Collagenous Colitis: Remission, no medication, feeling great

[greenorest]

Hello,
after having mild problems with diarrhea for more than 10 years and a bad flare this feb/march, I came into remission with a course of budesonide and diet measures. I female, 36 years, otherwise healthy. Without changing the diet, the diarrhea came back immediately after reducing from 9 to 6 mg (After 8 weeks of 9 mg). With diet changes, I came into remission without any further problems. I started a slow taper (9- 2 weeks, 7.5 1 week, 6 2 weeks, 4.5 1 week, 3 2 weeks, 1.5 mg 2 weeks) and took the last pill of budesonide on July, 19 (Start of budesonide: April 9)
Today I feel very well and do not need to take any meds. I am really happy and grateful to have my life back. During the flare, my quality of life was miserable and I lost a lot of weight.

The flare started suddenly with watery diarrhea end of january. However, the D did not disappear in 1-2 days, but stayed. I had 10-15 stools daily, with the main problem being urgency. (For comparison: The prep for the colonoscopy was an improvement compared to the D which microcopic colitis gave me).
I was diagnosed by colonocopy on march, 31 and started a course of Budesonide an April, 9. The budesonide immeadiately stopped the diarhea and urgeny and gave me a stool frequency of 3-4 daily - the same as it had been before the illness. However, I did not change the diet as my doctor said it would not be of any use. When trying to reduce the budesonide from 9 mg to 6 mg, the D came back. I was very unhappy about this. Then, inspired by this board, I did switch to a gluten and diary free diet. What happened then surprised me: The stool frequency reduced to 1 daily in about 3 weeks and stayed there. I could reduce the budesonide further and things still improved. My gut is now working quietly and without any problem, a state I never knew as far as I can think back. I'm very happy and feel great. It seems I've reached remission.


Before the diet changes, I ate a lot of gluten.

My diet is:
- All kind of fruit and veggies
- Rice, Potato, Corn, Oats (gluten free), quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat
-beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy (soaked for 24 h prior to cooking, cook with fresh water and little baking soda), Tofu, Tempeh
-Nuts, seeds and Peanuts
-Oil from plants
-Spices and herbs (pure products)
-eggs, honey
I cook fresh and myself, starting from unprocessed or nearly unprocessed goods.

I avoid:
Gluten
Diary
Artificial sweeteners
Alcohol
Coffee
Food that is strongly industrially processed
Fast and junk food

I consume sugar and oil with moderation. I do eat very little sweets and do not fry stuff.

I am also a vegetarian for all my life. My colon would probly not have a problem with meat, but i just do not like it at all.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that remission will last very long!

Best regards, Tina

[greenorest]

PS:

A Vit D deficiency was diagnosed in May. I filled it up with 10000 iE Vit D daily for 20 days and take 3000 iE daily since. A control measurement end of June was fine.

[brandy]

Awesome update! Thanks for posting!

[tex]

Hello Tina,

That's an inspiring update, many thanks for posting the story of your recovery. Unless you have the misfortune of developing any additional food sensitivities in the future, you should be able to remain in remission indefinitely, as long as you remain faithful to your diet.

And you've shown that it can be done while maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle. Good for you — the additional diet limitations surely made the task more difficult, but you succeeded anyway.

Thanks for the inspiration. I hope your remission lasts forever.

Tex