andersceam said...
She started out with broiled chicken or hamburgers, homemade jello (grape or apple), and scrambled eggs.
By day 2 I let her have 1/2 a banana, and chicken meatballs. She didn't have a BM until this day and the first part was formed, the second much looser. It made me think that maybe the eggs or banana were not being handled well.
Day 4 we added more because the intro diet was hard on her and we had only 1 bm in 3 days with no blood. We let her have a little cheese and applesauce, and homemade ketchup, no bm that day.
Day 5 same food - small bm, loose.
Day 6 - my husband gave her an apple (mistake, he is not as up to speed). Added canned green beans, no BM.
Day 7 - Tried homemade pizza from SCD cookbook (has nutflour), otherwise same food. 2 BM, 2nd with blood, both loose. Belly hurt at bedtime.
Day 8 - finally homemade yogurt (with honey), added grilled steak. No BM
Day 9 - SCD legal sausage, carrot juice. 4 BMs (from 4am to midnight), bloody and loose (i didn't get to see all of them).
What is hard is that she doesn't always tell us how she feels, or exaggerates. She has had this disease since she could talk and probably as long as she remembers (3 years old). So I don't think she knows how to feel any different. How soon do you usually have a reaction to a food? Are eggs something that can be bothersome? Thanks for any advice. She is on steroids now anyway because her fecal cal has been high since November. So she was already somewhat flared up when we started. We are trying to use this with her meds to get into remission. Thanks for any help.
So, it sounds like she was actually doing fairly well until Day 7, is that correct?
For some reason, I also didn't do well on the "intro diet." In my experience, the SCD can be used quite succesfully, but it's not a clear cut, one size fits all kinda deal. It does take some individual adjustments. Also, since you indicate your daughter has been sick for a long time, you have to be prepared for healing to take a proportional amount of time. Alternative therapies such as diet and natural supplements do not give the immediate results that pharmaceuticals sometimes do. As tough as it is, a certain amount of patience is necessary.
Over the years, I've found there's a subset of SCD foods that tend to be the most gentle and best tolerated by an inflammed gut. I would suggest the following: very tender baked or broiled white meat of chicken or turkey or mild white fish, scrambled eggs, soft cooked veggies with no peels (green beans, baby English peas, carrots, winter squash, peeled zuchinni), peeled, baked apples and pears, flavored organic apple sauces, very ripe bananas, peanut butter and nut butters. Stews and soups are good choices and blending them can make them even easier to digest. Fruit juices should be diluted half and half with filtered water.
The foods I would avoid until she's feeling better and bleeding has stopped are spicy and/or fatty meats, red meat, anything fried, nuts or nut flour products, raw or crispy cooked vegetables, all peelings on vegetables or fruits and I would even try dropping the yogurt for now since many people have problems with dairy - either the lactose or casein, the dairy protein - and try giving her a non-dairy probiotic supplement instead.
While she's in this very delicate state, you might also consider supplementing her food with a predigested shake called Absorb Plus that's specially designed to deliver nutrition to the compromised guts of IBDers.
I'd also suggest you check with the parents of other small children on the SCD for any kid-specific tips they may have. If you need help getting in touch with SCD groups or have further questions for me, please feel free to email.