MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

Charleen,

I used to have migraines, also. Are you taking enough magnesium and vitamin D? I thought that I was, but I found out the hard way that I was not. Migraines are a common symptom of chronic magnesium and vitamin D deficiencies.

Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium.

And vitamin deficiencies are sometimes involved. The following article has the right idea, but the recommendations for magnesium and vitamin D are way too low to get reliable results. Most of us have to take 400–500 mg of magnesium and about 5,000 IU of vitamin D to get good results.

Your migraines may have a lot to do with certain vitamins (or lack thereof)

Vitamin D supplementation may help patients with migraines, according to RCT

Effect of Vitamin D supplementation on symptoms and C-reactive protein in migraine patients

Tex

Hi, Happy New Year to everyone. I do have lymphocytic colitis. I was diagnosed about a month and a half ago. I also have read your book, "Microscopic Colitis" by Wayne Persky which I've purchased for myself. The supplements I take are gluten, dairy, soy free. I am on a gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free , night shade free diet. I've had allergies tests done which I have allergies to gluten, dairy, egg, soy, potato, tomato, cabbage, caffiene and that is about it.
Charleen

Happy new year Charleen
based on the symptoms your body is having I would focus on Vit D3 and magnesium only with the bland eating plan suggested in this thread.

ie lots of home made bone broth, small amount of ingredients, good serves of protein each meal etc.

Hi, I am thinking of buying a bone broth supplement to drink. What do you think about that? I went to see my doctor the other day because
I have a bad chest cold with trouble swallowing and my GERD came back really bad. I also started a new medicine my gastro doctor gave me
about 6 days ago. I got diarrhea with it and I think my GERD came with it too with the bad chest cold. My family doctor gave me antibiotics for the cold and told me to stop the mesalamine from the gastro doctor. I also am on omeprazole for the GERD too but have cut down to taking it at night only, was taking twice a day. I have been on omeprazole for 15 years.

Charleen
sorry to hear about the cold.
for optimum benefit from ingredients making home made bone broth is a better option - and it is way cheaper than commercial bone broth products.
commercial products are high risk for soy, and flavouring ingredients like onion etc that are not ideal in early stage of healing.

have you started taking Vit D3 and magnesium?
to help with the chest cold, increasing Vit D intake will help clear excess inflammation and the Vit D3 and magnesium will help with the Gerd.
increasing water intake and resting is the other best healing option.

hope this helps

this discussion may assist you
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... th+chicken

Yes, I am taking Vitamin D3 and magnesium. I also take DGL for my GERD. It works for me.

Hi
I'm new on here and only just coming to terms with my diagnosis of MCC.
I've taken myself off gluten and have seen a massive improvement. (Crossed fingers!)
I'm really interested to read the comments about magnesium because I'm also a migraine sufferer.
What form of magnesium do you recommend? And dosage?
Thanks for any advice.

Hi,

Welcome to our Internet family. It sounds as though you're off to a good start with your recovery.

Yes, migraines are often a symptom of a chronic magnesium deficiency, and magnesium has been shown to treat migraines effectively in many cases. Out of the many different types of magnesium supplements, the worst appears to be magnesium oxide because humans can only absorb approximately 2–4 % of it. The rest remains in the digestive system where it combines with water to form magnesium hydroxide, commonly known as milk of magnesia, a laxative.

I'm guessing that most of us here use chelated magnesium (magnesium glycinate) because it is one of the most easily absorbed forms and it's also one of the least likely forms to cause diarrhea. Many use the Doctor's Best brand of chelated magnesium because it's free of allergens and it works well. Note that the label shows 200 mg, but that's the dose, not the amount per tablet. As the back label shows, the dosage is listed as 2 tablets, so that means that each tablet contains 100 mg of elemental magnesium.

Magnesium citrate is also absorbed approximately as well as magnesium glycinate, but if larger doses are used it's more likely to cause diarrhea.

In cases where conventional oral magnesium supplements seem to be ineffective, ReMag (from Dr. Carolyn Dean) can be used to force absorption, but it should be used with care because it's potent stuff. Start slowly and work up the dosage if you choose to use ReMag.

To restore depleted magnesium reserves seems to require doses in the 500–600 mg range (scattered throughout the day with meals), but after a few months or so of rebuilding reserves you may be able to drop the dosage to the 300–400 mg range for a maintenance dose. Early on, some members find it very helpful to supplement the treatment with topical magnesium applications, using magnesium oil or lotion, or foot soaks or even baths using Epsom salts. Absorbing magnesium through the skin is just as effective as oral supplements for all practical purposes, and it avoids the risk of causing diarrhea with larger doses. And a few people who are very sensitive find that even small doses of oral magnesium can cause diarrhea, so topical magnesium is probably their best option.

I have wondered if untreated gluten sensitivity may cause migraines also because the only time in my life when I had migraines was when my digestive symptoms began and I started having severe reactions. The migraines were very debilitating and prevented me from being able to work on the really bad days. But they faded away as my gut healed, and I haven't even had a headache in many years. But my migraines could also have been caused by magnesium deficiency because the malabsorption problems caused by MC tend to cause deficiencies of vitamin D and magnesium, and eventually some of the B vitamins.

I hope that some of this is helpful. Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

Thank you so much for taking so much time to reply comprehensiby.

You're very welcome. I hope that your migraines will soon be only a memory.

Tex

I just received my Ancient Minerals Mag Oil. I am wondering if I should start it right away during this flare or do I wait until the D has calmed down?
I don't know how soon to start doing things.
Thanks,
Debbie

Definately start the topical mag oil now - topical magnesium will not impact the gut/digestion at all - if anything it will help the body use the Vit D3 more effectively to moderate the inflammation

Thanks again, as always for your quick responses. Really appreciate what you do here!
Debbie

Dear All,

As maybe you read my introduction topic, I got my diagnosis (collagenous colitis) a few days ago, but my trip started almost exactly 2 years ago, so I have quite a lot experience in (self) adjusting (or fine tuning) my diet, because from the beginning I know that my symptoms related to my diet.

