GF&CD

[fifthofanickel]

Hi Mathew;

Thanx for your concerns..I too, am going at this w/some trepidation. I was never diagnosed w/CD, only Collagenous Colitis. I went the GF route on my own, due to gas/bloat & of course the big "D"..At the time I was dx, there wasn't hardly anything about the GF diet..I went about it on my own, by reading, the net, etc. I tho't I had nothing to lose at that point.

I tried asacol & that only made things worse for me. I have many med sensitivities, & am cautious when taking any med. So going thru GF & experimenting which foods triggered the CC, I kind of was ok...I was still having 4-6 Bm's/day, but were formed.. During stressful times however, the D appeared. I often heard the saying; Once you go GF, there is no going back...Hopefully that's not true..

I do know several people that had the same dx I did, tried going back to
grains & had success..Hope I'm one of them. The GI doc & I feel that the "prev pac" I took initially to "cure" my H-Pylori is what brought on the CC..I think I had the D for 6mos. b4 another GI person dx the CC...I can only take 10mg. of Prilosec for my Gerd, as anything stronger starts the D. I know this may not sound feasable to many of you that have MC, but I'm going to be a believer, & hope for the best.

Polly; you asked about my other maladies; Well, the Barretts was initially misdiagnosed by my first GI...When he took the biopsies, they healed in a wavy manner instead of kind of straight. Then this GI recognized that the first guy mistook it for Barretts..Needless to say I'm happy about that too..My Fibromyalgia/cfs seems to be worsening every yr..I also now have non organ involved Lupus..The Vertigo comes & goes, mainly in spring & fall. I'm keeping my hi cholesterol under control w/diet & Zocor. And still on the thyroid.

W/the heat here now, (in the 90's) being out in the sun is a no goer...I can last about 5min. Hubby & I try to keep up w/things, w/many breaks taken...lol...

Oh yes, I was taking calcitonin for osteopenia & developed a horrible reaction to that..Raised red skin eruptions that lasted for about 3mos. I still have one or two appear at times...

So there you have it..Long story I know, but you did ask....lol...

Mathew thank you again for your concerns. I will certainly be cautious in all of this.. I am a retired nurse, & certainly am concerned for myself too, & will go at this very slowly...

Hugs & Blessings;
Penny

[tex]

Hi Penny,

We really appreciate your input to this forum. After all, compared with you, all of us are still wet behind the ears, as far as treating MC is concerned. I'm not sure that anything is chiseled in stone, when it comes to dealing with most of these autoimmune issues. There are a lot of medical authorities who claim that this is true, and that is not true, but the fact of the matter is, so little dedicated research has been done on MC, and autoimmune issues in general, that virtually everything we consider to be facts, are really just opinions, and/or assumptions, that we rely on until something better comes along.

When I first joined Sally's board, a little over a year ago, I thought I had it all figured out. I, too, had discovered the benefits of the GF diet on my own, and I really didn't think there was much else to learn about it. Much to my surprise, with the inspiration and support provided by the members of this group, I've found that the more I learn about it, the more I realize I don't know. I've been GF almost 3 years now, (one month to go), and I have more questions about MC, and it's life-altering effects, now, than I did when I started. LOL.

Please keep us informed on what you learn, because this disease affects us all so differently, that I have a hunch that we will always have more questions than answers. I believe that we'll always be anxious to compare notes with each other, because there's no question that doing so has helped us all to live much more enjoyable lives.

Hugs,
Wayne

[harvest_table]

Penny,

I'm SO gluten intolerant, and I don't understand why after 6 years you want to temp yourself? You have been GF longer than anyone here. I'm curious, 6 years ago why you went GF since there was no research at that time about MC/GF. You must have found it worked...so why give it up? Keep us posted

Joanna