Hi folks,
I am a 52 year old female. I have been gluten free for some time (my mom recently told me I had celiac as a baby!). Most of my life I have had gluten. I also have an autistic son who has been gluten free for 13 years.
What I am wondering is why did I get this if I already and gluten free? Do you think I'm getting gluten somehow? I don't think I am because I get canker sores if I have gluten.
At the same time the colitis started my fingers are starting to be misformed from arthritis. My doctor says it's osteoarthritis.
Do you think they are related? I do.
How do I convince my rheumatologist and GI dr. that they are?
Do you know any treatments that help both?
I am mostly healthy, run three times a week, eat only organic fruit and veggies, and try to eat a small amount of grass fed beef. What am I doing wrong?
I would love any suggestions as I feel I can't even work now. I am an Instructional Assistant for special needs kids at a middle school. I can't just RUN out to the toilet every few minutes. I love my job.
Thanks,
Amy
Already gluten free?
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neverleavinsd
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:44 pm
Already gluten free?
I have microscopic colitis (just diagnosed). I have been gluten free for years. I grew up eating gluten. My mom told me recently "You had celiac as a baby" :) really mom????
Dear Amy,
Welcome. It may not be very easy to convince some doctors about the link between arthritis and colitis.
If you read a lot here (or in the book pictured on the top left of the page) you can find much information about how MC effects more than just the colon. IMHO you probably have a leaky gut, which can cause arthritis and is also linked to MC/celiac .
Best wishes in your search to reach better health, Ant
Welcome. It may not be very easy to convince some doctors about the link between arthritis and colitis.
If you read a lot here (or in the book pictured on the top left of the page) you can find much information about how MC effects more than just the colon. IMHO you probably have a leaky gut, which can cause arthritis and is also linked to MC/celiac .
Best wishes in your search to reach better health, Ant
----------------------------------------
"Softly, softly catchee monkey".....
"Softly, softly catchee monkey".....
Hi Amy,
Welcome to our internet family. Yes, MC and arthritis symptoms are definitely connected. Back when my GI symptoms began, I developed arthritis in both knees, an elbow, and several fingers of one hand. It got so bad that I had a use a cane for walking. After I changed my diet, and my intestines healed, I was able to put the cane away and I haven't needed it since. Both gluten and casein, (the primary protein in all dairy products), are known to cause arthritis symptoms.
Also, avoiding gluten 100% is much more difficult than it seems. For those of us who are extremely sensitive to it, complete avoidance of even trace amounts is almost an impossible task, due to the fact that many otherwise GF flours, and of course, many processed products, are cross-contaminated. After following a GF diet for over 11 years, I ordered a test kit from EnteroLab last December, and discovered that my diet was being somehow contaminated with gluten. In addition, I found that even though I had developed a tolerance for casein years ago, I was producing antibodies to it. I ordered the tests because I had noticed occasional D, an increase in lower back pain, and one of my fingers was beginning to grow crooked (osteoarthritis). So obviously, my suspicions were correct — I wasn't totally avoiding my food sensitivities.
As Joan and Ant have already suggested, I'm guessing that cutting all dairy products out of your diet, (and making doubly sure that you aren't somehow getting traces of gluten in your diet), should put an end to your symptoms. If it doesn't, then try avoiding soy and all legumes, also, because about half of us are also sensitive to soy.
Most medical specialists are extremely difficult to retrain, because they consider themselves to be experts, and they bill their patients accordingly. Only those who are willing to actually listen to their patients, and learn from them, are likely to see the light, because most of them have learned in medical school that diet has nothing to do with digestive system diseases, and that's that. They're not willing to take advantage of the knowledge that their patients can provide them, because they consider that to be beneath their dignity. LOL.
Unless they are open-minded, your chances of convincing them of the diet connection are extremely slim. If you want to try, as Ant mentioned, I have written a book about the disease that you might be able to use to help convince them. The fact that after all these years, this is the first book ever written about the disease, is a clear indication that none of the "experts" actually understand the disease. Otherwise someone surely would have written a book about it by now. MC is more common than the other IBDs and celiac disease, and yet those diseases have zillions of books written about them.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
Welcome to our internet family. Yes, MC and arthritis symptoms are definitely connected. Back when my GI symptoms began, I developed arthritis in both knees, an elbow, and several fingers of one hand. It got so bad that I had a use a cane for walking. After I changed my diet, and my intestines healed, I was able to put the cane away and I haven't needed it since. Both gluten and casein, (the primary protein in all dairy products), are known to cause arthritis symptoms.
Also, avoiding gluten 100% is much more difficult than it seems. For those of us who are extremely sensitive to it, complete avoidance of even trace amounts is almost an impossible task, due to the fact that many otherwise GF flours, and of course, many processed products, are cross-contaminated. After following a GF diet for over 11 years, I ordered a test kit from EnteroLab last December, and discovered that my diet was being somehow contaminated with gluten. In addition, I found that even though I had developed a tolerance for casein years ago, I was producing antibodies to it. I ordered the tests because I had noticed occasional D, an increase in lower back pain, and one of my fingers was beginning to grow crooked (osteoarthritis). So obviously, my suspicions were correct — I wasn't totally avoiding my food sensitivities.
As Joan and Ant have already suggested, I'm guessing that cutting all dairy products out of your diet, (and making doubly sure that you aren't somehow getting traces of gluten in your diet), should put an end to your symptoms. If it doesn't, then try avoiding soy and all legumes, also, because about half of us are also sensitive to soy.
Most medical specialists are extremely difficult to retrain, because they consider themselves to be experts, and they bill their patients accordingly. Only those who are willing to actually listen to their patients, and learn from them, are likely to see the light, because most of them have learned in medical school that diet has nothing to do with digestive system diseases, and that's that. They're not willing to take advantage of the knowledge that their patients can provide them, because they consider that to be beneath their dignity. LOL.
Unless they are open-minded, your chances of convincing them of the diet connection are extremely slim. If you want to try, as Ant mentioned, I have written a book about the disease that you might be able to use to help convince them. The fact that after all these years, this is the first book ever written about the disease, is a clear indication that none of the "experts" actually understand the disease. Otherwise someone surely would have written a book about it by now. MC is more common than the other IBDs and celiac disease, and yet those diseases have zillions of books written about them.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
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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neverleavinsd
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:44 pm
Thank you for the help. I will avoid casein too (my favorite drink is milk).
Do you work? Drive?
I have had diarrhea for 17 days now and am afraid to leave the house (pick my daughter up from school) because I may have the cramping and D.
How do you still have a life outside of the house? This is a horrible thing.
Thanks!
Do you work? Drive?
I have had diarrhea for 17 days now and am afraid to leave the house (pick my daughter up from school) because I may have the cramping and D.
How do you still have a life outside of the house? This is a horrible thing.
Thanks!
I have microscopic colitis (just diagnosed). I have been gluten free for years. I grew up eating gluten. My mom told me recently "You had celiac as a baby" :) really mom????
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neverleavinsd
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:44 pm
Sure, I got my life back about 9 and a half years ago, but before that, I was in the same condition as you — unable to leave the house unless I was willing to risk an "accident", and I had a few, of course.Amy wrote:Do you work? Drive?
How do you still have a life outside of the house? This is a horrible thing.
This disease is much more debilitating and life-altering than most GI docs realize. Most of them apparently consider it to be "just a little diarrhea".
Thanks, I hope the book will tell you what you need to know in order to get your life back, too.
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.