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worse with fruit or veggies??

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Posted 7/26/2010 2:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, all.
I got pancolitis a year ago and have never been the same since. Nothing has helped. Lialda and cholestyramine seemed to be helping, and I have been enjoying summer foods. Since eating a bunch of watermelon and some veggies, I am in agony. I am bloated and I seem to be passing undigested food...I hope it's pieces of watermelon and not blood again. Please, does this happen to any of you? Do you decompensate to soft, fuzzy, sort of diarrhea-ish stool with undigested stuff when you increase fibrous foods in your diet?

Thanks.
Posted 7/26/2010 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
That fuzzy stuff is definitely watermelon. At least in my experience, when I'm flaring anything resembling 'roughage' is very painful. Stick to soft foods. This isn't meant in offense but didn't your GI tell you things like this?
Posted 7/26/2010 3:01 AM (GMT 0)
nobody can even say what's wrong. I have seen 8 GI docs...even at one of those famous clinics in the US. No doubt I had roaring pancolitis a year ago, but now, nobody knows what is happening. Normal biopsies, awful symptoms, awful stool, awful everything. Just when I think I'm doing ok, eating everything that I want to, I suddenly decompensate and get like this. Eating lots of fruits and veggies has done it before...I guess it will continue to do it. I'll go back to clear liquids tomorrow and advance to mushy, non-fibrous stuff. I just can't stand this. Thanks for the info about the watermelon...puts my mind at ease.
Posted 7/26/2010 3:20 AM (GMT 0)
I developed a fructose intolerance as well as lactose intolerance due to UC. Both have gotten resolved since being on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and I can now eat some fruit (not watermelon) and most dairy.

Your colon is telling you it doesn't like those foods. That's all.
And yes certain kinds of fiber used to be a problem for me too.
Everyone seems to have different tolerances. You'll need to find yours.
Posted 7/26/2010 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
thanks
Posted 7/26/2010 3:33 AM (GMT 0)

DocGP said...
I just can't stand this. Thanks for the info about the watermelon...puts my mind at ease.

Watermelon is one of those foods I have to be really careful with. Sometimes I can get away with eating it, other times it leads to agony. It is loaded with sugar, water and insoluble fiber which is a recipe for problems for people with UC. Sure does taste good though, and it's easy to go overboard and eat too much.

You might want to try water soluble fiber like psyllium, bananas and such. I originally went overboard and cut out all fiber only to find that some fiber is very beneficial.
Posted 7/26/2010 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Wow.  When I first started seeing blood in my poop, I super-upped my intake of "roughage" because I thought I must be constipated with a big bad persistent hemmorhoid!  SO I was guzzling water, eating prunes, loads of fresh fruit and veggies, lots of whole grains, and absolutely nothing changed.  It was so very bizarre, I thought I"d give myself a good case of D for sure! 

I'm now on the SCD and still eating lots of fresh or cooked fruits and veggies and feeling pretty good.  Isn't is interesting how we all react so differently to the same things?!?

and Supergirl257, you asked "didn't your GI tell you things like this?"... I had to laugh.  My GI told me NOTHING except "take these drugs and come back in 8 weeks to see if anything has changed."  I asked her specifically about recommending foods that could possibly help and she said no, food doesn't make any difference at all.  HA HA HA!  I changed GI docs after that comment.  eyes

Posted 7/26/2010 3:56 AM (GMT 0)
I was wondering about psyllium. A physician colleague of mine suggested that, but I was afraid because of what happens when I eat fiber in the form of fruits/veggies. Does anybody here have trouble with that or does it help people?
Posted 7/26/2010 4:01 AM (GMT 0)
I have IBS and lactose intolerance on top of UC. This complicates everything food wise. I need the fiber, but some fiber (too many raw vegetables for example) can be problematic. Needed to find the happy medium. Vegetables that are thoroughly cooked to the point of being soft seem fine.

I think all you can really do with psyllium is try it. It helps some people and bothers others. I use the psyllium powder, not husks.
Posted 7/26/2010 4:32 AM (GMT 0)
If you have more than normal fruits and veggies that are high in that type of fibre as well as water, one's bms will look like as you describe, especially if eaten alone or between meals.

It's not a big thing if you know the why.
You can choose to not eat them, consume less or continue as you are.

If you are flaring, make sure you're taking your meds, and if you consume a larger amount of what you have been, the frequency and consistency will definitely increase and be much looser, depending on how much and when.

Metamucil fibre is different than fruit or veggie fibre in pure form. It'll help bulk the stool, I suggest the capsules becasue they're easier to take and have no flavouring, etc. I take mine with meals.

I've consumed more blueberries, figs and cherries as of late and definely have some discomfort and change in my bm consistency....I've cut back a bit. The watermelon is in my fridge and I"ll have some tomorrow after supper.

q
Posted 7/26/2010 6:38 AM (GMT 0)
I scared myself so bad last week by eating a ton of watermelon then thinking I had blood in my stool! I'm glad I'm not alone :) I'm so sorry you cant get relief from anything.
Posted 7/26/2010 1:18 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, fruit and veggies do affect my stool. The "fuzzy, reddish" effect of watermelon -!
Summer has its challenges, I find. There have been some in which I've never dared to eat one piece of corn on the cob, watermelon, tomato sandwich or a salad.... and others in which my gut has been in good enough shape I've done it anyway and dealt with the increased frequency, discomfort, and recognizably food-packed looseness.

I am one who is devoted to metamucil. My first GI recommended it to me, 24 years ago, to bulk up the stool and so I wouldn't have to strain ever. I find it glues the stool together and helps it to pass more easily, and I am markedly more uncomfortable when I have to stop taking it for 5 days in preparation for my annual colonoscopy. This past spring I started my son on it, too, in a mild flare, and he (and he rarely comments on UC things) told me how amazed he was at how much it helped.

The other thing that really causes discomfort for me and goes through looking unchanged would be Chinese food - all the veggies and the oil.

Doc, I'm sorry for your frustrating and puzzling symptoms!
Posted 7/28/2010 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
Small wedges of melon agree with me, but I only eat raw fruit at the end of a meal-- usually one that includes a serving of plain boiled white rice. A few yrs back I could tolerate whole apples, but since my last flare in 3/2009 the skin disturbs my colon. Therefore, I think there's a large range of difference among UCers and even within our individual GI tracts as to which fruits & veggies can/should be consumed at any given time. Here on the forum a few members have even posted that apple juice gives them cramps or nausea. One is safest trying small portions and avoiding skins & seeds if it seems that raw foods cause discomfort/negative changes in bms. Always better to err on the side of caution, my take on UC and diet. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 7/28/2010 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
thanks everyone...it's comforting to know I am not alone, but disturbing that this may be our fate for the rest of our lives! I think I will try the metamucil/psyllium. I hate this. I am so sorry, again, that medicine has not yet found an answer. As a doc, I feel responsible for everything we can't cure.
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