Doctor's reaction to Dr. Fine's tests

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cludwig
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Post by cludwig »

Thanks for all your feedback,

It is hard to think clearly when I'm in the middle of this...as you all probably know.

Already starting out with lots of D....it's only 8 am. Tex, I don't know what my intolerences are since I've never gome more than a couple days without D. Dr. Fine's test says i'm allergic to gluten, dairy, soy, yeast.and egg. I wasn't even going to try corn. So, the last two days I haven't eaten any rice, rice protein powder, or coconut.

Today I'm going to eliminate the blueberries and mashed potatoes. I have been eating the applesause before. It is solana gold organic applesause....ingredients listed is organic apples...no sugar added.

Last night I read "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall. Has any of you looked at the SCD diet. It eliminates all grains and complex starches. It does include diary and eggs ..which I wouldn't eat. There is a very simple chicken soup recipe (chicken carrots and water) that i think I'll make today.

So here is what I'm planning on eating today.

banana, applesause, cashew butter and flaxseed oil smoothie

cod, carrots and asparagus(cooked to mush)


cup of chicken soup


two chicken thighs carrots and asparagus

cup of chicken soup.


Is this enough calories...I've lost three pounds in the last two days.
Should I add another food or just try to eat greater quantities of what's listed here? Is there a better nut butter I should use?

Thank you soo much for all your help. I couldn't go through this without you all, Cristi
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Post by Polly »

Aw, Cristi,

Sorry you're having such a rough patch. It's a good idea to make soup from scratch? Almost all broths have added yeast, as you probably know. And the canned commercial soups are pretty much out.

Some here have tried the SCD. Most with intolerances, however, can't do dairy. I love her scientific explanations for the way the gut works.

I don't think you're getting enough calories. Have you tried olives? Avocado? Tuna/salmon canned in water without additives? Don't forget to pay attention to your fluid and electrolyte balance during all that diarrhea.

Also, how much flax seed oil are you eating? I think Wayne already mentioned the lubricating effect of oils in general.

It WILL get better.

Love,

Polly
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cludwig
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Post by cludwig »

Hi Polly,

I was planning on making it from scratch....but I didn't realize that most broths contain yeast. Is that true of all...like imagine and pacific..they say they are gluten free....but I notice organic spices listed....is that where they hide the yeast? Or will it be listed as an ingredient if it has it?

I've been taking about 3 or 4 tsp. a day of flaxssed oil. The bottle recommends 2 tablespoons...so I didn't think it was too much....I've been mainly trying to use it for its anti-inflamatory properties and to lower the glycemic index of all the simple foods I've been eating(I was feeling like I had hypoglycemia). Maybe I should decrease that some too?

I am having less gas and bloating....but it doesn't feel like there's much left in my colon to produce gas because of all the D.


I ate a banana today plus using lots of sea salt so I think my electrolytes should be okay...Ill be careful about that.

I ordered the Paleo diet book today that you recommended...since it seems to me that I'm reacting to more than gluten and my other intolerences....but grains in general..I hope to figure this all out .I'm grateful for everyones help.

Thanks,
Cristi
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Cristi,

If Enterolab test results show that you failed the tests for gluten, dairy, soy, yeast, and eggs, then those are certainly known intolerances.

I agree with Polly that you may not be getting enough calories, especially with the "rapid transit" problem. I think I would just try to eat more of the known safe foods, rather than to try to add more items to your diet. Cutting out potatoes is going to cut out another source of calories.

I would have a very tough time doing without potatoes. A little over a year ago, I decided to try cutting out all carbs. I didn't last but three days before the symptoms of ketosis were so bad that I caved in and ate some rice-based cookies during the night, to put an end to the symptoms. In a matter of minutes, I felt much better.

Often yeast is in the form of autolyzed, or hydrolyzed, or something-or-other-lyzed. I couldn't find any information on yeast in Imagine products, but the following Pacific products are listed on their website as yeast free, (along with a lot of other yeast-free products):

Creamy Soups

# Organic Creamy Tomato
# Organic Creamy Butternut Squash
# Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato

Broths

# Natural Free Range Chicken
# Organic Free Range Chicken
# Organic Mushroom
# Organic Vegetable Broth

Tex
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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.
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Post by artteacher »

Hi Cristi,

I'm sorry your tummy isn't settled down yet. When my symptoms are flaring sometimes the only thing is to fast for a day or two to calm things down. I don't know if that's a good idea for you, with the weight loss and all, but I surely empathize with how you must be feeling.

And Elaine Gottschell's diet was "kind of" helpful. I read into it before I found this website, even. For me, even it wasn't restrictive enough. I can't eat any grains, even rice, and no honey, even though it's a simple carbohydrate. I can't eat any dairy, even though I prepared yogurt the way she advised. But the advice about nuts (that the fiber in the skins can aggrevate D), and lots of other little comments throughout the book I found helpful. And I did use her recipes using almond flour for a long time. The only reason I don't now is that almost everything you would combine with almond flour in a recipe upsets my stomach. (rice flour, potato flour, sweeteners, dairy). You can make a really good pancake with almond flour and eggs, but even that is a no-no for you. And interesting note is that Elaine's daughter, who the diet was developed for, can't to this day deviate from the diet. So the diet hasn't healed her intestinal problems, even though it has alleviated her symptoms.

