Sara! I'm shocked at your callous attitude.Sara wrote:Science, medicine - maybe we can fix them up on a blind date.
That's downright cruel. 
You most certainly do have a way with words.
Love,
Tex
entocort treatment
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That's downright cruel. You most certainly do have a way with words.
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.
Okay...Dr.'s office update: instead of Entocort, try Pepto-Bismol for 8 weeks, 3 tabs 3 times a day, then wean myself off over the next month. Much cheaper (and hopefully, still effective)! I did cancel my endoscopy. And, Tex, my skin IS sensitive to a lot of things, including fragrance in lotion, and chemicals, and I've never worn makeup for that reason. I'll check for gluten in anything my skin touches from now on. And I do think it's cruel to put us back on gluten just to prove we're sensitive to it! 
Pat C.
"Don't sweat the small stuff.
P.S. (It's all small stuff!)"
"Don't sweat the small stuff.
P.S. (It's all small stuff!)"
Tex,
It was the gluten that made me so mean ;)
Pat - there are lots of great gluten-free cosmetics now - there's a whole forum on safe cosmetics here, with lots of recent research. Plus your long-term sensitivity convinces me even more that you know everything you need to know about gluten without endoscopy.
I took Pepto - hope it helps you as it did me. (Some don't tolerate it will - you will know if you're one of them and can just stop it.)
I did a day or two of the chewables (YUCK) and then found the capsule/tablets. I did took 8/day and was able to taper off much faster than 8 weeks. I only did one or two at a time (so 2, 4x/day, and was down to 5/day within a week - I think it was the hideous pink color that put me off, lol).
If you're 20 days into your GF adventure with so much improvement, you may have similar success - though it's very individual, of course. Good luck!
Sara
It was the gluten that made me so mean ;)
Pat - there are lots of great gluten-free cosmetics now - there's a whole forum on safe cosmetics here, with lots of recent research. Plus your long-term sensitivity convinces me even more that you know everything you need to know about gluten without endoscopy.
I took Pepto - hope it helps you as it did me. (Some don't tolerate it will - you will know if you're one of them and can just stop it.)
I did a day or two of the chewables (YUCK) and then found the capsule/tablets. I did took 8/day and was able to taper off much faster than 8 weeks. I only did one or two at a time (so 2, 4x/day, and was down to 5/day within a week - I think it was the hideous pink color that put me off, lol).
If you're 20 days into your GF adventure with so much improvement, you may have similar success - though it's very individual, of course. Good luck!
Sara
Many of us order stool test kits from Enterolab in Dallas, TX. Their tests can accurately detect food sensitivities, by testing for antibodies in stool samples. Their tests are much more sensitive and much more reliable than either blood tests or skin tests, for determining food sensitivities.
Tex
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.
Skunk Ape,
The Enterolab testing is very accurate. Some people were smart enough to figure it out on their own (you know who you are!) - how I wish I had. The method is just - eliminate all gluten products, and perhaps dairy (at least at first), and if you see a change for the better... that's a very good indicator. It's a bit of a project, especially if you eat out a lot or rely on convenience/packaged foods. There are many good sites with lists of hidden gluten ingredients - the awareness of gluten and its effect on some people is growing almost daily.
The hitch is, you really have to eliminate 100% of gluten to see the benefits, and you have to give it enough time to determine whether it helped. Since you're having relentless diarrhea, it could take a little while for your system to calm down enough to know for sure. (It took me about 6 days to stop the diarrhea with diet, and around the end of that time I added in Pepto Bismol which helped soothe my system and rebuild my strength & stamina - and then maybe 6-8 weeks before I noticed I was actually myself, but with steady improvement all that time. these timings are very individual.)
For me, dairy gives me even more horrible diarrhea than gluten (I learned the phrase 'battery acid' diarrhea here, but it fits perfectly - that's how I knew I was in the right place).
Hope this helps,
Sara
The Enterolab testing is very accurate. Some people were smart enough to figure it out on their own (you know who you are!) - how I wish I had. The method is just - eliminate all gluten products, and perhaps dairy (at least at first), and if you see a change for the better... that's a very good indicator. It's a bit of a project, especially if you eat out a lot or rely on convenience/packaged foods. There are many good sites with lists of hidden gluten ingredients - the awareness of gluten and its effect on some people is growing almost daily.
The hitch is, you really have to eliminate 100% of gluten to see the benefits, and you have to give it enough time to determine whether it helped. Since you're having relentless diarrhea, it could take a little while for your system to calm down enough to know for sure. (It took me about 6 days to stop the diarrhea with diet, and around the end of that time I added in Pepto Bismol which helped soothe my system and rebuild my strength & stamina - and then maybe 6-8 weeks before I noticed I was actually myself, but with steady improvement all that time. these timings are very individual.)
For me, dairy gives me even more horrible diarrhea than gluten (I learned the phrase 'battery acid' diarrhea here, but it fits perfectly - that's how I knew I was in the right place).
Hope this helps,
Sara
Me, too, Sara...dairy is much worse than gluten. I made myself a smoothie about a month ago with milk leftover from my grandkids' visit (instead of my usual Soy) and the tummy rumbles were probably waking up my neighbors. Battery acid for sure! (But gluten's no fun either.)
Pat C.
"Don't sweat the small stuff.
P.S. (It's all small stuff!)"
"Don't sweat the small stuff.
P.S. (It's all small stuff!)"
Amen to that, Pat - gluten is no fun either. (Dairy is the worser of two evils, but gluten isn't exactly the lesser!)
The better I feel, and the longer I feel better, the more strict I'm motivated to be. I was afraid it would be the other way around - that I'd forget the pain and backslide or let someone put a spoon from one dish into another and just hope for the best. In fact that's the second time today something here has started me thinking along these lines... I think this calls for another topic, and it will be good for me to write/think it out.
See you over in the Main Message Board when I get my thoughts together,
Sara
The better I feel, and the longer I feel better, the more strict I'm motivated to be. I was afraid it would be the other way around - that I'd forget the pain and backslide or let someone put a spoon from one dish into another and just hope for the best. In fact that's the second time today something here has started me thinking along these lines... I think this calls for another topic, and it will be good for me to write/think it out.
See you over in the Main Message Board when I get my thoughts together,
Sara
I'm not familiar with that insurance. Some companies will pay for the tests, and some won't. The only way I know to find out, is to call or e-mail Enterolab, and get the insurance code, or codes, (or whatever they call it/them), for the test/tests that you ordered, and then call your insurance company, tell them the code numbers, and they can tell you whether or not they're covered. Some companies require that a doctor order the tests, in order for it to be a covered benefit. Most of us seem to end up paying out of our own pockets.Pat wrote:I've just ordered my test kit from Enterolab...do you guys know if I can submit that to Blue Care Network? Or are we on our own on this one?
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.