Tex said it all. Diet is key. It may seem like it is all stress, but if you can get the inflammation down with diet, then the stress won't have the same effect.... and then your stress level will go down because you are physically better. When you are ready, start with eliminating gluten. Then when you get use to that, take dairy out and so forth. And remember that for now raw fruits and veggies could be just too much for your system.
Good luck
Leah
In my head?
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Hi,
Since you have a redsox name you might be in my area. I live in the Boston area. I know how you feel and you are very young dealing with this. My son has a friend and a brother that are celiac and now my son's friend enjoys coming to my house and knows he can have safe food. He was diagnosed at 15 and is now 17. Due to this horrible disease I have been on a gluten, dairy, & soy free diet for one year and it has made a huge difference in my life. I had the enterolab testing in October and tested high for eggs and now have given that up. You can get your life back! It takes time tracking what bothers you but you just keep going and you will get better!
PS there are a lot of places that offer gluten free beer and if you are in the Boston area North I can send you a list of safe restaurants. I hope you went to the Bruins game last night.
Since you have a redsox name you might be in my area. I live in the Boston area. I know how you feel and you are very young dealing with this. My son has a friend and a brother that are celiac and now my son's friend enjoys coming to my house and knows he can have safe food. He was diagnosed at 15 and is now 17. Due to this horrible disease I have been on a gluten, dairy, & soy free diet for one year and it has made a huge difference in my life. I had the enterolab testing in October and tested high for eggs and now have given that up. You can get your life back! It takes time tracking what bothers you but you just keep going and you will get better!
PS there are a lot of places that offer gluten free beer and if you are in the Boston area North I can send you a list of safe restaurants. I hope you went to the Bruins game last night.
Denise
Thanks again to everyone for the great replies and suggestions. I am going to work on beating this and will hopefully have a good success story to share with everyone. I feel in some ways my symptoms are less severe than others on here (as I'm usually only going about twice a day) but my anxiety issues seem to be worse. I'm starting a new job tomorrow so we will see how that goes. I usually do pretty well at work as long as I feel comfortable. Not a fan of meetings because there's no escape! You have all been correct guessing that I am from New England! I live in NH. Talk to you all again soon.
Hi Red,
I'm glad you brought up the bar scene as I had business meeting in the bar capital of the world last week--Daytona Beach and believe me it was quite the experience.
Entocort will help but the diet is very very key to remission. As your gut gets better you will have a lot more confidence about going out and a lot less "situations." Suggest go gluten free (wheat free) and dairy free. It will make a big difference. Think of a lot of protein, overcooked veggies, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes. You may be okay with eggs, some people are. GF chex cereal with almond milk in the mornings. Swap out your bread with GF bread, swap out your pasta with GF pasta. Swap out your crackers with GF crackers, potato chips are generally ok with moderation and get one that is preferably potato chips cooked in olive oil with no other ingredients. Cold cuts (luncheon meats--get only boars head which are GF.) Swap out your beer with GF beer.
I find a lot of the stress of going out with friends to bars/restaurants is the unknown factor of the drinks/menu etc. Consider doing some recon in advance at the bars you go to with your friends. Go to one of the bars alone at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm on a Saturday to talk to the bartender and look at the menu when you are not stressed and surrounded by friends. I'm not sure how readily available GF beers are in bars. See if the bar has any GF beers on hand. If they do you can test one and order it by name next time. I'm generally ok with white wine in moderation. Also check out the bar food menu when you are there. Ask if there is a GF menu. Then you can check it out in private with out the stress of your friends. Test something off of the GF menu. If no GF menu I find that at most bars you can order a burger with no bun and some steamed broccoli. Test that. If you order this when you are out with friends they will just assume you are eating healthy or eating Atkins. I find it helps if I eat a good meal before I leave my house so I'm not starved when I am in a bar, club or restaurant.
I attend a lot of college Division I basketball games and college Division I football games and I've been to college football in one of the NFL stadiums. The only thing safe for me to eat/drink at any of these venues is bottled water or at the NFL stadiums bottled water or white wine. Smuggle Lara bars into any sports venues that you go to (so that you don't starve.) They are GF and look like candy bars. Test some in advance at your house. You can most likely get them at your grocery store in the healthy bar section. Stick the Lara bars in your back jeans pocket or in your socks. Stay clear of gatorade or any sports drinks. They make D worse. I eat a good meal at home before I go to any sporting event so that I don't get hungry or depressed. Sporting events/stadiums are particularly rough on women. The mens rooms at the Gator stadium has large trough/urinals that go back decades so the men zip in and out of the restroom quickly. The women's line can typically be a wait of 200 gals as we have to wait for individual stalls and no trough is available. Jan 2012 when I attended one of the bowl games at an NFL stadium I knew I was on the mend when I was able to wait in line with the other gals with no stress--I was clearly heading into remission with MC.
