MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

First, I apologize for the length of this message.

In December 2016 I began working with a functional medicine chiropractor to get my organs functioning better and to learn to miminize flare ups from LC. (My GI's suggestion was to control them with Pepto Bismal-which works but isn't a solution). We first did a mild liver detox and then began working on the microbiome. I am happy to say I haven't had a flare up in months. I religiously followed an anti-inflammatory diet for a month and am now on a modified one. My C-Reactive Protein was extremely high at 14.88 and is down to .6, still high but a massive improvement. That is a little background to get to my question.

In August 2016 I started having a pain in my left shoulder that had a bursitis feel. By October it was fairly bad. By November it was in both shoulders and painful enough that I couldn't roll over in bed, could hardly pull up my pants and had overall difficulty getting dressed. The orthopedic shoulder doctor thought I had tendonitis in both shoulders, mentioning that it was unusual to get it in both, so off I go to physical therapy that offered no relief. By the time I went back to see him in early January, I now had the pain in my hips, knees and thighs and had trouble getting up. He now doubted tendonitis and suggested I see a rheumatologist to be evaluated for fibromyalgia, thinking it seem systemic. It is practically an act of God to get into one but my primary care dr really went to bat for me and got me in. I have tested negative on all the rheumatoid tests, very happy about that, and fibromyalgia was also taken off the table. All very good news. The rheumatologist thinks it is osteoarthritis but somehow believes that joint pain can be an issue with LC, the type I have. I'm researching arthritis to see if it comes on fairly suddenly like mine. Still looking.

I have been trying to research joint pain with LC with little luck. Is there a direction someone can point me to learn more?

Hello Barbara,

Welcome to the forum. Based on your description, my best guess would be one of two possibilities (or a combination):

1. gluten or casein in your diet
2. a chronic magnesium deficiency resulting in calcium deposits in certain joints.

Flax seed oil (oral capsules) may help. Glucosamine with chondroitin (oral tablets) may help.

I hope that some of this is helpful.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

Thanks for the tips, Tex. I put flaxseed in my smoothies but don't take the supplements. I'll check with my functional med dr on the magnesium. I do fight getting foot cramps at night. I have been gluten free for about 3-4 years now and minimal dairy use, realizing that it may not take much. The whole pain issue seems to have come from nowhere.

I have your book, by the way, and find it a great resource.

Barbara

Casein doesn't seem to cause any noticeable digestive symptoms for me (maybe slight constipation), but I have to avoid it because if I continue to eat it osteoarthritis symptoms slowly develop, mostly in my fingers. Years ago, I used to get serious shoulder pain that my small-town doc said was due to bursitis. But thinking back, I haven't had that problem since I changed my diet over a dozen years ago.

Be careful with flaxseed — ground flaxseed hulls are a potent laxative if you get enough of them. The oil is not a laxative.

Thanks for the kind words about the book.

Tex

Thanks for those tips, Tex.

Hi Barbara. Welcome to our strange world. I also have LC. I was diagnosed after a very frustrating 4 years. After many tests for parasites I finally was also diagnosed with giardiasis. The gastroenterologist felt that I had it for the whole four years but that it went dormant for some of that time. Damn parasite testing was consistently negative until I went to see her and she did more extensive testing. I was treated with two runs of Flagyl. I had a colonoscopy the following month and that was when I received the LC diagnosis. Chicken or Egg?? Who knows. During the time that I was being treated for the giardia I had a sudden onset of pain in my knees. It started out with burning and pain/stiffness in the back of one knee and then spread to the other. This was back in late 2016. Although it has improved a bit with time I still have constant pain and stiffness. It doesn't feel like it is in the joint but rather in the soft tissue around the knees. I self diagnosed tenosynovitis. Inflammation! It sucks since we are not to take any nsaids. I am very active hiking, rock climbing and doing farm work. There are some days that I do sneak in a single 200mg ibuprofen when the pain gets unbearable. I have not gone the route of a good naturopath as of yet but plan to do so soon. What keeps me from going is the reality that one of the first things she will do is food sensitivities. I avoid gluten, dairy, beans and cabbage et al but not sure I want to face a more restrictive diet. There is the issue of leaky gut syndrome. I am going to be interested to pursue this thought process. You are certainly not alone in this!!!!

I’m going to look up giardiasis to see what that is. In the meantime, in March I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica, placed very reluctantly on prednisone and my pain improved 50% with just one pill. Now, I am fighting the side effects from the prednisone. This is my third auto immune issue and would like to find the root cause of those issues. So far, my LC has behaved, and I am thankful for that. Hope you are better soon.

Barbara,

All so-called autoimmune diseases are due to chronic inflammation, and inflammation is virtually always due to food or drug sensitivities, although it can be caused by stress (either emotional, physical, or chemical stress). IMO, the fact that your LC continues to be controlled suggests that the development of the other AI diseases is not due to your LC — something else is probably responsible. But that's just my opinion.

Tex

My inflammation markers are finally in a normal range. It could be due to the prednisone. And I agree, you are probably right about my auto immune issues having another source.

I also have tendon damage in my shoulders, elbows, other joint pains. I don't paint ceilings, so not quite sure how it picked my shoulders first. If I am not careful about eating, it flares. I also take a magnesium supplement, daily, which may help healing. Right now, I had foot surgery so I am not doing my own cooking, which may be part of the problem. Generally, though, I believe my tendon damage came from taking Cipro multiple times for urinary tract infections. I also use a steroid inhaler for COPD, which makes the reaction to fluoroquinolones (Cipro and Leviquin, etc.) more severe. My pulmonologist agrees- just mentioning this because these antibiotics are very commonly used and causing tendon and other damage. Most folks are not aware.

Hi Motsy,

Thanks for posting this insight. I agree with you — I believe that Cipro is much riskier to use than most people (including many physicians) realize.

Tex