I was wondering if anyone has tried Imuran. I saw that in some serious cases that Imuran was used when all else has failed. I am back to going 20+ times a day and all the other lovely thing that go with cc. Since I have tried everything else and nothing has helped or the s/e were unbearable, I didn't know if this was that I should consider. I have eliminated all soy, dairy and gluten from my diet. I can only eat fish now since every time I eat chicken its a mad dash to the "office."
Thanks,
Rose
Imuran Question
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Rose,
Pat tried it for over a year, I believe, with little to no benefit. Hopefully she will notice your post and give you a much more accurate assessment of her experience with it.
I would be very suspicious of that chicken. If it is truly free of any additives, then you may need to consider the possibility that you may have a mast cell issue, and you might need to try a histamine-2 blocker, (possibly plus a histamine-1 blocker), about an hour before you eat dinner, as per the discussions that Faith, Dee, and I have been having.
I'm sorry to hear that your symptoms are getting worse, rather than better.
Love,
Tex
Pat tried it for over a year, I believe, with little to no benefit. Hopefully she will notice your post and give you a much more accurate assessment of her experience with it.
I would be very suspicious of that chicken. If it is truly free of any additives, then you may need to consider the possibility that you may have a mast cell issue, and you might need to try a histamine-2 blocker, (possibly plus a histamine-1 blocker), about an hour before you eat dinner, as per the discussions that Faith, Dee, and I have been having.
I'm sorry to hear that your symptoms are getting worse, rather than better.
Love,
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.
Joan, I have been eating Tyson all natural skinless chicken breasts, which I have always purchased and never had a problem until the last 2 times. I have tried Sanderson Farms before and I will try that again, Thanks. I know Purdue has a gf/df and sf chicken line, but the Purdue at the store I go to is preseasoned so I know it is full of uneatable stuff.
Tex, Thank you for the information. I do not know or have heard of mast cell issues and will look through those posts to try to get an understanding.
Love,
Rose
Tex, Thank you for the information. I do not know or have heard of mast cell issues and will look through those posts to try to get an understanding.
Love,
Rose
Rose,
Tyson produces various products with all sorts of additives, preservatives, etc., and the chances are extremely high, that they run various products on the same lines. In fact, without trying to track down actual statistics, (which may not be public information, anyway), I would guess that the lion's share of Tyson's products contain various additives. That implies that anytime someone gets careless on their job, it would be very, very easy for some of the products to be mispackaged, mislabeled, or cross-contaminated, simply based on the statistical odds.
That can't happen in a facility where none of the contaminants are present, to begin with. Unless I have overlooked something, all of Sanderson's production is packaged without any additives.
From their website:
I can't speak for the poultry processors, but I do have some experience with production lines in food processing, particularly with snack foods such as corn chips. Now I have no idea if this is true at any other facilities, but the usual routine at the production facilities that I am familiar with, when switching from one type of chip to another, (such as yellow corn to white corn, or plain salted to barbeque flavor, or whatever), for example, was to simply flip a switch or two, to change the incoming feedstock for either the type of corn, or the flavoring, and then an employee stationed at an output station past the ovens, would watch the output, and as soon as he or she noticed a change in the product, they would deflect the "mixed" product into a dump bin, until it appeared to stabilize with the new color, flavor, or whatever. Since the product deflected into a dump bin was sold for hog feed, (for pennies on the dollar), you can bet that they didn't sidetrack anymore product than they absolutely had to. Chicken is a lot more expensive than corn, so how much chicken do you think Tyson would be willing to waste, when they changeover?
The bottom line is, it never hurts to be overly cautious, but not being cautious enough, can keep you in the bathroom, wondering where you went wrong.
Love,
Tex
Tyson produces various products with all sorts of additives, preservatives, etc., and the chances are extremely high, that they run various products on the same lines. In fact, without trying to track down actual statistics, (which may not be public information, anyway), I would guess that the lion's share of Tyson's products contain various additives. That implies that anytime someone gets careless on their job, it would be very, very easy for some of the products to be mispackaged, mislabeled, or cross-contaminated, simply based on the statistical odds.
That can't happen in a facility where none of the contaminants are present, to begin with. Unless I have overlooked something, all of Sanderson's production is packaged without any additives.
