Help! During flare, what can I eat?

[Sylvia]

Hi all, I am experiencing a real flare of LC....haven't had trouble for three years and gradually came to be eating everything, especially pasta. Now, after three weeks of daily D, it has gotten soooo bad, worse of my experience. Had colonoscopy yesterday (dx was 3 yrs ago) and see gastro tomorrow. Sitting here drinking chicken broth plus having jello. Husband just went to get me some Gatorade, as I am dehydrated. Willing to adjust my diet totally, but as of now??? I am reading I should avoid Gluten, dairy, soy, yeast, fiber, fresh fruit, etc etc plus eggs always bothered me......so what can I eat? Thanks for any help, Sylvia

[ant]

Dear Sylvia,

I know how you feel!! When you are in full flare it is not nice..... I went for plain chicken and/or white fish (boiled or grilled) and steamed white rice. Salt and (some) pepper + olive oil and wine vinegar to provide some flavor. Green tea. (Careful with Gatorade.... not sure if it has artificial sweetener in it or not, maybe safer to get electrolytes from the pharmacy)

Your flare will get over and then you can carefully think of expanding your diet. You will get back from this.

All best, Ant

[Gloria]

Hi Sylvia,

I'm so sorry that you are having a severe flare after being in remission for so long.

I agree with Ant's list. Your foods should soothe your gut, meaning any fiber, including fresh fruit or vegetables would be off-limits. Dehydration is a concern and you are smart in drinking a lot of fluids.

With luck, you'll be able to gain control over the D and begin expanding your diet.

Gloria

[Stanz]

RIPE bananas, green juice and almond butter smoothies saved my life. Tastes great.

I got this idea from my daughter, who got it from a friend. My daughter added raw egg and found it very tasty. I never tried that.

[Gabes-Apg]

my acupuncuturist and naturopath both agree - boil rice with lots of water and GF/YF chicken stock, do not drain, so it is like rice broth. I have this with steam chicken, aside from that i had jelly, lots of water, little bit of apple juice. ie clear liquids diet no fibre. either put chicken through food processor or chew lots, treat it like baby food, make it really easy for your body to digest it and get some nutrients

be careful with things like gatoraide as they can have some hidden demons

as it was summer in australia i had lots of lemonade icy poles!
and importantly try not to stress.

take care hope it improves soon

[Bifcus16]

Hi Sylvia,

Sounds like you are really having a hard time with it. Not fun.

When it got bad, I followed the same sort of regime as the others. Bananas, white rice, a little poached chicken breast or eggs for protein (OK, skip the eggs in your case). I liked to overcook my rice till it was a thick porridge and then add a spoonful of honey to the bowl. Yummy. Helps to get some fluid into you as well. Stopped all supplements and drugs except my HRT.

You mentioned in the other thread that you have been on new medications for 2 months. It took about nine months for my HRT to cause a flare. Stopped immediately when I stopped the meds. Not all meds can be stopped suddenly, but you might want to look into this. The doc mentioning you might get D after you stop the antibiotics is interesting. I wonder if he is concerned about a C.Diff infestation? He would need a sample to test for that. I wonder if taking a probiotic might help if antibiotics have upset your flora?

Good luck.

Lyn

[Stanz]

To add to what Lyn said, you should always take probiotics when taking antibiotics, you just have to wait several hours after you take one before you take the other. I just had to take antibiotics for a UTI, first I've had since 2 1/2 years ago when my D started, and I had no problem with D.