Saw my GI today

JenniferS · Post by **JenniferS** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:34 pm

So, he said I can take Pepto as long as I need. Yay! And that my lack of progress is not entirely unheard of. (Gabes, I have been reading the info on the links you posted. Not sure I really understand, but will get there. ;) ) He's lowering my budesonide to 6mg a day and letting me take up to 8 Peptos a day again. He thinks my nausea could be an acid thing, (as I often wake up with it), and wants me to try not eating after 7, and if needed, told me to take an over-the counter acid blocker.

I came home, had breakfast (as I do best if I don't eat until after 10), and well, within 20 min, had cramping and D. :( The only thing I've changed is I've added bananas as I worried, based on symptoms I was experiencing, that my potassium was low. Might need to take those back out. And if so, I'll probably find a good potassium supplement. (My muscle cramps, which I mentioned struggling with before, have largely stopped since I've been eating a banana a day. Hm... diarrhea or muscle cramps.

He also said the white plaque found in the colonoscopy was lymphocyte clusters.

Got my bloodwork back and all was good except my vit. D, so I'll start taking that, too.

Told my husband, as long as I'm not losing weight and my bloodwork's okay, I can live with the D. (Not that I'm giving up, but I'm done stressing over it and done expecting recovery by X date, which only discouraged me.)

And I AM going on family vacation in March. To Disneyland. No matter what. ;) (But with my Pepto, I suspect it'll be smooth sailing.)

I'll see my GI again in 3 months, and hopefully, at that time, will be in celebration mode.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:44 pm

Jennifer
nausea and acid can be linked (and they can be seperate) and they can be histamine related

High doses of Vit D3 works really well for that type of thing
(i used to have vomitting at night due to gerd until i took high doses of Vit d3)

the muscle cramps is magnesium deficiency more so than potassium. Have you tried coconut milk? there is a great range of coconut based products in the USA, milk, yoghurt, ice cream etc. Coconut is high in magnesium and potassium.

The D will get better once your body has time to heal - and so long as you are avoiding major irritants/triggers.
If histamines are causing the D, if you take anti histamines (h1 and h2) and the D stops then you know that histamines are the likely cause.

happy planning for the trip to Disneyland!!

JenniferS · Post by **JenniferS** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:03 pm

Thanks, Gabes! I will have to get some coconut milk. And I'll have to up my anti-histamines.

jgivens · Post by **jgivens** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 7:12 pm

Gabes,
How much Vitamin D were you taking? As I wean off of my PPI, I am increasing my Vitamin D whenever I feel "GERDish". Mayo's website said no more than 40,000 IUs, my gastroenterologist said probably 10,000 would be too much. I have had a lot of gut pain today and am taking Prilosec every other day now. This was an "on" day so I don't think the pain is from decreasing Prilosec. It has to be something that I have eaten. Still having constipation so I have been taking a tablespoon of flax seed oil in the morning. I wonder if that is doing it? I have stopped cornmeal because I think that was upsetting me last week.
Jennifer--you have a good attitude about the D. IMO, it is merely creates more stress which causes more D. to worry about it. I was frantic while I had it and now tend to get frenzied over constipation. I wish I could go back to my Norman, but that might not ever happen and I need to be okay with it.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:09 pm

The only thing I've changed is I've added bananas as I worried, based on symptoms I was experiencing, that my potassium was low. Might need to take those back out

I tested moderately reactive to bananas on MRT testing, and I was eating one banana almost every day. Very depressing. Now that I'm on prednisone, and it's been a few months of no bananas, I'm sneaking in some of my parents' sundried bananas from the farm with no issues. I really hope to be able to add them back in someday.

birdlover3 · Post by **birdlover3** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:07 pm

All of the Diamond and Silk coconut and almond milks are very good. I started using it on my cereal in the mornings and feel no reason at all to return to milk. If you are used to whole milk, you will probably have to adjust, but we were using 1 percent so changing to this didn't bother me at all.

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:32 pm

Yeah, bananas don't work for me either :( Very few fruits in any quantity work well. I can eat A LITTLE of certain fruits.
When you say you are Ok with the D, does that mean you are still going often during the day or are your BMs just soft when you do have them? The reason I ask, is I was at the point of not really caring that things were soft as long as I was only going once a day.At some point, we just have to try to live our lives, right? Good for you for planning vacation! Now as time has gone on and I started taking an antihistamine daily and I stopped taking L-glutamine, things are much more solid. I think I am still healing even after a year. It all takes time and fine tuning.

Leah

JenniferS · Post by **JenniferS** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:01 pm

Leah, I alternate between soft and D. And when I say D, I mean D. ;) Although now I'm back on Pepto, taking it with my entercort, so I'm doing much better! Still soft, but not D. Yay! And thanks for the encouraging words regarding the vacation. I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks, Jane. So true!

Thanks, Birdlover.

Zizzie, are you fructose intolerant or just banana intolerant?

birdlover3 · Post by **birdlover3** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:53 pm

Soft is good in my opinion as long as it's formed and not "D"

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:03 pm

Zizzie, are you fructose intolerant or just banana intolerant?

