I hope not because my pumpkin muffin is the highlight of many days.
I eat buckwheat crackers and seek crackers as well, and the seed crackers cause a sore throat and the buckwheat sore mouth/gums for a couple of minutes when I eat them. Both have no ingredients I need to avoid, and neither cause diarrhea, so I ignore the mouth and throat reactions. Does this sound ok?
Early on, I told my friends and family that the hope is that I will heal with this severely restricted diet, then begin to gradually add some foods back in. Now people are asking, is it working? I knew gluten and dairy would always need to be avoided, but I hoped for at least the occasional salad. I have been so careful, never cheating once for a whole year, keeping my eye on the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I am feeling less hopeful about adding foods back to my diet.
Which is not to say I am not grateful. My symptoms have improved so much, and I am grateful that the diarrhea I lived with for many years is mostly gone. Truly grateful. I just thought that was the way my system worked and managed it as best as I could. So thank you to all of you whose posts helped me reach this point, and especially Tex and others who offered advice. Hoping now to reach full remission and figure out how I can start to eat more.
Thanks, and wishing you a wonderful year,
Jane
After a year, hoping to expand diet
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Re: After a year, hoping to expand diet
Hi Jane,
Congratulations on reaching remission after such a tough journey. Regarding adding a medication, what are you considering adding? The ones you have listed are the most effective, and the safest medications (other than cholestyramine, but cholestyramine would not help because you obviously don't have BAM).
I suspect the main reason why you can't re-add any foods to your diet is because you're not allowing sufficient time for a reasonable amount of intestinal healing. Until your healing has progressed, you're playing Russian roulette by trying to add foods to which you produced antibodies in EnterroLabs tests back into your diet. And the higher the score on those 11 other antigenic foods, the longer it is almost surely going to take. I'm not saying that you can't add foods to your diet, because there are plenty of other options out there. It's just risky to try to add the foods to which you react before your intestines have healed sufficiently.
Do you read the MCF newsletters? A recent newsletter described the details of why the intestines heal so slowly. For your convenience here's a direct link where you can either read or download a copy of that newsletter:
https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 864178.pdf
I hope this helps.
Tex
Congratulations on reaching remission after such a tough journey. Regarding adding a medication, what are you considering adding? The ones you have listed are the most effective, and the safest medications (other than cholestyramine, but cholestyramine would not help because you obviously don't have BAM).
I suspect the main reason why you can't re-add any foods to your diet is because you're not allowing sufficient time for a reasonable amount of intestinal healing. Until your healing has progressed, you're playing Russian roulette by trying to add foods to which you produced antibodies in EnterroLabs tests back into your diet. And the higher the score on those 11 other antigenic foods, the longer it is almost surely going to take. I'm not saying that you can't add foods to your diet, because there are plenty of other options out there. It's just risky to try to add the foods to which you react before your intestines have healed sufficiently.
Do you read the MCF newsletters? A recent newsletter described the details of why the intestines heal so slowly. For your convenience here's a direct link where you can either read or download a copy of that newsletter:
https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 864178.pdf
I hope this helps.
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.
Re: After a year, hoping to expand diet
Hi Jane,
I’ve also been on a super strict diet for almost a year without any cheats. Sending you lots of encouragement!
I’m not sure if what I’m about to share is the best way to go about things, but it’s what I’ve done. Tex, please correct me if this isn’t right!
I’ve introduced three new ingredients: buckwheat, carrot, and apple. I started with carrot, cooked very well and in a very small amount, and only for one day. It went well, but even so, I didn’t eat it again until the following week. I’ve been introducing it very slowly. I still don’t eat it daily, and I haven’t had any negative reactions.
Two weeks later, I did the same with buckwheat. I ate it in the form of couscous, and it agreed with me. Then, two more weeks later, yesterday I tried apple, baked in the oven until very soft, with nothing added—just the apple. It also sat well with me. Now, I’m eagerly waiting for next week to try it again.
Maybe the key is to start with very small amounts and wait a long time in between. At least, that’s what has worked for me. My plan is to continue adding more vegetables and fruits from the list of safe foods published here on the forum.
Honestly, I think these ingredients were never problematic for me. But when I decided to start the diet, I stripped it down to the bare minimum to identify problematic foods. At the beginning, I was only eating turkey, duck, white fish, shellfish, potato, sweet potato, cassava, and rice (which I later eliminated).
I hope my experience can be helpful to you.
Don’t lose hope; we’re on the right path.
Stay strong!
Sending you a big hug,
Marta
I’ve also been on a super strict diet for almost a year without any cheats. Sending you lots of encouragement!
I’m not sure if what I’m about to share is the best way to go about things, but it’s what I’ve done. Tex, please correct me if this isn’t right!
I’ve introduced three new ingredients: buckwheat, carrot, and apple. I started with carrot, cooked very well and in a very small amount, and only for one day. It went well, but even so, I didn’t eat it again until the following week. I’ve been introducing it very slowly. I still don’t eat it daily, and I haven’t had any negative reactions.
Two weeks later, I did the same with buckwheat. I ate it in the form of couscous, and it agreed with me. Then, two more weeks later, yesterday I tried apple, baked in the oven until very soft, with nothing added—just the apple. It also sat well with me. Now, I’m eagerly waiting for next week to try it again.
Maybe the key is to start with very small amounts and wait a long time in between. At least, that’s what has worked for me. My plan is to continue adding more vegetables and fruits from the list of safe foods published here on the forum.
Honestly, I think these ingredients were never problematic for me. But when I decided to start the diet, I stripped it down to the bare minimum to identify problematic foods. At the beginning, I was only eating turkey, duck, white fish, shellfish, potato, sweet potato, cassava, and rice (which I later eliminated).
I hope my experience can be helpful to you.
Don’t lose hope; we’re on the right path.
Stay strong!
Sending you a big hug,
Marta