My conclusions re: my sudden improvement

[Linda in BC]

Well, Tex, I am pretty sure you were right. I think my amazing "recovery" was/is a lot to do with diet (removing both wheat and soy from my diet, in addition to the casein) ), and a little bit to do with the LDN and Boswellia, too. Not sure that I would have had such quick results with just the diet alone; maybe the other two reduced the inflammation enough that when I finally removed the irritants, my gut was not so bad off. Anyhow, I have done a bit of experimenting the past few days.. Today I had a mochachino with soy milk, my absolute favorite, and it was the only thing I changed in my diet (all this talk about coffee on here made me miss it.. I have them rarely) The results were disastrous! Conclusion: I am definitely intolerant of soy. On Sunday, I had tried wheat (pie crust and a piece of wheat toast. ) The results were not as bad.. pain and gas , but only a little bit softer movements. My conclusion: gluten is an intolerance but not as severe as soy and casein.
It is very interesting about the pain I had with the wheat. All these years I have been so sick, I have never had a lot of pain. I am not sure why not but I think it may have been because everything went through me so quickly that there was never enough time to build up gas. The other night when I ate the wheat and had the pain, I know that things were moving slowly , as they have been since I started the ldn, and boy, was I ever uncomfortable. .. a new feeling for me. I could tell as soon as I ate it, it was something that I shouldn't have eaten, that it was bad for me. I have never been able to tell that before! I honestly just never knew when something was going to make me sick because I never felt anything until it was through me. It was much the same for the soy today. I remember thinking.. hmm... I feel fine, no discomfort , no pain.. yipee , I am not allergic to soy!! and then 1.5 hours later.. WHAM! I had about 30 seconds warning!
FWIW it is much easier to tell what you are sensitive to when you get the pain and discomfort ( small consolation I know, when you are in agony, but ,.. at least you know what you shouldn't eat! )

Linda

[Gabes-Apg]

IMO the diet change is a small sacrifice in the scheme of feeling well and managing this D.

I have found there are at least 5 indicators of reaction

- itchiness in the mouth
- gastric reflux
- cramping and pain
- bubbly butt
- chronic D either within 15 mins or anytime over the next 18hrs

Then the flow on type symptoms such as joint pain

I only ever try 'new' things on the weekend when my digestion has been pretty happy for a few days, and then monitor the reaction over the next 24 hours.

[collagastritis84]

Sounds like you are on the right path and yes I have also found reducing the inflammation to be key. I think inflammation is a vicious cycle caused by the wrong foods and fueled by stress. I found the mind also has allot to do with it if i have a stressful day i a lot more likely to have symptoms. Congrats on your progress best of luck!

[Gabes-Apg]

ibrown
you are sounding far better than last week.

[harma]

Hello Linda, I have been reading all your reports lately, you are experimenting a lot aren't you. I personally belief, although there might be other things that can contribute to, the main key to remission is food or diet.

Good luck with it and keep us informed

harma

[Joefnh]

Linda & Gabes

I have found that my symptoms if I eat something that either has gluten or yeast is

1.) the itchy mouth - within 5 minutes
2.) Joint pain within an hour
3.) D or significant GI issues including ("Bubbly Butt") Gabes that description gives me a chuckle, within 1 - 8 hours.

If I have dairy in it, I will have GI distress followed by D fairly quickly.


--Joe

[tex]

Linda,

When we eat something every day, we have no way of determining that it is making us sick, because our antibody level is already maxed out. When we avoid a food for a few days, our antibody level has a chance to decline, and then when we try the food again, we get a sudden surge of increased antibody production, and it is this rapid immune system response that allows us to determine that we are reacting to a specific food, because of the rapid changes that the response makes in our body chemistry.


Gabes and Joe,

The itching in the mouth, and the gastric reflux, are almost certainly histamine reactions, and this histamine release may also be partially responsible for the abdominal pain and cramps. Histamine release, of course, is a mast cell issue. This probably suggests an allergic response to whatever caused the reaction, (IOW, a classic anaphylactic response).

The rapid joint pain, implies an immediate, (or ongoing), leaky gut issue. The D, of course, is an MC response.

Tex

[Linda in BC]

Thanks, Tex. That also would explain why I could never tell what I was reacting to.

Harma, yes, I have been experiementing a lot because I wanted to know what exactly had made me better. If I had just assumed that it was the LDN and /or the Boswellia, which, given the timing of my improvement (the day after I started the Boswellia) would have been a plausible assumption, I would have been wrong. Since I am reporting here the effects of LDN, I sure wouldn't want to lead anyone astray with faulty conclusions!

Gabes and Joe, I feel grateful that I do not get the itchy mouth reaction, nor the joint pain.

Linda

[Gabes-Apg]

wow - we now know what beautiful harma looks like!

And Linda- i work on the theory if it works stick with it, all things dont have to be fully quantified!

[MaggieRedwings]

Harma,

Awesome picture and so pretty too. Glad to see you posted it.

Love, Maggie

[harma]

thank you maggie, I thought it is time to put a face next to my messages, I appreciate it a lot to see who else I am talking too, so that's why I put mine here too

[harma]

and Linda to add to your all your messages on finding a way to cure the MC. I believe what you are doing just trying out a lot of things, is part of the whole process of achieving remission. It is so important that we all find our own way in this. What works for one person, doesn't necessary works for the other. It is a way of trial and error. It is not only about the actual things somebody tries, equally important is the process. The whole process of learn to life with MC (as Gabes often says, life will never be the same is a before the MC time). If I gave you the impression I was commenting on the things you are doing, that was not my intention at all, my apologies