Preparation for Hawaii Trip

Personal experience and/or tips on traveling with MC or other IBDs should be posted here.

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tex
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Post by tex »

Gloria,

Flax seed oil is very good for joints, also.

I hope your return trip goes smoothly.

Tex
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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.
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JoAnn
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Post by JoAnn »

Gloria, I hope your return trip is pleasantly uneventful and I hope your knee feels better. I noticed that your turkey sandwich is a staple for you. Do you make your own bread or are you buying it or do you use something else in place of bread? Look forward to seeing your post when you return home, JoAnn
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Post by starfire »

What a great trip you have had. So glad both you and your husband have enjoyed it. It's great the way you have controlled your diet. You are indeed a strong woman. I'm sure I'd have been tempted to try something "different". You are an inspiration and I'm looking forward to that candy receipe. I love coconut.

Hope your knee gets better soon. Maybe with less activity it will start to heal. I hope so.

Love, Shirley
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Post by Gloria »

I'm back -- the flight was fine. I passed on all food (except water) offered by the airlines and only ate what I brought. I was never hungry, which was a relief. I'm deeming my trip a success, as far as my diet and MC go.

I cut down to 2 Entocort pills today. I'll do that every other day and see how it goes.

JoAnn,
The turkey sandwich is a staple for me when I'm away from home. I used to also eat tuna macaroni salad, but I don't eat fish right now. I only eat the turkey sandwich once a week or so when I'm at home because I don't want to eat too much yeast.

I make my own bread. Most GF mixes contain off-limit ingredients and the bread mixes are pretty expensive. My recipe is here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 5056#65056. It's fairly crumbly because it doesn't have any eggs, but it tastes very good.

My recipe has evolved quite a bit over the past three years as I've had to eliminate various flours and egg replacer. A big breakthrough was discovering that I could use arrowroot in place of egg replacer, which has tapioca flour. I thicken it to the consistency of egg white by mixing it with heated water.

Tex,
I didn't think about flaxseed for joints. I haven't used it because it's a laxative. I'll give the Freeda glucosamine a couple more weeks. If I still have pain, I'll look at other options.

Shirley,
My knee seems better now that I'm not walking on it as much at home. I rode a cart to our connecting gate in Minneapolis and used a wheelchair at O'Hare. That also helped.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week! Where has the time gone??

Gloria
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tex
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Post by tex »

Gloria wrote:I didn't think about flaxseed for joints. I haven't used it because it's a laxative.
No, no - not flax seed. Flax seed oil. Flax seed is indeed a laxative, even when finely ground, (the laxative effect is in the hull). Flax seed oil, however, is not a laxative. Well, I suppose it could be, if you took enough of it, but a normal dose shouldn't cause any problems. I've taken a capsule of it virtually every day, for almost 10 years, now.

I'm glad your return trip went so well. Thanks for the update.

Tex
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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.
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Post by Gloria »

Thanks for the clarification, Tex. You also take glucosamine/chrondroitin daily, don't you? Do you think the chrondroitin is as beneficial as the glucosamine?

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Post by tex »

Yes I do take it.
Gloria wrote:Do you think the chrondroitin is as beneficial as the glucosamine?


Good question - I really don't know the answer. Originally, I only took the glucosamine, and several years later I started taking the glucosamine with condroitin simply because I sometimes couldn't find plain glucosamine when I needed to restock, and the combination was advertised to be better. I never could tell any difference in the effects, though. :shrug: Supposedly, this is how the two relate to joint cartilage:
* Glucosamine is a precursor to a molecule called a glycosaminoglycan-this molecule is used in the formation and repair of cartilage.

* Chondroitin is the most abundant glycosaminoglycan in cartilage and is responsible for the resiliency of cartilage.
Based on that relationship, I would surmise that glucosamine is more likely to actually be used by the body in rebuilding cartilage, than chondroitin. Just because chondroitin is a component of cartilage, is no reason to believe that eating it will automatically somehow deposit it where it is needed, (in cartilage). :shrug: That's a lot like the mistaken assumption that fat in the diet will automatically be deposited as fat in the body. :roll:

While we all hope that treatment based on oral consumption of glucosamine, or glucosamine/chondroitin, may increase the rate of formation of new joint cartilage, to the best of my knowledge, research has never proven that this is what happens. For one thing, most studies only cover one to two months of treatment, which isn't long enough to show much effect, anyway. However, research studies have indicated that patients do experience more pain reduction when taking glucosamine and chondroitin than patients receiving a placebo, and the improvement is on a level roughly equal to that experienced by patients taking NSAIDs, (which is the basic non-surgical treatment for arthritis). Of course, glucosamine and condroitin don't carry any risk of side effects, which obviously doesn't apply to NSAIDs, so we don't have much to lose by taking it.

I believe in it, because I've been hard on my knees, (job requirements), especially for the last decade or so, and I'm older than you are. I was having serious "arthritis" issues with my knees before I started taking it, (along with flax seed oil), and those issues quickly faded away, and haven't returned. My knees seem to be getting weaker, as I age, but they're generally pain-free. As you are aware, before I started taking something for it, I had to use a cane for walking, and the pain was sometimes so bad that I just couldn't go - I had to "sit it out" for a while. I suppose if I hadn't started using the supplements, I would have been relegated to a wheel chair, years ago.

Tex
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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.
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Post by MaggieRedwings »

Morning Gloria,

So happy your trip was such a great one and it seems you handled the food issues quite well - you definitely have a knack for that. Always rent houses since it gives me the kitchen and it is well worth it. I also cannot be confined to a single room for vacation it is just too claustrophobic for me. Hawaii is the only state or Canadian province I have not visited and it is at the top of my bucket list.

Love, Maggie
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Post by Ginny »

Gloria, glad you had a marvelous trip.....you deserved it! You are such an organizer, and as always, well planned! I have bad knees as well, but I have been working out with emphasis on legs and knees at least twice a week and it has made all the difference in the world. It is more of a strengthening exercise and prior to this I could not even bend at my knees and get right back up without help. I use to take Flax seed oil and glucosamine with condroitin, but just been afraid to add any supplement to my diet so I took up exercising at the gym.

We just bought a camper so we can get around and see the world and can still cook for myself and not worry. The little bit of traveling I have done in the last two years has always included a place with a kitchen; the only way to go!!

Glad you are home safe and sound that you had a trip without MC problems. Really be praying for your success in lowering Entocort. Love, Ginny

PS Post your recipes in Dee's I would like your muffin recipes. I would like to benefit from all your experimenting to see if they might work for myself as well. Thanks for being a "pioneer"
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