Thought I'd start a journal here for my GI crazyness. Once or if we get journals (pretty please) I will have it moved. :) I named it after my workout log which is called "Mikey's Muscle Madness"
Here's my first post at TOP. (TOP = The Other Place)
First time poster here. Well, I got the news today from my Dr. After a biopsy from a colonoscopy I have been diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis. I got the colonoscopy to rule out or in IBS. I've been doing research on the web today and came across this support group. Looking for support and hopefully I can help others out as well.
A bit of history here. I first remember a significant event when I was in grade school, can't remember the age, I remember traveling up to Seattle to visit family and being in the car while waiting for the ferry to travel across the Puget Sound. All of a sudden I got severe stomach cramps and the urgent need to go to the restroom then. Well I was pretty much in the car with my younger sister alone and I was watching her so I couldn't leave. The pain got severe, finally my parents showed up and we rushed to find a restroom. We found the restroom and had terrible diarrhea and felt tired the rest of the day.
Since then I think I had episodes like this up through college, though it was rare. Well after college the episodes got to be more and more often, to the point where I didn't want to travel or be anywhere where there wasn't a bathroom that was easy to get to. Pretty limiting. It seems like the last few years have been the worst.
I'm 35 now. Well, I had finally went into the Dr last year and we went through some of the tests and found nothing. He was 99% sure it was IBS but I needed to do a Colonoscopy. Well I chickened out and never did it.
Though partly I would say it had to do with me seeing less symptoms after that due to changing my diet. I was overweight so I decided to try low carb after seeing my brother in law losing weight on it. Well when I did low carb my syptoms seemed to go away for the most part. Though they still occured ocasionally, though not diarrhea much.
Which brings us to now. I still had some symptoms those mainly being a feeling of anxiety, tiredness, an achy feeling in my lower bowels, sometimes an urgent need to go, or a need to go more often than normal, and a feeling that I needed to go more than I was able to. I prefered this to the diarrhea, but it still affected my life negatively.
So my wife said that I better go in for a colonoscopy. Well, when I saw the Dr he said I should do a stool sample, this found nothing. Then we did the colonoscopy (boy does the prep suck) he saw nothing obvious, clean as a whistle , but he took some biopsies. And the results I got today are Lymphocytic Colitis.
I've done some preliminary research and it sounds like my low carb diet may have accidently stumbled on part of the cure or at least some alleviation of symptoms. I plan to do some more research so be ready for my questions.
By the way my Dr perscribed Asacol or mesalamine, but I want to find some natural remidies before I resort to taking drugs. I like to stay away from drugs as much as possible.
Whew, what a long first post. LOL Thanks for reading this, I look forward to talking with you.
Food Sensitivity Testing
Fecal anti-casein (cow's milk) IgA antibody 7 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)
Fecal anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA antibody 6 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)
Fecal Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (dietary yeast) IgA 7 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)
Fecal Anti-Soy IgA 8 Units (Normal Range <10 Units)
Analysis of this stool sample indicates you have dietary gluten sensitivity. For optimal health and prevention of small intestinal damage, osteoporosis, damage to other tissues (like nerves, joints, pancreas, skin, liver, among others), and malnutrition, recommend a strict gluten free diet. If you are experiencing any symptoms, these may resolve following a gluten free diet. As gluten sensitivity is a genetic syndrome, you may want to have your relatives screened as well.
HLA gene analysis reveals that you have a genotype containing the main gene
that predisposes to gluten sensitivity and celiac sprue: HLA-DQB1*0201 (HLA-DQ2) and/or HLA-DQB1*0302 (HLA-DQ8).
Interpretation of Fecal IgA to Gliadin and Other Food Antigens: Levels of fecal IgA antibody to a food antigen greater than or equal to 10 are indicative of an immune reaction, and hence immunologic "sensitivity" to that food. For any elevated fecal antibody level, it is recommended to remove that food from your diet.
