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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/31/2013 8:11 PM (GMT 0)
Long story short, I've had colitis for about 4 years, more specifically Severe pancolitis (when it was at it's worst). I've finally narrowed it down to anything with milk in it being the culprit as far as triggering a flareup. I was lifting weights, always followed by a whey protein shake. Starting at the beginning of this year, I stopped taking it, and since then I've only had one moderate flareup. Most likely because instead of whey protein, I was eating greek yogurt every day to try to get more protein.

That was late September. I lost a total of 15 pounds in the three weeks it was active, and since then I have gained 8 of it back. I was only on Lialda but I stopped taking it because I was passing whole pills through. I instead decided to cut anything with milk in it out of my diet. I feel like I'm recovering from the flareup faster than I ever have and everything is headed in the right direction.

I'm still in recovery mode from the flareup. I'm having BM's 4-8 times a day, when it was highly active I was going 30-40 times a day, so 8 BM's sounds like a huge vacation. Every day things seem to get more solid. If I eat anything with milk in it (sometimes it's hard to resist!) I'll get softer stools/diarrhea and small amounts of blood 6-8 hours later, I KNOW it's milk causing this problem.

I had a checkup today with my GI, told him I preferred to be off of medications, and I'd like to do it on diet alone. He said I ABSOLUTELY must be on a medication, or it WILL get worse. I know of others who stay symptom free on diet alone. I also had an immunocap test for milk and egg allergies, but it came back normal.

So my questions are:
1. Should I find a new doctor who will encourage diet and not try to pump me full of drugs?
2. Any ideas on milk allergy/lactose intolerance? I'm interested in figuring out what exactly it is in milk that gives me problems. I've tried lactaid and that definitely didn't help, and the allergy test was telling me I was normal. I figured even if I find out what exactly I'm allergic to, it won't change my diet.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Posted 10/31/2013 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
Speedy, welcome to the forum.

I'm confused. You said you stopped your whey shakes and got better, but you continued to consume dairy by eating greek yogurt. Surely you know that greek yogurt is full of dairy protein?

You are welcome to experiment with diet but you should do that, IMO, in the context of continuing using medication. Lialda isn't dangerous and should help you (although many of us here would recommend that you also use a rectal mesalamine enema to give yourself the best coverage).

Many people are lactose intolerant, and some are also intolerant of the protein in milk, casein. This is not necessarily an allergy. Other common intolerances include gluten, soy and corn. The best approach would be to do an elimination diet and see which of these bother you. However, the intolerance is probably NOT the reason you have an inflammatory bowel disease. Removing the problem food will absolutely help you feel better, but I don't know that it will resolve all of the inflammatory response. Others here have a different opinion.
Posted 10/31/2013 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
I thought it may have been the concentration of whey that was in shake that was giving me problems. I ate the yogurt since it still had a lot of the protein. some people that can't do milk can sometimes do yogurt and certain cheese, but that's not the case for me.

My GI has never even mentioned a rectal mesalamine enema. Seems like it would work better and faster.

Post Edited (Speedy42) : 10/31/2013 2:42:47 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/31/2013 8:46 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah ... No. You need meds for life because each flare will get harder to crawl out of! Good luck!
Posted 10/31/2013 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
But, IF (big if) milk is genuinely what pushes me into a flareup, I'd never need medicine because it would never happen. Everyone is different. My mother just informed me recently that I couldn't eat dairy products for the first few years of my life because I would get stomach pain and diarrhea.

I'm going to start taking the Lialda again, it could help me heal even faster, and stay on my elimination diet. I have another checkup in January, we'll see how it goes until then.
Posted 10/31/2013 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
Speedy, call your DR for mesalamine enemas, too. It seems that many GIs don't recommend them because they think their patients will get grossed out, or something. Stupid DRs. Maybe they're the ones that are uncomfortable talking about an enema. The gold standard for effective first line treatment of ulcerative colitis is oral mesalamine plus rectal mesalamine.

Your mom is probably remembering that you had an intolerance to cow's milk protein when you were a baby. This is not anything new. And yes, you may still not tolerate it, but most children with this problem grow out of it and can happily take dairy after the age of 4 or 5.

You wrote about people who can't drink milk but CAN eat yogurt - this reflects a LACTOSE intolerance. There is little to no lactose in yogurt and hard cheese. There is a lot of lactose in regular milk, ice cream and some soft cheeses (cottage cheese, mozarella, etc.). Lactose is a sugar and if you want to control a lactose intolerance problem you simply need to use an enzyme, lactase, before you eat the dairy product so that your body gets the help it needs in digesting this sugar. If you don't take the lactaid you will have lots of gas (leading to nausea) and probably diarrhea as your gut expels the undigested sugar and everything else you just ate.

A protein intolerance is different as there are no enzymes that help with this. The intolerances to grains are related to proteins - gluten is the word we use to describe the protein component in wheat, barley and rye. All grains have proteins but most don't have the problem component in gluten. That being said, there are plenty of people who are intolerant of corn and soy (which is really a legume). There is a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that eliminates grains and many people with UC do well on that diet. You might check it out. It does incorporate dairy though.

One last thought - if you are intolerant of the protein in cow's milk you might try goat's milk. The casein molecules are not the same and many peopel find goat's milk to be a good substitute.
Posted 10/31/2013 9:20 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, kazbern for being so helpful. I wasn't sure at first if it was lactose intolerance, now I know that's not the case. Milk allergy test came back normal, but that would not detect a protein intolerance, correct? If I wanted to, is there a way to detect a protein intolerance? I'm pretty sure I'm ok with casein, as the lactose free cheese I've been eating has some in it, which makes me lean towards the whey.

Post Edited (Speedy42) : 10/31/2013 3:23:53 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/31/2013 9:34 PM (GMT 0)
Speedy42,

Welcome to the forum.

Commercial milk in all forms isn't milk, so it's easy to understand why you aren't tolerating it. It's a product that's been pasteurized. This destroys all the enzymes and live cultures that help the body assimilate the nutrients in it. The proteins in it are also denatured so you are getting a dead product.

I would never wish commercial dairy on anyone. When parents feed their kids commercial and pasteurized milk, they are predisposing them to a lifetime of suffering. I consider it on the same level as poison because of it's allergenic properties. It's been implicated in many autoimmune conditions and digestive ailments. It's not just you reacting to it - more than half of the world's population is lactose intolerant. Many also have issues with the casein protein. Go to the CDC website and you'll see milk listed as one of the top eight allergenic foods.

My suggestion is to eliminate dairy altogether unless you are getting it organic in the forms of yogurt, kefir and cheese, preferably from whole foods.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 10/31/2013 3:42:12 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/31/2013 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I would ditch the whey.
Posted 10/31/2013 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
In the end you have to choose your own path that you're comfortable with. It might be right or it might be wrong, no different than the doctors. Just don't get cocky like the doctors and think you know it all. Nobody does.
Posted 11/1/2013 9:11 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with GaryLouisville.
Posted 11/1/2013 11:52 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with kazbern.
Posted 11/1/2013 12:23 PM (GMT 0)
It definitely seems like dairy bothers you, so it's wise to stay away from it.

I agree with kazbern that you should still be on mesalamine, both oral and rectal. It will help prevent flareups and mesalamine is thought to protect against colon cancer.
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