Intimidated by diet changes

For many of us with UC, diet doesn't make a difference while in remission. I eat anything I want except I limit myself to a few servings of dairy per day, but that's due to lactose intolerance. I'm at 90% normal now except for soft stool.

It's fine to try dietary changes, SCD, etc.if you want BUT if doing so stresses you out this much, it may not be worth it. The anxiety could possibly make your UC worse.

At least go easy on yourself. Very few control UC through diet alone. Try a few changes -one at a time -and see what happens.

I'll throw in my obligatory pitch for resistant starch. Adding it to a diet is very easy and has positive effects for many. Search for info on it here and via Google.

a tip is to take very small steps so it doesnt overwhelm you and you will hardly notice that you are cutting back

It's certainly possible that stress is the cause, not matter how composed, calm or in control I think I am subconsciously I appear to be a huge worrywart. Just today I was having a rotten day until I got a friendly call from the hospital that answered some of my queries, and when I stopped worrying I felt much better.
My first flare occurred in a very stressful period where I was having a lot of trouble with a certain unit of my studies, so it seems likely.

I'll do as imagardner2 says and try removing one thing at a time, then reintroducing things that I don't think are causing problems.

I haven't been able to make any connections on my food diary so far so I'm still hopeful that food might not affect my UC, although I had one flare that was definitely caused by overeating and giving my gut too much to handle.

Most people try diet modification when medication isn't getting them where they would like to be. I wouldn't recommend trying it to get off of a medication you tolerate well that is keeping you in remission--it just isn't worth the risk of doing the diet mod, coming off your medication and then flaring again. Also, I don't think azathioprine will make it hard to see what bugs you and what doesn't. If you're still having symptoms while on aza and those symptoms are responsive to diet mod, you'll be able to see the effect.

If you are currently having symptoms that bother you, and you're motivated to do it, diet modification can help some people with symptom management (it can also have a beneficial psychological effect since it can make you feel that you have some control over an otherwise difficult to control disease and I think that can be a nice psychological boost). But, it is a hassle, and it can be hard to do in a systematic and manageable way. Plenty of people say cut out one thing, but if you have several things that bug you, cutting out one thing might not tell you much. The opposite approach of going on a very restrictive diet for a week or so and then adding things back in one at a time will give you a clearer picture of what bugs you more quickly. But of course, it's disruptive to take that approach until you're back to eating most things.

Finally, and this is very much my own personal view point, if those of us with UC have food sensitivities, I think they are also a symptom of our auto-immune problems and not a causative factor in our UC. Removing the foods that bug us might help with our symptoms, but it doesn't really address why we're not tolerating relatively benign food in the first place.

Diet modification is very personal, what works varies a lot person to person. So, you'll get many suggestions. In the end, try them yourself and see if anything works. For some, diet modification helps reduce some symptoms. Others, like me, see zero results. If it does no harm, give it a try. Just don't stop your uc medications.

Mereparroting said...
thanks for the advice. I'm going to go see a nutritionist and have sensitivity tests done, but I think I might just focus on decreasing the amount of sugar I eat rather than eliminating it entirely. If the tests say I'm not sensitive to gluten I'll carry on eating that too.

The tests will say you're sensitive to gluten. And about 50 other foods. If you want my opinion (and who doesn't? <_<), I would save your money and spend it on something else instead. A non-food treat, or whatever.

Hey there, just wanted to share with you my experience lately with diet mod. I was feeling a similar way that I wanted to eat less sugar but found it intimidating. I have however noticed some pretty cool stuff so far since I modified my diet. I was having extremely bad anxiety and now it's way less since eating more nutrients. I haven't noticed a big change for my uc, I've actually had a bit of diarrhea, but I was eating a lot of gluten before. Anyway basically I don't know what it's doing to my uc lol but my brain is happier so far. I'm not getting those highs and crashes. And more steady energy. But basically, if you look at it as just sort of experimenting to see what works for you it isn't as scary. Just don't put too much pressure on yourself if you try it!
Also as far as the sensitivities go, I have done many allergy tests, but the best method I have found is listen to your body. Above tests and doctors and anyone else!! I hope I wasn't just rambling just now but I recently made a change so wanted to say something.

Since you are having trouble figuring out your trigger foods, I recommend an anti-inflammatory diet. UC is an inflammatory disease. Consuming inflammatory foods and beverages is going to worsen UC symptoms, whereas anti-inflammatory foods will alleviate them.

Sugars and processed foods are very inflammatory. When you buy things like nut butters and jams, get the ones that don't contain added sugar. When you get a sugar craving, grab some protein. Once you stop eating sugar, the cravings will stop, you'll loose excess fat, and you'll be able to appreciate flavors other then sweet.

Some people recommend l-glutamine powder to reduce sugar cravings. open one capsule and place the power under your tongue. Remember not to exceed the recommended dosage on the bottle. Also, this is a short-term solution just to get off the sugar. You shouldn't take l-glutamine for too long. Once you are off sugar, the sugar cravings will stop.

In regard to bread, make sure you don't leave it out. Bread grows mold when it is left out. You can't see the mold in its early stages. So always freeze your bread. Also, gluten is hard to digest. Sourdough has very little gluten. So get sourdough.