Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Hi Everyone,
I'm David and I've been lucky enough to be newly diagnosed with LC. After six months of abdominal pain where I could tell many doctors thought I was full of it or it was all in my head, a colonoscopy based biopsy came back with LC. Good times.
I'm still learning about LC but I must note that I don't have diarrhea nor have I. The only real symptom I've had over the last six months (well, other than coughing up blood for this past month which is hopefully unrelated and just due to a bad chest infection) has been the abdominal pain.
In my readings, I see that some LC is caused by NSAIDs or antidepressants. Well, I took NSAIDs like candy during my baseball playing days and somewhat regularly for years after that. I also took antidepressants (Paxil and Effexor) about 10 years ago. I must admit, western medicine isn't on my good side right now.
I've begun a GF, DF diet and as someone who LOVES food AND admittedly uses food to self medicate away emotions, I'm having some trouble with it. I just spent some money on an Ayurvedic cookbook and bought lots of ingredients at an Indian grocery this evening, so we'll see how that goes.
I have a LOT to learn I see :) It's nice to meet you all and I hope to be a positive contributor to this community. And thanks go out to Ant for getting me over here from another IBD forum.
Newly diagnosed with LC
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi David and WELCOME!
Any friend of Ant's is a friend of ours! LOL! So happy you have joined our family.
You are well on the way to health, as it appears that you are taking charge and developing a good plan. It is necessary to do this to tame the MC beast, since most MDs are clueless, especially about the role of diet. Did you check out Dee's Kitchen? As a foodie, you should find lots there to make you smile. Also, a caution - gluten/dairy can hide anywere. (example - some curry powders may contain flour). It's probably best to buy foods where you can call the manufacturer to confirm the ingredients.
Gotta run, but looking forward to further chats.
Love,
Polly
Any friend of Ant's is a friend of ours! LOL! So happy you have joined our family.
You are well on the way to health, as it appears that you are taking charge and developing a good plan. It is necessary to do this to tame the MC beast, since most MDs are clueless, especially about the role of diet. Did you check out Dee's Kitchen? As a foodie, you should find lots there to make you smile. Also, a caution - gluten/dairy can hide anywere. (example - some curry powders may contain flour). It's probably best to buy foods where you can call the manufacturer to confirm the ingredients.
Gotta run, but looking forward to further chats.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi David
It is good to see you posting here!!!
As an MCer I know you will get the best support you can hope for.
You may or may not know that Polly is a Doctor (pediatrician) who has MC. She and Tex (and many others) make up the backbone of this community.
I really like your board too....
crohnsforum.com
I know you own that website and posted there how ironic it is that you now have an IBD....LC rather than Crohns...... Both board deal with a slightly different focus of IBD issues, but..... as we know from Joe....who has Crohns and MC and is now also on both boards......and as I have observed reading some of the crohnsforum posts ....there is much in common with what we are all having to deal with.
So David
Best, ant
It is good to see you posting here!!!
As an MCer I know you will get the best support you can hope for.
You may or may not know that Polly is a Doctor (pediatrician) who has MC. She and Tex (and many others) make up the backbone of this community.
I really like your board too....
crohnsforum.com
I know you own that website and posted there how ironic it is that you now have an IBD....LC rather than Crohns...... Both board deal with a slightly different focus of IBD issues, but..... as we know from Joe....who has Crohns and MC and is now also on both boards......and as I have observed reading some of the crohnsforum posts ....there is much in common with what we are all having to deal with.
So David
Best, ant
David,Glad you posted here. Great group of people.
How fortunate for you that you were diagnosed with LC before you could experience the full measure of symptoms. Smart move to start your own treatment before you do. I hope you never experience them.
Please don't be hesitant to continue posting. We all learn from each other here.
Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
-- Winston Churchill
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
- Posts: 3865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
- Location: SE Pennsylvania
Welcome David,
NIce to hear you are taking charge and so lucky that it may have been caught early. Diet is the way I have tried to keep the beast at bay and for the most part have been pretty successful. Stick around and I am sure we will be able to learn a thing or 2 from us.
Great meeting you and again, Welcome to the Family.
Maggie
NIce to hear you are taking charge and so lucky that it may have been caught early. Diet is the way I have tried to keep the beast at bay and for the most part have been pretty successful. Stick around and I am sure we will be able to learn a thing or 2 from us.
Great meeting you and again, Welcome to the Family.
Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
Hi David,
Welcome! Glad to hear you are being proactive with diet. I just posted a webinar on gluten that addressed the need to still be gluten free before D starts. I actually got sick 17 months before D started - how I wish I knew to get off of gluten at that time.
You're off to a good start with the diet.
Mary Beth
Welcome! Glad to hear you are being proactive with diet. I just posted a webinar on gluten that addressed the need to still be gluten free before D starts. I actually got sick 17 months before D started - how I wish I knew to get off of gluten at that time.
