I'm Back and really trying

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:38 pm

The past week I have done a lot of reading of past posts and have really been trying very hard to follow the gluten free diet. I have been keeping a food diary as well as keeping tract of my BM’s.

I went to Sprouts Farmers Market (locations in AZ, CA, CO, TX) and was able to stock up on a lot of gluten free foods. I was amazed at the selection they have there and how well marked everything is. Under each product is a label saying “Gluten Free”. They have a 16 page free booklet that lists by category all the gluten free foods they carry as well as what foods to avoid and what is allowable. I bought bread, crackers, pasta, cereal, rice cakes, and corn thins, to mention a few. Looked at the frozen pizza but they all contained cheese and I am trying to avoid dairy for the time being.

I am wondering if Corn Tortillas are OK???

Most days this past week I had 2 BM’s, one day I had one and one day three. I was really pleased with this. Friday evening and Saturday morning I collected stool to be sent to Enterolab on Monday. This morning I did the mouth swab. I am going to contact the lab tomorrow because I want to add the test for soy intolerance since I use soy milk and so many foods have soy in them.

Saturday noon my sister was coming for lunch so I took out of the freezer my home made split pea soup. I went over the ingredients in my mind and felt everything would be OK. Minced ham, onion, celery, grated potato and carrot. I only had about 1 cup with 1 slice of my new GF bread (terrible bread). I have suffered with D ever since. It started about 2:00 and continued until I went to bed and it continued again this afternoon. I’m thinking it had to be the split peas.

Now my question is, when one has recurring D all day long like this is it best to take several doses of Pepto Bismal to stop the D or just let it all out. I have not taken any Pepto Bismal all week. The only Rx’s I am on is Balsalazide and Ultrase MT20 samples (only enough for this coming week and then I’m done with them).

I haven’t read anything here about acidophilus. Is this something you recommend? I purchased some in January when I began doctoring but since it has to be refrigerated I keep forgetting to take it. The label says Lactobacillus Acidophilus 10mg (contains over 100 million active LA. When I was at Sprouts I looked at their Acidophilus and most of them had 3 and 4 different bacterias in them and of course were more expensive.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:50 pm

there are some other posts about how best to cope with chronic recurring D

if you have to be at work then some choose to take meds. If I am at home, I like to let it run its course as meds are just delaying it. only eat ingredients that aid the gut repair.

not many can tolerate legumes type ingredients......

there are also some posts about acidophilus/pro-biotic, like most things it works for some and not for others. it is all part of the trial and error of what works best for you.

have you tried using the search function for this site? it is pretty good, if you type in acidophilus or pro-biotic you will get the previous discussions regarding this.

Post by **tex** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:58 pm

Gabes did a good job of answering your questions, so I'll just comment on the corn tortillas. Yes, unless you are also sensitive to corn, (or one of the preservatives normally used in corn tortillas), they shouldn't cause any problems.

Tex

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:16 pm

WW, sorry you had a set back but glad to see you had been doing so much better. I'm also happy to see that you are doing the EnteroLab tests.

I did really well as soon as I gave up gluten. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake.

My soy sensitivity didn't show up until a month or two after going gluten free.

Bifcus16 · Post by **Bifcus16** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:08 pm

Hi Wonderwoman,

Sorry to hear of the setback.

Some other possibilities to consider are the ham in the soup, or the stock (if you used it). I am amazed how many hams contain gluten. Thankfully there are also brands that don't. Shop bought stock or stock cubes tend to contain gluten. Massel brand European stock cubes are gluten free.

The other thing to consider is the timing. I always react about 30 hours - a day and a half - after I have eaten the offending food. Not immediately after.

Could you have eaten anything that was a problem at an earlier meal? 2pm would mean what I had eaten for breakfast the day before, or dinner the night before that......

Lyn

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:37 am

Hi WW!

WOW! You are really making progress. Good for you! Set-backs are common, especially initially.

My guess is that the peas were a problem for you. As Gabes indicated, many of us have trouble with legumes (beans, peas, soy, chickpeas, etc.) because they contain lectins. Lectins are notorious for causing those little "gates" in the intestine to open up and allow larger food proteins to enter into the bloodstream. Also, at this stage of the game, it was probably quite a fiber load for you.

Once I went into remission, I found that I can tolerate peas a little - better than the other legumes, for some reason.

I am one who didn't do well on probiotics. So many of them contain dairy, especially those containing lactobacillus, which I believe are grown on dairy. But we are all different, so you might give it a try.