From their website:
That means that you won't find any gluten, dairy, or soy, or whatever, anywhere on any of their production lines. The chances of contamination with any allergen, are virtually zero, in a facility such as that.Sanderson Farms 100% Natural Chicken is what your family wants and deserves. No added hormones, additives or artificial ingredients.
I can't speak for the poultry processors, but I do have some experience with production lines in food processing, particularly with snack foods such as corn chips. Now I have no idea if this is true at any other facilities, but the usual routine at the production facilities that I am familiar with, when switching from one type of chip to another, (such as yellow corn to white corn, or plain salted to barbeque flavor, or whatever), for example, was to simply flip a switch or two, to change the incoming feedstock for either the type of corn, or the flavoring, and then an employee stationed at an output station past the ovens, would watch the output, and as soon as he or she noticed a change in the product, they would deflect the "mixed" product into a dump bin, until it appeared to stabilize with the new color, flavor, or whatever. Since the product deflected into a dump bin was sold for hog feed, (for pennies on the dollar), you can bet that they didn't sidetrack anymore product than they absolutely had to. Chicken is a lot more expensive than corn, so how much chicken do you think Tyson would be willing to waste, when they changeover?
The bottom line is, it never hurts to be overly cautious, but not being cautious enough, can keep you in the bathroom, wondering where you went wrong.
Love,
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.
Rose,
I am so sorry you are having so much trouble. Yes, I took Imuran without much luck. I also took Prednisone 40 mg for several weeks and Entocort 3 different times without luck. I don't know if I am the one to give you advice but I would, for right now, try eating a low fiber diet. It will calm things down a bit.
http://www.nmh.org/nmh/pdf/pated/lowfiber-diet07.pdf
If you really want to get serious eliminate all sugar including fruit.
I am on a new program, you can read about it in this same forum. Just scroll down a bit, I think it is titled My new program, something like that. I just figured out that I am intolerant to almonds! Hope this helped you.
Pat
I am so sorry you are having so much trouble. Yes, I took Imuran without much luck. I also took Prednisone 40 mg for several weeks and Entocort 3 different times without luck. I don't know if I am the one to give you advice but I would, for right now, try eating a low fiber diet. It will calm things down a bit.
http://www.nmh.org/nmh/pdf/pated/lowfiber-diet07.pdf
If you really want to get serious eliminate all sugar including fruit.
I am on a new program, you can read about it in this same forum. Just scroll down a bit, I think it is titled My new program, something like that. I just figured out that I am intolerant to almonds! Hope this helped you.
Pat
Tex,
You are so so right. I think that in the past I just depended so much on what the packaging indicated and now, especially since I have found the "family" here, I realize that you just can't do that. I have to really watch what I put in my mouth and where it is coming from or I will really watch it come out the other end in no pleasant manner. Thank you so much for your insight on the processing part of it. It makes so much cense.
BTW, I was reading the posts on mast cell and tried to do a little research on this. I have a lot of acid reflux lately (I think that is from the procardia), have a slow dumping of food through the intestine and small bowel (according to my small bowel series), I am always nauseated after I eat and sometimes I have trouble swallowing (feels like I have a value closed or something like that). I read that you would take an immune suppressant, its that what Humria is? If so, then that isn't doing anything for the d. If I want to have my mast cells checked out would I have to go to a GI or could my GP handle this? I have found another GI in the area that my OB/GYN recommended at UT Hospital, but my dh thinks that the GI's are full of bs. I think that he wants me to do the Mayo Clinic, but if I can get it done locally, I would rather go that route first.
Pat, Thank you for your insight on the Imuran. I think I am just grasping at straws. I was on Entocort, but had to stop b/c of the s/e. Imodium does nothing for me. I do twice monthly Humira injections for my psoriatic arthritis and that does nothing as well.
Thank you all for all of your help in this.
Love,
Rose
You are so so right. I think that in the past I just depended so much on what the packaging indicated and now, especially since I have found the "family" here, I realize that you just can't do that. I have to really watch what I put in my mouth and where it is coming from or I will really watch it come out the other end in no pleasant manner. Thank you so much for your insight on the processing part of it. It makes so much cense.
