Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Hello All-
I've been on entocort (3 pills/day) and faithful to a GF and DF diet for the past 3 weeks. My D stopped within a week of starting the above and the past 10 days my BM's have transformed from a green soft stool to a firm brown stool (basically normal). My energy level has been good but I have some issues I'd like some of you to comment on:
1. My stomach often feels "sore"; almost like the feeling you would get if you did a bunch of sit-ups. I've noticed I've become much less gassy and bloated the past week which is great but I'm wondering how long this "soreness" might last.
2. Once or twice a day I get minor flu like symptoms. My face feels flushed like I'm running a fever which alternates with slight chills. Interestingly enough, I've taken my temperature when this occurs and the temp. is normal. Usually when this is happening my joints and muscles will ache; not as bad as the flu but noticeable. It seems to last an hour or so and goes away. I'm not sure if this is a possible side effect of the entocort or the MC but thought I'd ask...
3. I don't seem to be putting on any weight (although I'm not losing any either). I lost about 20 pounds before I started the diet and entocort and I seem to be eating a decent amount of calories (although less than when I would eat ice cream, etc before I started the diet). Maybe this diet is causing my body to be at a point where it normally would have been??) I'm strong and have good energy so maybe this isn't a concern???
Once again, thanks everyone for all your help with this!
Progress update and some questions
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Rich,
Many of us develop the leaky gut syndrome in conjunction with MC, and this can certainly cause flu-like symptoms, arthritis symptoms, and even neurological symptoms. However, it usually lasts for several days at a time, at least, rather than waxing and waning during the day. I suppose it's not impossible for the leaky gut syndrome to present that way, but I would guess that you may have picked up a virus of some sort - there are some going around, already. That would also explain the stomach issues. Some of us do have gastritis, however, (an inflamed stomach), as a satellite issue with MC, but it is usually described as a burning sensation.
It's also not impossible that Entocort might cause such symptoms, but that would be quite uncommon. If the symptoms last for more than a few days, we may have to consider the possibility that they are indeed related to a leaky gut issue, or the Entocort. As effectively as the Entocort seems to be working, though, I really doubt that it is causing those problems, (unless you're having other neurological symptoms, such as dizziness, balance issues, vision problems, (blurred vision, or tunnel vision), etc.
Some people gain weight on Entocort, while others seem to maintain a steady weight, or even lose weight. We are all different. In some cases, after the gut has had some time to heal, weight gain is more likely to occur.
Please keep us updated on the flu-like symptoms. I hope you continue to improve.
Tex
Many of us develop the leaky gut syndrome in conjunction with MC, and this can certainly cause flu-like symptoms, arthritis symptoms, and even neurological symptoms. However, it usually lasts for several days at a time, at least, rather than waxing and waning during the day. I suppose it's not impossible for the leaky gut syndrome to present that way, but I would guess that you may have picked up a virus of some sort - there are some going around, already. That would also explain the stomach issues. Some of us do have gastritis, however, (an inflamed stomach), as a satellite issue with MC, but it is usually described as a burning sensation.
It's also not impossible that Entocort might cause such symptoms, but that would be quite uncommon. If the symptoms last for more than a few days, we may have to consider the possibility that they are indeed related to a leaky gut issue, or the Entocort. As effectively as the Entocort seems to be working, though, I really doubt that it is causing those problems, (unless you're having other neurological symptoms, such as dizziness, balance issues, vision problems, (blurred vision, or tunnel vision), etc.
Some people gain weight on Entocort, while others seem to maintain a steady weight, or even lose weight. We are all different. In some cases, after the gut has had some time to heal, weight gain is more likely to occur.
Please keep us updated on the flu-like symptoms. I hope you continue to improve.
Tex
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.
Thanks Tex-
Interesting...but read Randy's post at the top of the page titled "time to make some changes". He describes flu like symptoms almost identical to mine i.e. "last about an hour or so, some days nothing" as well as general abdominal pain. Before I received the diagnosis of MC my primary care doc gave me Prevacid thinking I had acid reflux. Like Randy, things became worse after I took that for a few weeks (I stopped taking it about 6 weeks ago)
Thanks for everything Tex...
