Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
I am still havng problems.....today my DH took me out for brkfst around 10 am (I had Joes' Eggs....scrambled with fresh spinach and hamburger) and then we did some shopping...Home Depot, etc. a few furniture and gift stores....DH doesn't enjoy "browsing", he prefers to "hunt" when he shops...catch it...bag it...take it home!! SO... this was a gift of Valentines' love on his part to stroll through stores just so I could look and look and get ideas and then we could buy nothing!!!
Well, 4 hours later, at 2pm we had lunch out at a local pub and I had a glass of Butt Face Ale with my cobb salad....
now here's the SOS part.... around 4:30pm, without any warning, no cramps, no nausea, boom....right there in the furniture store....BIG D!!! and there was the spinach!!!!! EEEEEK!!!! only 6 hours later!!! How on earth did it travel so fast? egads!!!!!!!
So my wonderful Valentines' day ended with a downer!! What a bummer!!! I HATE MY GUT!!!!! I HATE BEING SICK!!!!!! I HATE.....(FILL IN THE BLANKS).... sigh....wondering if it was the fresh spinach? the ale ?(forgot it is wheat based... ) SO I called the GI doc and left a message....she had asked me to call after 2 weeks and let her know how I was doing...so it has actually been 4 weeks. No reply yet.
Thanx for letting me vent....
Hang in there! You will learn by trial and error what you can and can not eat. It has happened to all of us. Its a sad state of affairs when you have to locate the nearest bathroom no matter where you are! We have ALL been there!
As for the fast traveling food - there are times that I can be eating dinner and have the immediate need to go to the bathroom and there is the dinner I am eating - my doctor didnt believe me but when it isnt digested, what do you think!
Also, fresh spinach would be in the salad category - many can't eat salad until the gut heals. I find that now, after all the time I've been suffering, I can only eat a green leafy vegetable once a week. If I eat it any more than that I am in the bathroom almost immediately and cramping something awful!
Hang in there - it will get better!
Love,
Mars
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -- Buddha
Yep, that's a gen-u-wine MC "accident", if there ever was one, (unless you were lucky enough to get to a restroom in time). However it turned out, I'm sorry that it happened. We all know how miserable that can be, as it's happened to virtually all of us. "Accidents" are a constant threat, until you achieve remission.
I agree with everything that Mars said. Some of us seem to react to certain foods, (especially gluten), in a matter of minutes, (like ten or fifteen), even though it seems like that should be impossible. Many others seem to take somewhere in the vicinity of 6 or 7 hours to react, while others may take more or less time. (We're all different). Normally, it takes 2 to 4 hours just for the stomach to empty, and 4 to 8 hours for the chime, (partially digested food), to travel through the small intestine. Though times vary, I believe most researchers consider normal total transit time, (mouth to anus), to be about 32 to 36 hours. Unfortunately, we ain't normal - at least not when we're reacting.
Spinach can be pretty potent stuff, in that it contains a lot of oxalic acid, which is pretty much undigestible, and must be excreted by the kidneys, which may already have plenty to do, without all the oxalic acid. At any rate, it may have "upset" your digestive system, by making it more sensitive. Other foods that are high in oxalic acid, include lambsquarters, beet greens, purslane, Swiss chard, rhubarb, parsley, and a few others.
I would be most suspicious of the ale, however, as being the actual trigger for your sudden reaction. Two to two and a half hours would be about the time frame required for it to be well into your small intestine, (where I personally believe that reactions are initiated for many of us - I'm almost positive that's where mine originate, anyway). Note, however, that some people with MC have gastric reactions, (that is, the reactions originate in the stomach), so transit time is cut to practically nothing. Obviously, Mars is in that group, though this may depend on the types of food eaten, for some of us. Anyway, ale, like beer, contains gluten, and has stimulatory characteristics to boot, so it is probably what triggered your reaction.
Hi Sunny....so sorry you are going through this. I can remember some horrible times....I had won ton soup at a Chinese restaurant and within 20 mins my stomach was gurgling and I was running to the loo.....I think it was the fresh green onion garnish or maybe the won tons....I am not GF....I control the symptoms with Entocort. I still need to watch how much salad I eat and some fried foods get me. Take care and hang in there kiddo...JJ
Sorry to read of the accident that took place, my heart goes out to you I have had a number of times when this has taken place, once being in a large supermarket half way through my shopping. I quickly had to leave the trolley and dash to the bathroom to sort the problem out.
Also before taking the steriods I could not eat salads at all as Tex has stated it could be a matter of 20 minutes and I would be rushing to the bathroom with D. This is one part of MC that I do not understand, why does the stomach react so quickly and push the food through the digestive tract at such a speed?
So sorry about the accident, Sunny. I've been there many times, in public and private. Lomotil helps while you are sorting this out. I was taking 8 a day but am on Prednisone now. Not normal yet but better.
