Hi everyone. Found out a week ago that I have LC and I felt totally deflated. Until I found your page it was like being in a maze with a blindfold on. I understand that LC affects everyone differently but I found it so frustrating that the only information only ever spoke about diarrhoea and not all the other symptoms that I was experiencing. Your forum has reassured me that many of the other symptoms, severe abdominal cramps, back pains, muscle aches and extreme fatigue are part of it, which, although is not good news it is good to know others have been the same way.
My biggest concern is as a vegetarian I don't know what I can eat in order to maintain good nutrition and not making myself worse. At the moment Hemp Seeds are my source of protein but they have a relatively high fat content and I have no idea how this will affect me. I am trying to find a base point, going GF and LF which isn't to much of an issue and I appreciate being able to read the comments and advice on here thus making the minefield easier to get through.
I am a gym bunny using exercise to energise and release stresses of the day but at the moment I feel so lethargic and afraid of what might happen if I go and cannot get to loo fast enough! I would appreciate any advice on how to bolster energy levels to get past this stage.
I am looking forward to reading comments, posts and tips from those who have LC and have managed to get life back on track as that is where I want to be.
Vegetarian Newbie
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Lizzy,
Welcome to our internet family. We consider ourselves a family, because no one seems to understand this disease unless they actually have it, and unfortunately that includes doctors. When a doctor initially described the disease (almost 40 years ago) he described it as a disease of watery diarrhea, and even today, many doctors' understanding of the disease hasn't yet progressed much past that outdated description. The truth is, the disease can infect every part of the digestive system, and it can also affect virtually every organ in the body. Not everyone has all of the symptoms, but many of us have most of them.
We have many members here who joined this board as vegetarians or vegans. Unfortunately, the disease makes it very tough to maintain that lifestyle, because most of us are sensitive to (in addition to gluten and casein) soy and most legumes (which makes developing a diet that is safe and still contains adequate protein, extremely difficult, if not impossible). A relatively high-protein diet is necessary in order to promote healing of the intestines, because they are extensively damaged by the inflammation that causes the disease.
Hopefully, you may be an exception to the rule, and you are not sensitive to soy and legumes, in which case you might be able to continue to follow a vegetarian diet (after cutting out all of the foods that cause you to produce antibodies).
Boosting energy is difficult, because the body devotes most of it's energy to fighting the inflammation. As a result, fatigue is a very common symptom until significant healing can take place. Light to moderate exercise seems to be one of the better ways to boost energy, but we have to pace ourselves, because until our gut is healed, we have a much lower limit for endurance and performance.
Exercise has another advantage, and that is its ability to help to relieve stress. That's important, because stress (especially chronic stress) plays a major role in this disease.
Certain anti-inflammatory medications can mask the symptoms, but they cannot prevent the inflammation from being created in the first place. The only way to prevent the inflammation from being generated, so that the gut will be able to heal, is to stop eating the foods that are causing the inflammation.
When the genes that predispose to LC are triggered, the genes that predispose to gluten sensitivity and other food sensitivities, are also triggered. That's why we suddenly cannot tolerate many of the foods that we have been eating most of our life. But we can get our life back, by avoiding those foods, and after our gut heals, then we can get on with our life.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome to our internet family. We consider ourselves a family, because no one seems to understand this disease unless they actually have it, and unfortunately that includes doctors. When a doctor initially described the disease (almost 40 years ago) he described it as a disease of watery diarrhea, and even today, many doctors' understanding of the disease hasn't yet progressed much past that outdated description. The truth is, the disease can infect every part of the digestive system, and it can also affect virtually every organ in the body. Not everyone has all of the symptoms, but many of us have most of them.
We have many members here who joined this board as vegetarians or vegans. Unfortunately, the disease makes it very tough to maintain that lifestyle, because most of us are sensitive to (in addition to gluten and casein) soy and most legumes (which makes developing a diet that is safe and still contains adequate protein, extremely difficult, if not impossible). A relatively high-protein diet is necessary in order to promote healing of the intestines, because they are extensively damaged by the inflammation that causes the disease.
Hopefully, you may be an exception to the rule, and you are not sensitive to soy and legumes, in which case you might be able to continue to follow a vegetarian diet (after cutting out all of the foods that cause you to produce antibodies).
Boosting energy is difficult, because the body devotes most of it's energy to fighting the inflammation. As a result, fatigue is a very common symptom until significant healing can take place. Light to moderate exercise seems to be one of the better ways to boost energy, but we have to pace ourselves, because until our gut is healed, we have a much lower limit for endurance and performance.
Exercise has another advantage, and that is its ability to help to relieve stress. That's important, because stress (especially chronic stress) plays a major role in this disease.
Certain anti-inflammatory medications can mask the symptoms, but they cannot prevent the inflammation from being created in the first place. The only way to prevent the inflammation from being generated, so that the gut will be able to heal, is to stop eating the foods that are causing the inflammation.
