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How do you know if a food aggrevates UC?

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Posted 12/25/2013 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
The subject pretty much explains my question, Ive heard that food can take anywhere from 24-36 hours to travel completely down your colon. Is this accurate? Or sometimes it seems like when I eat something that I know its not good it seems like my bowels tell me almost immediately (well maybe 20 mins). Are you supposed to experience increase bleeding and pain and just look to see what you have had in the past 24 hours or so? I keep a detailed food log with times along with bowel movements, probably a post about this sorry if its a double.
Posted 12/25/2013 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
Some things will affect me in just a few hours. I can just get increased gas and cramping from the gas. Other times it will be a trip or two to the bathroom. But usually what I eat doesn't affect me till the next day and its mostly just increased bathroom visits.

For me spicy food is a trigger food, sometimes fried food and baked goods can be bad too but not always. I don't get bleeding from food. Never have. Crampy, gassy and D? Absolutely.
Posted 12/25/2013 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Each suspect food can have different effects. Some things, like lactose, can give you gas within 15 minutes. This is not necessarily going to cause a flare of IBD, but it sure can be uncomfortable. Other things like gluten can take two or three WEEKs to completely clear your system.
Posted 12/25/2013 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
That makes alot of sense kaz and sher,thanks =) I have been good about staying away from spicy,gluten or dairy but I think I tend to over eat on the healthy food somtimes, I was on a strict diet before I was diagnosed with UC trying to treat it with herbs/natural remedies and then had nasty food for 4 days in the hospital and still not completely used to eating so good so I tend to over due it, I think this could be a cause of the discomfort during eating and the occasional bleeding on tp and couple drops in toilet, with Gods help gonna have better control, but there is gonna be Christmas left overs for a while and its gonna be very tempting!!
Posted 12/26/2013 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
Since you are newly diagnosed and just beginning treatment my best advice is to not worry so much about diet except to avoid uncooked veggies and fruit. These can be very irritating to an inflamed bowel. Lactose is also worth avoiding, at least temporarily, so stay away from the nog and the whipped cream.
Posted 12/26/2013 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
Lol gotcha,appreciate the advice kaz =) praise God I enjoy eating healthy and it does seem to have a good effect on my body, when in the hospital I had no choice in the foods and went pretty crazy on the sugar (popsiciles, sherbert, and jello) which I would have never done in the past, just the stress from the situation and finding pleasure in sweets satisfied for a while but I could definitely see the bad side effects afterward.. I really want to be gluten,lactose and refined sugar free for the rest of my life even in remission, the quality of food is vastly different than from the past and I think plays a huge role in most, if not all, of the increase and seriousness of diseases/sickness.
Posted 12/26/2013 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
I think food is bad - real bad - all food - bad bad bad ! just ask yourself - were you eating food when you got dx'd ? had you eaten food prior to being dx'd ? I tell ya, it's the food !!!! were you climbing mt Everest when you were dx'd - were you consuming large quantities of rocks - did you work on an oil rig when you were dx'd ? NO NO NO, you were eating food !!! like everyone here !!!


so, don't eat any more FOOD !


ok, maybe that's a little strong - I guess SOME food is ok - the problem for me is, that when I'm flaring, or on drugs, it's very difficult to know what foods are good and what foods are questionable - I think everyone that is dx'd should be tested for food issues, both allergies and intolerances - also, I'm a believer in eating for your blood type -

good luck as you work on it -

oh, and Merry Christmas !
Posted 12/26/2013 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
Foods that are obviously bad for you usually don't take long to tell you, however sometimes it is a cumulative effect. I can't tell you how many times I ate something, had a really bad reaction shortly afterwards, and then I tried the very same thing the very next day and had one of my better days. I think A might not bother you, B might not bother you, and even C might not bother you, but eat AB&C altogether and all hell could break loose. I've never tried a food diary because all the variables involved make it very hard to discover anything for certain. I did find out however, that I have a histamine intolerance so eating foods high in histamine are very, very bad on me unless I take the digestive enzyme DAO before meals, which neutralizes the excess histamine and allows me to eat those foods with very little problem, often times zero problems.
Posted 12/26/2013 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
So far... since I am still in my first flare... it seems all food is the culprit... you might be right soy-man!