I think that the extremely fast transit time you referred to is connected with what's known as the gastrocolic reflex. The gastrocolic reflex is one of several physiological reflexes that controls the motility, or peristalsis, of the GI tract.
The enteric nervous system is a separate control system that operates mostly independent of the brain, to automatically control the entire digestive system. When the stomach walls begin to stretch, (IOW, when we begin to eat), the enteric nervous system sends a signal to the colon and the small intestine, instructing them to increase their motility, (presumably, to make room for more food). The effect is normally, (by normally, I am referring to what should happen in a healthy digestive system that does not have MC), more pronounced at the distal end, (the sigmoid colon), and if a BM, (Bowel Movement), seems necessary, only the contents of the rectum, and possibly part of the sigmoid colon, should be released. Apparently, though, with MC, these resulting signals are amplified all out of proportion to what the stomach is actually sensing, and the result is hypertransport of virtually everything in the entire GI tract, including the stomach contents.
As far as I am aware, there is not even a "proper" name for this type of diarrhea, but I could be wrong. To my knowledge, the most severe "defined" form of diarrhea, is secretory diarrhea, in which the colon walls actually secrete water into the lumen, rather than extracting water, the way it is supposed to work. That type of diarrhea, though, does not involve instant "dumping" of the stomach contents, and the small intestine contents, also.
I've never come across any literature that discusses why this phenomenon occurs with MC, but I feel pretty sure that out-of-control gastrocolic reflex is most likely the reason why this happens to us sometimes, during reactions.
If anyone has any insight on this phenomenon, I would be very interested in "seeing" it.
You are a mind of information I do wish you were a doctor and my GP, I am sure we would all have some answers to the questions we ask. Do you know if this phenomenon occurs with Crohns or UC?
[quote]To my knowledge, the most severe "defined" form of diarrhea, is secretory diarrhea, in which the colon walls actually secrete water into the lumen, rather than extracting water, the way it is supposed to work. That type of diarrhea, though, does not involve instant "dumping" of the stomach contents, and the small intestine contents, also.[/quote]
OH GOSH secretory diarrhea is certainly the worst form, the day this started was when I started to challenge my GP and demand going back to the GI as I had spent the previous night in A & E. It was just like a water fountain hitting the potty
I'm not highly familiar with Crohn's nor UC, but to my knowledge, those diseases don't normally cause the problem of extremely short transit times that MC frequently does. Instead, the discomfort usually begins an hour or two after eating, (IOW, as, or after, the stomach empties into the small intestine). In fact, not all Crohn's patients have D, but of course, most do.
Yes, the added water during secretory diarrhea can cause BMs to have very high volumes, at times. As a result, a patient can become severely dehydrated in a surprisingly short time.
Thank you for the kind words, you're very welcome.
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.
In my research on motility I found there are quite a few things involved.
Chemical/Hormonal such as serotonin, endorphines, motolin (sp), ph, nitric oxide, cortisol to name a "few". Any of those out of wack and strange things occur. Endotoxins (bacteria) can also signal things to change. So now we can add Alkaline phosphotase (sp) to the list. And as we all know now opioids can change this, opioids found in Imodium for example, but they are also found in foods like dairy and wheat. Speaking of wheat now you can add Zonulin and other tight junction signaling chemicals. Oh, and I just remember some more, minerals such as calcium, potasium, magnesium play a role here as well.
Muscle/Electrical/Brain such is what Tex refered to.
Structural/Cell/Tissue changes. Part of the chemical things inflamation can change what can go in our out. Tissue damage such as found in CD, Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis and pretty much any IBD. For example the tissue in the GI is responsible for producing serotonin. Also, if the villi are damaged such as in CD then the cleansing wave of the gut will be lacking as will motility.
Heck, I start to wonder what DOESN'T play a role. :/
Hello Sunny. That is right, that just about every one of us has had a similar experience to yours. I went for a lengthy period when I did not dare leave the house & accidents such as yours were many. A meal will often reappear at the other end in under 2 hours looking much as it went in, especially lettuce & other salad greens. Corn is off the menu as far as I am concerned. Now I find that mangoes & stonefruit like plums & peaches are causing problems as well. There are other alergies as well but I am not gluten intolerant & can eat wheat with no problem. I can have a certain amount of milk but too much & I have a problem & it too often comes through undigested. I went into remission for a while but now have spasmodic bouts such as the one that I am in the midst of at the moment. Started out with lower abdominal pain on Saturday & it was all downhill from there.
Hope that you find some relief from your problems soon. In any case you will find lots of support & information to help you here.
Liz
A smile is a light in the window of your face that shows that your heart is at home
SO... this was a gift of Valentines' love on his part to stroll through stores just so I could look and look and get ideas and then we could buy nothing!!!
only 6 hours later!!! How on earth did it travel so fast? egads!!!!!!! 
