Flare Questions

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:59 am

I am having my first real flare in three months, and I am really frustrated. I feel like such a weenie, too, because most everyone has to spend more time managing their disease than I do, and here I am whining. It's a huge flashback to the way I lived before--nausea, basically colored water D, aching, stiff body and joints, insomnia. My brain is even affected. I know that because I absent-mindedly took all my other pills only half an hour after my thyroid med, probably nixing most of the effect of it.

I have a few questions:

1) I'm pretty sure what happened is that I ate gluten in contaminated peanut butter on Sunday. But the flare has gotten worse over the last two days. Should I be looking for something else??

2) I had not been eating peanut butter, then I had a headache from eating it last week and no flare. When I ate it on Sunday I did not have a headache. Could I be reacting to the peanut butter itself? But again, the flare is worse.

3) I took half a Vicodin on Saturday, and was constipated on Sunday. Might this be a reaction to the lower motility generated by the Vicodin? If so, why would it be getting worse?

4) I made coconut macaroons yesterday with white rice flour that was stored in a clean Ziploc bag. If I am starting to react to rice, would it manifest in a flare like this?

Thanks for any insight you may have. I'm pretty bummed... A good thing is that I found out that one of my kids' outside classes (we homeschool) that I was on the schedule to teach today has been canceled, so I don't have to prepare for that, or teach. And the other class that one of them has today has a bathroom right outside the door, and a back door to the classroom. I'll just have to remember not to wear my squeaky shoes, lol.

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:34 pm

Hi Marliss,

Bummer about the flare.

I would suspect the peanut butter. Since peanuts contain lectins (which are known to increase leaky gut), some here avoid them, as well as other foods high in lectins (beans, grains, other legumes, etc). Perhaps you could tolerate them better if eaten less frequently. Just a hunch. I hope the flare is short-lived and that you find the culprit. Have you tried the other nut butters made from TREE nuts, like almond, macadamia, etc.?

Love,

Polly

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:09 pm

HI Marliss,

I tend to agree with Polly on the peanut butter. Way back when I could eat it and now just no way. It also just came to mind last night that something that was a staple for me (white rice) I have not eaten much of since early September. Since mid September I have been doing much better and would almost say that remission has been accomplished. Norman seems to have become a resident. Again, we are all so different. Seems to be my theme on posting replies today.

Hope you are feeling better.

Love, Maggie

Post by **tex** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:36 pm

Hi Marliss,

This is just my opinion, and worth no more than what you are paying for it.

Experience shows that unless we are allergic to peanuts, (in the classic sense, with anaphylactic symptoms, etc.), those of us who have digestive problems due to them, usually experience symptoms such as a feeling of being overfull, indigestion, tummy ache, etc., rather than "raging" D. IOW, it usually affects us as a problem due to poor digestion, rather than an autoimmune-type reaction. Still, as we all know, we are all different, so anything is possible.

I don't recall how long you have been on the diet, but a flare at this point, (assuming that it is in the neighborhood of roughly 3 to 6 months), suggests that your antigliadin antibody production has faded to a level to where your immune system is actively addressing another food sensitivity, which is subordinate to gluten. With soy already being avoided, that suggests casein. Are you ingesting any casein? If not, the next likely suspect would probably be eggs, yeast, corn, carrageenan, or

.

Of course, with symptoms that even include body aches and neurological effects such as brain fog, accidental gluten contamination is definitely a possibility, and I would rank this as the number one suspect. I think that casein, (or soy, or corn), could cause those symptoms, also, but the odds are much higher for gluten. Is there any possible way that gluten could be sneaking into something in your diet?

Yes, I would guess that the vicodin caused the C on Sunday, because it does indeed have a potent effect on motility.

Clearly, you are having a full-blown flare. We'll figure it out, though. Keep looking for clues.

Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:15 pm

Thank you all! I knew you would have some ideas/answers for me.

Polly, once when I was in high school, I had a brief anaphylactic response to eating peanut butter. I was just about to alert my parents when the symptoms started to go away, and I haven't had any trouble since. It seems to me that I've had some reaction (mouth/throat itching) to tree nuts like almonds, walnuts, and pecans, but that comes and goes. The lectin issue could be big, since I suspect the white rice, too. Thanks, Maggie, for mentioning your experience with remission and the timing with white rice consumption.

Tex, I am about four months into GF living. I think it was Sept. 25th. I don't think it is eggs or casein, as I eat eggs and cultured-milk cheese (lactose-free) every day. I don't eat yeast at all, but the corn raises questions. My oldest has a corn intolerance. Hmm...

I think what I will do is remove corn, and peanut butter from my diet, leaving the rice in for now, and do a challenge with each of them. I may have gotten a one-two punch with gluten and another food sensitivity showing up at the same time. And who knows, maybe it is eggs or casein.

Depending on what happens, I may be heading for paleo faster than I think...

Thanks again!!

Post by **tex** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:06 pm

Marliss wrote:and cultured-milk cheese (lactose-free) every day.

That is exactly why I suspect casein. Usually, when we go into a full flare, and it won't let up, the problem is something that we do not suspect, (because we have been eating it for so long), and the problem is almost always something that we eat every day, (because we trust it), which guarantees that the flare will continue.

