Greetings and thank you for being here,
Although I was diagnosed with LC in 2003, I have not had major problems until this week. Now suddenly I am wondering if I will get my life back and be able to return to the music teaching profession which I love.
I have been on-and-off GF for 4 years, and the off always coincides with the holidays. Until a year ago I was DF, and pretty much SF until a month ago when I began taking Fosteum for osteoporosis. But I still got by OK, having pain and usually 5-6 stools per day. I took an average of 1 Imodium per day and thought of MC as a minor inconvenience.
Then I was sick with a virus for a week around Christmas, got a bad sinus infection, and on Jan. 2 began taking Augmentin, all the while celebrating my 60th birthday by eating loads of cake, dairy, sugar, coffee, etc. The morning of Jan. 6, I either came down with a stomach flu or food poisoning, and had virulent mucous-filled D every 20 minutes or so for the next 48 hours. Addionally, I was in a lot of pain, was nauseous and running a fever.
I stopped the antibiotic and called my GP, who ordered a Z pack, which I never started. She said the D would just have to "run its course" and I needed to treat the sinus infection. When I told her of my MC diagnosis, she made no comment.
Finally on Tuesday 1/8 the D subsided. I ate some white rice, after which the pain in my gut returned, and my the rumbling noises became louder than I have ever experienced. Feeling hungry again, around 8 PM I ate 2 fried eggs (I know, pretty dumb idea). Within the hour the D, pain and gut sounds had returned with a vengeance. I was up until 4:30 this morning.
Now I am afraid to eat anything. I have subsisted on Gatorade and Pediolyte but am getting hungry. My wonderful Gyn saw me today and she prescribed budesonide, which I will start tomorrow, and lomotil. She had never hear of the former med, but read the research I brought to her, thanks to this forum. Now I'm looking for a gastroenterologist. My old one died.
Meanwhile, what do I eat? Should I stick with liquids for a while? Ensure? Try rice again?
I needed to lose weight, but losing 7 pounds so far in three days isn't the best way. And I am hungry!
Thank you again for being here.
Newbie wonders: What to eat during flare-up?
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Marsha,
I like everyone else here on the board am so sorry you are feeling so bad. When I was in your situation, I survived on turkey soup. I called it my 24 hour soup because I would crock pot turkey wings for 12 hours then load the pot with veggies and cook it for another 12 hours. The veggies had to be cooked a long time as if they weren't I'd still have problems. And that was the only thing I would eat until the symptoms eased. Those of us with MC also suffer with vitamin deficiencies. The big ones being vit D and B12. There are much more knowledgable poeple on this board who will also respond to your post, but our forum leader Tex has written a book on this dreaded disease that can give you some very valuable insight as to how you can take control and get your life back. It can take a long time for your gut to heal. For me it's been 2 years but I'm now able to limit my episodes of D to mornings only. I can live with that compared to where I was 2 years ago. Big hugs to you and know you have friends who not only care but can relate to what you are going through!
Linda
I like everyone else here on the board am so sorry you are feeling so bad. When I was in your situation, I survived on turkey soup. I called it my 24 hour soup because I would crock pot turkey wings for 12 hours then load the pot with veggies and cook it for another 12 hours. The veggies had to be cooked a long time as if they weren't I'd still have problems. And that was the only thing I would eat until the symptoms eased. Those of us with MC also suffer with vitamin deficiencies. The big ones being vit D and B12. There are much more knowledgable poeple on this board who will also respond to your post, but our forum leader Tex has written a book on this dreaded disease that can give you some very valuable insight as to how you can take control and get your life back. It can take a long time for your gut to heal. For me it's been 2 years but I'm now able to limit my episodes of D to mornings only. I can live with that compared to where I was 2 years ago. Big hugs to you and know you have friends who not only care but can relate to what you are going through!
Linda
Marsha,
I'm so sorry you're feeling crummy, but rest assured that everyone here knows exactly what it's like. I'm sure others will chime in, but the mantra for getting a flare under control seems to be, Back to Basics. GF chicken broth, maybe applesauce, white rice, boiled chicken, mushy cooked vegetables. Cut out the fiber, raw veggies, fruits, etc. for the time being.
I really suggest that getting serious about being totally gluten, and maybe also dairy, free is worth a try. I have had great relief from eliminating both, and I also avoid soy to the greatest degree I can. Most others here will tell you the same. I initially sort of balked at the idea, but my GI doc gave me a good talking-to about the gluten, and I now feel it's a small price to pay for better health and wellness.
I took budesonide/Entocort for over a year with no side effect and believe it helped a lot. I weaned off that over a stretch of time, and I now take daily balsalazide, which also seems to be working for me.
I think the antibiotic that I have found to be low-impact when I have no choice but to take one is called Levaquin (I invite others to correct me if that isn't the right name). But in general, I avoid antibiotics like the plague.
