MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

I was doing well with the Cholestyramine. I think I read on here about eating rice cakes with almond butter. I did that for breakfast. No problem, but I started binging on rice cakes with no almond butter. As we all know breakfast seems to be the hardest meal to find something to eat and not get sick. For the last two nights I have been vomiting along with diarrhea. My vomit looked like rice cakes. My husband says my problem is I BINGE EAT! I agree with that.

I think the problem with rice cakes is they are dry and sharp. I can no longer eat rice cakes. Has anybody on here had a problem with rice cakes?

My diabetic doctor wants me to be careful with magnesium. He stated magnesium can cause kidney problems. Diabetics have kidney issues by just being a diabetic so what he said scared me. He is a brilliant doctor. He said my magnesium level was normal. I tested for the serum magnesium level at the lab.

I was born a redhead. I read where redheads make their own vitamin D. I did not know that.

I'm getting long-winded here but do you think my binging on rice cakes made me sick? I have never vomited with Microscopic Colitis but I was up all night long vomiting with diarrhea. Now I am sick, fatigued and my stomach is tender. What say y'all? Dorothy

Hello Dorothy,

I see that no one else has responded, so I'll offer my thoughts'

I had a persistent problem with vomiting and diarrhea, in the later stages of my reacting, before I made the diet changes. Looking back, I believe that a chronic magnesium deficiency was at least partly responsible.

That said, your doctor is very correct. Excess magnesium in the bloodstream has to be removed by the kidneys. Indiscriminate magnesium supplementation can cause high levels of magnesium in the bloodstream, which can lead to cardiac issues if your kidney function is compromised.

Remember back in March of 2017, when I posted about having heart arrhythmias, and a few weeks later I had a stroke? I survived the stroke, but the arrhythmias would return occasionally, every few months. I noticed that every time I had an arrhythmia, I also had compromised kidney function (low EGFR). My EGFR would be down in the 30"s, which was more than a little concerning. I did some more research and discovered a medical research article that verified how untreated or undertreated hypothyroidism could lead to compromised kidney fuction. I found additional research that showed how compromised kidney function could lead to arrhythmias.

A few weeks before I started having the arrhythmias, my doctor had cut my thyroid treatment in half. He did this because my TSH test result was extremely low (indicating that my thyroid treatment was too high). But it turns out that my TSH was low because I was severely magnesium deficient, due to taking 2 or 3 Bactrim (antibiotic treatments) back-to-back, for some dental work, which depleted the rest of my magnesium. After he cut my thyroid supplement in half, my TSH was in the normal range, but I was having the arrhythmias. Anyway, after I figured it out about 6 months later, I showed him the research and requested that he restore (double) my thyroid treatment, which he agreed to do. Viola, no more arrhythmias in the two years since then, and no more strokes. And my EGFR is now higher than it ever was, previously. It's always over 60, now. And I'm 79, now. Most old codgers my age see their kidney function go down, never up. The only difference in my supplements between now and before all this mess started (3-1/2 years ago) is that I'm taking more magnesium now.

Anyway, my point is that many people have untreated (or undertreated) hypothyroidism, which can lead to all sorts of health issues, simply because their doctors rely so heavily on TSH levels to assess thyroid status. In my case, it caused me to have a stroke. My clue to my hypothyroidism in the first place (15 years ago) was the fact that my Free T4 was always below range, despite the fact that my TSH was normal. But Free T4 is something that most doctors don't even check, unless requested to do so.

Note that magnesium deficiency is closely associated with diabetes, according to published research.

I hope I haven't just confused the issue.

Tex

Hi there
eating steamed rice or gooey rice would be much better option than rice cakes

rice cakes on their own would be quite harsh on the gut and hard to break down.
the other aspect - they dont have much nutritional benefit.

there are lots of options for breakfast

- reheat cooked vegetables with safe protein
- make up batches of savoury muffins and reheat when you want to eat them
- fritata based meals if you can tolerate eggs
- home made pancakes with safe ingredients

Hi, Dorothy. I hope you're feeling better soon. I eat organic rice cakes, not very often, but I keep them on hand for when my stomach is a little "off." A rice cake along with plain coconut water seems to help me feel better. My experience though is that rice cakes constipate me, so that's another reason that I don't eat them often.