Interesting...but read Randy's post at the top of the page titled "time to make some changes". He describes flu like symptoms almost identical to mine i.e. "last about an hour or so, some days nothing" as well as general abdominal pain. Before I received the diagnosis of MC my primary care doc gave me Prevacid thinking I had acid reflux. Like Randy, things became worse after I took that for a few weeks (I stopped taking it about 6 weeks ago)
Thanks for everything Tex...
Rich,
It is known that acid reducers like Prevacid also reduce your ability to fight off disease causing bacteria and viruses in your GI tract. A stomach with normal amounts of acid can kill most pathogenic bacteria we ingest. That said, the flu-like symptoms and abdomnal achiness may be caused by something you picked up (i.e. food poisoning).
It is known that acid reducers like Prevacid also reduce your ability to fight off disease causing bacteria and viruses in your GI tract. A stomach with normal amounts of acid can kill most pathogenic bacteria we ingest. That said, the flu-like symptoms and abdomnal achiness may be caused by something you picked up (i.e. food poisoning).
1987 Mononucleosis (EBV)
2004 Hypomyopathic Dermatomyositis
2009 Lymphocytic Colitis
2010 GF/DF/SF Diet
2014 Low Dose Naltrexone
2004 Hypomyopathic Dermatomyositis
2009 Lymphocytic Colitis
2010 GF/DF/SF Diet
2014 Low Dose Naltrexone
Rich,
I should have clarified my response a bit better. Like you, my chills and fever episodes were transient - they usually came and went on somewhat of an hourly-based schedule, though sometimes they would cycle several times per night, (this almost always occurred at night, for me - occasionally I would have daytime episodes, but not very often). The joint aches and muscle pain, though, including a stiff, sore neck, (that prevented sleeping at night, because I had to keep shifting my head position), were usually much more persistent, and they would typically last for several days at a session. Those were the "flu-like" symptoms that I was referring to, that are usually caused by the leaky gut syndrome. You are quite correct, though, about chills and fever cycling on more of an "hourly-based" time frame, (just as it would with the flu). I would suspect, though, that even the chills and fever are due to the leaky gut syndrome, since the description of MC does not include such symptoms.
Also, to add to what Zizzle said about higher pH levels in the stomach leading to an increased risk of bacterial infection, remember that the primary purpose of gastric acid is to get the process of digestion off to a good start, by breaking down the food particles, so that more surface area is available for contact by enzymes that will be added in the small intestine. (Reducing bacteria populations is a secondary benefit, though certainly an important one.) Anyway, the point is, if we deliberately increase the pH level, we can expect poor digestion, as a result. If we start the process with poor digestive potential, then there is no way that the final result is going to be optimal. By "crippling" the first stage of digestion, we are shooting ourselves in the foot, in the long run, because chronic poor digestion is one of the causes of MC. IOW, PPIs and good, (or even "acceptable"), digestion, are incompatible. That's a no-brainer, but most doctors never seem to be able to realize that.
Additionally, the lower esophageal sphincter is designed to keep stomach contents out of the esophagus. It is designed so that the higher the acid concentration on the gastric side, the tighter the sphincter closes. That means that the tightest, and most reliable seal will occur when the acid content on the gastric side is the highest, (IOW, when the pH of the stomach is the lowest), which is obviously the most logical, and the safest way for it to function. So what happens when we deliberately raise the pH of the gastric acid? The lower esophageal sphincter relaxes somewhat. And guess what? When we don't use muscles to their potential, on a regular basis, they become weaker. Right? So in effect, over time, PPIs weaken the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, so that it becomes impossible to stop using a PPI, because the sphincter will eventually become too weak to hold a reliable seal against concentrated acid, and the acid seeping into the esophagus will cause worse problems than were present before the treatment started. The LES has to be retrained, and that is not easy to do, especially if acid reflux is almost constantly present.
