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Scd thread...PART I

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 7/28/2010 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
kk take your meds honey. You need to stop the inflammation. Dont end up with pancolitis like me. Do the diet but give it a extra push with the meds. Rowasa is good stuff!
Posted 7/28/2010 8:14 AM (GMT 0)

kk217 said...
I guess I could start my enemas back but that defeats the whole purpose of trying to see if the diet is working.


Kk, Im on asacol as well as the diet. Im not coming off that stuff until Im well into scd. Its helping clear up the inflammation while the diet heals the rest of my gut. Im realising, since starting scd, that its not just the inflammation that is the problem with me. My entire gut function has been compromised bc of ibd.

I dont know if I have ibs as well, but if I do, I bet its down to the proctitis. I dont have ANY blood or mucous whatsoever at the moment, but I still suffer terrible pain. Its not nearly as bad as it would be if I included the illegals, but I still get it. I have perfectly formed bm's, but I still have to be very careful with what I eat, Im finding, bc anything can cause some pain. I just had orange juice and mint tea for breakfast and Im having some cramping, bloating/fullness. Ive swung in the opposite direction, Im now struggling with C. What this diet is teaching me is to listen to my body. Im taking it slowly, I hate suffering C and the cramping AND not having the food/drink I enjoy, but for this short time I have to take it slowly. I used to think 'Well if anything and everything is going to cause me pain, Im gonna eat what I want!' Not very good logic, but I really didnt know what was hurting my gut. It turns out that everything is simply because my gut is unwell... THIS is what scd is teaching me. I dont know yet if the diet will 'work'. I feel like crap some days. I put that down to the dying off process combined with withdrawl from all the sugars, carbs and starches my body used to feed on to feel normal! All that stuff kept me going, but in a sick sort of way, it was making me ill, it was that 'vicious cycle'.

I keep adding something new, some days I add one too many foods, but then I go back to eating simply again. Its trial and error, I find. And it does take a lot of patience. They talk about 'After five months you can add such and such'... 'After a year... add this... etc'. Ive had to REALLY take a step back and commit to making my body healthy whatever it takes. I get frustrated too, but going back to what I was like before the diet is NOT an option for me... and Ive only been on it coming up to three weeks.

What is it you're frustrated with? Is it that the ibd symptoms, bloody stools, D, etc, arent going away? Is it also the restrictions? I find that frustrating at times. My kids eating a bowl of ice cream! A packet of crisps! My famous roast potatoes!!! Potato salad!!!! CHOCOLATE!!! WINE!!!

Oh my, the list could go on. Then, I go to get my kids from a neighbours party. We are just getting to know our neighbours, only moving in 18 months ago. They offer a glass of wine (I cant drink their wine bc its got added sugar... dh eventually goes home to get mine)... 'No thank you, thats very generous...' A piece of CHOCOLATE cake?' that look scrumtuous I might add... 'Oh, no thank you, I cant'
'Go on, have it!!'
'I cant honestly....Im on a special diet'
They all look me up and down, I only weigh 111 lbs as it is, so I have to explain to perfect strangers 'its not a weight loss diet...blahblahblah' How much to tell!! I have bloody POOP, so I cant eat your gorgeous homemade chocolate cake cause it'll give me the runs...sorry!!!
'cup of tea then...'
No milk, no sugar... I just didnt want to make a fuss!

So, in a lot of ways I can find this diet frustrating, but its worth it. Im in that stage where I was desperate enough. The proctitis put a hold on my life anyway! I was sleeping the days away! SO exhausted. Id hoover and have to lay down. It was getting ridiculous.

In short, I have found it beneficial to take my meds AND start scd. Like I said earlier, Im not stopping the Asacol until I am well into the diet.

