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Ulcerative Colitis at 22!

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Posted 7/25/2013 2:28 AM (GMT 0)

Canada Mark said...
Oh yeah - my post workout meal is usually a can of tuna with some gluten free or home made mayo, onions, celery and sometimes rice pasta as it doesn't bother me. Probably a heck of a lot more healthy than the powders and such. But in the mornings I like to have a shake as mentioned above.


Thank you for the advice. I just got back in the gym on sunday and even with the weight loss I could still put up a decent amount of weight luckily. Tuna is great post workout also try peanut butter! Do you think a muscle milk after workout would be bad?
Posted 7/25/2013 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
I assume you are asking which supplements I take for working out. I have taken a lot of workout supplements over the years, and they are 99% garbage. Creatine works and is proven, although I am not currently taking it. I do not ingest sucralose, so that pretty much eliminates most workout supplements, but there are a few companies out there that make healthier options not loaded with toxic crap. Musclefeast.com makes good stuff, as does STS sports. Right now I am using a pre-workout by Vega One - very high quality stuff, no junk, vegan too if that matters. I also just got a carb support called vitargo, which sounds like great stuff, I'll see, but pricey. I used to get caught up in the workout supps, but really you don't need much except a healthy, protein-centric diet.
Posted 7/25/2013 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
"I'm sorry to hear that you were diagnosed during a pregnancy that must have been a lot to manage! I never did drink many sodas but yes i did eat a lot of burgers and fries. Do you think red meat could be cause? Steaks and burgers are my favorite foods. For the health part I COMPLETELY agree with you! This was the healthiest I had been in my life I weighed 170 pounds with 6 % body fat. Once I was diagnosed I dropped a ton of weight and after about a month I weigh 157. It just goes to show that this disease is weirdly spontaneous among all people healthy or unhealthy. I can't believe your friend had to get their colon taken out at 36? Were none of the medicines working?"

No she was in so much pain, she begged the surgeon to take it out but now she's been having more problems still. As far as the red meat goes...I've always had problems digesting steak and was eating a ton of it during pregnancy to treat low iron so I think that made the problem 10xs worse. I thought it was a hormonal issue but it never ceased after delivery so that's when I went to a GI and was diagnosed. What's interesting about your story is how healthy you seem to be. Although I did drink and eat kind of crappy, I was in the best shape of my life right before I started having symptoms. I worked out at the gym, ran all the time (I ran a 19 mile race a few weeks before conceiving) and have done ultras and adventure races for the past 10 years so having this really annoys me. My favorite activities are trail running and mtn. biking so being in nature provides and nice break and also good cover if I have issues. You might try those if you feel up to it. Just carry some wipes in a zip-lock bag just in case.
Posted 7/25/2013 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Not sure about muscle milk... I would think any unflavored would be fine. But I guess you'd have to try to find out and see how you feel the next day or two..

www.truenutrition.com/

This place is a good start perhaps... they have forums where you can usually find other muscle guys that have either UC or say Lactose intolerance etc and ask them what seems to work. What's cool is you can order or customize your protein if you really want to get into it. Plain pure powder is is a common item they sell now. It's sometimes what I buy. Works for me with no issue and there's no filler and crap.

Anyway -honestly for the most part I just eat real food versus supplements. Fresh veggies, fruit, meat, fish and pretty much no wheat whatsoever as I can' tolerate it. I think most supplements are crap - and well why not have a quick steak and veggies or can of tuna versus two scoops of protein powder...

As for what Gonk said... I like to row, out on the water. Something about the motion and whatnot combined with exercise.. no matter how sick I am, once I get out there, my symptoms generally go away... you forget about them. It's a mental thing and it's weird but it works.

I know a lady who's young son (around 10 years old) has severe Crohns. He's on the toilet 20 times a day, but throw a pair of hockey skates on him and get him on the ice and wham... he can play for upwards of two hours and not have a single issue. Till he get's off the ice that is... He runs to the bathroom after lol.. poor guy. Still though - exercise is an awesome way to distract the mind.

Some on here have trouble with running though.. some don't.. again everyone is different.
Posted 7/25/2013 6:47 AM (GMT 0)
Not to interrupt the workout talk, but if your inflammation is left-side only, you should definitely be on some sort of enema. I think you should find a better GI, since 1) a good UC specialist wouldn't have told you that anything definitively caused your UC, and 2) JUST Uceris seems like even more of a weird treatment.

If I were you, I'd ask for an oral mesalamine (Asacol HD worked for me for a long time) and mesalamine enemas (generic ones work fine). You don't necessarily want to be on steroids (like Uceris) if something else works, and Uceris isn't meant to be a long-term medication anyway.
Posted 7/25/2013 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum Luke.

