MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

I was diagnosed with MC over a year ago. The Dr. put me on Budesonide starting with 9mg/day. After a while he got me down to 3mg/day. Then it was none a day. My MC came back with a vengeance. He put me back on 9mg/day and I did very well. I am now down to 6mc/day. My MC has become more active. My tests has shown that I am not Gluten intolerant. How do I stop this awful disease?

Thanks mjgarr

Your misguided faith in your test results are the problem. When your doctor stops the budesonode again, your symptoms will relapse.

You stop the disease by totally avoiding gluten and any other foods that cause you to react (like the rest of us who are in remission are doing). Here's why you are sensitive to gluten:

FWIW, most newly-diagnosed MC patients would swear under oath that they are not gluten-sensitive, because gluten is a very insidious and deceptive allergen, and for many of us, relatively brief GF diet trials provide misleading evidence. It took me roughly 6 months on a GF diet before I could tell when I was reacting to any particular food. Before that I seemed to react to anything and everything at random. I seemed to react to everything except gluten, and gluten was the main problem. Part of the problem is the fact that gluten (anti-gliadin) IgA antibodies have a 120-day half-life, and this tends to dominate our immune system's attention. IgA antibodies to most other foods have only about a 6-day half-life.

MC is usually not caused by food sensitivities, but food sensitivities tend to develop after the disease begins. Research shows that when the genes that predispose to microscopic colitis are triggered, the genes that predispose to gluten sensitivity are also triggered. Gluten sensitivity causes increased intestinal permeability (also known as "leaky gut") and this allows partially-digested peptides from certain foods to enter the bloodstream, which provokes an immune system response (because those peptides are obviously not supposed to be in the blood). The immune system then begins to react to certain proteins in those foods every time they are eaten. This is why some of the foods that we have been eating for most of our life can suddenly begin to cause chronic inflammation by provoking our immune system to produce antibodies against them.

Many, many doctors have mistakenly informed many, many MC patients that they are not sensitive to gluten based on a negative celiac test result. That simply is not true, because doctors have no way to officially diagnose non-celiac gluten sensitivity. A positive celiac test result can confirm gluten sensitivity, but a negative celiac test result cannot rule out gluten sensitivity. Many doctors mistakenly believe that a negative celic blood test result rules out gluten sensitivity, but there is absolutely no medical justification for making that assumption, it's simply incorrect.

Tex

Hi MJ.

Welcome to the forum. Have you read Tex's book? The link for it is in the upper right hand corner of this site. It is the only book on MC that has been written and is highly recommended.

I was a 4.5 month budesonide user. Budesonide helps with the symptoms but does not heal us. It takes going GF and DF to get healed. Going off of budesonide and not being GF= very high incidence of relapse generally within 2 weeks of last budesonide pill. We get a lot of new forum members who relapse after being on budesonide.

These are good food regimen plans that will get you on the way to healing.

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22328 Gabes, stage 1 diet plan
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22329 Gabes stage 2 diet plan

Good thread to read a lot of member success stories:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=71

Mj
within the stage one eating plan post - that brandy posted the link for, there is an article that explains the failings of the current Gluten testing.

Also - there has been lots of good science recently proving that gluten is not only inflammatory but a huge issues for those with Auto Immune issues.

the other thing we have seen (via the couple of thousand of members) and 12 years of contributions, any medication for MC has limited scope of success if the person is low in Vit D3 and magnesium AND continues to ingest large quantities of inflammatory trigger foods like gluten, dairy, fibre etc.

Please take the time to read the posts in the areas that Brandy has provided and this will help you embrace a better approach to healing and getting well.

I have been on Stage One diet for 3 months, no cheating. Within 3 days life got a lot better. I was actually amazed. My diet is sparse due to my intolerances (Entero labs test). Here is what I eat:carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, pork, lamb, salmon, coconut milk and oil plus rice, tea..
Now I am having MC symptoms again and wonder what I should do.
I have stopped the rice just today thinking that might help. From Entero "grain toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Rice. but it did show a reaction. The only food that came back with no reaction was pork.
I do take Vit D3 no magnesium for fear of diarrhea.

Got any hints for me to try.
I am so very gratetful for this forum. Life saver for me.
Thank you ahead of time.

Hi Ellen,

There are ups and downs to healing but it sounds like you are headed in the right direction.

Your list is generally safe.

Things to consider from your list: cauliflower could be problematic for some of us early on due to the gas. If you have canned coconut milk try to find one without guar gum. Look for one that has only coconut and water as the ingredients. I can find one in my general grocery but I can't remember the brand name. Also check Latin and Asian food markets if you can't find one in your general grocery. Tea is generally safe as long as it is not flavored and does not have tons of ingredients. Do you sweeten it? If so do a tiny tiny amount of sugar. Or better yet---no sugar. Or another option is to try a stevia but if you try a stevia get one that does not have a lot of ingredients and use a tiny amount of that.

Overall, you are headed in the right direction and thought I'd just mention the above things that can be problematic early on.

Welcome to the forum.

my only addition to Brandys reply above

what sort of tea are you having?
have you double checked all bathroom and make up products for gluten, oats, soy etc?

are you having any histamine symptoms, itchy mouth throat, sinus, etc?

using magnesium topically will not cause D issues, we need the magnesium for the body to use the Vit D3 properly.

Yes, since I have started to "GET SMART" and abide by Wayne Persky's rules and regulations about MC, I am showing improvement. What would we do without Wayne and his Wisdom? Regards, Dorothy Williams