Wish I could help more,
Love, Marsha
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Post by cludwig »

Hi Marsha,

So it sounds like I'm as sensitive as you. If you wouldn't mind....I'd love to hear what does work for you. What foods are a sure thing and are there things that worked at first and then later you were able to add. I guess I'm surprised at how much trouble I'm having because when I got the results from Dr. Fine ...it said that my digestive tract was still absorbing and I thought that meant it wasn't as damaged as it can get. obviously that's not the whole story for me. Thanks for any info you can send my way....Cristi
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Post by cludwig »

Hi everyone,

I've heard from a few of you that you think my cashew butter might be giving me trouble. So, I've found some macadamia butter made by MaraNatha and the ingredients are: dry roasted macadamia nuts. However, it is made in a plant that processes peanuts ,soy sesame and tree nuts. Because of my soy intollerence.....should I pass? Do brands exist that are better?

Thanks for any help,

Cristi
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tex
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Post by tex »

Cristi,

Regarding Enterolabs test result showing a lack of significant intestinal damage: I believe that this refers primarily to damage to the small intestine, (since most nutrient absorption occurs in the duedenum, and a minor amount occurs in the jejunum). Only water is normally absorbed in the colon, (of course this changes with leaky gut syndrome).

Also, with MC, the D is due primarily to the inflammation of the colonic mucosa, rather than damage to the small intestine. The inflammation tends to make the mucosa much more vulnerable to irritation from the texture of certain foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables. Once the inflammation subsides, then you will be able to eat a lot of foods that cause problems for you now, even though you are not really intolerant of them, (from an allergy standpoint).

Tex
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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.
cludwig
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Post by cludwig »

WOW,

I dont't know why I didn't get it before. I know it's been said in many ways....but this makes things a lot clearer for me. I kept thinking that if I added a little bit of fiber....a tiny bit of brown rice ...a little bit of apple skin...that i would somehow be adding bulk to my stools....instead i've been irritating my poor colon. I kept thinking that it was all an allergic reaction thing....i didn't get that the texture thing was involved in addition to the allergy thing. Thanks for the great explaination , Tex.

Also...on my earlier post about the cashew butter....do you think it's risky to use it.......or would I be safe if it processes soy in the same plant?


Thanks,
Cristi
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tex
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Post by tex »

Cristi,

Well, actually, I was trying to dodge that question, to tell the truth, because it's a tough one to answer. But since you hemmed me up in a corner, I'll give it a try.

I think most of the people on this board who control their symptoms by diet, do try to avoid products from facilities of that type. I really don't know how significant the risk is, it probably depends on the company in question, how their production lines are set up, and the dedication and integrity of their employees. If they use separate lines, the risk is probably small, but if they run different products on the same lines, then I would be uneasy about it. Statistically, the risk is very tiny, because you would have to be unlucky enough to get one of the first packages off the line, after they switched. After they have run a substantial amount through, the risk would be almost non-existant.

We used to process food corn for the local chip and tortilla industry. We cleaned and graded yellow, white, and blue food corn with the same machinery, (as most other plants of this type do). Between runs with different types of corn, we would meticulously clean everything, to make sure that absolutely nothing from the previous run was present in any nook and cranny in the equipment. Invariably, if we followed blue corn with white corn, there would always be a few kernels of blue corn scattered here and there in the white corn, after it was processed. Where it came from was always a mystery, but it is very easy to see blue corn in a batch of white corn, which is why I used this example. It didn't really matter, since tiny amounts of a different color corn will not affect the finished product, but if someone had been allergic to blue corn, and not white corn, everyone in the industry would have had to post a disclaimer about it. After we ran about a trailer load, (roughly 55,000 to 60,000 pounds), the odds of seeing a blue kernel were pretty slim, but still, now and then, one would occasionally show up. Anyway, you get the point--it depends on how their lines are set up.

Here's a site that lists about a half dozen different brands of cashew butter, (some are way down the line, following some other products:

http://www.nextag.com/cashew-butter/search-html

If you click on any product, you can see a description of that product, including an ingredient list.

Tex
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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.
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Post by Matthew »

Cristi
The SCD diet was my earliest primer in how to eat for digestive health. Minus the emphasis on nuts, dairy products and legumes I soon found out. :shock: So glad you found it.

I still feel that the explanation of the science of digestion and the other food do’s and don’ts are a great place to start. To this day I find myself eating a very similar diet as explained in “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” along with some tweaks for my own intolerance's. It was a great place to start exploring . Elaine’s recommendation was why I went grain free at such an early point in my recovery and it produced dramatic results. It is not the perfect diet for everyone but a great place to start a whole new process of thinking about food and how and why ones body reacts. After reading the book I found that a path to healing starts with just a few good ideas.