Love,

Polly

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:32 am

Bifcus16 wrote:The other thing to consider is the timing. I always react about 30 hours - a day and a half - after I have eaten the offending food. Not immediately after.

Could you have eaten anything that was a problem at an earlier meal? 2pm would mean what I had eaten for breakfast the day before, or dinner the night before that......

I don't know if I did the quote thing right but here goes.

I was thinking about this too. Friday's are fish fry night here. We went out to eat and I ordered what I thought was going to be broiled fish and it ended up being grilled. It had some kind of a coating on it so when it arrived it looked like a huge plate of potato pancakes. I was so disappointed. I should have questioned before ordering or even sent it back. All that was there for me to eat was the baked potato. I even left the roll and the cole slaw because of the raw cabbage and dressing. So I ended up eating some of the fish and it wasn't even good. I left a good share of it. So my discomfort and D on Saturday may not have been caused entirely by the split pea soup. I have so much to learn. One is to really ask questions before ordering.

Post by **tex** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:53 am

WW,

One of the problems with most restaurants, is that they use their deep-fryers for multiple foods, so that if anything containing gluten is fried in them, (such as onion rings), then everything else fried after that, will be contaminated with gluten. Of course, even if the fish was grilled, if it contained a coating, there is a very good chance that the coating may have contained gluten, since flour helps those coatings to stick better. Skipping the cole slaw was probably a good idea, for the reasons you mentioned.

Lyn is quite correct, of course - we all have different reaction times, and that time can depend on the type of food involved, also. Some members react to gluten in as little as 10 minutes, while others take a day or more. A typical reaction time for many of us, is somewhere between 6 and 24 hours.

Tex

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:22 pm

This is good to know---A typical reaction time for many of us, is somewhere between 6 and 24 hours.

I searched on acidophilus and found from the posts that for most people it doesn't seem to make a difference.

After reading about coffee, I may go back to making decafe in the morning as I really miss it.

Charlotte

Jan · Post by **Jan** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 2:11 pm

Charlote,

I saw you last note about coffee. For years and years I drank coffee everyday and lots of it. In the summer I added iced tea. When I was diagnosed in '05 with MC my Dr. suggested that I might want to switch to decaf coffee and tea. Since I was desparate to find anything that would help, I did. I can now tell the difference if I go some place and get a glass of ice tea (which is never decaf). It makes my stomach feel sour and tends to soften my BM the next day - not to D but definitely softer. I know a lot on here who can handle caffine. I would say, drink your decaf in the a.m.

Glad to hear you are making progress. This journey is full of potholes, s curves and then miles of smoothness. Keep striving for that smoothness.

Jan

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:09 pm

This is the only place I feel I can ask this question. What is the cause of me occasionally having leakage from the rectum of a slimy, opaque, liquid?? It normally does not contain any stool. I have noticed it occasionally in the past and more so this weekend. Tonight there was a lot. Tonight at 8:00 I felt very wet and when I went to the bathroom my undies had a lot in them and I wiped away quite a bit. Had two soft BM's today. One at 3:00 and another at 9:30 tonight.

I collected stool this weekend and sent it in today. Had I not taped the container shut I would have tried to get some of this in the container on Sunday afternoon.

I tried doing a search and didn't find anything.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:12 pm

i have had this..... i am not the guru but i pretty sure it is mucus.
i tend to have that happen when there is has been cramping and discomfort, and my BM are small in size (not hard then again not gooey either)

(and you are right - this is the one place where any question can be asked !!!)

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:22 pm

i will do a search on mucus and see what I get

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:43 am

WW,

Gabes is correct, of course. When the GI tract is inflamed, the lining, (the mucosa), produces copious amounts of mucus, in order to try to protect itself, and the rest of the epithelia, from possible pathogenic substances in the effluent that might damage it, or promote additional inflammation. This is true of the entire GI tract. If you burn your mouth, with hot food, for example, the mucus membranes in your mouth will supply increased amounts of saliva, to try to soothe and protect the damaged tissue. If you accidentally reflux stomach acid, into your esophagus, you will notice that you will suddenly have a lot of saliva/mucus to swallow, as your body tries to sooth the irritated mucosal surface of your esophagus. The same thing happens in the stomach, and the small and large intestines, when they are inflamed. The mucus forms a protective barrier, that helps to prevent additional damage, from possible toxic substances in the fecal stream. This issue is unique to the IBDs, and it's a clear indication that you are experiencing a major flare, with significant inflammation.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:04 pm

Tex i only know the things that i have experienced - i am in awe of your knowledge and ability to explain things