Thanks for responding to me. I think everybody hates me on this site. I know Gabes hates my guts! If I want to to have a gluten-free alcohol drink, I will have one, but only with friends. I just found out that my father served time at Camp LeJeune, NC. This was before I was born and he had to of drank the water. My diabetic doctor informed me that Type 1 diabetes is not inherited but Type II is inherited.

I found about Camp Lejuene, NC, by reading mama and daddy's love letters. On TV, they say 1953-1987, but bad water is bad water. My brother has Type 1diabetes and he suffers, plus he can't read. Our family is a mess. Dorothy

Thanks Tex, I don't get on here much because nobody responds to me, except you. I did not know about your stroke. Getting older is no fun.

I too have hypothyroidism and Dr. Gresham put me on two pills a week. He did a blood panel and my thyroid or thyroxin was high. Now I take one a day, 137 mcg.

I'm losing weight again because I am afraid to eat. It's mostly my diabetes. Everything I drink or eat - I have to take insulin. I am on the Omnipod and Dexcom. My digestion starts to digest my food on my gut's terms and that's when I go high. So I skip meals. I really am not hungry. Why eat?

I do enjoy drinking sugar free or low calorie cranberry juice. I found a book that's good for Celiacs - "The Healthy Gluten-Free Life. Underneath it says, 200 Delicious Gluten-Free, Dairy Free, Soy-Free & Egg-Free Recipes. They are delicious recipes but just like I said she has recipes with too much sugar. I use Splenda. I can't contact her. She uses a lot of honey and that does not raise my blood sugar sky high. I know I can't consume cow's milk, oats, wheat, barley, hops, and no peanuts. I don't go to any fast food restaurants. Only restaurants locally owned. I will be in Austin, TX, for the holidays and I can have corn. We'll go to Maudi's and I will eat everything soft with no flour only corn. No cheese. I will try Luby's Cafeteria and see if they have anything Gluten and Dairy-Free. I think their gelatin concoction might be okay. We love that place. I know I can't eat Soy because my brother is a farmer in St. Matthews, SC, and I got dizzy from eating Soy. It felt like I was on another planet.

Everybody is moving to Texas. Oh My! Take care of yourself, Tex - and you're my friend. Dorothy

Nearly everyone has trouble getting responses on this forum these days. I guess everyone is spending their time on social sites.

I don't eat anything made with flour anymore either — only corn tortillas, instead.

Thanks for the update.

Tex

I am new to site as of today -4/3/2024. Briefly I am female with a hair thinning issue. I am on Cholestyramine powder twice a day which has solved the diarrhea problem. The powder however, caused my stomach to swell as well as my midriff. I exercise five days a week, am 5'1'' and 100 lbs. I have been on a KETO diet for 24 years to help maintain my weight. My good cholesterol is extremely high and my total is 199 so my doctor does not want to put me on any meds. My main concerns are hair thinning and stomach swelling. I read on your posts to try Vitamin D3 with magnesium glycinate. Unless any of you have found these to be detrimental I will try them. Any insight on the stomach swelling? Have not seen much posted in 2024 so where is everyone? Cured I hope!

Welcome to the group. Bloating (in MC patients) is almost always due to the ingestion of a food sensitivity, and the partially digested food resulting from the inflammation is fermented by opportunistic gut bacteria, producing gas, bloating, and often cramps and diarrhea. That said, you may just be having normal gas production due to the normal digestion of food. MC patients who have active MC are typically unable to purge gas normally. Certain foods (such as cruciferous vegetables) tend to create excessive gas during digestion. Broccoli is one of the worst, for example.

Are you hypothyroid? Bloating is listed as an uncommon side effect of cholestyramine. Typically, bloating is due to incomplete digestion, because of the fact that cholestyramine can exacerbate hypothyroidism issues. Inadequately treated hypothyroidism typically causes a reduction in the production of stomach acid, which leads to poor digestion, and the production of gas.

Sorry that I couldn't be more helpful.

Tex