To your continued recovery

Love

Matthew
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Post by CAMary »

Hi Cristi-

I'm not sure if I introduced myself, but I've been reading your posts, and am truly impressed by how ambitious you are!! I just want you to know you *will* feel better - it just may take a little longer than you want it to!!

I believe it is too difficult to tease out additional intolerances while you are having active D. I would stick with avoiding those Dr. Fine's testing has indicated, and making sure you are taking in enough calories, and taking steps to prevent dehydration. I had his tests done about a year after my symptoms started, and 6 months after I was diagnosed....so while I "got to the root of things" fairly quickly, I did show mild intestinal damage/malabsorption. I was taking medication as well, when I made dietary changes - it took my gut 15 months before I could drop the Asacol and not have D. I was one of the slower responders to diet among this group, so this adventure is a test in patience, for sure!

Keep at it and you WILL feel better - you are on the right track for sure - but some more immediate payoff woud be nice, wouldn't it? I read the SCD book, and am keeping in mind should I need to take additional steps at some point in the future...

Take care,

Mary
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celia
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Post by celia »

Crisit,

My husband healed his proctitis (as shown by a follow signoidoscopy and a colonoscopy he had last month) using the SCD Diet in combination with the Guts and Glory Program. Like Matthew, I think it's a terrific place to start thinking about food and digestion although I'm not able to eat all the foods on that diet.

The book I found most valuable is Going Against the Grain by Melissa Diane Smith. It is extremely well researched, and she not only addresses the problem of gluten grains, but also the potential problems of non-gluten grains, soy, and dairy for people who are sensitive. I loved learning more of the details of why.

I've read that almonds are the least hypoallergenic nut. But Wayne makes an important point with regard to foods that might cause irritation in the gut.

Like Marsha, I am one of the people on the forum that had a huge number of food intolerances. For a long time, I couldn't grok the idea that foods I have always thought of as "good" for me could be harmful. I assumed it was food like meat so I didn't eat any meat, poultry, or fish for a year. Ironically, I finally discovered that it was the brown rice, quinoa, fruit, corn, etc. that was causing me problems. I kept cutting out more and more foods until I was only eating brown rice and low starch vegetables. I still had loose stools, and I felt like I was starving all the time. That's when I had the most hypoglycemia symtpoms too.

Then, after doing some research into the London no starch diet (for another disease which I don't have), one day I just made a total switch and started eating meat, poultry, fish and low starch vegetables. I did eat nuts for a long while, but eventually I had to give them up, and I couldn't eat fruit either. I hadn't been eating gluten for awhile so a lot of my worst symptoms had already stopped, but I had plenty of other symptoms until I made this switch.

This new way of eating is what finally got me almost 100% symptom free except for when I would slip up. I was still eating clarified butter and cheese occassionally and I would definitely get C. when I ate cheese. I never noticed a problem with the clarified butter. When I got Dr. Fine's tests in March that showed I am both gluten and casein sensitive, I removed the last remmnants of dairy from my diet. So for now, it's basically a Paleo type diet like several people on this forum eat.

Now that I've started the h. pylori treatment, I've slowly been able to add some fruits (not all) back in, eggs, flax oil, and a few other things. But I know I still have a way to go. I tried a small, half piece of gluten free quinoa bread with a very small ingredient list the other day and I very shortly had neuropathy symptoms in my legs. It seems I can tolerate a small amount of rice, but I want to try Karen's experiment and eat it for a few days in a row and see if the loose stools return.

The thing is, each of us is different. It's helpful to see what has worked for people, and there is some very practical information (e.g. Wayne's point about fiber) available, but we also need to listen to the wisdom of our own body to determine what doesn't work for us.

Keeping my fingers crossed and wishing you the best! Celia
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Post by Polly »

Hi Cristi,

How is it going today? Actually, I didn't mean to imply that all commercial broths have yeast. Imagine is fine for me......and Pacific may be too. If it is not listed on the ingredients, you should be OK. How did the soup turn out?

I think you will thoroughly enjoy reading the paleo book. Let us know how you like it.

Love,

Polly
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Post by cludwig »

Hi Everyone

First let me thank all of you....I would not be able to go through all the ups and downs of this disease without you.

It's still early but my first bm today was firm. I can't believe it. I've been so sick the past few days and this morning I woke up with a clear head and the body aches are less. It makes me nervous to even type that as it's still only 8 am. But I'm feeling hopeful.

I made the chicken soup from the SCD cookbook...very bland but I think that's the way it's going to be for a while. It appears to have gone down well....so that's the most important thing. Looking at the other recipes, I don't find a lot I can use because of my intollerences.....but I noticed a book of SCD recipes for dairy intollerent people so I ordered that.

From listening to all of you and looking back at my food diary...I think that I was eating too much rice...which was causing a lot of gas and uncomfortable pressure. I'll leave it out for a while, but I hope that in the future I can add small amounts in occasionally. I also think I was eating too much raw fruit and coconut. So, hopefully this is a cause and effect thing and not just some random occurrance.

I'm still waiting on the Paleo book and am looking forward to reading it. Again, you guys are great. Thanks for your guidance and I'll keep you informed.

Love,
Cristi
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