BTW, I was reading the posts on mast cell and tried to do a little research on this. I have a lot of acid reflux lately (I think that is from the procardia), have a slow dumping of food through the intestine and small bowel (according to my small bowel series), I am always nauseated after I eat and sometimes I have trouble swallowing (feels like I have a value closed or something like that). I read that you would take an immune suppressant, its that what Humria is? If so, then that isn't doing anything for the d. If I want to have my mast cells checked out would I have to go to a GI or could my GP handle this? I have found another GI in the area that my OB/GYN recommended at UT Hospital, but my dh thinks that the GI's are full of bs. I think that he wants me to do the Mayo Clinic, but if I can get it done locally, I would rather go that route first.
Pat, Thank you for your insight on the Imuran. I think I am just grasping at straws. I was on Entocort, but had to stop b/c of the s/e. Imodium does nothing for me. I do twice monthly Humira injections for my psoriatic arthritis and that does nothing as well.
Thank you all for all of your help in this.
Love,
Rose
Pat,
My dh thinks that same way. He keeps telling me it is time for the "bag." I told him that if I get one he would have to clean it out. I just don't know what else Mayo could do since nothing else has worked. He just wants to make sure that there is nothing else wrong with me besides the cc.
Rose
My dh thinks that same way. He keeps telling me it is time for the "bag." I told him that if I get one he would have to clean it out. I just don't know what else Mayo could do since nothing else has worked. He just wants to make sure that there is nothing else wrong with me besides the cc.
Rose
Rose,
I don't think I have exhausted every avenue before I have my colon taken out. As a matter of fact that isn't an option in my book. I have been told that I would not have to have a "bag". I really don't know and right now I don't want to investigate that thought. I am thinking that diet is going to work eventually. Tex, Polly, Matthew, and others have said it takes months, maybe years. I'm gonna stick it out and make this work!
Pat
I don't think I have exhausted every avenue before I have my colon taken out. As a matter of fact that isn't an option in my book. I have been told that I would not have to have a "bag". I really don't know and right now I don't want to investigate that thought. I am thinking that diet is going to work eventually. Tex, Polly, Matthew, and others have said it takes months, maybe years. I'm gonna stick it out and make this work!
Pat
Yes, adalimumab, (Humira), is a very powerful immune system suppressant. It works by suppressing the amount of Tumor Neucrosis Factor-alpha, (TNF-alpha), which is a chemical "messenger" in the immune system, that signals other cells to cause inflammation, (including the T-cells that cause most of the inflammation with the IBDs). This is what is so puzzling about your particular situation. I don't understand how the Humira could be effective against your psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and yet not be effective against your MC symptoms. The tight feeling in your throat, and difficulty swallowing, are signs of an allergic reaction, (a histamine reaction). That would be a mast cell reaction, and the anti-TNF drugs, (such as Humira), are known to be very effective in suppressing mast cell reactions.Rose wrote:BTW, I was reading the posts on mast cell and tried to do a little research on this. I have a lot of acid reflux lately (I think that is from the procardia), have a slow dumping of food through the intestine and small bowel (according to my small bowel series), I am always nauseated after I eat and sometimes I have trouble swallowing (feels like I have a value closed or something like that). I read that you would take an immune suppressant, its that what Humria is? If so, then that isn't doing anything for the d. If I want to have my mast cells checked out would I have to go to a GI or could my GP handle this?
You know, according to info on the Mayo Clinic website, both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, can have periods of spontaneous remission. You mentioned a few weeks ago, that a few weeks prior to that, you had begun to have adverse reactions to the Humira injections. I'm beginning to wonder if you may have become allergic to Humira, and your psoriasis issues are simply experiencing some form of spontaneous remission. Of course, if your psoriatic arthritis symptoms become worse, as the Humira wears off, and then improve after the treatment, then obviously it is still working, (at least to some extent). Of course, since it contains no nonhuman sequences, it would be rather rare for someone to be allergic to Humira, (less than 1% of users), though about 5% of those in trials showed antibodies to it, at some point in the trials. Obviously, though, you could still be allergic to it, even though it helps with certain symptoms - the Entocort is a good example of that. Do the throat/swallowing issues seem to change any during the Humira cycle? Does the Humira seem to work as well on the arthritis as it did previously, or is it not as effective as it once was?