I never knew I was banana intolerant. They never seemed to aggravate D. It was only through MRT testing that I learned I was reacting to them, and frankly, I'm not sure I noticed a change when I cut them out, so who knows. MRT Testing claims you can add the food back in after a few months and see how you react, but since I never really noticed a reaction, I'm not sure what I'll do.

I ate 4 prunes tonight to help move things along (No C, just very formed stool from prednisone). Now I'm dealing with an insane case of gas -- wonder if my gut's not liking the fiber in the prunes or the sugars? I eat plenty of fiber now from broccoli, greens and other fruit with no gas whatsoever, so this is interesting...

Prunes contain 60 percent soluble fiber and 40 percent insoluble fiber according to the California Prune Board. The soluble fiber, or pectin, is partially digested and turns into a sticky, gel-like substance as it passes through the intestines. The insoluble fiber, what your great grandmother called roughage, is mostly undigested. About five prunes provide 3 g of fiber, or about 12 percent of your daily requirements according to Fruit and Veggies More Matters.

Problems with Prunes
Like other foods with high amounts of insoluble fiber, prunes cause gas. Because the fiber is not digested by enzymes in your small intestine, it travels to your large intestine, where bacteria break it down and produce hydrogen, carbon dioxide or methane gases.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/47800 ... z2KZ0QwzON

Post by **tex** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:49 am

Zizzle wrote:and frankly, I'm not sure I noticed a change when I cut them out, so who knows.

You seem to have a lot more faith in the MRT than is warranted. MRT results are not to be followed literally — they have to be verified by dietary testing, and your own tests appear to have disputed the MRT test result for bananas.

Now I'm dealing with an insane case of gas -- wonder if my gut's not liking the fiber in the prunes or the sugars?

Fermenting fiber is almost surely the reason for the gas, but aren't prunes a risky food for someone who has a mast cell activation problem (because of their histamine content)?

Tex

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:06 am

I would love to drop any and all faith in the MRT. After all, it said no garlic and onions, in addition to 25 other foods and substances. I've cut many of them out, but I am skeptical. Of course being on prednisone (now down to 20 mgs - equavalent to 9 mgs of Entocort I guess), I almost never have D, and when I do, it's because I caused it on purpose with coffee and tons of fiber. So I'll have to wait until I'm off it to see what foods are bothering me. In general, my digestion feels like a finely-tuned machine lately. It wasn't that bad before...no pain, no cramping, no indigestion, just D (which makes me suspect mostly colon involvement). But I rarely eat out, and I'm very low grains now.

I think the pred is suppressing all mast cell freakouts related to food too. No more sudden races to the bathroom after a suspect food, no more flushing with wine (which I'm only having twice a month, if that).

Prednisone really likes me, unfortunately.

birdlover3 · Post by **birdlover3** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:42 am

tex wrote:
Zizzle wrote:and frankly, I'm not sure I noticed a change when I cut them out, so who knows.
You seem to have a lot more faith in the MRT than is warranted. MRT results are not to be followed literally — they have to be verified by dietary testing, and your own tests appear to have disputed the MRT test result for bananas.

Now I'm dealing with an insane case of gas -- wonder if my gut's not liking the fiber in the prunes or the sugars?
Fermenting fiber is almost surely the reason for the gas, but aren't prunes a risky food for someone who has a mast cell activation problem (because of their histamine content)?

Tex

What is an MRT test?

birdlover3 · Post by **birdlover3** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:42 am

Zizzle wrote:
Zizzie, are you fructose intolerant or just banana intolerant?
I never knew I was banana intolerant. They never seemed to aggravate D. It was only through MRT testing that I learned I was reacting to them, and frankly, I'm not sure I noticed a change when I cut them out, so who knows. MRT Testing claims you can add the food back in after a few months and see how you react, but since I never really noticed a reaction, I'm not sure what I'll do.

I ate 4 prunes tonight to help move things along (No C, just very formed stool from prednisone). Now I'm dealing with an insane case of gas -- wonder if my gut's not liking the fiber in the prunes or the sugars? I eat plenty of fiber now from broccoli, greens and other fruit with no gas whatsoever, so this is interesting...

Prunes contain 60 percent soluble fiber and 40 percent insoluble fiber according to the California Prune Board. The soluble fiber, or pectin, is partially digested and turns into a sticky, gel-like substance as it passes through the intestines. The insoluble fiber, what your great grandmother called roughage, is mostly undigested. About five prunes provide 3 g of fiber, or about 12 percent of your daily requirements according to Fruit and Veggies More Matters.

Problems with Prunes
Like other foods with high amounts of insoluble fiber, prunes cause gas. Because the fiber is not digested by enzymes in your small intestine, it travels to your large intestine, where bacteria break it down and produce hydrogen, carbon dioxide or methane gases.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/47800 ... z2KZ0QwzON

What is "C"?

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:48 am

C is Constipation.

MRT is the Mediator Release Test, which is a blood test for 150 foods and chemicals:

http://www.nowleap.com/index.html

We have a whole forum about it:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=66