What is it you have anyway? Pancolitis? Proctitis? I missed that if you posted it already.
Posted 7/28/2010 8:50 AM (GMT 0)
hi kk217. dont worry too much about the diet not working strait away. ive been doing crazy diets for over a year now. i stated with raw because i really really liked the idea of being raw. but then i learned what was causing ibd for me and i had to switch. my diet is more strict than the scd its just because i dont eat the sugar except a minimum amount of fruit. like 1 apple or 1 pear a day. i also use keifer yoghurt instead of making the scd. thats so i can take the lactose out of it. i also only eat goats yoghurt. im still a bit hesitant to add in cheesses but i will do that soon. i really do eat simply now as well. so i eat some meats and i kept in lots or raw green vegetables. for me i feel i can come off the meds as i know how my body is going to react. i know what is going to make me go into remission and what is not. and i know if i eat something like a whole melon i would get bleeding again. My suggestion though my experiments with my self is dont come off the meds until you know what your body is doing. For me it was weird when i came off the medication i new it would be ok. i just new the bleeding would not return. Ive done alot of experimenting though. for about a year. i still can feel slighly where the ibd is in my rectum. but really i dont have any pain. i can feel a slight burning feeling after a bm only at the tip of the rectum. its really weird because it is slight. No pain though it used to feel like i had cuts in my rectum or something. that is gone but it took ages and ages for me. I never deny though that i have ibd i always tell myself that i have it. reason being is because if you manage remission though diet you can forget and then you think I'll eat that. I love fruit and i have to remind myself not to eat too much or else i will get hit. especailly as i think gerald was right that i had a high candida rate. it was weird when i first went on the diet as well i got musle spasms. i guess it was a detox of the sugars in my body. i used to get weird energy rushes and still do sometimes. like in the morrnings sometimes i feel so fantastic, then though out the day i get tired. but my engery is still alot better than when i was on a regualr diet. then i was tired when i woke up and tired when i went to sleep.
Posted 7/29/2010 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Sigh... sad

Im getting that lower abdominal mild cramping feeling I get when Im about to start flaring. Im really hoping its the asacol Ive been lowering the dose on my gi's instructions. I lowered it to 3x800mg tabs a day to two yesterday and today Im feeling that horrible pain in my tummy what I get when Im just about to bleed. It feels a little bit like mild period pains, only a little different.

Also, I ruined my scd yoghurt mad . I didnt read the instructions before I started, got the temp to 190, thinking thats how hot I had to get it. Then just a few hours before it was to be finished I turned on my crockpot to warm it up, I realise I didnt have to, but I did, only to go out and forget to turn it off for 3 whole hours. It got to 140 degrees and it totally curdled. I dont think Ill be able to salvage it. Ill start another batch tomorrow. I was a headless chicken today. I was babysitting a neighbours kid and that sort of thing happens when Im really busy.

So, Im hoping that upping the asacol stops this pain. I did begin adding raw apples to my diet a few days ago too. I end up getting impatient and doing too many things at once, lowering the asacol dose AND adding raw apples. Now I dont know which one is the culprit... So, not really back to square one, but sort of. Making chicken soup tomorrow and taking it slowly again.


Ill learn one day!
Posted 7/30/2010 3:10 AM (GMT 0)
Aaaaak! I know my doc is going to have me start tapering also and I'm scared too. I was supposed to taper the Rowasa already but I keep chickening out. I think I will take what happened to you into consideration. I'm going to eat the blandest most boring foods ever when I taper!! I know that exact cramping feeling you are talking about. The achy bleeding thing. Poor thing!
I made Ima's butternut squash muffins and they turned out great! I didnt use any honey in them so I put some on top. I used raisins too. I think I will try it with carrots for fun next time. I accidentally left a muffin on the table and my dog ate the whole thing, paper and all! Haha.
Posted 7/30/2010 5:01 AM (GMT 0)
Heidi
Why would you taper Rowasa? It's got no side effects and I can't think of how it would be bad to continue if still bleeding. It's not at all like prednisone. Why stop?

I rarely use the generic Rowasa (mesalamine) now because I am so healed but months ago they helped get me here.
Posted 7/30/2010 6:46 AM (GMT 0)
Oh no I haven't had bleeding in over a month. Thats why the doc wants me to taper. I think I'm going to wait 2 more weeks because I am however still having skinny stools. I would like to see if this goes down a little bit more. Then I think I will stay at maybe 2 a week indefinitely. I posted on another thread about how I thought I was bleeding again because I ate watermelon and had red in my poo the next day. I'm a dork! Haha.