For stress/anxiety relief try the following: meditation, Tai Chi, Chi Young (not sure how it is spelled), yoga. Typically my yoga classes are about 25% - 50 % men. There a lot of guys under 30 and over 50. I also like the book Relaxation Revolution by Herbert Benson.
Your post made me realize that I've come along way. My company hosted a party at a bar in Daytona Beach at our national trade show last week. It was not a strip club but it got kind of raunchy (this from a 50 year old church goer so not my normal scene) (Prior year the party was hosted at a Disney bar in Orlando--that had the clean cut wholesome Disney thing going on. I had zero bathroom stress or issues at the party which awhile back would have been problematic.)
As you get confidence in your food choices you should have less "situations" and your anxiety should go down.
Best wishes, Brandy
I'm glad you brought up the bar scene as I had business meeting in the bar capital of the world last week--Daytona Beach and believe me it was quite the experience.
Entocort will help but the diet is very very key to remission. As your gut gets better you will have a lot more confidence about going out and a lot less "situations." Suggest go gluten free (wheat free) and dairy free. It will make a big difference. Think of a lot of protein, overcooked veggies, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes. You may be okay with eggs, some people are. GF chex cereal with almond milk in the mornings. Swap out your bread with GF bread, swap out your pasta with GF pasta. Swap out your crackers with GF crackers, potato chips are generally ok with moderation and get one that is preferably potato chips cooked in olive oil with no other ingredients. Cold cuts (luncheon meats--get only boars head which are GF.) Swap out your beer with GF beer.
I find a lot of the stress of going out with friends to bars/restaurants is the unknown factor of the drinks/menu etc. Consider doing some recon in advance at the bars you go to with your friends. Go to one of the bars alone at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm on a Saturday to talk to the bartender and look at the menu when you are not stressed and surrounded by friends. I'm not sure how readily available GF beers are in bars. See if the bar has any GF beers on hand. If they do you can test one and order it by name next time. I'm generally ok with white wine in moderation. Also check out the bar food menu when you are there. Ask if there is a GF menu. Then you can check it out in private with out the stress of your friends. Test something off of the GF menu. If no GF menu I find that at most bars you can order a burger with no bun and some steamed broccoli. Test that. If you order this when you are out with friends they will just assume you are eating healthy or eating Atkins. I find it helps if I eat a good meal before I leave my house so I'm not starved when I am in a bar, club or restaurant.
I attend a lot of college Division I basketball games and college Division I football games and I've been to college football in one of the NFL stadiums. The only thing safe for me to eat/drink at any of these venues is bottled water or at the NFL stadiums bottled water or white wine. Smuggle Lara bars into any sports venues that you go to (so that you don't starve.) They are GF and look like candy bars. Test some in advance at your house. You can most likely get them at your grocery store in the healthy bar section. Stick the Lara bars in your back jeans pocket or in your socks. Stay clear of gatorade or any sports drinks. They make D worse. I eat a good meal at home before I go to any sporting event so that I don't get hungry or depressed. Sporting events/stadiums are particularly rough on women. The mens rooms at the Gator stadium has large trough/urinals that go back decades so the men zip in and out of the restroom quickly. The women's line can typically be a wait of 200 gals as we have to wait for individual stalls and no trough is available. Jan 2012 when I attended one of the bowl games at an NFL stadium I knew I was on the mend when I was able to wait in line with the other gals with no stress--I was clearly heading into remission with MC.
For stress/anxiety relief try the following: meditation, Tai Chi, Chi Young (not sure how it is spelled), yoga. Typically my yoga classes are about 25% - 50 % men. There a lot of guys under 30 and over 50. I also like the book Relaxation Revolution by Herbert Benson.
Your post made me realize that I've come along way. My company hosted a party at a bar in Daytona Beach at our national trade show last week. It was not a strip club but it got kind of raunchy (this from a 50 year old church goer so not my normal scene) (Prior year the party was hosted at a Disney bar in Orlando--that had the clean cut wholesome Disney thing going on. I had zero bathroom stress or issues at the party which awhile back would have been problematic.)
As you get confidence in your food choices you should have less "situations" and your anxiety should go down.
Best wishes, Brandy
Hi all, sorry I haven't been on here in a bit. At your urging I've decided to give this gluten free thing a go. The stress that I experience when I know a bathroom is not near or at times when I know it would be inconvenient to go is still giving me fits. Hopefully, gluten free will bring down the inflammation so the stress won't wreck havoc on my stomach anymore! I still think I might just have an anxiety disorder (fight or flight) or something but ill try this diet before the anxiety meds. Also, bought some probiotics and have been cutting high fructose corn syrup out as much as possible. Anyway, the diet officially starts tomorrow so I will keep you posted! Got this gluten free bread ready to go! Thanks for the support!