A couple questions for SCDers

Hi everyone. Fairly new to the forum, haven't been too active since I registered but I have been lurking here for a while now. Was diagnosed with UC in Dec 2010 at the age of 19. The usual story. Prednisone during flares, tried the salofalk enemas, tried imuran, but now I'm only on Mezavant, along with a few supplements like digestive enzymes, HCL, and probiotics. Vitamin E enemas also seem to really help with the inflammation if I need them.

Anyways, I have been on the SCD for about 6 months, and I seem to be doing ok. As of now I have no blood, but to be honest the stools aren't as formed as I'd like. Going once per day only though. I went through some phases where they were really formed, but somehow that didn't last too long.

One of my problems is that I really need to gain some weight. It's difficult... well, expensive to try and gain weight on the SCD. Meat isn't anywhere as cheap as rice or potatoes. Basically, I want to try and introduce some rice into my diet so that I can put on some weight. When I first started the SCD I was still on prednisone, so I cannot be certain if it was the elimination of starches that is actually helping me stay in remission or not. The SCD eliminates a lot of other junk food that could have been causing problems. I know that the only way to find out for sure is to try some rice, but I had a few questions.

How fast will I be able to tell if I cannot tolerate the rice? I am afraid that a flare will sneak up on me weeks or months down the road even if everything seems ok at first.

Also, I feel like I am progressing slower than I should be on SCD. Right now I'm basically eating pear sauce, bananas, boiled zucchini, baked squash, and a variety of meats. Also, the fruits and veggies need to be pureed. I tried adding pureed green beans and the blood came back a little bit, so I stopped. If I am starving the bacteria that cause the problems as is stated in Breaking the Vicious Cycle, shouldn't I be further along so far into the diet?

Sorry for the long post, would appreciate any input.

i have almost the exact same symptoms as you. i added in rice because i need to gain weight and so far i have been absoluetly fine. while my stool is still skinny and i have urgency, i think the scd is letting me taper off pred though.

First, congrats on getting results whatever the reason.
Blood after pureed green beans? Could be co-incidental or maybe you are intaking too much fiber during that day. Hard to say, it's not always possible to pinpoint it and better to look at things from a weekly standpoint rather than daily. If it happens 2 times in a row after green beans then you can say aha!

Can you get some mesalamine enemas? They really help with the bleeding at the lower end. Diet plus meds, top (oral) and bottom (enema) is a good combination. Maybe alternate them with your other enema and see if that helps.

For firmer stools some people use ground psyllium seed mixed with water, other people like psyllium husk. I use Citrucell. Psyllium is cheaper over the long run.

If you add rice I suggest white rice not brown since brown has more insoluble fiber and could irritate your fragile colon. Potatoes might be a better place to start but I can't remember which has more fiber, guessing rice. Add butter to either for calories.
You need to eat just enough protein daily so your body doesn't burn off muscle since our bodies don't store protein the way they do carbs and starches. I think weight gain comes with adding more good fats, starches and carbs rather than protein. Gaining muscle however will require more protein, and muscle weighs more than body fat.

Good luck.

I have been on a diet for 6 months as well,I find it very difficult to gain weight on it,I have been trying to put on 5 lbs.without any luck and if I don't eat a lot of food each and every day I can drop 2-3lbs.just like that. I am a small female so few lbs. here and there shows.

I don't eat to many beans,maybe if I had those more often I would gain more weight. Good luck to you!

Hi, you are doing great for the SCD! You are lucky you can tolerate that much roughage right now! And keep an eye when you see the red, definitely refrain from those foods right now. Keep up the work, try and add the SCD yogurt or a scd friendly probiotic and that should help with stool bulk. I would stay away from rice right now.

What you should really do is consider adding in the almond flour and almond butter. A perfect start is the almond butter bread (http://www.comfytummy.com/category/recipes/bread/) it is absolutely delicious, and since you do well with bananas, add 1 for a mild flavor and add 2 to make a banana bread. This is good carbs, but go slow you need to introduce these new foods slow.

I am on the SCD about 3 weeks now, and on the prednisone, I have 1bm every 2 days it seems, its solid but I still get the red streak. I only have steamed carrots in the soup, and have been making raw goat milk yogurt for probiotics. I eat about 6 eggs a day, diet high in protein whether from turkey burgers or salmon. Keep healing, the diet works!

For me, SCD is too restrictive.

Thanks for the advice. Makes me feel better knowing that others are going through similar things.

 

Nut butters are great for weight gain, especially cashew, macademia, almond butters - if you can tolerate them.

You could also consider adding avocado - it's loaded with healthy fats and calories.

NoReMaC said...
Andrina: The SCD would probably be very difficult as a vegetarian. Many of the foods you would rely on as a vegetarian (beans, lentils) are only to be eaten after you have done significant healing. (At least 6 months on the diet.) Though you could always try them for yourself and see how it goes.

Oh well I guess I start eating meat again although I don't like it. Cross your fingers it will work for me.

Edit on 2/5 I officially started today.

Post Edited (Andrina) : 2/5/2012 7:34:36 AM (GMT-7)

darn I don't know why cottage cheese was recommended but the one I got has sugar and starch in it. Or are there better ones?

Not necessarily homemade cottage cheese, but dry curd cottage cheese.

http://www.scdiet.org/8resources/drycurd_sources.html

It's not packed like other cottage cheese in those plastic containers. It's packed in an air tight plastic bag.

Ok being on the diet for almost a week now I'm happy to observe that I'm getting a little better. I'll stick with the diet and see how it goes.

Andrina said...
Ok being on the diet for almost a week now I'm happy to observe that I'm getting a little better. I'll stick with the diet and see how it goes.

Good to hear Andrina! Is there any illegals your consuming on the diet? Just curious.