New SCD'er question

I've not heard of that particular side-effect to be associated with the SCD before, but there's always a first time!

It is that time of the year to pick up all sorts of bugs, so maybe you're incubating something else. Hopefully it'll go away soon.

Good luck with the diet; if you find you can't stick to it, then try the Lutz approach: no more than 72 grams of carbohydrates/day.

Not sweet potatoes, they're too starchy. And those with yeast issues do have to limit the fruit and honey. But I agree, limiting yourself to 72 grams of carbs is tough. I don't eat very much, but I still usually hit at least 140 grams a day.

As for the fever, some SCD people would attribute it to die off of yeast and bacteria. However, that seems to be the catch all blame for any symptoms a person has on the diet. Not sure if I totally believe it, but I guess it's possible.

Good luck on the diet! I've been on it a month, and feel it is helping.

re: ease of SCD versus carb restriction.

People on SCD can get all weird when everything seems "illegal." People freak out over milligram quantities of lactose in pills as bulking agents, or breadcrumbs from croutons that found their way into salad. While "illegal," these components aren't like wheat gluten is to someone with celiac disease: milligram (and maybe even gram) quantities won't necessarily set you back. The whole diet takes days to start to take hold, weeks for signs of improvement, and ultimately months and years of great care in dieting for results to be seen in terms of blood values and symptoms going away.

The alternative is to look at what Lutz has to say- 6 "bread units" of 12 carbs per slice of bread. If you want a soda, fine- but that's 3-1/2 bread units, so you're going to have to be careful about what you eat the rest of the day. A sandwich is 2 bread units, and so forth. So it's not the great deprivation of the SCD- and (possibly) with the same endpoint: remission. Without controlled studies, it's tough to say which is better- maybe neither. Ultimately, it's about fighting back the starch-hungry klebsiella in your gut.

The Lutz plan also has the benefit that- if you're a real sugar junkie- you can ease into it by slowly cutting down on carbs. The big problem there is backsliding.

Any of the forms of managing Crohn's with diet takes a great deal of restraint; but if diet is ultimately the problem, then we're dealing with addiction to begin with, and that will be intrinsically difficult to manage by changing eating habits.

I do have this to say: I feel great. :) The diet clearly works for me.

Good for you- but sudden weight loss isn't what you want, either. Have you lost those 7 pounds over just the past week on SCD?

Don't be afraid to eat richly on the SCD- animal fats are fair game!