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SCD survival tips.....

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/22/2017 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
i'm sorry for literally only coming on this site to whine lately but i'm a teenager whining is written in my code

anyone who has been on/is on the SCD diet......i urgently need survival tips....this is the hardest thing i have ever done.

i'm willing to give it a good shot and i know that if it helps it's worth all the mental anguish but i'm really, really struggling.

it's so hard when it progresses so slowly that i'm currently only allowed to eat ~5 things. no variety at all is driving me crazy! it's also so difficult when food is such a major social and cultural element.

i'm realizing now that i'm so restricted how many of my friendships are centered around food, meeting up at restaurants, having movie nights with snacks, etc. it's hard to watch your friends eat all your favorite foods while you reluctantly choke down disgusting gelatin sad

any words of wisdom would be Greatly appreciated. I want to succeed here but I also want a big big bowl of pasta. Thank you sad
Posted 5/22/2017 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
SCD is hard, harder than anything I ever did except start my own business.
Food is a common denominator in all social life and not just teen social life, all social life.

SCD should get a little easier after the intro part because you will be able to have some more normal snack food to eat and drinks you can have so you don't look like Little Orphan Annie who can't eat anything.

Have you been to the SCD website aimed at kids, I think "pecanbread" is in the name. They will have more info for kid-friendly food (not calling you a kid but the food will be more fun there). When you get to the place in SCD where yogurt and fruit and gluten-free snacks are OK it will be better. Is your GI on board with this at least to ask questions? Maybe to monitor your vitamin levels and make sure you're not losing weight.

And if you want pasta buy some gluten-free pasta and eat some. My weakness is ice cream and even though my gut objects the next day I eat it, enjoy it and pay the (small) price afterwards.
Posted 5/22/2017 3:11 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you! And yeah, my GI and dietician actually directed me to give this a try. Lord knows I never would have done it on my own.
Posted 5/22/2017 5:04 PM (GMT 0)
There is nothing saying you have to do the "intro" diet. Start adding in other foods if you feel you are going to quit otherwise.
Posted 5/22/2017 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
There is nothing saying you have to do the "intro" diet. Start adding in other foods if you feel you are going to quit otherwise.
Posted 5/22/2017 6:59 PM (GMT 0)
I have already finished the intro diet.
Posted 5/22/2017 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
A couple of questions if you're 19. Are you at university or living at home? It makes a difference if you can cook for yourself. I'll assume given you're 19 that a lot of cooking isn't your top priority either way, however.

I found it helpful to find a set of go to snacks I could eat when hungry. I'd suggest larabars (assuming you're in the US). Natural peanut butter (without any sugar but with salt--unsalted peanut butter is no treat) is good on apple slices or on carrots. Nuts of all sorts. Dates. Eggs are your friend--dinner breakfasts of eggs or omelettes should be fine.

Go to a health food store and look for other snacks that are ok. And just think meat and salad when in restaurants. Also, make sure you have 1 or 2 friends who understand what the diet is, why you're on it and who are supportive.

Every last bite, against all grain and elana's pantry are all blogs with good recipes if you do want to do some cooking.

Also, I did want to ask if you think scd is helping? And how long have you been following it?
Posted 5/23/2017 12:13 PM (GMT 0)
Why are you only eating 5 things?
Posted 5/24/2017 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
I am currently at home due to taking a year off following my diagnosis, however there is no meal plan at my school so I will be cooking for myself either way.

Thank you for your help!!

I'm coming up on my first week now. It seems to be helping my UC a little bit, but it's hard to tell at this point as my symptoms have been so inconsistent anyway. I guess I'll just see what happens.
Posted 5/25/2017 12:35 PM (GMT 0)
In my limited experience, SCD made things better within 3 weeks. I'd suggest you give yourself a set period of time to do the diet during which you follow it to the letter to see if it helps you. It should show signs of helping within a few weeks I'd think (do ask your GI how long he/she thinks you should persist in trying it).

If you're home and cooking, I would say a few things have made it easier for me:

1) grilled fish is vastly tastier with a homemade salsa verde (so is chicken) of parsley, garlic, capers, mustard, anchovy and olive oil.
2) carrots cut lengthwise to be about french fry shape and roasted in the oven are a good accompaniment to meals as is roasted butternut squash.
3) Cauliflower "rice" isn't that bad
4) Replace pasta with sliced grilled eggplant as a base with any tomato based sauce. Learn to make your own tomato sauce from canned tomatoes if you don't do this already--store bought sauces all have sugar.
5) I avoided most fruit in the early days as it seemed to make things worse. It no longer does.
6) Make the yogurt. It's easy to do and did make a difference for me. Use whole milk when you make it, however.

Good luck. I frequently think as bad as UC is for me as an adult, it would be significantly worse to juggle if I was a teen. You have my fullest sympathy. I hope you can get to a manageable remission!
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