I agree with CanadaMark, alot of the proteins shakes contain alot of junk in them - HFCS, additives, and some even arsenic (as per consumer reports), so whatever what is the shakes you've been consuming probably contributed to or made your UC much worse.  BUT I don't agree with the doc that it's protein.  Proteins are known to usually be good for the gut.

You also mentioned you've been drinking alot of milk... that could do it too.

I only use almond milk when I make my protein shakes.

 

Posted 7/25/2013 1:19 PM (GMT 0)
I would have to agree with majority opinion and say the protein thing is BS...I started working out seriously at 15 y/o and drank shakes consistently for 4 years before my UC hit soph year of college. losing weight sucks! i went from 205 to 175 in a couple months :(....I don't really use supplements anymore (much of what you can buy is garbage) but rather have a post workout meal and eat several times throughout the day. I have noticed milk and red meat bother me so I tend to avoid them.

I do continue to use protein and am a truenutrition customer as well.

lifting makes me feel better so I do it even though i'm mildy flaring. I'm glad you're able to stay in the gym too.
Posted 7/25/2013 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
From everything that I've read and everybody on this forum I have to tell you nothing causes UC. You just have it or you dont. I also don't think diet changes have much effect in the short term. People try and cut out so many different things and then their flare ends and they believe that the coralation is the causation.

I have cut everything out of my diet currently and nothing helps. I too am huge into working out and have lost so much strength over the past 8 weeks that I don't think I will get back anytime soon. I'm so sick most of the time that I have to really cut my workouts back to 3 days a week just to get through them.
Posted 7/25/2013 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
Luke sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis with UC. I was right there where you were when I was diagnosed with UC back in 2005. My last year in college and I was a gym rat. I was taking so many different supplements from pre-workouts, post-workouts, creatine, BCAA's, etc. You name it I was taking it. I was around a solid 190lbs. My diet in college consisted of a very low carbohydrate, high protein/fat diet. Then my UC hit and I was told to drop all the supplements and I couldn't go to the gym bc of the BM's. I dropped from 190 to 160lbs. It was hard to deal with at first but then over time and a well balanced diet helped greatly along with my UC meds. Within a couple of months I was back to normal again and going to the gym.

So keep your head up man. Drop all your supplements. Try to eat as naturally as possible (whole foods). This will definitely help. You'll be back to the gym in no time.

Also see if your GI can prescribe you some enema's (mesalamine). It will definitely help you out over Uceris because it will go directly where the affected colon is. Hopefully it'll help.
Posted 7/25/2013 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
Wow that's a lot of young male similar situation. Sounds very familiar to my 18 year old son diagnosed almost a year ago. I recall his dad complaining of his very very smelly gas in the mornings and with each bowel movement. His dad was positive it was the protein shakes he was using for post workouts. That was one of the first things he went off of, but he had not been diagnosed and was still waiting to see a GI. Going off the protein shakes didn't help but it could have been too late into the flare. During a flare I don't think any diet changes made a difference for him. First he had to get the inflammation under control with medication. (Pred and mezavant). Interestingly he was a partier as well. Pharmacists are very knowledgable and I had one suggest different o/c meds to help with the inflammation that he felt was directly related to binge drinking. Again this didn't do much for him.

The curious thing is he trains hard for boxing and MMA daily. Ate lots of red meat and fish daily along with protein supplements and partied like crazy on weekends. There is no family history either. Sounds very similar to a lot of young men on this thread at the time of diagnoses. I have to wonder if there is a connection.
Posted 7/25/2013 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Excess protein,a subject near and dear to my heart.

I have a few threads on excess protein in the diet,and yes excess protein might just, might lean you towards

getting UC. Remember UC usually starts distally,protein fermentation in the colon is distal.

Also remember my story about my son,ate lots of red meat prior to UC,then started with the sulfur farts,which could clear a room for 15 minutes,sulfate reducing bacteria,they are also in your mouth. Vegetarians also eat a lot of protein.  Why SCD and Paleo which could be heavy on meat help some, not sure,but then again food combing the wrong way may also have something to do with it,also cooking methods,antibiotics in meat, modern/processed foods in general,chlorinated water. Excess protease due to excess protein in the colon/protease both from digestive enzymes that are not deactivated and bacterial protease.

Old Mike

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2701624

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2473174

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2409702

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2412036

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2514184

 

Posted 7/25/2013 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi luke,

As you have already seen the support and feedback you get from this forum is great, its helped me alot when ive become confused or uncertain about certain foods, supplements etc i should/ should not be taken.

But like a lot of people have said everyone is completely different so the answers you are going to get are mixed and at the end of the day its what suits you.

Reading your first post felt like i was looking at my own first post, no one in my family with it, healthy i was at college in the UK but also playing semi pro football (soccer) and as im english of course i loved to binge drink (still do when im not flaring tut tut).

