Hello, everyone!
Just wanted to say "hello" and "thank you"! I am so very thankful that I stumbled upon this site. I was diagnosed with MC in late May, and since then have spent a lot of time nearly every day surfing the 'net trying to get all the info I can about MC. This site and these forums have been, by far, the most informative. I'm one of those people who likes to learn everything I can about a topic I'm interested in, and while I never would have chosen to become interested in MC......well, nevertheless, here I am.
Beyond the amount of information available here, though, the thing that really stands out to me is the friendliness, encouragement, candor, and sense of camaraderie that prevails on these boards. It's pretty incredible!
Looking forward to getting to know everyone,
Skippy
Hi there! I'm new here!
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Skippy, we're glad you found us.
Hi Skippy,
I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but I'm certainly glad that you found us. Welcome to our internet family. The rest of us are all students of MC, also - we learn from each other, by comparing notes.
So what sort of treatment program are you following, and how well is it working, if you don't mind me asking.
You're very perceptive - we are indeed a pretty closely-knit group. We really do care how everyone in our family is doing, and we all share the pain, when someone is having problems - that's what family is for.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything. We hope that you can find the answers that you are seeking, here.
Tex (Wayne)
I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but I'm certainly glad that you found us. Welcome to our internet family. The rest of us are all students of MC, also - we learn from each other, by comparing notes.
So what sort of treatment program are you following, and how well is it working, if you don't mind me asking.
You're very perceptive - we are indeed a pretty closely-knit group. We really do care how everyone in our family is doing, and we all share the pain, when someone is having problems - that's what family is for.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything. We hope that you can find the answers that you are seeking, here.
Tex (Wayne)
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.
Thanks so much, everyone, for the very warm welcomes! I appreciate them soooo much!
Tex, you asked a little about my treatment. I have been on Asacol since around Memorial Day. When I first started taking it, it almost seemed as tho my symptoms (D, abdominal tenderness, cramps) got worse, but after about 3-4 weeks things started settling down. I stuck with it and I am feeling pretty good right now.
I do recall that my GI's office suggested that it can take up to 6 weeks for Asacol to really work, and that it doesn't work for everyone. I am grateful that (for now, anyway), it is providing some relief.
From what I am reading here, there is much variability among us with respect to the onset of our disease. In my case, the explosive D, feelings of being really sick, pain etc SEEMS linked to my starting to take a statin drug to manage my cholesterol. I had been on the drug for about 20 days when it all started. My GP who had prescribed the statin seemed to feel that it was more likely that I had a flu bug, but concurred with my desire to stop the statin "till I felt better". Never DID feel better, and I'm very reluctant to start up with that drug again! Looking back, though, I wonder if the drug was not so much the cause of the MC, rather a trigger for an already existing condition that was just waiting to manifest itself.
Hmmmm?
Enjoying this place!
Fondly,
Skippy
Tex, you asked a little about my treatment. I have been on Asacol since around Memorial Day. When I first started taking it, it almost seemed as tho my symptoms (D, abdominal tenderness, cramps) got worse, but after about 3-4 weeks things started settling down. I stuck with it and I am feeling pretty good right now.
I do recall that my GI's office suggested that it can take up to 6 weeks for Asacol to really work, and that it doesn't work for everyone. I am grateful that (for now, anyway), it is providing some relief.From what I am reading here, there is much variability among us with respect to the onset of our disease. In my case, the explosive D, feelings of being really sick, pain etc SEEMS linked to my starting to take a statin drug to manage my cholesterol. I had been on the drug for about 20 days when it all started. My GP who had prescribed the statin seemed to feel that it was more likely that I had a flu bug, but concurred with my desire to stop the statin "till I felt better". Never DID feel better, and I'm very reluctant to start up with that drug again! Looking back, though, I wonder if the drug was not so much the cause of the MC, rather a trigger for an already existing condition that was just waiting to manifest itself.
Hmmmm?
Enjoying this place!
Fondly,
Skippy
1
Hi Skippy,
I'm glad the Asacol treatment is working. Hopefully, it will work even better, as time goes on.
Regarding your concerns about the statins, IMO, I believe that you are probably correct about it being the trigger that actually initiated your MC. According to research done by Dr. Fine, (of Enterolab, in Dallas, TX), certain HLA-DQ1 genes predispose us to MC, (and to gluten sensitivity), but some local traumatic event is necessary to actually trigger the genes, to physically initiate the MC, (and in most cases, gluten sensitivity,as well, at the same time). Quite a few meds have been shown to trigger the disease, including NSAIDs, PPIs, SSRIs, statins, etc. For example, consider the following quote, from Postgraduate Medical Journal:
2. Committee on Safety of Medicines/Medicines Control Agency. ADROIT database. London: Medicines Control Agency (www.open.gov.uk/mca).