 My tiredness is gone this week too! I think I may have been fighting off a cold. I get exposed to everything being a hairdresser. Oh, and the Larabars have been great! I have half a bar if I am really busy. No issues.

 I also wanted to post that Trader Joes sells almond meal at $4.99 for a pound. I dont know how many of you live in the US but this was half what I was paying at another health food store. Its by the nuts though, not in the cooking aisle.

 And hi Zippy, I've actually been wondering about taking a stronger yeast killer. I take tumeric already but I did look at wormwood, cloves, and black walnut hull.

Posted 7/30/2010 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
Today is my first day on the SCD diet...so glad to have this forum for support!
I have been in severe pain the past 2 days (pain has somewhat subsided right now) and I just decided it was time to make a change. I figured, like someone else said, "Hell, if eating doesn't have anything to do with this, I will just eat whatever I want!" So I did that and now my stomach is a mess! My husband told me yesterday, that even though the Dr.'s won't tell you this, healing is 70% diet and the other percentage is the meds you take.
Yogurt is "cooking" and I am getting ready to have breakfast!
I am so proud of myself...I took my son to Chic-fil-a this AM and he had some little chicken things and hashbrowns. I thought about how painful it was to have those scrumptious foods in front of me and not be able to eat them! But then I thought about my stomach pain and thought "Now, that's worse! I'll do without that greasy yummy food!" :o)
Posted 7/30/2010 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
Heidi, olive leaf extract is a powerful antifungal supplement. I also have taken caprylic acid. Along with an antifungal diet, they helped me get well again. There are lots of foods that are natural antifungals...carrots, cinnamon, garlic, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, oregano, .... 
Posted 7/30/2010 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
i use olive leaf, i use garlic in cooking and i just bought some cocounut oil. im going to make some muffins, but im going to try to use stevia to sweeten them. oregano i read is good to get rid of candida as well. oh as well Green said to use cinnamon. biggest thing for me though was to get rid of sugars. thats what made me remission the most.
Posted 7/30/2010 5:18 PM (GMT 0)
Jse: welcome! I hope you ordered the book, it really makes everything make sense. Start off very slow and add foods. I am almost 2 months in and cannot tolerate yogurt yet. The intro diet is good to start with, its very mild and will ease you into foods. My doc said food doesnt make a difference either and boy was he wrong. For some of us its a huge difference. I'm glad you didnt have the fried chicken, youd be hurting!! Ouch! Any questions and we will all gladly help. Good luck! Let us know how the day goes.
Kim, Yeah, I read a little about olive leaf. Maybe I will try that one first. I started having apple cider vinegar in water, it tasted strong but feels so soothing after you dring it. I will look into the antifungal foods though, thanks for that! How long have you felt good from doing this? Oh! and I wanted to know if you take your antifungals and probiotics at different times or all together? I have been taking them about an hour apart and I'm thinking it may not be enough.
Posted 7/30/2010 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
im having a really good day. i did do two poos, they were awsome. really clean and big and formed. i hope every day happens like today. its weird when you are proud of your poops.
Posted 7/30/2010 7:21 PM (GMT 0)
I think Im a poop prude! lol. So uncomfortable talking about that part of this illness... Im going about once every other day. I would usually get like this before I started my period but its been like this since starting scd. I dont like it, but I think for some strange reason, going all the time became normal for me, in a strange (maybe even sick) sort of way. I would feel awful, bloated if I had been eating like I used to, but Im not feeling so bad today. The cramping I mentioned yesterday went, Im not entirely sure why, but its very mild. I did start feeling left sided pain, briefly during the earlier part of today but havent noticed anything nasty like that since then. I do think it was the start of another flare tho. Im upping my asacol right up to what it was just a few weeks ago. And with the diet Im kinda still taking it slowly. Every few days or so I go back to having mostly chicken broth. I think Im working on a system. Im feeling a little discomfort whenever I digest food, but its nothing compared to what it would have felt like before scd. So, all in all, Im getting on with it. Its good to hear how others progresss.
Posted 7/30/2010 8:08 PM (GMT 0)
I take my antifungals and anti-inflammatory supplements in the AM, they get things moving :-)
I take my probiotics in the evening to work overnight.

