medication vs diet

I am a firm believer that diet affects IBD but official diets such as the SCD, Maker's diet, and Paleo do not work for me. I have a nagging suspicion that one reason why the SCD works for some is because it is a gluten-free diet and gluten (mostly from wheat) can trigger symptoms in many of us.

Many foods that are forbidden by many diets such as starchy veggies and non-gluten grains are perfectly fine for me to eat. And other foods which many diets say are OK such as shellfish and cruciferous vegetables are poison and aggravate my symptoms.

So I recommend a food diary to document the good and bad foods. Gluten and dairy are the usual suspects. Try going gluten-free for 2-3 weeks to see if your symptoms lessen, then try the same for dairy.

But any food can be a problem, it varies by individual. For example I can eat popcorn which for many here is anathema but I cannot eat broccoli or seaweed which is OK to eat for most IBDers.

Yissurim said...
Does she limit any sort of food at all?
Does she eat junk food?
Anyone with UC knows diet affects us one way or another. Its almost silly
to eat WHATEVER you want and hope the meds take care of everything.
Im on SCD myself and find that it helps lot. Then again it may be the fact that I cut out gluten and processed foods thats doing it like mentioned above.
Has she tried any supplements,probiotics etc? lots of HW members have had success with them.

Thank you for your reply. I am glad you found something that works for you.

However, I was under the impression that this was a SAFE space for people to ask advice, share experience WITHOUT judgment. Your comment
"Anyone with UC knows diet affects us one way or another. Its almost silly to eat WHATEVER you want and hope the meds take care of everything." is not very helpful but just condescending.

You're fine with rules. We have lots of people post asking about their daughter/son with UC, spouse, etc.

There's no harm in exploring diets AND medications. Just know that what is one's miracle, does nothing for another, and might make another's symptoms a whole lot worse. There's a lot of trial-and-error in treating UC, and no guarantees of results with any treatment. It's easy to find testimonials online of how somebody was cured by X treatment, but it is often not repeatable from one-person-to-another. My treatment isn't guaranteed to work with you, or anyone else.

The vast majority of UC patients require medications to control their UC symptoms. There's a few diet success stories on the forum here, several who posted above. As far as most gasteroenteroligists go, they prescribe what has been rigorously proven to be a proven treatement for UC, and often face liabilities concerns when prescribing treatments not-approved-to-be-prescribed-for-uc. There's a few small-scale studies that show diets could help (or at least show promise), however, they have not been researched with the same depth and rigor that medicines have been, and therefore have not been given official approval for the treatment of UC. Could they work? Possible, but the evidence/research isn't fully-behind it at this point. You can try and see but there's no knowing what your result will be.

Here's a good review of the evidence available for UC and diets:

/www.dietvsdisease.org/ulcerative-colitis-diet/

"There is quite a lot of opposing info out there" Yes there's lots of opposing information, and it's not bias, rather it is how we respond. Very different things work for very different people.

"But it's good to hear that there is hope and changing diet works for many." Works for some, but the majority require medications.

Diet did not help me at all. Diet did nothing, no noticeable improvement in my UC symptoms. I eat whatever I want including white bread and dairy.

"Anyone with UC knows diet affects us one way or another. Its almost silly to eat WHATEVER you want and hope the meds take care of everything."

Really sorry you took the comment personally. I had no intention to offend. I was speaking in general terms. (I know people who like 'troubledturds' said want to continue eating what they want and hope meds take care of the problem)
It does take a ton of willpower to stick to a strict diet.

Good luck!

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum. I can take medications or not take medication and not much of a difference. For me diet is everything, if I go off SCD then flare, if I stay on SCD no flare.

And it's not because of gluten because rice and potatoes are some of the worst offenders for me. I sometimes wonder for people which SCD didn't work, if they actually did it properly.

Ignore the comment from DBwithUC she's one of the "unhappy people" that frequently troll this site.

Hi, I'm only recently diagnosed so I'm still getting used to all this myself.

I find that most foods don't play a part in how I'm feeling; I just need to stay clear of certain things. For me personally I see an increase in symptoms with chocolate / fizzy drinks / alcohol.

I eat more or less the same thing each day:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on white bread
Lunch: Ham and Cheese toastie
Dinner: A balanced meal, generally chicken / veg, steak and veg

I can't say that I say a difference in my symptoms depending on the meal I eat for dinner

The only time I see anything really noticeable is when I eat to excess

From what I've researched though and to reiterate what others have said here, everyone is different.

y'all just need to keep in mind the difference between a food allergy vs a food intolerance and the varying levels of each -

don't assume that just because you don't have a relatively quick negative reaction to a certain food doesn't mean that food is without it's problems, which may not be experienced for some time, often days or even weeks -

Agree with TT and quincy. To add to that, certain diets may create environments where a more diverse population of gut bacteria can thrive while other diets might allow the "bad actors" to take hold. We just don't know exactly how to create a "good" or "bad" environment or who the good guys or bad guys even are for the most part.

Bruce....Which still means you have inflammation happening before the bleeding happens. Any noted change in symptoms before the bleeding?
q

And how long from eating those foods and your symptoms?

Are you on probiotics?

When was your last c-scope with biopsies?

q