MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

Hi All, I am happy to have found this group! Who the heck ever heard of microscopic colitis? But I'm sure glad my GI has, he knew just what to look for. Anyway, I'm just starting this journey. After 2 months of mostly eating BRAT, I'm cutting out all gluten and diary and lowering my fat intake (which hasn't been particularly high of late anyway). I guess the question I have is why this has turned up; it seems my decade+ of low-level HRT treatment may have contributed? GI says no need to stop (quality of life issue), which I'm happy about. My biggest gripe, really, is that I should stop caffeine. I'm a person who has one mug of coffee in the morning and it's one of my favorite things. But I'm also really really wanting this to go into remission. I'll be starting budesonide next week, which seems to have helped a lot of people on the forum. I'm pleased to see it also helps joint pain, which has just started up in my replaced hip. Fingers crossed on that one - I'm a very active walker and biker, and things have been tough enough with this unpredictable digestive state! Anyway, thanks to you all and the Admins of this site. I'm grateful to be here, and FINALLY on a journey to find relief. -- Deb

Hello Deb,

Welcome to the group. I hope your recovery treatment goes well. Budesonide will mask a lot of symptoms, until the treatment is ended, of course. In case it doesn't resolve all your symptoms, or they return when the treatment is ended, please note that some members here have been unable to reach remission while taking HRT. For some, the type of treatment matters. I believe some have found that they're able to safely use bioidentical HRT treatments work.

On the other hand, most of us have found that unless a cup of coffee sent us running for the bathroom before we developed MC, it won't have a significantly different effect, now. In other words, most of us are able to continue to drink coffee. The thing we have to watch is what we put in that coffee. Most of us react to casein, the main protein in all dairy products. And beware of so-called "nondairy" creamers. Most manufacturers of those products mistakenly believe that lactose is the problem. While it's true that lactose can cause us to react while our intestines are inflamed, the primary problem is casein, because casein causes our immune system to produce antibodies, to which we react. Most so-called nondairy creamers contain casein, or a casein derivative, making them inflammatory. We also react to all artificial sweeteners, so the safest coffee additives are ordinary cane sugar, or coconut milk. Refined coconut milk does not impart a coconut flavor. If you don't react to almonds or cashews, you can safely use almond milk or cashew milk in your coffee, also.

Again, welcome aboard.

Tex

Thanks, Tex! Very great info about HRT. I will talk to my doc about Bioidenticals, which I did take at one point.
I like what I hear about coffee; I only drink oat milk. I'm mostly confused about what to or not to eat at this point. Just gonna keep it mild, fibre but not too much, no dairy, low fat, low gluten. I'll be digging a little deeper on this forum for answers to other questions.

It's not impossible that you might not react to oats, but most of us do. It's similar to gluten, but a weaker antigen, so it usually takes longer for our immune system to notice it. Almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, or even hemp milk, would probably be safer.

Tex