I spent my whole weekend to read as much as I can here at the support forum, but I became a little bit confused... One thing is true: almost all of my trigger foods are the same that you often mention.

You need to know, that my symptoms are milder than what other members usually mention here.
I have "soft intolerances": If I eat these kind of foods, my stomach and small intestine (?) starts gurgling, and I feel that I will have diarrhea, but that doesn't happen. Instead, my next day stool (once at the morning) become diarrhea. And thats it.

These "soft triggers" are:
- Dairy (even if the food is lactose free) -> I think Casein causes the problem.
- Fruits -> I think the fructose or maybe the fiber causes the problem. Almost all of the fruits cause next day problems.
- Raw vegetables, mostly salads. I can tolerate a few of them: radish, cucumber (peeled).
- Cooked vegetables in high amount -> too much fiber causes problems.
- It is funny but also psyllium husk cause severe watery(!) diarrhea at the next day. And here it is my first question: how is it possible? I read everywhere that psyllium husk should absorbs water...
- Carrots (even if carrots are cooked, I see the little undigested orange specs in my next day product...) Again: how is it possible that carrots are bad for me?
- Beef (I don't know why, even fat free part of the beef causes next day problems). Third question. How is it possible? I didn't read something like this in your posts.
- Salmon or other foods rich in omega3. I tried omega3 caps. 1 piece (1g) causes next day diarrhea. I tried flaxseed oil too. Also -> next day diarrhea Again: how is it possible?

Some more interesting soft triggers:
- lactobacillus probiotics (mostly with FOS) - next day diarrhea.
- too much Calcium carbonate (I tried those pills for my diarrhea...) - next day diarrhea.
- Smooth muscle relaxants (for example Alverine-citrate) - I got those pills when doctors thought I have IBS. - next day (or immediate) diarrhea.

And here are my "hard triggers". These foods cause "immediate" (1-3 hour after ingesting them) diarrhea (usually 3x-4x) and ruin my progression for weeks. After ingesting such foods, my digestion become bad. After the "diarrhea attack" it continues. Morning diarrheas, crampings, gurglings for at least a week.
These "hard triggers" are:
- nuts and seeds (nut, almond, cashew, even grapesseds and flaxseeds)
- Fatty foods. For example: a few (8-10) chicken breast strips from KFC with french fries caused my worst attack ever. Or T-bone steak for example. A question again: I read here that animal fat usually not causing problems. I know that in KFC's food the fat come from vegetable oils, but what was in that T-bone steak? How is it possible that fat is my worst enemy?
- Soups. Very interesting, but warm, liquid food can cause me severe diarrhea. Mostly I have problem with soups containing a little bit more fat (goulash for example.) Do you have any idea? Why?
One thing is common in these foods. FAT. So I think fat is a big enemy for me. But I know that I need good fats. This is why I tried to eat omega3s (without success...)

And there are my safe foods:
- boiled hard eggs (again, very interesting, but eggs in fired or omelette form can cause problems).
- cooked stewed or fried (in coconut oil) chicken or turkey breast or chicken legs.
- Rice, rice and rice again. Rice is my best friend.
- Some raw vegetables (cucumber, radish).
- Some steamed or cooked vegetables: white carrots, zucchini, green beans, well cooked peas, well cooked sorrel. But only in moderate quantity.
- And here is why I write this post: bread and pasta and other gluten containing carbs.


My most important question is: do you think that I should do a GF diet even if I think that gluten not causing my problems? If I do a strict, but not GF diet, avoiding my triggers I could reach that my morning stools become somewhere between diarrhea and normal, formed stool. I think in english we can call that "loose or mushy stool". Sometimes (1x weekly or bi-weekly I have normal, formed stools - what was the normal for me before my illness). At the beginning I tried to be GF for 5 month, but the result was the same -> only mushy stool at the morning (at best stage).
(I was tested for gluten intolerance by blood test - Normal Iga, Igg values. But I know from the forum that it means nothing. The pathologists found that my villus seems totally intact under microscope. That was what the Gi doctor also told me after the colonoscopy and the gastroscopy.) In my country (or even in Europe) none of the labs offer stool tests for food intolerances, only blood tests are available, So I don't have chance to test for stool antigens...

And the bonus question. GI doctor found H pylori bacteria in my stomach. She prescribed Amoxicillin+Clarithromicin+PPI for 14 days. I finished the course yesterday, and from the beginning the antibiotics (or the ppi, or both) eliminated ALL of my problems. I had (and have) totally normal stools at the mornings, I didn't (and don't) have pain. The question is why? And will it last long? And the ppi caused it or the antibiotics?

Beside my confusion I have a clear picture:
- I will buy a topical magnesium oil supplement tomorrow. (I tried mag caps a several times before but caused d...)
- Tomorrow I will also order Tex's book about MC.
- I will also buy a sublingual D3 vit. supplement.
- I will continue my multivitamin supplement with elevated amount of B complex.
- I bought Boswellia serrata, and I will try 3x500 mg for 8 weeks. (But before the starting, I will try to find more clinical trials with this herb. I want to be sure that I will not harm myself). I bought this one: https://www.nowfoods.com/supplements/bo ... g-softgels
- I will continue to adjust my diet - but for this part, I request your help.
- And my last question: do you suggest some more supplement - essential for remission beside Mag. and D3?

PS.: Thank you for your help in advance.
PS2.: Should I open a new topic for my (dumb) questions, or it is the right place to ask them?