But that also explains being afraid to eat and losing 25lbs...

I used to be a whole grains and veggies kind of gal. Very hard for me to find foods to eat now. I hate putting bleached white flour in my body. Everything seems to be processed.

I've been trying to keep it simple. But even then im not sure what's causing my symptoms. Again, thinking because im in full flare... everything is going to cause symptoms! Boo.
Posted 12/26/2013 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
I think this is true more than people realize, especially the diet fad people. UC damages your colon and the worse the damage is the more foods of all kinds are not going to agree with you. Even though eliminating many foods might help a person's bad condition considerably the bottom line is that it was never the food in the first place which caused the damage to your colon so, in most cases, specific diets, while they may make your symptoms better, are never going to cure you. Many people also have the mistaken idea that since your colon is damaged that if you can repair that damage you will be cured but that is not the case because it does not stop the underlying cause that caused the damage in the first place. That has to be cured to totally cure our conditions and diet changes won't do this.
Posted 12/26/2013 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
I do not believe food has too much to do with my symptoms. I know that I do not tolerate lactose well, that's something I've dealt with since I was young (PreUC) but those symptoms are usually gas and some discomfort, they do not cause me to flare up. On the other hand, when I am flared up, no change in diet can "fix" me. I have tried so many things, including eating *very* minimally, one cup of soup a day, I was still running to the toilet many, many times with pain, cramps, blood, urgency... I consumed next to nothing for long periods of time and I didn't improve at all. I tried SCD diet, no improvement. I do admit, eating less caused me less issues overall simply because I would be stuck in the bathroom all morning and throughout the night but I could make it through the day at work without problems and that was all that mattered. All that mattered until I was under 100 pounds and anemic. At that point, I had to get help. So I guess everything was bad for me when I was flaring and especially anything gassy because I couldn't pass wind without passing stool and it was always urgent.
Posted 12/26/2013 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for all the replies everyone its helping me alot to understand this condition, Soy I really hope not all food is bad cause I love to eat lol =( I have a friend who owns a health food store who was dx'd with UC 15 years ago, He started with taking Pred, Asacol and Imuran which stopped the symptoms for a while but he said after 2.5 years the medicine quit being effective, he got to the point of using the bathroom 20-30+ times a day and after leaving his old GI after saying he needed to have his colon removed went to a new GI who put him on a rigorous diet/herbal supplement which "cured" him in a little over 6 months, He says he has been in remission for 15 years. He is the owner of a health food store and eats super crazy healthy but hey I would be willing to do the same thing if what he does really works, I really want to try and slowly taper off the medicine while doing his natural remedies (colon formula listed in my signature) strict diet, l-glutamine and want to add liq.rt to my diet also..there are also things he took but need to talk to him again to find out all the details.

I really like the quote from hypocrites that says "let food be thy medicine". I really strongly believe that God put everything in good wholesome food that we need for optimal health, its just so hard to get all the nutrients and benefits from the food when it has been so polluted, GMO'd and the such.

I have faith though and am confident that my God is bigger and stronger than anything I have to face and even if I am never 100% cured I am sure that he can help me thru anything I have to go thru with this horrible disease =)

God bless everyone I hope yall had an awesome Christmas, I know I did, oh and guess what?? I got engaged! =)
Posted 12/26/2013 1:52 PM (GMT 0)
awesome 21 ! you mean engaged like to a girl ...... or engaged in an activity requiring lots of time and effort ;-)


