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Jalapenos not good diet for 13yo boy??

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Posted 12/29/2007 6:05 AM (GMT 0)
My son was diagnosed last year with pan UC.  Our doc here in Alaska has discredited foods as being a contributing factor not allowing his remission.  I can't help but think though that his very strange appetite, which can include things such as jalapenos can't be too good for his gut.  :-)

Can someone give me the basics of what he should/shouldn't be eating to try to help him into remission.  And also any advice as to how to convince him of the importance of such a diet.

Posted 12/29/2007 6:18 AM (GMT 0)
Its really different for everyone and there is no set collection of food that you should stay away from. I have a relative with UC and he can't tolerate spicy food at all, while I don't seem to have a problem. Dairy is my biggest issue. I'm lactose intolerant to begin with but while I am flaring any dairy sends me running. I remember pizza and italian food bothering me alot, as well as popcorn and nutty things. Like I said, its different for everyone! :)
Posted 12/29/2007 10:51 AM (GMT 0)
  Apparently the jalapeño is a small to medium-sized chilli pepper that is prized for the hot, burning sensation that it produces in the mouth when eaten................   So I can only imagine what it is doing to his bowel!!     Please have a look at this website:   .html" target=_blank> http://www.colitis-crohns.com/about .html   <<mod note - you need to copy and paste anything from the about website because for some reason hyperlinks don't work for it.   I am currently following this diet (from the book " Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's" by David Klein) and it has turned my life around.   Even if your son does not want to do the diet properly, it will give you some solid advice on what to include in your son’s diet and what he should avoid. Post Edited By Moderator (Red_34) : 12/29/2007 6:49:09 AM (GMT-7)
Posted 12/29/2007 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
I agree that food is an individualistic thing when it comes to what we can tolerate and what we can't. For me when I'm flaring, I avoid raw fruits and vegetables - though I have a romaine lettuce salad with no trouble, alcohol (though I hope this won't be a problem for a 13 year old??lol), seeds, nuts, dairy (I'm lactose intolerant too), spicy things. So I basically tend to stick to bland foods until my gut starts feeling better.
Posted 12/29/2007 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
If he's not in remission, I believe that eliminating jalapenos and other spicy food would definitely be worth a try.

I stick to a bland diet. Certain fruits like pears and strawberries are killers for me.
Posted 12/29/2007 7:09 PM (GMT 0)
Have a look at Salix Pharmaceuticals Newsletter (Website) -- Archive. There are articles concerning diet for IBD patients as well as treatment of children & youth. In general, spices, fats, roughage (such as nuts & seeds) & pickled foods should be avoided during flares. I'm wondering why your son is on 1000 gm of vitamin C daily. Too much C can compound dehydrating effect of 5-ASA meds. He should drink plenty of water daily. Make sure he gets enough calcium + vit D for bone & dental health. My gastro, who subspecializes in IBD treatment, opposes oral iron supplements because they can cause "clumping" in the gut; other members have written to this site stating that they were also advised not to take iron by pills. The Website at ccfa.org has sections for young IBD patients that may help convince your son to mind his diet. It has also run some articles about athletes with IBD who overcame their health problems thru careful management of their illness/adaptation-- which he might relate to. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 Colazal daily for maintenance of remission)
Posted 12/29/2007 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
Spicy food doesn't make my flares worse or bring on flares. It doesn't make me bleed more or produce more mucus. What it does do in make me feel like there's molten lava coming out when I go to the bathroom. For that reason I avoid it.

As others have said, food tolerances are very individual for each of us. He may want to keep a food diary for a while to see if he can determine what makes him feel worse.

That said, I'd just like to leave a gentle reminder that trying to restrict or control his diet too much at his age may have worse consequences than eating a few jalapenos. A 13 year old can make a real power struggle out of anything he knows is of great concern to you.
Posted 12/29/2007 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for all the input.  I am starting to understand that these diets can be different for every person.  My delima in determining what is best for HIM, is trying to get input from my son as to how he's doing.  It seems like, #1 a very difficult thing for him to allaborate on, and #2 nowhere near the top of his priority list.

I would have to say compared to most kids I know, he has very strange taste buds.  He loves spicy foods and ALL veggies and most fruits.  Oysters, muscles, steak and pork trimmings (fat) (oh yuck!), raw onions, popcorn, and nuts are also at the top of his desires.  Bland is the opposite of what he likes!  He's certainly different! yeah

Old Hat:

In regards to his meds, the only thing the doctor has ordered is the actual drugs and the iron for the tremendous amount of bleeding he has.  As far as the vit C, I figured it would be best to have him on this due to the immune lowering affects of these drugs he takes.  I also started the Vit D/Calcium once a day due to the articles I read pertaining to colon cancer and the offsetting affects from D.

Judilyn:

Do they have a food diary as one of the reminders on the Nintendo WII system? tongue Trying to get out of him what he ate for breakfast just 30 minutes prior can sometimes be a chore, as any parent with teenage boys can attest to!  And I certainly do understand that power struggle thing!  We've tried 2 different diets both from the naturalpath and the immunologist who said he had differing food allergies.  When it was all said and done I would find that he would sneak things at school that weren't allowable from his friends.