Values less than 10 indicate there currently is minimal or no reaction to that food and hence, no evidence of food sensitivity to that specific food. However, because 1 in 500 people cannot make IgA at all, and rarely, some people can still have clinically significant reactions to a food antigen despite the lack of a significant intestinal antibody reaction (because the reactions primarily involve T cells), if you have an immune syndrome or symptoms associated with food sensitivity, it is recommended that you try a strict removal of suspect foods from your diet for 6-12 months despite a negative test. The numeric value of an antibody is not a measure of clinical severity. Values of 10 Units can be associated with the same reactions as the maximum values we measure (200-300). Most positive reactions are between 20 and 80 Units. An analogy would be trying to use the level of antibodies to penicillin in a person who has had an allergic reaction to penicillin to determine if it would be safe for them to take penicillin again. This obviously is not done because those with demonstrated penicillin allergy could not take penicillin without the risk of suffering severe health consequences. Although gluten sensitivity is not a true allergy like penicillin allergy, the concept is the same.
Interpretation of Fecal IgA to the Human Enzyme Tissue Transglutaminase: Values greater than or equal to 10 Units indicate that the immune reaction to gliadin has resulted in an autoimmune reaction to the human enzyme tissue transglutaminase. It is this autoantibody that may be responsible for the many autoimmune diseases associated with gluten sensitivity. Interpretation of Quantitative Fecal Fat Microscopy: A fecal fat score less than 300 indicates there is no malabsorbed dietary fat in stool indicating that digestion and absorption of nutrients is normal.
A fecal fat score greater than 300 Units indicates there is an increased amount of dietary fat in the stool which usually is due to gluten-induced small intestinal malabsorption/damage when associated with gluten sensitivity. Values between 300-600 Units are mild elevations, 600-1000 Units moderate elevations, and values greater than 1000 Units are severe. Any elevated fecal fat value should be rechecked in one year to ensure that it does not persist because chronic fat malabsorption is associated with osteoporosis among other nutritional deficiency syndromes.
Possible causes of elevated fecal fat scores besides gluten-induced damage to the intestine include:
* Another inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease which is associated with gluten sensitivity)
* Deficiency in the production or secretion of pancreatic enzymes or bile salts
* Overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine
* Diarrhea itself causing the fat to rush through the intestine unabsorbed
* Consuming very large amounts of dietary fat, eating unabsorbable synthetic dietary fat substitutes or taking "fat blockers"
* Resection of the small intestine causing "short bowel syndrome"
Interpretation Of HLA-DQ Testing by Molecular Analysis and Conversion to "Serologic Equivalent": Today HLA-DQ gene testing is done by analyzing DNA using molecular techniques. In the past, the methods were done by analyzing blood cells for the antigens produced by the genes, and these past methods were responsible for the most commonly known nomenclature for HLA-DQ genes even today (using integers such as "DQ2"). These are called "serologic equivalents" to the specifically analyzed gene material. The serologic equivalents are as follows:
* If the first two numbers of the molecular type are 05, the serologic equivalent is DQ1 subtype DQ5
* If the first two numbers of the molecular type are 06, the serologic equivalent is DQ1 subtype DQ6
* If the molecular type is 0201, the serologic equivalent is DQ2
* If the molecular type is 0301, the serologic equivalent is DQ3 subtype DQ7
* If the molecular type is 0302, the serologic equivalent is DQ3 subtype DQ8
* If the molecular type is 0303, the serologic equivalent is DQ3 subtype DQ9
* If the first two numbers of the molecular type are 03 but it is not 0301, 0302, or 0303, the serologic equivalent is DQ3
* If the first two numbers of the molecular type are 04, the serologic equivalent is DQ4
The gluten sensitive, celiac genes are HLA-DQB1*0201 and HLA-DQB1*0302 (HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8, respectively).