I love food 21 - I think it goes something like 1> God 2> food 3>family 4> Seahawks 5> everything else :-)

food obviously is required for life - God gave us food - but unfortunately, life is full of things that make food a problem for some - too many to even begin to address here -

you just gotta find out what works for you - if you want to be a lifelong drug taker, then do that - if you want to never take drugs, that's gonna be more of a challenge probably - I never wanted to take drugs for life - but I did take them - I had to work, take care of my family, you know, those little things - drugs helped me do that -

wish I had a recipe that would put everyone in the kind of "submission" I am experiencing these days - it is an absolute joy ! I know that God will give you the strength to deal with whatever direction you take -

time to go put the garbage out !
Posted 12/26/2013 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
Haha yes soy engaged to a girl :) a fiery hispanic at that that ive known for a little over 7 years. Been a busy,hectic winter with being dx'd with uc, finding out ill be having a kid.. and getting engaged! Lol...
Posted 12/26/2013 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
Congrats 21!!!
Child and wife... fiery Hispanic at that... good thing your faith is strong ;)

As much as I want to be a "good little hippy" I have had to accept that I will very likely be on drugs the rest of my life.

I hope that through understanding my disease in the coming years, I will one day be able to stay in submission through mostly, if not all "naturally" but I expect YEARS before that will be possible.

It hurts the ex-vegan/vegetarian/hippy in me to have to depend on medicine and eat foods I never would have... but its what i have to do to get better.

So just keep that in mind. Youve got a family coming now! Take the pills, focus on them. Keep up your food/bm diary and educating yourself.
but don't worry about your anti-drugs pride too much for now. You have much more important thing to worry about now :)

Congrats again!
Posted 12/26/2013 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
you got it exactly right Katie - you do what you gotta do for your family - for some it's meds, others it's a bag - whatever it takes -

I call myself an ethical vegan carnivore :-)
Posted 12/26/2013 7:49 PM (GMT 0)
I just had a chili cheese cony from Sonic. Food seems to have little affect either way on me. The one thing that does for sure is beer. I miss beer. He was a good friend of mine. I also avoid things with lots of tomato sauce. Too acidic I think. Other than that I eat what I want. If I have to get to restrictive on what I eat I'd rather give up my colon.
Posted 12/27/2013 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for all the encouragment and congrats everyone! I will just have to find out whats best with diet/pills but yes the family needs to come first, the prides gotta go, Lord help me!
Posted 12/27/2013 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
Let's see....there's people in the world that are starving, in wars, homeless, abused, raped, killed, tortured.....and you're praying to God to make food decisions for you?

You need a reality check and look at the bigger picture of life here on earth.

You have UC....you'll not be cured. Deal.

q
Posted 12/27/2013 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
Katie- we sound SO similar. I HATE meds (and I'm pescatarian now- veg/vegan didn't work for me) but I guess we have to suck it up!!
Posted 12/27/2013 4:29 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah it can be rough Callah! Gotta suck it up :)

And Q... ouch! Kitty got claws :D

In his defense... I think he was asking God for strength... so... that's pretty legit.

Maybe I should start... but I don't want God thinking I only bug him when I need something ;) though he probably hears his name a lot from my bathroom :D
Posted 12/27/2013 5:49 AM (GMT 0)
don't pay any attention to heather - she's old and tired and has been putting stuff up her butt for 20 years - you'd treat people like crap too -
Posted 12/27/2013 6:56 AM (GMT 0)
Boy, that escalated quickly.

Diet is a tricky subject, the only person that knows how food impacts your body is you. There is no doubt that diet could impact colitis, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that everyone is different. Whereas certain restrictions may not be useful for specific people, they may be the most important part of treatment for certain individuals. There is no need to argue such a unique subject.

Be kind to one another, we are all in this together.
Posted 12/27/2013 5:48 PM (GMT 0)

soystud said...
don't pay any attention to heather - she's old and tired and has been putting stuff up her butt for 20 years - you'd treat people like crap too -

Soy, you obviously have the same generous spirit as I...just in a different guise.

q
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