Posted 12/30/2007 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
Of course he will sneak things. My thought was to talk to him about the possibility of him controlling what he eats and keeping the diary just for himself. If he knows you won't be looking over his shoulder, he may be more honest with it, and actually find out what bothers him (if anything.) I know, it scares the heck out of me to think of giving a 13 year-old that much control over his serious health condition, but he's likely going to tear the control out of your hands anyway.

If he doesn't want to do it, I'd just let it go. Sometimes the ideas we give kids come back out of their mouths a few months later as their own ideas. I've just had more luck with this age group in letting them assume some responsibility for their health, always knowing I'm there to support and help as needed.

(And yes, I was a pediatric nurse.)
Posted 12/30/2007 12:20 AM (GMT 0)

And I was just about to say you must be a mom too!  That is so true!  If we suggest something it is a horrible idea.  If they come up with it, it is the only way to fly!  :-)

So what advise do you have on getting him to take his meds?  He is suppose to take meds 3 times a day currently consisting of a total of 14 pills.  He has a multi-compartment bill box that I fill for him every weekend for the upcoming week.  Then I write him reminder notes with his chore list for when he gets home from school, I sometimes even set them out for him at breakfast.  Sometimes he'll forget all together.  Other times he will be in the motion to take them and cross it off his list but then get side tracked.  I have also on a few occasions found them in the trash.  I really think he just doesn't want the burden of having to fill up on all these pills every day, but lacking the maturity to see their possible benefits as he has yet to gain remission after 15 months of constant bleeding.

I can only imagine that if he took his pills religiously that things might be better?!  But how do I get the importance across to him?

Posted 12/30/2007 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
The only way to make sure anyone takes their medicine is to supervise, and that isn't always possible. And unfortunately, it's fairly important for the Colazal to be spread out. (I have a bad habit of forgetting my mid-day dose myself.)

I don't know if going back to the tried-and-true potty training incentive would work. You know, you check the pill sorter at a certain time every day and if the pills are gone, he gets some kind of reward - or points toward a Wii game - or even Wii time. Of course, you could still have the problem of him ditching the meds.

Now that he's off the Pred, perhaps you could give him a good multi-vitamin with the recommended daily doses of Vitamins D and C and iron. That would cut a few pills from his regimen. It's a burden to have to get up in the morning and take a bunch of pills. If he's taking his pills at school during the day, would it be possible to shift the schedule a bit so he takes them when he gets home and then at bedtime? Kids usually don't like to take pill in front of other kids.

He doesn't want to think about being sick, so naturally he doesn't want to take pills all the time. Yes, he might be physically better if he took the meds more consistently, but he has to learn that himself, unfortunately.
Posted 12/30/2007 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
It really is a bad idea eating peppers, especially jalapeno types with UC.  I remember when I was first diagnosed around 15, I would eat ice cream and run to the bathroom or eat fast food and get so sick... it took me years to stop eating what I shouldn't.  I really regret it now because I was making myself sicker and ignoring the consequences to my health.  I think at that age, you really think it will just go away because you feel invincibile or you just want to be like everybody else or some type of denial.  You can only do so much, but I wouldn't buy peppers, onions, pork and those types of things.  One day he will change his eating habits when he is ready.... it probably took me about 5 years.   nono   I really regret waiting so long now! 
Posted 12/30/2007 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
Judy:

All three doses are taken at home as he doesn't want the school involved in this any more than is necessary to prevent the other kids from knowing.  In the mornings it's a mad dash to get myself and everyone else out the door in time for 7am school and work, so I am trusting him to not forget them.  I'm up at 5am to start coffee, breakfast, and make their lunches.  Then get everyone up and shower myself.  Then they eat the breakfast that was cooked for them and by the time I come back downstairs, it's quick questions; did you eat, get lunch, get meds, get school work, ok let's go.  Mid-day meds are trusted for him to take according to his note left for him because I am gone to work.  Most evening meds are taken unless he stays up later than I do and most times it's still taken.  I think the biggest problem would be the mid-day.

The rewards system would be great, if only I could trust him to not toss them!  I just have the problem with him tossing them.

Multi-vitamin would spare him 3 pills he has to take.  He doctor wants him on the Slo-Fe iron because he feels it is better on his gut.  Do they make a multi-vitamin with that particular iron in it.

Unfortunate it is and as princesscolon says I think we all think we are invincible!

Posted 12/30/2007 1:49 AM (GMT 0)
If the problem comes down to your son tossing his pills in the trash, why not joke a little with him about the container getting stronger every day (if he enjoys humor), or ask him if he would toss dollar bills in the trash (if he's a more practical type)? Either way you could try to get him into a conversation to pinpoint the real reason for throwing them away? Does he resent having to take them at all, multiple times a day, or what? Or does he have issues with side effects from the med that he has trouble talking about? Would it help to look into available info. for parents managing diabetes in children/teenagers? There you have an even more critical situation for compliance in taking meds-- would that be a way for you to find some good, "tried & true" advice to help convince your son to cooperate? No question but that you have a daunting task along with all your other responsibilities. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 12/30/2007 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
No doubt Old Hat!  I've told him, gosh if you don't want to take them then please at least offer me the curtiousy of putting them back in their original containers instead of the trash because at $10 a pop for some of these meds that gets spendy real quick!  I do like the "At least the pill box is getting stronger."  I'll have to try that one.  And I'm most certain the REAL reason IS resentment!  But I can't change that for him.  I can only try to help him.  I really hope this Remicade does the trick because he can't toss that one, it's induced for him. :-)
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