The other gluten sensitive genes are any molecular type involving another HLA-DQB1*03 number (i.e., HLA-DQ3), or any HLA-DQB1*05 number, or any HLA-DQB1*06 number (i.e., HLA-DQ1)
If you have one gluten sensitive gene, then your offspring have a 50% chance of receiving the gene from you, and at least one of your parents passed it to you. Having two copies of a gluten sensitive or celiac gene, means that each of your parents, and all of your children (if you have them) will possess at least one copy of the gene. Two copies also means there is an even stronger predisposition to gluten sensitivity than having one gene and the resultant immunologic gluten sensitivity or celiac disease may be more severe.
So that brings us to today. How am I feeling, well not 100% so I still have some unknown issue out there. Is it stress, is it diet, evil green men from mars? Not sure yet.
I'm thinking it could be related to corn but I'm not sure since I haven't had symptoms as bad as others who have a corn intolerance. I have had some form of cheese in the last few days, I'm not casein intollerant so perhaps lactose?
The only corn in my recent last few days is maltodextrin, dextrose, HFCS (blech, it was in the bbq sauce I had last night).
Ok, still not feeling well today. Not terrible, but still something that makes me want to go home and take a nap. And with Memorial day coming up this weekend and my wife wanting to go somewhere I feel bad that I'm feeling bad.
I've been taking pepto and feeling a little better.
Really wish I could figure out what it is. My wife thinks it's all stress related, but I still think it's something I'm eating. I will admit that part of it could be stress, but not all of it. *sigh*
Hi, mle_ii. That was a long post I read it. Very instructive too. But also very clear of how you are feeling. Just try to avoid being negative, I think it can help. I also have MC (LC) and have a lot of other symptoms... I am just up and down. One moment well, one moment not well.
Specialist here do not carry out the tests of Enterolab so it is not going to be easy to know if I have problems with gluten (which I think)...
Some people do not understand the disease we have, not only "normal" people, but also doctors... The most important think (I believe) is to be sure of what we think about it, learn more and try to cope with it.
(How easy it is to suggest others )
This forum gives a way to communicate with those who share the same disease. I am sure you will feel a relief by talking to others. I do.
Thank you for sharing your info with us.
Take care,
Love,
Tessa.
I am sorry you are feeling so crappy, Mike - it's not easy to get up and have fun with your wife for the holiday week end when you are feeling like this. Mike, you probably look healthy to everyone else - you just don't feel good and you are not healthy; we know it's not all in your head - we've all been there.
You mentioned you think stress is part of your problem but you think food is part of it too. I fully agree with you. I have always gotten better due to a change in diet - not the change in stress. Sure, stress is always bad and does not improve things. But the root cause is likely to be something in your diet.
A lot of us from the old board used to get good help when we listed the items we had eaten on a particular day. Everyone chipped in to help analyze where the trigger(s) was. This was very efficient in my own case, I think. It also made me stay focused on reading labels. Sometimes I had people help me read the labels - listing all the ingredients in the GF Kitchen and others would help analyze or point to the potential trouble makers.
Mike,
I sure hope you aren't OVERdoing the pepto. You must be aware of the symptoms of overdose. I'm so sorry you are still feeling so sick. Is it mostly nausea or what?
((((((Mike))))))
Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
starfire wrote:Mike,
I sure hope you aren't OVERdoing the pepto. You must be aware of the symptoms of overdose. I'm so sorry you are still feeling so sick. Is it mostly nausea or what?
((((((Mike))))))
Love, Shirley
Actually, I'm not aware of the symptoms of overdose with pepto. I took one last does this morning and noticed it not helping much so I stopped.
I am feeling better as of about an hour or so ago. Not sure what it was. Could be a combination of lots of things I suppose.
I didn't eat a lot today, but here's what I ate.
1 banana
1 oz or so of jerkey
1 orange
couple of handfuls of potato chips - they're pretty organic
1 cup blueberries
20 or so pistashios (sp)
Salad with some organic greek dressing
Rib eye steak... yum!