3. Hartmann G, Hartmann K, Kuhn M. Statine [The statins]. Schweiz Apoth Ztg 1999;37:348–50.
4. Chagnon JP, Cerf M. Simvastatin-induced protein-losing enteropathy. Am J Gastroenterol 1992;87:257.
That quote comes from this site:
http://pmj.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/78/919/286
Note that the article I've quoted is over 7 years old, and the drug references that they used are now 8 to 17 years old. Surely, many, many more cases have been documented by now.
Tex
I'm glad the Asacol treatment is working. Hopefully, it will work even better, as time goes on.
Regarding your concerns about the statins, IMO, I believe that you are probably correct about it being the trigger that actually initiated your MC. According to research done by Dr. Fine, (of Enterolab, in Dallas, TX), certain HLA-DQ1 genes predispose us to MC, (and to gluten sensitivity), but some local traumatic event is necessary to actually trigger the genes, to physically initiate the MC, (and in most cases, gluten sensitivity,as well, at the same time). Quite a few meds have been shown to trigger the disease, including NSAIDs, PPIs, SSRIs, statins, etc. For example, consider the following quote, from Postgraduate Medical Journal:
The references cited there are:While ulcerative colitis is not listed as a side effect of simvastatin, the manufacturer, MSD, confirms that, up to May 2001, there have been six cases of colitis attributed to its use (four cases of ulcerative colitis,2,3 one case of collagenous colitis,4 and one not otherwise specified) and two further cases of pre-existing ulcerative colitis exacerbated by simvastatin treatment.2 Diarrhoea, not otherwise specified, has been reported in a further 114 patients, compared with 96 reports of myositis.2
This problem does not appear to be limited to simvastatin. At the time of writing, the Committee on Safety of Medicines/Medicines Control Agency have received one report of ulcerative colitis and three reports of colitis suspected to be associated with pravastatin, and one report of colitis aggravated in association with atorvastatin.2 There is also one report of inflammatory bowel disease (not otherwise specified) for fluvastatin.2
2. Committee on Safety of Medicines/Medicines Control Agency. ADROIT database. London: Medicines Control Agency (www.open.gov.uk/mca).
3. Hartmann G, Hartmann K, Kuhn M. Statine [The statins]. Schweiz Apoth Ztg 1999;37:348–50.
4. Chagnon JP, Cerf M. Simvastatin-induced protein-losing enteropathy. Am J Gastroenterol 1992;87:257.
That quote comes from this site:
http://pmj.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/78/919/286
Note that the article I've quoted is over 7 years old, and the drug references that they used are now 8 to 17 years old. Surely, many, many more cases have been documented by now.
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: 1
Holy Hanna..I was wondering about this.tex wrote:Hi Skippy,
I'm glad the Asacol treatment is working. Hopefully, it will work even better, as time goes on.
Regarding your concerns about the statins, IMO, I believe that you are probably correct about it being the trigger that actually initiated your MC. According to research done by Dr. Fine, (of Enterolab, in Dallas, TX), certain HLA-DQ1 genes predispose us to MC, (and to gluten sensitivity), but some local traumatic event is necessary to actually trigger the genes, to physically initiate the MC, (and in most cases, gluten sensitivity,as well, at the same time). Quite a few meds have been shown to trigger the disease, including NSAIDs, PPIs, SSRIs, statins, etc. For example, consider the following quote, from Postgraduate Medical Journal:
The references cited there are:While ulcerative colitis is not listed as a side effect of simvastatin, the manufacturer, MSD, confirms that, up to May 2001, there have been six cases of colitis attributed to its use (four cases of ulcerative colitis,2,3 one case of collagenous colitis,4 and one not otherwise specified) and two further cases of pre-existing ulcerative colitis exacerbated by simvastatin treatment.2 Diarrhoea, not otherwise specified, has been reported in a further 114 patients, compared with 96 reports of myositis.2
This problem does not appear to be limited to simvastatin. At the time of writing, the Committee on Safety of Medicines/Medicines Control Agency have received one report of ulcerative colitis and three reports of colitis suspected to be associated with pravastatin, and one report of colitis aggravated in association with atorvastatin.2 There is also one report of inflammatory bowel disease (not otherwise specified) for fluvastatin.2
2. Committee on Safety of Medicines/Medicines Control Agency. ADROIT database. London: Medicines Control Agency (www.open.gov.uk/mca).
