Maybe remission?

So I think I may be headed towards remission.  After being dx back in 2009 with pancolitis, I thought that I was in remission because the bleeding, urgency, and most of the pain had gone away after just a few days on lialda.

So for years I just figured that the cramping, bloating, and soft stools were just a product of the medication or normal GI issues that everyone has

It wasn't until a few months ago when i had a real strong flare up that I came to realize perhaps things weren't ever right.

When my doc was asking me about my symptoms I made the comment that the stools weren't normal, but then again they are never normal, which caught his attention.

He decided that it was likely I have been experiencing simmering inflamation all these years and gave me a short course of prednisone. At the same time, I also decided to try going gluten free. So now, 6 weeks later, I am actually thinking that things are almost normal.

I am scheduled for a scope on 5/21 and will then know for sure whether the UC is still active. If not... my biggest question is going to be was it the pred or the gluten free? I must admit that eating gluten free is not wonderful, but if it is my key to remission than it is a very small price to pay.

Anyway... sorry for the rambling, just figured I'd share.

 

Could be either or both. Experimenting to find out is probably not a good idea. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Congratulations and keep it up.

say so long to gluten and as jimmy stewart would say, have a wonderful life -

 

well, actually, she can - and did

Had my scope yesterday... and I had 15cm of mild inflamation (transverse colon).

So while this is not full remission, it clearly beats my last scope where I had moderate pancolitis.

That said, GI thinks Gluten may be an irritant for me and that when inflamation is there, it aggravates it, kind of like dairy for some. But given that I haven't eaten any of it for about 2 months and I still show some inflamation, it is unlikey that it is the cause.

So... not quite there, but still feeling a whole lot better.

Post Edited (jc1973) : 5/22/2013 1:19:45 PM (GMT-6)

At this point, I have gotten used to the GF diet, so i see no reason not to continue with it, at least for a few more weeks. GI said the one thing we don't know is whether or not the inflamation is getting better or worse. So.... time will tell.

Jc1973, the only way you can know for sure whether going gluten-free is helping you is to be a human guinea pig and experiment on yourself. Basically, you choose to reintroduce gluten at some future point and see if your body reacts negatively to its reintroduction as that would show that you truly have some sort of non-celiac-gluten-intolerance (a small percentage of the population does, and there is some suggestion that it is higher in people with digestivetract issues like us). Some react quickly, within a couple hours and experience abdominal discomfort, indigestion, bloating, and headaches. Others react the next day and your morning bms from uc would be worse and show signs of diarrhea, blood, mucus, increased urgency and so forth. Others have no reaction whatsoever, and that means you have no issues with gluten.

I gave gluten-free a shot for a month and was strict as can be with what I ate. I then reintroduced gluten and I had no negative reaction whatsoever; my uc symptoms did not get worse. So, I have been eating gluten again ever since, and I do love me some gluten (beer, pizza, and I have bread with most meals).

It's all a matter of what works for you, gluten-free works for some people but certainly not all people, so I would want to be certain before I gave it up for good. If I were you, I'd recommend staying the course right now until you are off the pred. And then you could experiment to find out about the gluten whenever you felt safe doing so.