My Story

Since February of last year, I had been suffering from Rectal Bleeding. For months me and my mother believed that it was hemorrhoids since the blood was always fresh and I didn't actually feel off in my gut either, at least until late may-early June. It was then that me and my mother finally went to see a Surgeon to have a colonoscopy scheduled for July of that year. The colonoscopy came and went and I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Though I have been on 2 Mezavant twice a day and bleeding has been reduced as a result, I still felt like crap, having had pain in my left side and just feeling off, wishing to stay around the house more than I do going any place else. I can only handle 1 Iron pill a day since 2 gives me acid reflux and my blood count isn't as high as it should be, even if I overall feel okay with just taking 1 (i'm looking into Iron Injections instead). I have also lost a number of pounds as well but I believe this is also partially due to me cut down/out foods such as those with gluten in them like Pasta which I love so much even if I can't say such foods affect me adversely but I do anyway since hearing about the SCD and similar diets (I even have a copy of "Breaking the Vicious Cycle") and how it's benefited many people with what I have and then some. I recently saw a dietitian because of my weight loss and she recommended me not to go on with the SCD and that though complex carbohydrates such as anything whole-wheat during a flare-up period are bad to have, I need them anyway in order to put on weight since the way I've been eating could be considered a starvation diet. She stated that even though the diet may work for some people, it won't work for everyone and that unless there are foods which I can't tolerate, I should still consume them if I want and or substitute them with just as good alternatives (ie I drink Almond Milk instead of the regular kind). However she came off as a b#$%h to me the way her personality was, thinking she knew it all the way she scoffed the book since she's a dietitian you see, not a Biochemist like Elaine Gottschall was so f-her is all I can say since according to her, anyone can write a book with info which could be perceived as misleading. As of mid-March, though, I haven't had pain anymore on my left side and though my blood count was in the 80's because I went down to one Iron instead of taking 2 (my bleeding even almost virtually subsided entirely until April), I felt more energetic and went at least 3-5 times a day instead of the max prior to that being more 5-8ish, wanting to simply get outside, even bringing myself to enjoy a green beer on St. Patties day for the hell of it even if it is Illegal on the diet!

I have been doing probiotics since February of this year (4 billion Lactobacillus Acidophilus daily) but I dunno if I should increase my intake of it or not since it doesn't seem to be doing much IMO.

I have also been getting 2000 IU of Vitamin D since January since I found out through research that there is a correlation between Vitamin D Deficiency and IBDs such as Ulcerative Colitis and I had known I was deficient in such a thing since October of 2011 but I didn't bother with supplementation since I didn't know any better, sadly. I've been taking it in pill form but wonder if I should go to drops or up my intake to 4000 a day since I don't know if it's making much of a difference either.

What's weird with my Colitis though is that I never actually had diarrhea only. Eversince the diagnosis, I would still have solid stools even if they were miniscule in the amounts I went, even before I started following the SCD partially. Even during the last week of April, when my bowel movements increased to every half-hour (I dunno if it was just die-off or a flare-up, though, since a number of symptoms I had matched up with a die-off reaction), the stools themselves still had solidity to them, even if they were miniscule in the amounts I went.

So what do you guys think I should do? I mean I thought that cutting down on/out the complex carbs was making a difference but I've been losing weight, as well.

Thank You.

PS. Are Iron injections REALLY that painful? Everyone keeps telling me this but I don't believe it.

PSS. Honey is a monosaccharide, not a disaccharide but the Dietitian said there was no difference when I argued with her since it's all sugar when I mentioned using it as a substitute to the actual stuff since it's SCD legal (I prefer it nowadays anyway). Was she wrong or was I wrong?

"or another person."



er.....like........ Gary ?

j/k

Eat iron containing foods. Take your iron with a meal, but not with calcium. Try different brands. Try liquid iron. It can be hard to take, but you will eventually find a solution.

There are some conflicting-science moments in SCD. The dietician is not crazy to point that out. She would not be the first.

Honey is a FODMAP, so it can actually make immediate GI symptoms worse. Table sugar is 50/50 glucose and fructose, so it is easier for people with fructose problems to digest.

You need to set a dietary goal. Do you want to kill candida? Gain weight? Eat anti-inflamatory foods? You can't really do it all at once, because what is good for one goal may ruin another one. For instance, fruit is not good for killing yeast, or formed stools. :)