3. Hartmann G, Hartmann K, Kuhn M. Statine [The statins]. Schweiz Apoth Ztg 1999;37:348–50.
4. Chagnon JP, Cerf M. Simvastatin-induced protein-losing enteropathy. Am J Gastroenterol 1992;87:257.
That quote comes from this site:
http://pmj.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/78/919/286
Note that the article I've quoted is over 7 years old, and the drug references that they used are now 8 to 17 years old. Surely, many, many more cases have been documented by now.
Tex
My Doc put my on statins a few months ago, I tried taking it 3 times, but everytime I got extremely nauseated and didn't feeling right at all, started to get a rumbling gut as well. I finally said to hell with it. My levels aren't that bad anyway. I don't have them here in front of me, but I got the lab results myself and everything that should be good was, even though my over all cholesterol was just on the high side, not extreme though.
Jeez and anyway after I read up on how bad statins are in general I decided not to take them just because of that. I swear the medical profession and the drug companies are out to kill us all sometimes.
I have been wondering if this might have set me off again. Hmmmmm is all I gotta say. Very interesting...
Hypothyroid 06/01
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.
GB,
I don't think they really want to kill us - they just want to maim us a little, to be sure that we keep coming back.
Tex
I don't think they really want to kill us - they just want to maim us a little, to be sure that we keep coming back.
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.
I love it...tex wrote:GB,
I don't think they really want to kill us - they just want to maim us a little, to be sure that we keep coming back.
Tex
All I know it is buyer beware. We need to take control of our own health and read, read, read and listen to what our bodies tell us. And stay as well informed as we can.
Hypothyroid 06/01
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.
Hi, everyone----
I was just checking in and was interested to see that the conversation about statin drugs continued. (I've been away on vacation, more about that later.) I'm due for a visit with my GP and will definitely be talking with him about the possible link to the onset of my MC. I appreciate the references, tex, and I'll print them out and take them with me. What I'm going to ask for is another baseline blood test to check my cholesterol levels, and take it from there. I'm actually hoping that with the new way I've been eating, that perhaps my levels have come down.
We just returned from a nice vacation to the Hilton Head area and I'm happy to report that my MC was well under control and did not negatively impact our time away. I was nervous about that long drive (you know what I mean...
) but all was well. Earlier this spring we had planned a trip to visit family and I ended up staying home and sending my husband off by himself because I was doing so poorly at the time. I'm so thankful that didn't happen this time!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Skippy
I was just checking in and was interested to see that the conversation about statin drugs continued. (I've been away on vacation, more about that later.) I'm due for a visit with my GP and will definitely be talking with him about the possible link to the onset of my MC. I appreciate the references, tex, and I'll print them out and take them with me. What I'm going to ask for is another baseline blood test to check my cholesterol levels, and take it from there. I'm actually hoping that with the new way I've been eating, that perhaps my levels have come down.
We just returned from a nice vacation to the Hilton Head area and I'm happy to report that my MC was well under control and did not negatively impact our time away. I was nervous about that long drive (you know what I mean...
) but all was well. Earlier this spring we had planned a trip to visit family and I ended up staying home and sending my husband off by himself because I was doing so poorly at the time. I'm so thankful that didn't happen this time! Hope everyone is doing well!
Skippy
Hi Skippy,
Welcome back. That's great news that your MC was so "well behaved", during your trip.
Whatever you're doing, must be working.
Tex
Welcome back. That's great news that your MC was so "well behaved", during your trip.
Whatever you're doing, must be working.
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.
Glad to hear you are doing well and got to take a vacation.
I don't care what my Doc is going to say to me I am not going to take them. I have had high cholesterol all my adult life, it is genetic, runs in my family, but heart attacks don't! And I'd rather take my chances with high cholesterol than a statin drug. I wouldn't be surprised if they were not taken off the market in a few years. Propably not but they should be.
Ok rant over. And I am really glad to hear you are feeling better.
http://westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html
http://www.statinanswers.com/effects.htm
I don't care what my Doc is going to say to me I am not going to take them. I have had high cholesterol all my adult life, it is genetic, runs in my family, but heart attacks don't! And I'd rather take my chances with high cholesterol than a statin drug. I wouldn't be surprised if they were not taken off the market in a few years. Propably not but they should be.
Ok rant over. And I am really glad to hear you are feeling better.
http://westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html
http://www.statinanswers.com/effects.htm
Hypothyroid 06/01
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.
LC 12/06
Dwell on the positive.
Happiness is a result of a decision to be happy.