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Hi,
I'd like to introduce myself. I am a 53 year old male, have lived (and continue to live) a life full of stress due to my profession ( I am a currency trader) and have been diagnosed with LC a few months ago. I had my first symptoms (abdominal pain, gas and bloating) a year ago, and have been initially given a superficial diagnosis of IBS from my general physician. After things have been getting worse, and after suffering an abrupt weight loss of about 10kg in 2 months (from 83 to 73 kg), I went to a GI and had an extensive amount of tests performed, including a colonoscopy. The only tangible anomaly found has been a 29% level of leucocytes in the gut.
I have been put for a month on Entocort ( with no diet restriction), and the effect has been rather limited, but I started having some side effects, like inability to sleep or an occasional equilibrium disturbance. The GI told me to stop Entocort, told me to take an argilla based powder before meals (Bedelix), and basically sent me home saying to come back if things get worse. During my month on Entocort I tried a GF diet for a couple of weeks, but I saw no tangible difference. I also had a blood test for gluten and lactose intollerance, and nothing was found.
I have had a history of food intollerances, and have performed two types of tests in the past: a blood based test and a DRIA test based on muscle tension change while administered solutions of various substances under the tongue. Both tests have reported intollerance to yeast and mushrooms, as well as intollerance to foods containing nickel and ASA (aspirine). I am also allergic to ASA.
The impression I got after the last visit to my GA, is that he is only prepared to give me more medicaments if the inflammation gets worse, and is basically helpless on how to induce remission. Reading some articles in this forum, I have understood, that there might be a way to induce a remision like state on diet alone. However, given my broad food intollerance history, I wonder what type of test should I perform at Enterolab, in order to get a sufficient coverage.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Marek
Seeking advice on Enterolab test
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Dear Marek,
from Hong Kong. I would recommend the comprehensive Enterolab test (last time I looked there is a discount for doing multiple tests) and it is worth getting as full a picture as possible. Blood tests do not reveal food intolerances for many people who are nevertheless intolerant, and I will not comment on the "muscle tension test".
Your weight loss (which I also had) suggests malabsorption which could mean your inflammation is in the small intestines as well as the colon.
It is a pity you do not seem to tolerate entocort. All the more reason to get onto the diet. But all is not lost......a Mediterranean rice and seafood platter (cooked) with olive is hopefully still on your menu!
All the best on your journey to remission; it will likely take time but you will get there.
from Hong Kong. I would recommend the comprehensive Enterolab test (last time I looked there is a discount for doing multiple tests) and it is worth getting as full a picture as possible. Blood tests do not reveal food intolerances for many people who are nevertheless intolerant, and I will not comment on the "muscle tension test". Your weight loss (which I also had) suggests malabsorption which could mean your inflammation is in the small intestines as well as the colon.
It is a pity you do not seem to tolerate entocort. All the more reason to get onto the diet. But all is not lost......a Mediterranean rice and seafood platter (cooked) with olive is hopefully still on your menu!
All the best on your journey to remission; it will likely take time but you will get there.
Hi Marek,
Welcome aboard. Ordering tests from Enterolab is the fastest way to accurately determine which foods are causing your inflammation. Note that there are many foods to which we are not really intolerant, but which irritate the gut, and can prolong a reaction. Foods which contain a lot of fiber, are especially troublesome, and any vegetables or fruit that you eat, (except possibly bananas), should be not only peeled, (since most of the fiber is in the peel), but also well cooked, to make them easier to digest. IOW, no raw fruit or vegetables, (except bananas, and don't overdo the bananas, because they contain a lot of fiber, but they are a good source of potassium, and most of us run short of potassium, when we have diarrhea).
Also, please be aware that it takes a long time for the gut to heal, (and it takes longer, without Entocort). It often takes 2 or 3 months before most of us see any significant improvements from the GF diet, and it's common for 6 months to a year to pass, before comlete remission occurs, (without Entocort).
Most of us are sensitive to gluten and casein, and about half of us are sensitive to soy. Fiber, of course, is a problem for almost all of us, while we are reacting. Also, many of us have to minimize sugar, until our gut heals.
Please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind.
Tex (Wayne)
Welcome aboard. Ordering tests from Enterolab is the fastest way to accurately determine which foods are causing your inflammation. Note that there are many foods to which we are not really intolerant, but which irritate the gut, and can prolong a reaction. Foods which contain a lot of fiber, are especially troublesome, and any vegetables or fruit that you eat, (except possibly bananas), should be not only peeled, (since most of the fiber is in the peel), but also well cooked, to make them easier to digest. IOW, no raw fruit or vegetables, (except bananas, and don't overdo the bananas, because they contain a lot of fiber, but they are a good source of potassium, and most of us run short of potassium, when we have diarrhea).
Also, please be aware that it takes a long time for the gut to heal, (and it takes longer, without Entocort). It often takes 2 or 3 months before most of us see any significant improvements from the GF diet, and it's common for 6 months to a year to pass, before comlete remission occurs, (without Entocort).
Most of us are sensitive to gluten and casein, and about half of us are sensitive to soy. Fiber, of course, is a problem for almost all of us, while we are reacting. Also, many of us have to minimize sugar, until our gut heals.
Please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind.
Tex (Wayne)
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.