You're off to a good start with the diet.
Mary Beth
"If you believe it will work out, you'll see opportunities. If you believe it won't you will see obstacles." - Dr. Wayne Dyer
Hi David from another LC!
I've been GF/DF for 5 months and went through the stages of grief over my new diet. I would get teary-eyed when walking through nice grocery stores or watching my family eat delicious italian food, then I was just plain angry at the gluten-eating world. I think it took 4 months to reach acceptance, and even now I'm sometimes tempted to cheat. I do hope you never have to experience the D of LC. It often starts suddenly, so you are right to try and prevent it. Just curious, do you mind if I ask your age or age range? I have a theory that LC usually starts in younger people, and CC may be an advanced stage of LC, so just curious. I'm 36 and was diagnosed last year.
Welcome aboard!
I've been GF/DF for 5 months and went through the stages of grief over my new diet. I would get teary-eyed when walking through nice grocery stores or watching my family eat delicious italian food, then I was just plain angry at the gluten-eating world. I think it took 4 months to reach acceptance, and even now I'm sometimes tempted to cheat. I do hope you never have to experience the D of LC. It often starts suddenly, so you are right to try and prevent it. Just curious, do you mind if I ask your age or age range? I have a theory that LC usually starts in younger people, and CC may be an advanced stage of LC, so just curious. I'm 36 and was diagnosed last year.
Welcome aboard!
Hi David,
Welcome to our board. I agree that preemptive treatment, (in the form of diet changes), should certainly help to prevent problems that might otherwise lie ahead. Very, very few of us have had that opportunity. Most of us, myself included, finally concede that it's time to see the doctor, after spending a few weeks mostly confined to the bathroom.
Polly has already mentioned Dee's Kitchen. Dee is a professional chef, who has compiled several hundred tasty gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free recipes for us. http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
Welcome to our board. I agree that preemptive treatment, (in the form of diet changes), should certainly help to prevent problems that might otherwise lie ahead. Very, very few of us have had that opportunity. Most of us, myself included, finally concede that it's time to see the doctor, after spending a few weeks mostly confined to the bathroom.
Polly has already mentioned Dee's Kitchen. Dee is a professional chef, who has compiled several hundred tasty gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free recipes for us. http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.
Hi David,
I have had similar symptoms - no D and lots of abdominal pain and bloating. You should consider doing the following steps:
1- before you get into your dier on earnest, order the Entero Lab complete test for sensitivity to gluten, casein, yeast and soy, plus the genetic check. You should eat pretty much everything in the days preceding the sample collection, so hold the diet for a while
2- after you send in the samples, start the diet without waiting for the results, I am doing a diet without gluten, casein ( no milk either), soy, yeast and sugar. The key point, is that your diet should be a low residue one - in practice you can eat meat, fish, eggs(if you tollerate these),white rice (no integral or semi integral) some boiled fruit without peel (apples, bananas), millet flakes and buckwheat flakes. Do not eat any raw fruit or vegetables to begin with. I heartily recommend boiling your own broth on some veggies, lots of chicken and beef meat with bones. You cook it for several hours, then throw away the bones and most of the veggies, and keep just the meat and the carrots. Avoid eating cabbage or anything that creates gas.
3- after you get the results, make sure you permanently avoid the foods you are sensible to, and if you have yeast sensibility, you should see the doctor to check if you have candida overgrowth and how to cope with it
4- you should start taking some multivitamin supplements, and fish oil, consult the doctor for brands that do not contain sugar or gluten
5- be patient, it will take time for you to get better, but eventually you will, together with the diet, it might be very helpful to get the entocort treatment, but this has to be decided by your doctor, BTW if the doctor tells you that while on entocort you can eat anything, just do not listen to him and stick o the diet
6- good luck
Marek
I have had similar symptoms - no D and lots of abdominal pain and bloating. You should consider doing the following steps:
1- before you get into your dier on earnest, order the Entero Lab complete test for sensitivity to gluten, casein, yeast and soy, plus the genetic check. You should eat pretty much everything in the days preceding the sample collection, so hold the diet for a while
2- after you send in the samples, start the diet without waiting for the results, I am doing a diet without gluten, casein ( no milk either), soy, yeast and sugar. The key point, is that your diet should be a low residue one - in practice you can eat meat, fish, eggs(if you tollerate these),white rice (no integral or semi integral) some boiled fruit without peel (apples, bananas), millet flakes and buckwheat flakes. Do not eat any raw fruit or vegetables to begin with. I heartily recommend boiling your own broth on some veggies, lots of chicken and beef meat with bones. You cook it for several hours, then throw away the bones and most of the veggies, and keep just the meat and the carrots. Avoid eating cabbage or anything that creates gas.