This way they don't "fight" one another. And I've read that stomach acids from eating can reduce the effectiveness of the probiotics. Since being able to eat yogurt I have that as dessert every evening and sometimes add some extra VSL#3 to it or mix the VSL with water and drink. I always wake up to a happy colon and that is such a relief.

But if anyone has a better idea I'm always open to more education.
Posted 7/30/2010 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
Heidi- I don't take the antifungals regularly now, although I'm thinking it might be good to start them again, for safety sake. I took them when I experimented with the diet and then kept taking them for about 6 months or so, while staying on a modified antifungal diet. I did not take them at the same time as the probiotics. I like imagardener's idea of when to take them. It's important to rotate antifungals monthly.

It's been 4 years since I had UC symptoms, but have had nuances of IBS-D symptoms along the way, like right after I had dental work(root canals/crowns), or eating a little more holiday foods than I should at Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas, so I would revert back to phase one of my diet for a week or so and they would disappear. I still try to limit my intake of starches, wheat and corn because of aflatoxins, and processed sugars. I cannot tolerate yeast foods or artificial sweeteners at all. I still take propolis, probiotics, and beta glucan.

Posted 7/31/2010 6:40 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Ima, I have been taking probiotics twice a day but I really dont need to do that. Im going to take them all at night. I just started wondering the other day if antifungals could kill off some of the probiotics. Why even take the chance!
Thanks to you too Kim. I'm going to check out beta glucan and propolis. I didnt know I needed to switch them monthly. I'm so happy for you that you have been doing well for so long. I looked up anti-fungal foods and I seem to eat alot of them already luckily.
So I have been going 3 times a day lately. I eat tons of fruit and veggies. I feel great UC wise but the increase of one to two more a day is weird. I guess vegans poo 3 to 4 times a day. I eat meat but definitely eat more heathy foods than the average person. I cant help but worry a little bit. Especially since all of you seen to be constipated! Maybe I'm just full of it :)
Posted 7/31/2010 10:29 AM (GMT 0)

Heidi33 said...
Jse: welcome! I hope you ordered the book, it really makes everything make sense. Start off very slow and add foods. I am almost 2 months in and cannot tolerate yogurt yet. The intro diet is good to start with, its very mild and will ease you into foods. My doc said food doesnt make a difference either and boy was he wrong. For some of us its a huge difference. I'm glad you didnt have the fried chicken, youd be hurting!! Ouch! Any questions and we will all gladly help. Good luck! Let us know how the day goes.
Kim, Yeah, I read a little about olive leaf. Maybe I will try that one first. I started having apple cider vinegar in water, it tasted strong but feels so soothing after you dring it. I will look into the antifungal foods though, thanks for that! How long have you felt good from doing this? Oh! and I wanted to know if you take your antifungals and probiotics at different times or all together? I have been taking them about an hour apart and I'm thinking it may not be enough.

Heidi - I did order the book! Should be here before the end of my intro diet! My day went great yesterday and imagine that, my stomach does not hurt anymore after a day! I had 2 boiled eggs with some diluted grape juice in the AM, some "cottage cheese" made from my homemade yogurt and fresh dry cheese curd for lunch and then i ventured to make the "cheesecake" that they list on the breaking the vicious cycle website! oh my gosh! sooooo good! I had a piece of that along with a glass of pineapple juice (diluted) with my dinner which consisted of 2 small broiled hamburgers. Amazingly my stomach feels at ease this AM whereas normally I would have made a trip to the bathroom at least twice and would be writhing in pain already! :o)
I know it's just the first day, but I feel like I've started it off right!
Posted 8/1/2010 12:36 PM (GMT 0)
Here's my SCD question of the day:

For anyone who has noticed results while doing SCD, how long did it take for you to notice anything? 

