Newly Diagnosed

Welcome, RockSocks! I am sorry to hear that you've recently joined the Crohns Club. I am glad to hear that you're working on finding the best treatment for yourself!

With regards to food, it's a very individual thing, honestly. From all of the medical literature I read, Crohns is not caused or worsened by the foods we eat, however, some folks do find that certain foods can make them feel crummy.

For many, this list includes: raw fruits/veggies, nuts, corn/popcorn, red meat, fatty foods, alcohol, carbonated beverages, etc. Anything that your body might struggle to digest can be difficult during flares (and even during non-flare periods).

I suggest doing your own version of trial and error. Find yourself sick after eating a meal? Eat each food separately to determine the culprit. Some choose to do the SCDiet or an elimination diet, but that's definitely something to discuss with your doctor prior to testing it out for yourself!

Best of luck!

I find any dense food hurts me. Nuts, stringy veggies like squash and asparagus. Anything that would scrape its way through. Rice made me constipated. And I probably don't drink enough water.

I was fine with gluten but I didn't agree with lactose.

The SCDiet really helped. I have been on it now for 8 months now and I feel good.

Thanks guys. That was very helpful. I like the idea of trial and error, but I also like the idea of consulting someone who know a bit more about dieting than I do. I will probably explore for myself first then consult a dietitian.

Thanks again =)

Hello RockSocks:
I found starting bland with baked foods with little or no spice or seasoning then adding something new eventually expanded my diet. It has been 23 years since diagnosis but I recall being very limited at first and adding foods so within a year I was doing well and gaining weight. I also recall excruciating pain with cramps until meds, diet and determination to improve made a difference.
A positive mental state goes a long way. Also, I am thankful for a really great gastro doc too in Memphis.

Jeff

"girlzilla said...

I suggest doing your own version of trial and error. Find yourself sick after eating a meal? Eat each food separately to determine the culprit. Some choose to do the SCDiet or an elimination diet, but that's definitely something to discuss with your doctor prior to testing it out for yourself!"

I agree, that you should be 100% open with your doc. However many docs will tell you that what you eat makes no difference. That is what my doc told me. If I followed what my doc said, I would have had my first surgery by now. I decided, then I told my doc what I was going to do to take control of my health. Docs are pill pushers, not holistic healers. They are not trained in diet so most do not believe in them. Do not let this stop you. As I believe you should always be open with your doc, if my doc told me not to do SCD then I would have found a new doc. Only you can take responsibility for your health. Now my docs says "If everyone ate like me then docs would be out of business".

 

 

 

HI Rock Socks--sorry to have to say welcome to the Crohnies club!

I am 61, female & have had CD with intestinal symptoms since age 37. However I had arthralgia & perianal fissures in my teens & early 20s which I now know were CD and went un dx'd at the time.

My doctors told me I would hear all kinds of recommendations re diet from every kind of self appointed expert (especially people who do not have CD) and to take it all with a grain of salt. They said I would hear from people who would say things like "If only you did not let yourself get stressed" (that's common) or "If only you --- (fill in the blank) -- held in your anger--let out your anger---did not wear tight jeans" ---you name it. It is all a form of "blame the patient" and it is a way they have of reassuring themselves. Ignore it all. You have CD because your immune system has decided to light out after your digestive tract. We do not know what triggers it, though it is believed to be a combination of genetics with environmental triggers at the right (wrong) moment of your life---such as an event or events that is/are stressful, or when you had an intestinal bug.

My doctors have also said that my body would tell me what I can & cannot eat--though if I was in a flare or otherwise having trouble, to steer clear of fibrous & hard things.

They scrape the lining which is already inflamed. So--steer away from raw celery, broccoli, popcorn, you can figure it out for yourself. Don't eat stuff that already has a reputation for giving even healthy folks GI distress---greasy fast food, too much beer or even any if you are sensitive--etc.

If you are having a flare or if you just want to be safe, you can use canned fruits such as peaches, etc. Or cook things to soften the fiber--like make a peach- or pear-applesauce. All you have to do is cut them up & put them in a pot with a little cider or water and when they are cooked to the consistency you want, add a bit of cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg or whatever you would like. Eat hot or cold. Spoon it hot over a mushy baked sweet potato. Freeze it to semi-solid to replace ice cream.

Lots of people will tell you no dairy, no gluten---well, it is completely possible to be lactose intolerant and have CD --- or to have both celiac disease and CD. It is also completely possible not to have these things at the same time as CD. Figure out what works for you.

I can have yogurt, hard cheese, and all the COOKED milk I want--cooking breaks down the lactose. So I can have milk or other dairy that has been baked into bread, for example. Lactose intolerance runs in the family. But it is not milk allergy, which would mean no milk proteins at all. I would probably have had lactosoe intolerance without CD anyway, as my brother, sister & mother do.

My daughter is into the Paleo diet; we spent a week there, and I promptly started having water stools. Took two weeks after we got back home to settle things down. She went for this diet because she wanted to lose weight (it works) and she started reading all these blogs. She makes kale smoothies for her breakfast with all kinds of raw veggies added.

I did not try her smoothies but I suspect that if I did, I would be in the bathroom pretty fast.

I also cannot have hot spicy things (Indian, Mexican), but that is because of my GERD which I got after pregnancy with a large baby who pressed her darling tootsies into my stomach whenever she needed to stretch. I had that long before my CD intestinal symptoms started. I can cook Mexican-style but lay way back in the spicy-level.

An awful lot of self-appointed experts you will hear from are pushing some book or supplement or they have been buying it & think it is the world's salvation. Believe me, you will run into a lot of these folks. Smile & say Thank You, & go on & do what works for you.

The most important thing you can do for yourself is once you have found a medication or combination of meds that keeps you in or at least near remission, stick with it. If Pentasa keeps things good, use your Pentasa and do not wean yourself off it because you feel better. Quitting meds just because they are feeling better is a mistake many people make.

I hope you quickly figure out what will work for you and wish you the very best!