Crohn's Diet???/Wine?? and Prednisone

Hi there,

I have recently been diagnosed with Crohn's.  Of all the reading and research I have done, there seems to be no same diet that works for everyone.

Right now I am reading "Patient Heal Thyself" and "Breaking the Vicious Cycle".

Anyone out there read/tried either way of eating?

Is wine okay once in a while?  If not, I won't drink it.  I will do ANYthing to avoid having my intestines removed one day!!

Is it okay to drink wine on Prednisone?  What about taking allergy medications while on Pred?

Any info helps :)

Thank you!!

Also, is there a difference between "Crohn's Disease" and "Crohn's Colitis"?  GI said I have Crohn's Colitis, unless that's the same thing??

Crohn's colitis refers to where your Crohn's is located....in your colon. So yes, it's Crohn's disease and not ulcerative colitis. I hope your disease stays mild, but it's just statistics, there are no guarantees that you as an individual won't have your disease advance, but I sure hope that's the case. It is soooo hard to avoid the "What ifs" and worry about the future, but try to avoid going there if you can. You have enough going on with dealing with the present. I hope you feel better soon. BTW, I didn't drink on Pred because it made me feel lousy....I don't know if it changes the course of the disease.

Mmmm wine. I have had to learn to only have a glass but when I do have that one I enjoy it!

FYI -- I was diagnosed in '82 had my one and only resection then. I did have to have a stricture removed a couple of years ago, but I still have most of my guts. My one word of advice is not to forgo medical care and meds, it can make a huge impact on your long term health.

I love your name by the way, it says it all!

I've heard that Crohn's stays the same, but I don't believe it myself. Severe disease can go into remission for 20 years. Mild disease can turn into moderate to severe disease. That said, there is a certain percentage of folks with chronic aggressive disease. They're the ones who end up having several bowel resections and short gut syndrome. However, they are also in the minority (about 10-15%). At the other end of the spectrum, there are folks with mild disease which will always stay mild. The vast majority fall somewhere in between, with periods of flare-ups and remissions. Most of those will have surgery at some point, but not surgery after surgery; their colon and most of their small bowel will still remain intact.

Please don't be scared of surgery. It's not a cure, but it has given many people years of remission.

PS: The occasional glass of wine will have no effect whatsoever on the course of your disease. In fact, a daily glass of wine wouldn't. It is *sometimes* possible to manage Crohn's disease with a strict diet, but I believe that almost any strict diet would work - it doesn't necessarily have to be SCD. It could be the Paleo diet, GAPs, the Maker's Diet etc. (Google will tell you what they are.) It could even be an elemental or liquid diet - and in fact, an elemental or liquid diet is occasionally prescribed by GIs, but such a diet is too impractical and miserable to follow long-term, although it can be effective for getting people into remission in the short term.

In the end, most folks with Crohn's end up devising their own diets, according to which foods suit them and which don't. It's trial and error, finding the foods which appear to irritate your gut. Personally, for me, I have never found it makes that much difference what I eat. I have tended to control my symptoms by simply eating less and less, eventually dropping to a BMI of 16. As a way of managing your disease, that's not great. Always eat enough, even if it's only a few foods you feel safe with. But if you are that terrified of eating, then you probably need better medical management anyway.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 5/19/2012 10:04:43 AM (GMT-6)

I have been doing SCD for about 2.5 years. I went from sick in bed for a few years, to feeling great. I am a SCD bigot. It does not mean that other things will not work, just that SCD is a miracle for me.

SCD allows for clear alchohol (vodka, gin,...) and dry wine. I have tried booze a few times with mixed results. However this weekend I had 3 or 4 glasses of wine and felt great the next day, so at this time it seems I can drink all I want without symptons.

One more thing, I also read every diet book that I could find. If you are going to really change your diet I think most folks really need to know not just the what, but the why. This can only be found in the books. I selected SCD, and am 100% SCD compliant, but have incorporated parts of other diets into my approach. A simple example is that ensure to limit my omega 6 as per paleo. Even though nothing will take me off SCD I continue to read and learn from many sources

Dave