New UC diagnosis.

Hi, I am Allison and I was diagnosed two weeks ago with UC. I am 31 and have been having stomach pains and issues for about the last 3-4 months, I chalked it up to my new job and stress. It came down to the point I was terribly tired at work each day, and went to the doctor. My hemoglobin came back as a 6 and by the end of the night I was in the hospital having a blood transfusion. Within a week I was at the GI with a diagnosis of UC. It has come up very fast and I am still reading and trying to understand this is a life long event.

My GI has already had me meet with his Dietitian, lots of new ideas on eating, and they are running all the insurance papers to get me started on Humira. He said my case looks severe, and wants to hit it hard from the start. I have been on Prednisone for 2 weeks now, and it has made my guts feel completely normal, but I have lost most of my voice and feel a tightness in my throat, and my taste is pretty off.

I am thankful to find this community to learn with, there is so much to take in, and it sounds like each case is very personal and slightly different. It seems like a long road of trial and error.

Welcome to Healingwell Allison!
It looks like the pred is working which is a good sign. Hope the Humira works for you so you can get off the pred soon. We'll help you through this!

Sounds like you have a good GI. The hit it hard from the start is what GIs are doing now because it produces the best results. With this disease: you either kill it or it kills you (dramatic i know). So hit it hard from the start to show it who's boss.

Hi RottieLovie -

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Work stress is indeed a big concern as far as triggering illnesses.

Is there any way you could take off from work to recover? I hope supervisors are accepting.

I'd get on an anti-inflammatory regimen - probiotics, fish oil, dietary modifications, etc.

Best.

When I first came down with UC my GI put me on a lactose free diet for six weeks. I followed it pretty religiously but after 3 weeks of making absolutely no difference I began eating lactose again. It was quite obvious that I did not have a lactose intolerance problem. Fruits are high in histamines, the riper they are the more histamines they have. Most UC'rs are low on the digestive enzyme diamine oxydase which helps neutralize excess dietary histamines. By eating too many fruits, whether they have peels or not, you could overdose on histamines, which would make me run to the bathroom dozens of times. Dietitians don't seem to know this kind of stuff. While they can be a guide, just like your GI, you can't just automatically assume they know what they are talking about 100% of the time.

In case this is helpful: For my recent flare (april - dec 2013), I ate only broth (chicken or vegetable, sometimes flavored with ginger), steamed white rice, white bread (often challah cuz it has egg, but no seeds). It seemed unduly restrictive but if I tried anything else, I got way worse -- horribly painful cramps & lots more bleeding. So I stuck to these carbs, and for protein had tuna or grilled salmon, chicken breast or turkey breast, occasionally hard boiled eggs. Nothing fried, as little fat as possible. I felt so out of sync by doing the opposite of what is considered healthy, and I had to tell myself it wasn't healthy for me. I took a multivitamin - hoping to get some vitamins that way, D3, some C, potassium supplement, calcium supplement. I was afraid to eat - even white rice, because I read here on this forum and others that some people have trouble with white rice. Fortunately, it worked for me. I think that was my staple. (By the way, I researched other things - like nutritional drinks - aborb plus, etc. but I tried one or two and felt horrible.)

When symptoms got better after starting remicade, I gradually introduced other foods - and now I'm eating what one would call a healthy diet - berries, papaya, cooked veggies, brown rice, along with the other stuff mentioned above - but had to start adding things very slowly. Like i tried juice that had carrot & spinach to see how it worked. And cooked yams, and squash soup (no milk). All good. Just took it a step at a time. I still do no dairy and stick with low fat. I even eat chips & guacamole. Yum!

Blah Blah Blah Blah diet-f...-tician. It's a facking joke.

I'm not saying the dietician's suggestions aren't sensible, but like Gary said. Find what works for you. I'm surprised they even have a dietician.

I've been to all of them. Same bedtime stories. They only important persons now is the one that knows the cause and the one that knows the cure. Could be the same one though.