A little bit of a peach
A few things that are in my normal diet that I didn't eat today are my sweet potatoes (plus honey, ginger, cinnamon, allspice), cream of rice, and brown rice. Though I normally have some chicken also during the day.
I also started taking glutamine today to see if that might do something. I've read how it can help with GI issues.
Tessa wrote:Hi, mle_ii. That was a long post I read it. Very instructive too. But also very clear of how you are feeling. Just try to avoid being negative, I think it can help. I also have MC (LC) and have a lot of other symptoms... I am just up and down. One moment well, one moment not well.
Specialist here do not carry out the tests of Enterolab so it is not going to be easy to know if I have problems with gluten (which I think)...
Some people do not understand the disease we have, not only "normal" people, but also doctors... The most important think (I believe) is to be sure of what we think about it, learn more and try to cope with it.
(How easy it is to suggest others )
This forum gives a way to communicate with those who share the same disease. I am sure you will feel a relief by talking to others. I do.
Thank you for sharing your info with us.
Take care,
Love,
Tessa.
Yeah, I do always try to have a postive outlook, but damn does it get hard with this disease. Just when I think I'm on the right track I start feeling bad again.
It does help to talk with the great folks here who understand and live the disease. It means so much to me. Thanks!
Good news that you're starting to feel better. Hope it continues. The foods you ate yesterday look pretty benign (non-immunogenic). Congrats on eating so many non-processed foods. It is not easy!
Do you know how long it takes you to react to gluten? For me now, it takes 16-18 hours before I react. So, whatever it was that "got" you was probably from one to three days ago. Re rice - be sure to use only PLAIN rice. The ones that are pre-seasoned are a no-no, as are any that are "enriched." When they add vitamins to rice to enrich it, they use a chemical made from barley to help the vitamins "stick" better to the rice.
Also, isn't there some question that you might be lactose-intolerant? I know your casein test was negative, but you can have a negative casein test and still be lactose-intolerant. In fact, at least 12% of Americans become lactose-intolerant as they age. Did you eat any milk products in the past few days? (I should go check your food journal.)
Don't forget tp check the "inert" ingredients on the glutamine bottle. Things like "starch" could contain gluten.
I am enjoying reading your journal, and I saw where Mars is going to start one too. Maybe we can move them into the newly-created Journal Room now. I think they will be very instructive for others who are walking the MC path to health with us.
I'm not trying to say that all these items are causing you problems, but here is a list of the things that you ate yesterday that would definitely cause me problems:
1 banana
1 oz or so of jerkey
1 orange
couple of handfuls of potato chips - they're pretty organic
1 cup blueberries
20 or so pistashios (sp)
Salad with some organic greek dressing
Rib eye steak... yum!
A little bit of a peach
I'm not kidding. I do eat potato chips, but if I overdo it, the oils bother me. I do eat some beef, but it bohers me, and if it eat it two days in a row, it bothers me significantly. All the other items are not major offenders, in small, occasional amounts, but if I eat them regularly, they make me sick, especially salads, and I wouldn't even consider eating "some organic greek dressing"--it would almost certainly make me sick.
The thing is, a little bit of any indivitual item on that list is not a serious problem, but when taken together, the additive effect would put me out of the running. I can eat a big ribeye steak without serious problems, but all I eat with it is a baked potato, and I try to avoid everything else on that list, for at least 48 hours. FWIW.
starfire wrote:Mike, Just a wild guess here - do you think it could be the rice??
Love, Shirley
I hope it's not the rice. Ack, one more thing that I can't eat is going to drive my wife crazy. Perhaps my GI was irritated by something else, but the fiber in the rice was continuing to irritate it.
And with Memorial day coming up this weekend and my wife wanting to go somewhere I feel bad that I'm feeling bad.
I read it. Very instructive too. But also very clear of how you are feeling. Just try to avoid being negative, I think it can help. I also have MC (LC) and have a lot of other symptoms... I am just up and down. One moment well, one moment not well. 