I've been doing it for about 2 months now and haven't noticed any difference at all.  I was bleeding before and still bleeding.  That was my main symptom.  I still have blood and mucous and now I'm also having more upset tummy feelings than I was before I was diagnosed.  I am also taking probiotics, but NOT currently taking any meds.  I'm thinking I should see *some* sort of change after 2 months, but still feeling very resistent to drugs (side effects, long term effects, and often when I have taken drugs in the past for other things they don't work anyway, like trying canasa and hydrocortisone for UC and neither helped).

Posted 8/1/2010 12:59 PM (GMT 0)

zucchini said...
Here's my SCD question of the day:


For anyone who has noticed results while doing SCD, how long did it take for you to notice anything?



I've been doing it for about<strong></strong> 2 months now and haven't noticed any difference at all. I was bleeding before and still bleeding. That was my main symptom. I still have blood and mucous and now I'm also having more upset tummy feelings than I was before I was diagnosed. I am also taking probiotics, but NOT currently taking any meds. I'm thinking I should see *some* sort of change after 2 months, but still feeling very resistent to drugs (side effects, long term effects, and often when I have taken drugs in the past for other things they don't work anyway, like trying canasa and hydrocortisone for UC and neither helped).

I am on a lot of antibiotics right now due to a possible infection and my Dr.'s wanting me to go on prednisone also taking my maintenance meds for UC. I started the diet on Friday and was in severe pain on Thursday. So far, so good. Diarrhea hasn't stopped, but I'm not seeing as much blood in my stool and I'm also not going as often. More importantly the pain has subsided!
I'm on the intro diet and can't wait to start eating things other than the cheesecake and the chicken soup and yogurt.
Posted 8/1/2010 2:03 PM (GMT 0)

Hellokitty said...
im having a really good day. i did do two poos, they were awsome. really clean and big and formed. i hope every day happens like today. its weird when you are proud of your poops.

Hellokitty,
Can you please tell me did you have C problems with this diet of yours? and if so what did you do to fix it? SCD says eat stewed prunes, but they are high in sugar and carbs, makes no sense.
Posted 8/1/2010 3:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Ima! Thanks for the post! I started using my enemas and am feeling better! Have to say feeling better caused me to cheat! But I am going to do better today! I ate some carbs and I felt all bloated and gassy! Just yucky...reminded me of how much I dont miss that feeling!! I am keeping a food journal..but like I said I added so many foods in the beginning that I just need to start back over.

Oh and some exciting news! I just found out I am pregnant! Excited and scared!!
Posted 8/1/2010 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
Are there any antifungals that are safe during pregnancy? I started taking Candex from a health food store. Took it for 2 days then found out I was preggers and am scared to take.
I take the ultimate flora critical colon probiotic now and am pretty sure thats safe!

Also are the Mesalamine enemas safe during pregnancy?? I'm already worrying about my unborn! Dont want my disease to harm my baby!

Heidi33:

The people at Larabar wrote me back and said they have no added sugars or starches in their bars!! YAY! I picked up a whole stash the other day ! So glad you like them!!
Posted 8/1/2010 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
hi zippy

about prunes-I am eating 2 dried plums daily (same as prunes) rather than stewed prunes and feel they are a big help for C. I also wondered about the sugar amount but it seems OK with my gut. I think my colon likes this type of fiber and I've been able to cut back on the Citrucel pills.

good luck
Posted 8/1/2010 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
thanks for the info imagarden2, I'll go back to eating 3 or 4 prunes again and see if it helps. Maybe that little bit of sugar per day isn't a big deal.
Posted 8/1/2010 6:13 PM (GMT 0)
kk217- I'd be very cautious taking supplements while trying to get pregnant, or once becoming pregnant. I didn't know until recently,for instance, that green tea has adverse effects on intake of folic acid. It is best to ask your doctor. Try to eat from foods that are antifungal...green leafy veggies, carrots, berries, garlic, onions, cinnamon.

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