Achieving Remission
During the first week after diarrhea the gut is inflamed and sore. It needs time to heal. A finger cut will take 3 days to heal and the gut is a bigger problem. Any diarrhea will be a setback to day one. It takes very little to trigger the Alarm cells (aka mast cells). Don’t feed them for at least 17 hours and then very little for 3 or 4 days! Always use soft foods without chemicals or antibiotics.
While people and their safe foods may vary, the basics of healing are the same. I was in remission 90% of the time for over 10 years and am sharing what worked for me. I welcome comments about what other foods may work during the first 5 difficult days. Let’s pool our knowledge.
If on Budesonide in recent months, your alarm cells are overactive. This schedule is unlikely to work. The general guidelines can be useful and I've addressed it more in "Prescription Solutions."
Days 1-7 after full diarrhea)
1-17 or more hours:
• NO FOOD! Drink spring or filtered water. Rest and don’t excite the alarm cells.
22-24 hours:
• Add 1-2 boiled.scallops for protein:
Scallops have excellent protein and nutrition. I suggest boil a group of scallops, then freeze flat in a bag. Defrost as needed. Protein goal of
around 50 grams is filled with 2 large scallops for breakfast, 3 for lunch and 3 for dinner.
(Other soft white fish may work: swordfish flounder & Grouper. Hold salmon till 4-5th day. Not Mahi Mahi, Orange Rougby or solid hard fish.)
If you don’t want seafood, try unprocessed deli sliced turkey. It is my safe meat, but I never tried it this early. Packaged turkey without antibiotics or nitrates should also be good.
• Add pure Gluten Free Rice Pasta: Cook around 15 minutes until fully soft.
• Add Olivio tub butter with olive oil. Use for taste,
Days 2-3: Slowly test spoon or less of all new foods and let digest. Listen to your body.
• Repeat scallops and Rice Pasta meals. If a meal works, eat the same for 3 days.
• Soft white rice cooked in extra water. (Harder to digest than rice pasta for me.)
• If gluten tolerant, try Eggos Homestyle frozen waffles.
Day 3-4:
• Add a little very soft broccoli.
• Best to stay with what works: Rice pasta or rice and scallops.
• If gluten tolerant, can try light toasted English Muffins, Honey Graham crackers, or small fresh croissant.
Days 5, 6 & 7: Are the Alarm Cells quiet? If yes, proceed. Try one new protein a day.
Choose what works best for you. Small portions.
• Vegetables: broccoli, spinach, butternut squash, tomato
• Bruce’s canned yams with pineapple sauce. Drain off sauce.
• Deli oven roasted sliced turkey, or packaged without antibiotics or nitrates
• Tuna salad sandwich made with a mayo with olive oil.
• Soft cooked chopped beef or thin deli sliced beef. Small good beef burger, not rare.
• Salmon, poached or soft cooked.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY & stop food if any alarms. Better to be safe than sorry!
Gradually increase quantity and variety of food, testing very slowly. You should be able to achieve an acceptable diet but full remission can take months.
Suggest eating around same time every day for best results.
Microscopic Colitis requires self-discipline or diarrhea will return.Food Notes & Cautions
Food Notes & Cautions
I only mention brands to help locate products and because they worked for me.
Pasta: Pure brown rice pasta only. NOT gluten free made with cauliflower, corn, chickpeas, etc. or or gluten-free “with grains.”
• JovialFoods.com for gluten-free pasta. Limited varieties found in stores i.e. Walmart, Whole Foods Amazon and elsewhere. More variety at their website.
• Tinkinyada Rice Pasta also good, but difficult to find and less variety.
• Scallops: Large, often frozen, scallops are found in many fresh fish departments. Small Bay scallops are a lower price. Large are easier to track but nutrition the same. While per pound price is high, only need 7 or 8 large per day (@55 grams) for an average size woman. That is usually less than $2 each.
Warning: Scallops spoil easily. Do not leave out of refrigeration. Best to only refrigerate what you plan to use that day. If necessary, probably ok the next day without freezing but better to freeze and use as needed. Low boil about 15 minutes in a batch: then freeze and use as needed. Will boil over midway if not watched. Using a wood spoon or fork on across top of pot usually prevents it.
Cautions:
It can take 2 or more hours after eating for diarrhea to occur.
Test small amounts each day and increase amount if no problems.
During early days, no fruit, applesauce, apple juice, added sugar or caffeine.
Avoid gluten. It can irritate and cause more damage to gut.
Avoid whole grains in bread and other food. Grains are hard to digest. White bread only.
Avoid dairy. Inflamed gut can negatively react on people with normally good tolerance.
I start back 2nd or 3rd week with Parmesan cheese, then provolone, mozzarella & Brie. No cheddar!
Avoid raw or hard foods. Always cook well to mush or puree.
Always avoid processed foods, preservatives, chemicals, additives and antibiotics.
Very High Risk – Even in Remission:
Hot/spicy foods
Fatty, fat cooked and deep fat fried foods
Vinegar and alcohol
Acidic and high citric acid foods
Hard to chew foods or overeating
Conflicting Medications
An inflamed gut rejects most oral medications and some that come from the bloodstream. It may not show on a web interaction checker or be a problem when in remission, but the threat is big when gut is sore. The med may just have an acceleration element that can bring on diarrhea. If you have other required medications, consult early with your doctor about which are most urgent. After diarrhea, stop all medications and gradually bring them back. Most medications have a window. My most urgent med was about 3 days. Two others could wait around a week, and one could wait until fully ready. Using your doctor’s advice, listen to your body to decide. A setback will restart to day one.
• Vitamins are important. Vitamins help digest foods and strengthen healing. However, many can upset your stomach. Get top quality without fillers and chemicals. VitaminShoppe.com and its stores produce products under their own label and have good controls. However, many stores buy from uncontrolled locations.
• I use Thorne.com, a US manufacturer recommended by a naturopath and used by athletes. I can start taking on the second day, and gradually raise to 3 or 4 a day. Either the Multi-Vitamin for Women (or men) Over 50 are excellent. They were recommended for my son when he was 20 and are good for all adults.
Note: Some prescription drugs will lower the potency of vitamins. Generally, keep at least an hour before the drug till about 6 hours after.
Prescription Solutions
1) Budesonide is a steroid sold under several different names. If not used carefully, it can have a serious addiction withdrawal issue. There are also long-term serious side effects like increased risk of Osteoporosis and Diabetes.
Wise to stop the use by 3 months with maximum of 3 pills a day first month, 2 pills second month and 1 a day in the third month. After that, the alarm cells will seriously overpopulate if a pill is withdrawn, creating an easy diarrhea setback. Withdrawal is very difficult. I used Entocort.
• The MC Foundation published a newsletter on January 1, 2017 that explains it best. Some doctors made a copy. Others don’t have a clue. Get a copy. (http://microscopiccolitisfoundation.org ... ssue_2.pdf)
2) Cholestymine removes excess bile, thereby reducing diarrhea. Patient stops the medication when it leads to beginning constipation.
• Full diarrhea uses 2 packages of powder a day. I found each package has some effect for about 10 hours. However, they were difficult to schedule with my other medications and life. Some people use them successfully.
• Stepping down in dosage from Budesonide may use 1 package a day. That was perfect for me and I used it successfully. Together with a careful diet, occasional use can also help maintain the three months after Budesonide, while the alarm cells remain sensitive.
Achieving Remission
Updates from members who have been successful in controlling their symptoms.
Moderators: Rosie, JFR, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
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