What ive learnt is dont sit there and re trace your steps of how this happened to you because you will go mad way i look at it its just in your genetics you never know some where down the line a distant relative had it could be anything.

Regarding the protein thats got to be a load of bullcrap, most of my mates are into body building and i think all they have is protein lol so if we went on the theory to much protein gave you the UC then surely every body builder in the world would have it. she just saw you where into the gym and take a lot of protein and thought she was being smart and made that the reason.

Protein heals the body it doesnt make it worse. an interesting theory i have been researching lately is supplementing Amino acid, do a google search apparently there are positive effects with UC.

Tips i would give you are stay away from red meat especially lamb, caffeine so any sports drinks tea or coffee, greasy foods such as fast foods and for sure stay away from creatine it goes straight through me.

I have had to take a break from playing football because for some reason playing competitively gives me the worst D i think its a mix of anxiety and nerves, i remember before i had UC the morning before a game i would be on the toilet about 3 or 4 times now its double that lol.

still hammer the gym though and one bonus of having UC is you can still put muscle on but your body fat drops right down so it makes you look shredded lol always look on the bright side!

Hope this helps

Posted 7/25/2013 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah I am now a firm believer that drinking (especially binge drinking) on the weekends could have added to my flares occurring. I unfortunately was stupid enough to keep on drinking heavily even while remission thinking it wasn't going to come back again. Stupid stupid me.
Posted 7/25/2013 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
so sorry to be welcoming you here Luke. I was dx'd at 24 and symptoms started at 23, it sucks really bad! However, once I got my flare under control I was able to do everything normally again as long as I took my meds. I had a terrible habit of only taking them when I was sick so instead of only my rectum being affected my whole colon was. I did really well for 7 years and then had to get off the meds I was on and had problems again but doing good again. I travel a lot to England for work and do zumba am married and trying to start a family. You can still do everything, it just sucks! My best advice listen to your Doc's but be your own advocate, get a notebook write everything down and learn what stuff bothers you. Caffeine when flaring made me worse but when I'm not drink it. I drank a lot of alcohol from age 24 to 34 not recommended not good for the liver but it didn't seem to affect my colitis. Moderation is very important for your overall health.

I wish you the best, take care.
Posted 7/25/2013 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
Beth75 - well said!! :-)   thats reminded me of when i used to take fitnes classes just as i was getting diagnosed with UC i think my record was 5 trips to the bathroom in one hour, good job the toilet was right next to the studio and every station was set at 2 minutes untill they changed over LOL
Posted 7/25/2013 6:41 PM (GMT 0)

Luke1791 said...

garylouisville said...
I'll have to backtrack just a little bit. Even though it is possible that a major change in diet could have been a factor in you coming down with UC, there is no proof of that anywhere that eating too much protein causes UC. I seriously doubt you will find any hard or soft evidence of it even being a possibility and your doctor is being totally irresponsible for pulling that out of her ass. She didn't read that in any textbook anywhere. She just pulled it out of thin air and made it up. If you ask 100 doctors if your diet had anything to do with you coming down with UC, 99 of them will laugh.

It was quite odd man. I'm just curious of what can cause this. I work out every single day and take my multivitamins then this crap happens! What do you think the causes could be if I have no family history? I'm an accounting major so I usually like to have an answer for anything that happens lol thats why I hate hearing that I've been diagnosed with something but have no clue what caused it.

I've entertained thoughts of many causes. Perhaps it's caused by the dentist using that powder to clean your teeth, yes some article I read said they have found evidence of that. I'm not 100% sure, but I know I developed mine right around the time I had a cavity filled and tooth cleaning, where previously I never visited the dentist.
Posted 7/25/2013 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
Regarding muscle milk, my husband and I do the Sean T workouts and we have also done tap out and a few others. He was using a protein powder with no problems then switched to musscle milk. He has no GI problems but that really upset his stomach, badly. He hasn't had problems with anything but that.
I was about two months from 22 when I got sick, that had been a rough year for me health wise already. Then a sinus infection got me a Zpack and after that I started bleeding and it never went away. Now people can tell me all they want that antibiotics don't cause UC, but I didn't have it before I took the Zpack!
Regardless you do need some other type of maintenace meds, I started out on immuran, but that was 14 years ago and many of the other meds weren't available. It worked on and off. At 29 I decided on surgery, so 36 is not really young for it. In no way am I saying surgery for you right now, just telling my story.
After getting diagnosed I kept running and doing light weights I alsso had a very physically demanding job. And I kept that up until the uc made me too sick and I lost it, and the pred wrecked my knees and I couldn't work out anymore.
Keep working out and eating as healthy as possible. And get some meds to see what works
Good luck
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