Tex

hoosier1 · Post by **hoosier1** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:53 am

Marliss,

I am sorry for your flare. You seemed to have been doing pretty well. Peanuts are probably the culprit.

My question for everyone is, what about pecans? Same effect? I ate a handful yesterday and am not doing so well today. Aren't nuts like that a staple of the Paleo diet, i.e. they should be safe?

Rich

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:26 am

Nuts should be safe for many of us from an autoimmune/allergy perspective, but they have a lot of fiber in them and can be difficult to digest, so they can aggravate D. Nut butters are probably easier to digest than whole nuts. That said, there were days early on in the diet where I could eat a half cup of nuts and be OK. I'm flaring a bit now so I stay away, unless I'm desperate for a safe snack and eat a Kind/Glenny's/BoraBora/Nature's Valley or Lara GF bar.

I think my current flare is due to stress and immune system activation as I fight off all the colds going around my house and community. So far so good, but the trade off is more skin rashes and GI reactivity. I wish I had the time and patience to try an elimination diet, but life is too crazy right now!! (you'll see why in a separate post...)

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:30 am

Hi Marliss,

Don't have much to add to the advise you've already received here. Your story reminds me very much of my own. It's so hard to accept that more and more intolerances pop up, and the diet has to become plainer and plainer to heal and hopefully reach remission. You sound like you're close to "throwing in the towel" and going to very basic foods. This is what I've had to do, but it was a very gradual process. I had fish and refried beans for breakfast this morning

. Half a year ago, I could not have conceived of that idea, but it's amazing how we're able to adapt, and how worthwhile it is when our health hangs in the balance. Lots of luck to you on your continuing MC journey. It does get easier !!!!!

Love,
Kari

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:37 pm

Thank you all! I am doing some better today.

Tex, I refuse to be intolerant of casein! No! No!

Post by **tex** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:05 pm

I don't blame you - it's a hard one to give up.

Tex

ant · Post by **ant** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:30 am

Dear Marliss

Hope you are feeling better today.

FYI, three days ago I went into a short flare that made me increase Entocort from one every other day to one a day and pop a few Imodium and Pepto Bismol. I am now out of the flare.

I think it was either ghee (that I had bought in a health food shop but now suspect still had some casein in it) or sunflower lectins in some 'dairy and soy free chocolate' I was trying. Both are untouched for four days and may end up being given away.

Best wishes, ant

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:31 am

ant wrote:Dear Marliss

Hope you are feeling better today.

FYI, three days ago I went into a short flare that made me increase Entocort from one every other day to one a day and pop a few Imodium and Pepto Bismol. I am now out of the flare.

I think it was either ghee (that I had bought in a health food shop but now suspect still had some casein in it) or sunflower lectins in some 'dairy and soy free chocolate' I was trying. Both are untouched for four days and may end up being given away.

Best wishes, ant

Just curious, why would the sunflower lectins be a problem? I'm so new to all of this.

Post by **tex** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:00 am

Arlene,

Any lectins can be a digestive system problem, because they are toxic, (or in some cases, repellent), substances produced by all organisms, (and especially by plants), as a survival mechanism. In the case of plants, they are almost always designed to poison any organism that tries to eat the leaves, fruit, or stem of the plant. A prime example is the ricin produced naturally in caster beans. It is deadly poisonous when inhaled, ingested, or injected. Without lectins, some plants wouldn't be able to survive all the predators that they would otherwise be vulnerable to. Gluten, for example contains lectins, and these are the peptides that we react to, (such as some of the gliadins and glutenins that are found in gluten). Most lectins are either partially, or totally indigestible. For people with "normal" immune systems, for example, the gliadin and glutenin peptides that we react to simply pass harmlessly through their digestive systems. Unfortunately, our immune systems detect them as the poisons that they actually are, and launch an attack against them, which results in an autoimmune reaction.

I couldn't find a direct comparison of lectin properties between soy and sunflower, but to show you the similarities between the oils from these two plants, note the following quote about the lecithins, that are derived from the oils, and used commercially. Note that lecithins are not to be confused with lectins, since they have completely different properties - lecithins are emulsifying agents, surfactants, etc., that help in keeping components in solution, so that they don't settle out over time. Anyway, this shows you how sunflower oil contains many of the same "ingredients" as soy oil, which suggests that developing a sensitivity to it might certainly be a risk.

A major source of lecithin is soybean oil. Because of the EU-requirement to declare additions of allergens in foods, in addition to regulations regarding genetically modified crops, a gradual shift to other sources of lecithin (e.g., sunflower oil) is taking place. The main phospholipids in lecithin from soya and sunflower are phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl inositol, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, and phosphatidic acid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin

Also note that wikipedia also says:

Lecithin can be totally metabolized by humans, so is well tolerated by humans and non-toxic when ingested;

Which is true, for "normal" people. Unfortunately, many of us cannot eat chocolate, if we are sensitive to soy, because of the soy lecithin commonly used as an emulsifier in many/most commercial chocolate formulations.

Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:44 pm

Thank you for asking, Ant!

I am doing better, although eating some corn chips on Wednesday without thinking about it threw me back into the thick of things. So... my first challenge will be corn. I would not be surprised at all if that is a new food intolerance. I would not be happy, but that will be easier to give up, if necessary, than other foods.