I'm so sorry you're feeling crummy, but rest assured that everyone here knows exactly what it's like. I'm sure others will chime in, but the mantra for getting a flare under control seems to be, Back to Basics. GF chicken broth, maybe applesauce, white rice, boiled chicken, mushy cooked vegetables. Cut out the fiber, raw veggies, fruits, etc. for the time being.
I really suggest that getting serious about being totally gluten, and maybe also dairy, free is worth a try. I have had great relief from eliminating both, and I also avoid soy to the greatest degree I can. Most others here will tell you the same. I initially sort of balked at the idea, but my GI doc gave me a good talking-to about the gluten, and I now feel it's a small price to pay for better health and wellness.
I took budesonide/Entocort for over a year with no side effect and believe it helped a lot. I weaned off that over a stretch of time, and I now take daily balsalazide, which also seems to be working for me.
I think the antibiotic that I have found to be low-impact when I have no choice but to take one is called Levaquin (I invite others to correct me if that isn't the right name). But in general, I avoid antibiotics like the plague.
Suze
Thanks
Hi Linda,
I ordered the book and it should be here in 2 days. Although I have mostly been vegetarian for 12 years, I feel pretty much desperate enough to try your turkey soup recipe. I was strictly vegan on the Hallelujah Diet for the first 9 years as I fought widely metastatic endometrial stromal sarcoma. Until getting sick 2 weeks ago I still drank carrot juice every day and ate many raw vegetables. I had added back dairy, eggs and most recently, fish. Miraculously, I have been deemed cancer free since 2006, and my doctors at Mayo Clinic Jax say they don't know anyone else who is like me. My main concern right now, of course, is not the cancer, but this "train wreck." Perhaps knowing about my cancer survivorship will make more sense to this group as to why I paid such little attention to the MC diagnosis back in 2003.
Thank you!
I ordered the book and it should be here in 2 days. Although I have mostly been vegetarian for 12 years, I feel pretty much desperate enough to try your turkey soup recipe. I was strictly vegan on the Hallelujah Diet for the first 9 years as I fought widely metastatic endometrial stromal sarcoma. Until getting sick 2 weeks ago I still drank carrot juice every day and ate many raw vegetables. I had added back dairy, eggs and most recently, fish. Miraculously, I have been deemed cancer free since 2006, and my doctors at Mayo Clinic Jax say they don't know anyone else who is like me. My main concern right now, of course, is not the cancer, but this "train wreck." Perhaps knowing about my cancer survivorship will make more sense to this group as to why I paid such little attention to the MC diagnosis back in 2003.
Thank you!
Marsha
Welcome marsha.You have gotten very good advice so far. I too stay away from antibiotics if at all possible. It's never pretty. Chicken soup is a life saver for me. Being a vegetarian would be difficult with this disease considering that a Paleo diet is what works best and that protein helps heal the intestines. I second the fact that until you get this under control, you should stay away from raw fruits and veggies.
I took Budesonide for 6 months. It works great, but if you eat things that are causing the inflammation, your symptoms will come back when you wean off of it, so staying GF, DF, and SF is a sound plan while you are treating yourself.
Good luck and keep us posted
Leah
I took Budesonide for 6 months. It works great, but if you eat things that are causing the inflammation, your symptoms will come back when you wean off of it, so staying GF, DF, and SF is a sound plan while you are treating yourself.
Good luck and keep us posted
Leah
Hi Marsha,
Welcome to our internet family. You have quite an interesting history. Congratulations on your recovery from cancer. If you can get your life back from cancer, you can certainly get your life back from microscopic colitis, as well.
You say you began taking Fosteum a month ago, and your MC flare began a week ago. The timing may be just a coincidence, but I wonder if the soy in the genistein (in the Fosteum) could be the straw that broke the camel's back, in combination with your other recent diet indiscretions, resulting in your MC flare. At least half of us are sensitive to soy, and genistein consists of a powerful concentration of soy. You might find that simply discontinuing the use of Fosteum may resolve your MC symptoms. If I were in your situation, that is the first thing that I would try.
Incidentally, are you aware that genistein may cause damage to brain cells?
Again, welcome aboard and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
Welcome to our internet family. You have quite an interesting history. Congratulations on your recovery from cancer. If you can get your life back from cancer, you can certainly get your life back from microscopic colitis, as well.
You say you began taking Fosteum a month ago, and your MC flare began a week ago. The timing may be just a coincidence, but I wonder if the soy in the genistein (in the Fosteum) could be the straw that broke the camel's back, in combination with your other recent diet indiscretions, resulting in your MC flare. At least half of us are sensitive to soy, and genistein consists of a powerful concentration of soy. You might find that simply discontinuing the use of Fosteum may resolve your MC symptoms. If I were in your situation, that is the first thing that I would try.