It is a fact that "heartburn" and "acid indigestion" are usually caused by inadequate stomach acid, not too much acid. (The pain comes from poor digestion - rotting food, that causes gas). Gastric acid production tends to decline as we age. And yet in that situation, most doctors will immediately prescribe an antacid, or an antihistamine, (an H2 blocker), or even a PPI, on the assumption that the patient is producing too much stomach acid, without even checking to see what is actually being produced. The symptoms of too much acid, are the same as too little, but the most common situation, (by far), is too little acid, not too much. When the pH of the stomach is too high, the LES is not going to reliably stay closed, the way it would with a low pH, so then the patient develops GERD.
That's a good example of job security for doctors.
Sorry, I got side-tracked.
Tex
I should have clarified my response a bit better. Like you, my chills and fever episodes were transient - they usually came and went on somewhat of an hourly-based schedule, though sometimes they would cycle several times per night, (this almost always occurred at night, for me - occasionally I would have daytime episodes, but not very often). The joint aches and muscle pain, though, including a stiff, sore neck, (that prevented sleeping at night, because I had to keep shifting my head position), were usually much more persistent, and they would typically last for several days at a session. Those were the "flu-like" symptoms that I was referring to, that are usually caused by the leaky gut syndrome. You are quite correct, though, about chills and fever cycling on more of an "hourly-based" time frame, (just as it would with the flu). I would suspect, though, that even the chills and fever are due to the leaky gut syndrome, since the description of MC does not include such symptoms.
Also, to add to what Zizzle said about higher pH levels in the stomach leading to an increased risk of bacterial infection, remember that the primary purpose of gastric acid is to get the process of digestion off to a good start, by breaking down the food particles, so that more surface area is available for contact by enzymes that will be added in the small intestine. (Reducing bacteria populations is a secondary benefit, though certainly an important one.) Anyway, the point is, if we deliberately increase the pH level, we can expect poor digestion, as a result. If we start the process with poor digestive potential, then there is no way that the final result is going to be optimal. By "crippling" the first stage of digestion, we are shooting ourselves in the foot, in the long run, because chronic poor digestion is one of the causes of MC. IOW, PPIs and good, (or even "acceptable"), digestion, are incompatible. That's a no-brainer, but most doctors never seem to be able to realize that.
Additionally, the lower esophageal sphincter is designed to keep stomach contents out of the esophagus. It is designed so that the higher the acid concentration on the gastric side, the tighter the sphincter closes. That means that the tightest, and most reliable seal will occur when the acid content on the gastric side is the highest, (IOW, when the pH of the stomach is the lowest), which is obviously the most logical, and the safest way for it to function. So what happens when we deliberately raise the pH of the gastric acid? The lower esophageal sphincter relaxes somewhat. And guess what? When we don't use muscles to their potential, on a regular basis, they become weaker. Right? So in effect, over time, PPIs weaken the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, so that it becomes impossible to stop using a PPI, because the sphincter will eventually become too weak to hold a reliable seal against concentrated acid, and the acid seeping into the esophagus will cause worse problems than were present before the treatment started. The LES has to be retrained, and that is not easy to do, especially if acid reflux is almost constantly present.
It is a fact that "heartburn" and "acid indigestion" are usually caused by inadequate stomach acid, not too much acid. (The pain comes from poor digestion - rotting food, that causes gas). Gastric acid production tends to decline as we age. And yet in that situation, most doctors will immediately prescribe an antacid, or an antihistamine, (an H2 blocker), or even a PPI, on the assumption that the patient is producing too much stomach acid, without even checking to see what is actually being produced. The symptoms of too much acid, are the same as too little, but the most common situation, (by far), is too little acid, not too much. When the pH of the stomach is too high, the LES is not going to reliably stay closed, the way it would with a low pH, so then the patient develops GERD.
That's a good example of job security for doctors.Sorry, I got side-tracked.
Tex
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.