If you want to look for the increased presence of mast cells, (remember, some of them are always present - it's when too many of them are produced, that trouble begins), that has to be done on slides made from biopsy samples, taken during either an upper, or lower endoscopy exam. Also, a special stain must be used, during the preparation before they are viewed under a microscope, in order for the mast cells to be visable.
If you have had a fairly recent endoscopy exam, it's possible to go back to previously used slides, (IOW, slides made from biopsy samples taken during that earlier exam), stain them properly, and then examine them, without taking new biopsies, (thus saving the trouble and expense of undergoing another invasive exam). Any pathologist worth his or her salt, should be able to do that.
FWIW, I agree with your dh, that a rather high percentage of GI docs seem to have the distinction of being much more prone to
when compared with other medical specialists.Love,
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.
Tex,
Thank you so much for your response. The Humira does seem to be working with the arthritis (as far as my Rheumatologist tells me). The swelling has gone down in my left hand and my hands don't ache or are stiff since I started using it. Apparently, the psoriatic arthritis is in both feet, knees, hands and my lower back is a mess. The psoriasis that covered my body is completely gone (I had it just about everywhere). To be perfectly honest with you I don't know if my symptoms of my throat are more so after an injection. It was really bad yesterday with a dull pain going down the middle of my back just about every time I swallowed or gulped and I don't do another shot until this Sunday. So I don't think that there is an allergic reaction, but I will pay more attention after I get my next injection this weekend.
As far as my endoscopy goes, I had my last one about four years ago by this last GI. I don't know if the slides would still be good and knowing all doctor's they just love those expensive procedures.
Love,
Rose
Thank you so much for your response. The Humira does seem to be working with the arthritis (as far as my Rheumatologist tells me). The swelling has gone down in my left hand and my hands don't ache or are stiff since I started using it. Apparently, the psoriatic arthritis is in both feet, knees, hands and my lower back is a mess. The psoriasis that covered my body is completely gone (I had it just about everywhere). To be perfectly honest with you I don't know if my symptoms of my throat are more so after an injection. It was really bad yesterday with a dull pain going down the middle of my back just about every time I swallowed or gulped and I don't do another shot until this Sunday. So I don't think that there is an allergic reaction, but I will pay more attention after I get my next injection this weekend.
As far as my endoscopy goes, I had my last one about four years ago by this last GI. I don't know if the slides would still be good and knowing all doctor's they just love those expensive procedures.
Love,
Rose
Rose wrote:and knowing all doctor's they just love those expensive procedures
Truer words were never spoken.Regarding the issue of surgically removing the colon:
Any doctor who suggests that procedure, as an option for the treatment of MC, is clearly ignorant. Why remove the colon, when it is otherwise healthy, except for a bit of microscopic inflammation? If you have reached the point where all hope of non-surgical success is gone, and you want to prevent MC symptoms, caused by inflammation in the colon, all you have to do is have an ileostomy performed, to divert the total flow of the fecal stream, and the inflammation will cease. There is no need to remove the colon - just disconnect it. Why remove it? You might want to resection it at some point in the future, and if it is gone, then you are out of luck. If it is still there, then you always have the option of re-connecting it, if you so desire.
With Crohn's disease, it's usually necessary to remove the colon, because of all the damage, (lesions), caused by the disease, but with MC, there are no lesions, nor any other gross physical damage - the tissue appears to be just fine, unless examined under a microscope. Here is a reference that clearly demonstrates how diversion of the fecal stream will totally end the downstream inflammation in the colon:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7615 ... t=Abstract
This all sounds like a practical treatment for MC. However, be aware that this procedure is not without undesirable consequences - namely, without the colon, no water is removed from the fecal stream, so the volume of output is rather high, and it will be in liquid to thin paste form. It will not be in the form of explosive liquid D, because with the colon disconnected, the inflammation will subside, and MC reactions will no longer be possible. With most of the water still included, though, the volume will obviously be much higher than it would be if everything were working normally.
If you want information on wearing a pouch, I can certainly provide that, since I've been wearing an "appliance", (as the industry refers to it), for over three years, now, (Hartman procedure, above the Sigmoid colon), and I've perfected the skills necessary for living with such a device, and for minimizing any inconveniences associated with it.
Love,
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.