Incidentally, are you aware that genistein may cause damage to brain cells?
http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 ... 006-9142-2It is surprising that, contrary to estrogen, isoflavones, specifically genistein and daidzein, are toxic to primary neuronal culture at high concentration. Treatment of neurons with 50 μM genistein and daidzein for 24 h increased LDH release by 90% and 67%, respectively, indicating a significant cellular damage.
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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wonderwoman
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Linda made me want to try making turkey soup with turkey wings. So today I made a huge crock pot of turkey soup using 4 turkey wings. I was surprized at how much meat was on the bones. It turned out delicious. I used one of the packages of turkey broth I got at Trader Joes before Thanksgiving. I threw in a whole bag of coarsely grated carrots, 1 onion and almost a whole head of chopped celery. I cooked it all day. After the wings cooked for a bit I took them out and took the skin off and threw it away along with the wing tips. I then returned the wings to the pot to continue cooking them. This evening I took the bones out, divided it into 8 containers, and froze all but one that I will have tomorrow. I like being able to pull something nourishing out of the freezer to eat.
Charlotte
The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison. Ann Wigmore
The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison. Ann Wigmore
Today has been my best day so far, and I am planning to return to teaching tomorrow. On Thursday my Gyn saw me and spent 45 minutes with me, though she had to squeeze me into an already full appointment schedule. I brought my iPad with me and showed her this support forum and some other information that pointed to budesonide as the right med. She agreed and wrote a script for me. I started taking 9mg daily on Thursday. On Friday I was able to get an appointment with a GI PA. The GI treats a friend of mine with IBS and she says he is great. I don't know if he will be right for me, but I felt I needed to find someone right away, at least to start off with. I have had some mucous and some D, but not much, probably because I took lomotil when I had to go out. The pain and exhaustion are still with me, but every day has been better than the day before.
As for eating, I took the advice you had written to heart. Providentially, even though at the time I was not eating meat, right after Thanksgiving I had made a bunch of turkey soup and had frozen it. So I had 2 days' worth of sustenance while I was still too ill to make anything myself. Since Friday I have been continuously crock potting and cooking on the stove as well. Now I have enough soup (turkey and chicken) to last for over a week. The soup is delicious and seems to be what my gut needs right now.
Tomorrow I will get the results of the test of C diff back. I certainly hope I don't have it. And I am finished forever with gluten and with the Fosteum meds I had been taking. I had been taking fistfuls of vitamins and homeopathic meds before this happened, as well as psyllium and a green drink. Now I am too scared to take anything except for 2 allergy meds. I still have many questions, but will wait for some test results and until I feel better before asking them.
The book arrived on Wednesday. I am halfway through my 2nd time reading it. What a lifeline! Thank you, Tex.
And thanks to everyone who has posted. I am so grateful you are here.
As for eating, I took the advice you had written to heart. Providentially, even though at the time I was not eating meat, right after Thanksgiving I had made a bunch of turkey soup and had frozen it. So I had 2 days' worth of sustenance while I was still too ill to make anything myself. Since Friday I have been continuously crock potting and cooking on the stove as well. Now I have enough soup (turkey and chicken) to last for over a week. The soup is delicious and seems to be what my gut needs right now.
Tomorrow I will get the results of the test of C diff back. I certainly hope I don't have it. And I am finished forever with gluten and with the Fosteum meds I had been taking. I had been taking fistfuls of vitamins and homeopathic meds before this happened, as well as psyllium and a green drink. Now I am too scared to take anything except for 2 allergy meds. I still have many questions, but will wait for some test results and until I feel better before asking them.
The book arrived on Wednesday. I am halfway through my 2nd time reading it. What a lifeline! Thank you, Tex.
And thanks to everyone who has posted. I am so grateful you are here.
Marsha
Hi Marsha,
That's great news that you're making steady progress and you already feel well enough to go back to work. That was very innovative to show your doctor this forum on your iPad. Kudos to your GYN for being so helpful, and spending so much time with you. She is definitely a keeper. Some physicians (especially GI specialists) still view internet forums as sources of misinformation, and they advise their patients to stay away from them.
I'm very glad that you're finding the book and this forum to be so helpful, and I hope that your progress continues. You seem very motivated, and motivated people get results, so I have no doubt that you'll get your life back.
Tex
That's great news that you're making steady progress and you already feel well enough to go back to work. That was very innovative to show your doctor this forum on your iPad. Kudos to your GYN for being so helpful, and spending so much time with you. She is definitely a keeper. Some physicians (especially GI specialists) still view internet forums as sources of misinformation, and they advise their patients to stay away from them.
I'm very glad that you're finding the book and this forum to be so helpful, and I hope that your progress continues. You seem very motivated, and motivated people get results, so I have no doubt that you'll get your life back.
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.