3- after you get the results, make sure you permanently avoid the foods you are sensible to, and if you have yeast sensibility, you should see the doctor to check if you have candida overgrowth and how to cope with it
4- you should start taking some multivitamin supplements, and fish oil, consult the doctor for brands that do not contain sugar or gluten
5- be patient, it will take time for you to get better, but eventually you will, together with the diet, it might be very helpful to get the entocort treatment, but this has to be decided by your doctor, BTW if the doctor tells you that while on entocort you can eat anything, just do not listen to him and stick o the diet
6- good luck
Marek
Hi David and welcome to this wonderful internet family. I found this forum 2 and a half months ago, and the information and support here is simply amazing.
Marek's list of steps to consider taking is excellent. However, on the first point, there is no need to stop the diet you've already started before being tested at Enterolab. I had stopped eating most of the offensive foods long before testing, and the results still reflected my allergies.
Best of luck to you in managing your LC - as others have noted, there is a wealth of information here to help you on your journey. Look forward to reading your updates.
Love,
Kari
P.S. Zizzle - I was diagnosed with LC at age 52 or 53, but may have had it quite a while before the diagnosis.
Marek's list of steps to consider taking is excellent. However, on the first point, there is no need to stop the diet you've already started before being tested at Enterolab. I had stopped eating most of the offensive foods long before testing, and the results still reflected my allergies.
Best of luck to you in managing your LC - as others have noted, there is a wealth of information here to help you on your journey. Look forward to reading your updates.
Love,
Kari
P.S. Zizzle - I was diagnosed with LC at age 52 or 53, but may have had it quite a while before the diagnosis.
"My mouth waters whenever I pass a bakery shop and sniff the aroma of fresh bread, but I am also grateful simply to be alive and sniffing." Dr. Bernstein
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8367
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
David
gday from australia
regardless of what symptoms you have or dont have, being proactive about managing LC is important, as time goes on you may have other symptoms such as joint aches and foggy brain.
I was diagnosed 11 months ago, and have been using diet as my main management tool, it was a big big change to give up foods and cooking styles that were 'my favourites' and of course socialisation changes, it was a sacrifice but a small price to pay to feel well!
welcome to the group
take care
gday from australia
regardless of what symptoms you have or dont have, being proactive about managing LC is important, as time goes on you may have other symptoms such as joint aches and foggy brain.
I was diagnosed 11 months ago, and have been using diet as my main management tool, it was a big big change to give up foods and cooking styles that were 'my favourites' and of course socialisation changes, it was a sacrifice but a small price to pay to feel well!
welcome to the group
take care
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
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MBombardier
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:44 am
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Welcome David! I'm pretty new here myself...
Kari, thanks for that information about not needing to stop the diet. I am hoping to be able to do testing next month and I have been gluten-free for several weeks now. I was wondering if I really wanted to do the testing if I had to stop the diet...
Kari, thanks for that information about not needing to stop the diet. I am hoping to be able to do testing next month and I have been gluten-free for several weeks now. I was wondering if I really wanted to do the testing if I had to stop the diet...
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
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Joefnh
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 2478
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:25 pm
- Location: Southern New Hampshire
Hi David welcome to the group. You have already received some excellent info here and it looks like you are well on your way in dealing with this disease.
Would that other forum be crohnsforum.com?? I thought your name and story sounded familiar
A bit about me I was diagnosed with MC and Crohns last April and have found this to be an excellent site with the finest people around. For treatments I use:
1.) Diet (Paleo diet)
2.) Acupuncture
3.) Imuran 150mg / day after tapering off of Entocort 9mg / day
Again Dave, welcome to the group
--Joe
Would that other forum be crohnsforum.com?? I thought your name and story sounded familiar
A bit about me I was diagnosed with MC and Crohns last April and have found this to be an excellent site with the finest people around. For treatments I use:
1.) Diet (Paleo diet)
2.) Acupuncture
3.) Imuran 150mg / day after tapering off of Entocort 9mg / day
Again Dave, welcome to the group
--Joe
Joe
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natythingycolbery
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 5:23 pm
- Location: York, United Kingdom
Hello David!
You have recieved a lot of welcomes I see!
I just thought I would add my own welcomes and say you got your LC pretty much the same way as me, unfortunatley I wasn't diagnosed until the big D had started though!
Hope you find this site useful!
Katy/Naty
You have recieved a lot of welcomes I see!
I just thought I would add my own welcomes and say you got your LC pretty much the same way as me, unfortunatley I wasn't diagnosed until the big D had started though!
Hope you find this site useful!
Katy/Naty
'The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.' Horace Bushnell
Diagnosed with MC (LC) Aug 2010
Diagnosed with MC (LC) Aug 2010