When the genes that predispose to LC are triggered, the genes that predispose to gluten sensitivity and other food sensitivities, are also triggered. That's why we suddenly cannot tolerate many of the foods that we have been eating most of our life. But we can get our life back, by avoiding those foods, and after our gut heals, then we can get on with our life.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.
Welcome Lizzy,
sorry you had to seek us out. Be glad to know that you have come to the right place to get yourself on the road to healing. I highly recommend you order the book in the upper right hand corner of this site as it is a great help in explaining what our bodies are going through,reacting to & suggestions on how to get yourself on the right path to healing. There are many experienced generous folks that help us newbies get our start to renewed health. Their advice and coaching have given me my life back. I found this site Apr.1st & immed. went GF,DF,SF no raw veg,and within the 1st week saw improvement so then cut out oats& eggs.Then in days no D. I was sugar,caffeine,nuts,spice&fruit free when I found this site. Most of us are unable to tolerate raw veg, fruit & supplements.fiber is not our friend whilst our gut is inflamed. Try to stick to one ingredient basic foods. Diet is everything for those of us with colitis. Follow your elimination diet very carefully as it is your key to success. It may seem daunting at first to give up so much but after a bit it gets easier & you will become more creative with your safe foods. Hang in there,be patient as this journey can take many months for healing to take place. I have exercise equip. at home but didnt exercise on days with multiple trips to the loo. As soon as the D subsided I went back to light exercise. I feel great and am encouraged to eat my safe foods to bring on long term remission. As Tex has stated, you do face a bit of a challenge being vegetarian. I will leave that expertise to those with the experience. Keep in touch.
sorry you had to seek us out. Be glad to know that you have come to the right place to get yourself on the road to healing. I highly recommend you order the book in the upper right hand corner of this site as it is a great help in explaining what our bodies are going through,reacting to & suggestions on how to get yourself on the right path to healing. There are many experienced generous folks that help us newbies get our start to renewed health. Their advice and coaching have given me my life back. I found this site Apr.1st & immed. went GF,DF,SF no raw veg,and within the 1st week saw improvement so then cut out oats& eggs.Then in days no D. I was sugar,caffeine,nuts,spice&fruit free when I found this site. Most of us are unable to tolerate raw veg, fruit & supplements.fiber is not our friend whilst our gut is inflamed. Try to stick to one ingredient basic foods. Diet is everything for those of us with colitis. Follow your elimination diet very carefully as it is your key to success. It may seem daunting at first to give up so much but after a bit it gets easier & you will become more creative with your safe foods. Hang in there,be patient as this journey can take many months for healing to take place. I have exercise equip. at home but didnt exercise on days with multiple trips to the loo. As soon as the D subsided I went back to light exercise. I feel great and am encouraged to eat my safe foods to bring on long term remission. As Tex has stated, you do face a bit of a challenge being vegetarian. I will leave that expertise to those with the experience. Keep in touch.
Diabetic DX June 2012
Diverticulosis/ MC DX Feb.2014
I am thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength.
What are you willing to let go of so you can live the life you know you deserve?
Diverticulosis/ MC DX Feb.2014
I am thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength.
What are you willing to let go of so you can live the life you know you deserve?
Hi.
So glad to have found you guys and I feel better already from the advice and support so quickly given. Just reading that others have felt the same way or have had the same symptoms is strangely reassuring and helps me for when I next go to the Doctor (tomorrow morning). At the moment they have me on 9 Pepto Bismal Tablets for 8 weeks but have mentioned some steroid which I would rather not go on especially without them at least trying to find out what I have an intolerance to. My own Doctor has never had any experience of LC so at the moment it is the blind leading the blind!
Def going to take time to go through the forum and read up on the experiences that people have had and hopefully use this to get back to loving life.
Would be grateful for any insight others have on the good/bad effects of Hemp Seeds as these are my protein givers and would hate to have to give them up.
Laughing is one of the best exercises, it's like running inside your mind. You can do it almost anywhere and it's even better with a friend.
So glad to have found you guys and I feel better already from the advice and support so quickly given. Just reading that others have felt the same way or have had the same symptoms is strangely reassuring and helps me for when I next go to the Doctor (tomorrow morning). At the moment they have me on 9 Pepto Bismal Tablets for 8 weeks but have mentioned some steroid which I would rather not go on especially without them at least trying to find out what I have an intolerance to. My own Doctor has never had any experience of LC so at the moment it is the blind leading the blind!
Def going to take time to go through the forum and read up on the experiences that people have had and hopefully use this to get back to loving life.
Would be grateful for any insight others have on the good/bad effects of Hemp Seeds as these are my protein givers and would hate to have to give them up.
Laughing is one of the best exercises, it's like running inside your mind. You can do it almost anywhere and it's even better with a friend.
Hi Lizzy. Welcome.
