Hello,
I've considered myself in remission for almost three years, but perhaps it's not really remission if I'm experiencing different symptoms than I had during the onset of the disease (extreme D). I've been having type 1 stools and bloating/lots of abdominal distension for several months. The distension gets worse after a BM. My diet is not varied; I've been eating the same foods for years but have made small additions. I'm not sure where to start with this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Anne
Bloat/Constipation
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Re: Bloat/Constipation
What are you eating and drinking?
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.
Re: Bloat/Constipation
I eat lots of turkey. Other common foods include shrimp, salmon, sunbutter, Cocoyo yougurt, bananas, white rice, avocado, cucumber and Violife DF cheese. I was eating a lot of GoMacro bars which are clean except for pea protein, so I'm trying to stay away from those as they may be one cause of the problem.I've been drinking 2-3 cups of coffee on some days and also occassional Kombucha. These are probably the most common foods for me.
Anne
Anne
Re: Bloat/Constipation
If I were a Doctor, I would be able to order tests to help in diagnosing your issues. Since I can't order any tests I'm going to have to guess (based on your description of symptoms, and your description of your diet) that you may have developed histamine intolerance (many of us do, after we've been living with MC for a while). A high percentage (over 90%) of people who are histamine intolerant experience bloating. Almost 70% of them experience abdominal pain, and over half of them have constipation.
I have histamine problems myself, so I'm quite familiar with foods that contain high levels of histamine. Looking at your diet:
The turkey is a good, safe food, but fish and shellfish are often high histamine foods (depending on how long they have been stored at refrigeration temperatures). When fresh frozen, fish and shellfish (and this applies to chicken as well) have histamine levels relatively low, but the longer they are stored at above 0°F temperatures, the higher their histamine level climbs. I have to avoid them all. Bananas are a high histamine food, unless they're green. Coffee mostly has a moderate histamine level, although some coffee may have high histamine levels. Tea seems to me to have higher histamine levels than coffee. Kombucha has a high histamine level, as does any fermented food. I have no idea how the artificial cheese might rate, but with that many ingredients, and the high level of processing, it's likely to be a high histamine food, but that's just a guess. Any yogurt is likely to be high histamine too, because of the fermentation involved.
I used to be able to eat half an almost ripe banana each day, but I can't seem to do that anymore, especially if I drink coffee. As long as I avoid sources of high histamine, I can drink 2 cups of coffee each day.
Being histamine intolerant doesn't usually mean that we have to avoid all histamine (because we can't, anyway, since the digestive system requires it to produce acid, and probably for other purposes. But the problem is, "teasing" our body by avoiding histamine just enough to get by, seems to make the condition worse (at least it does to me). I have to give myself a little margin, because if I push my limits, the results/consequences last for several days afterward, and they can accumulate. I hope I'm wrong, but your symptoms seem to be a good fit, based on your diet.
I hope this helps,
Tex
I have histamine problems myself, so I'm quite familiar with foods that contain high levels of histamine. Looking at your diet:
The turkey is a good, safe food, but fish and shellfish are often high histamine foods (depending on how long they have been stored at refrigeration temperatures). When fresh frozen, fish and shellfish (and this applies to chicken as well) have histamine levels relatively low, but the longer they are stored at above 0°F temperatures, the higher their histamine level climbs. I have to avoid them all. Bananas are a high histamine food, unless they're green. Coffee mostly has a moderate histamine level, although some coffee may have high histamine levels. Tea seems to me to have higher histamine levels than coffee. Kombucha has a high histamine level, as does any fermented food. I have no idea how the artificial cheese might rate, but with that many ingredients, and the high level of processing, it's likely to be a high histamine food, but that's just a guess. Any yogurt is likely to be high histamine too, because of the fermentation involved.
I used to be able to eat half an almost ripe banana each day, but I can't seem to do that anymore, especially if I drink coffee. As long as I avoid sources of high histamine, I can drink 2 cups of coffee each day.
Being histamine intolerant doesn't usually mean that we have to avoid all histamine (because we can't, anyway, since the digestive system requires it to produce acid, and probably for other purposes. But the problem is, "teasing" our body by avoiding histamine just enough to get by, seems to make the condition worse (at least it does to me). I have to give myself a little margin, because if I push my limits, the results/consequences last for several days afterward, and they can accumulate. I hope I'm wrong, but your symptoms seem to be a good fit, based on your diet.
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: Bloat/Constipation
Thank you, Tex for your speedy response and for sharing (as always) your wealth of knowledge and experience. I'll work on my diet and try to substancially reduce the amount of histamine and see if that helps.
Again, thank you; and have a wonderful weekend!
Anne
Again, thank you; and have a wonderful weekend!
Anne
Re: Bloat/Constipation
I hope you have a pleasant weekend, too, and please let me know whether I'm right or wrong.
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.