I totally get the exercise and lifestyle you were living. I am a personal trainer/nutrition specialist and found it somewhat difficult at first to wrap my head around how I had to change my diet to get better. Like tex said, you need to find out what you are intolerant to. The most common offenders are gluten, dairy ( not just lactose), soy, and then eggs. Some of us can eat white rice and corn products ( I can)… others can't. Some can eat nuts ( I can eat some types), others can't. If you want to know for sure and can afford it, Enterolab ( google it) is the best way to find out for sure. Otherwise, you have to do it by elimination diet. Being a vegetarian makes it very difficult because most of us find success with a high animal protein diet with very cooked vegetables. It's all about healing the gut. You probably have leaky gut ( google that also) since you are having fatigue and other symptoms. Heal the gut.
RAW FRUITS AND VEGGIES along with sugars, citrus, tomato products, beans and legumes, maybe coffee and tea can all be irritants and should be avoided until you have some healing under your belt. These foods can be tested back in one at a time as you feel better. I have been able to add many foods back in since my Dx over two years ago :)
I am one of those people who took Entocort ( budesonide) and I must say, it worked like a charm for me with no apparent side effects. The D stopped within days. but like Tex said, it's only temporary if you continue to eat the things that you are reacting to in an inflammatory way. I changed my diet completely while I was on the drug…. slowly weaning the dose down over 6 months until I was completely off. never had to go back on it.
As for your hemp, you should be fine with it. because many of us take much of the grains out of our diets, fat is our main source of energy. We need it. Besides all the natural fats in the meats we eat, I also eat avocados, olives, and use coconut oil and olive oil.
High histamines could also be an issue and that's a whole other piece of the puzzle. Taking an OTC antihistamine helps me.
This is pretty complicated. Don't be surprised if your doctor doesn't know about the food connection and won't help you with that. You will have to take control of your own destiny here.You didn't mention how bad your symptoms are, but if the Pepto isn't working AT ALL, then it may not be the treatment for you.
Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing
Leah
I totally get the exercise and lifestyle you were living. I am a personal trainer/nutrition specialist and found it somewhat difficult at first to wrap my head around how I had to change my diet to get better. Like tex said, you need to find out what you are intolerant to. The most common offenders are gluten, dairy ( not just lactose), soy, and then eggs. Some of us can eat white rice and corn products ( I can)… others can't. Some can eat nuts ( I can eat some types), others can't. If you want to know for sure and can afford it, Enterolab ( google it) is the best way to find out for sure. Otherwise, you have to do it by elimination diet. Being a vegetarian makes it very difficult because most of us find success with a high animal protein diet with very cooked vegetables. It's all about healing the gut. You probably have leaky gut ( google that also) since you are having fatigue and other symptoms. Heal the gut.
RAW FRUITS AND VEGGIES along with sugars, citrus, tomato products, beans and legumes, maybe coffee and tea can all be irritants and should be avoided until you have some healing under your belt. These foods can be tested back in one at a time as you feel better. I have been able to add many foods back in since my Dx over two years ago :)
I am one of those people who took Entocort ( budesonide) and I must say, it worked like a charm for me with no apparent side effects. The D stopped within days. but like Tex said, it's only temporary if you continue to eat the things that you are reacting to in an inflammatory way. I changed my diet completely while I was on the drug…. slowly weaning the dose down over 6 months until I was completely off. never had to go back on it.
As for your hemp, you should be fine with it. because many of us take much of the grains out of our diets, fat is our main source of energy. We need it. Besides all the natural fats in the meats we eat, I also eat avocados, olives, and use coconut oil and olive oil.
High histamines could also be an issue and that's a whole other piece of the puzzle. Taking an OTC antihistamine helps me.
This is pretty complicated. Don't be surprised if your doctor doesn't know about the food connection and won't help you with that. You will have to take control of your own destiny here.You didn't mention how bad your symptoms are, but if the Pepto isn't working AT ALL, then it may not be the treatment for you.
Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing
Leah
Lizzy,
Since Leah mentioned the EnteroLab tests, I thought I would point out that Enterolab offers a vegetarian version of the C Panel tests — it's the C2 Panel. The C2 Panel tests for fecal IgA antibodies to milk, egg, soy, corn, rice, sesame seeds, garbonzo beans, almonds, cashews, walnuts, and white potatoes Here's a link to their test descriptions, in case you might be interested:
https://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/TestInfo.aspx
Also, I agree with Leah that hemp seeds should work OK for you. I used to drink a lot of hemp milk, until I discovered that I liked almond milk better.
Tex
Since Leah mentioned the EnteroLab tests, I thought I would point out that Enterolab offers a vegetarian version of the C Panel tests — it's the C2 Panel. The C2 Panel tests for fecal IgA antibodies to milk, egg, soy, corn, rice, sesame seeds, garbonzo beans, almonds, cashews, walnuts, and white potatoes Here's a link to their test descriptions, in case you might be interested:
https://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/TestInfo.aspx
Also, I agree with Leah that hemp seeds should work OK for you. I used to drink a lot of hemp milk, until I discovered that I liked almond milk better.
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.