What to eat

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:39 am

Can you all tell me what to eat during a flare? I don't know what my intolerences are yet, but think a little ice cream three weeks ago may have triggered this. Do you think that should tell me something? I was being a little smug about the whole thing, three weeks ago I had a couple spoons of it, nothing happened, so the next week I had a small piece of ice cream cake and voila! During that week it started and going strong every other day for 12 now. I am not on meds and of course can't reach my doctor, so I am taking Diarrhea Stop and about 4 pepto bismol a day. I guess I should up the pepto bismol to at least 6. This morning I had a yogurt, coconut water, and a banana. Just don't know what to eat to keep me from becomming too weak. Any suggestions would help.

Nancy

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:57 am

Nancy right off I would avoid gluten soy and dairy as those seem to be the common problems for most of us. Next avoid all RAW fruits and veggies, cooked should be fine. Think of what you would feed an infant, simple easy to digest foods.... that in this case are GF/DF/SF.

A good starting place is things like baked skinless chicken, white rice, well cooked carrots, tea, apple juice.

--Joe

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:55 am

Thanks Joe. I tried getting in touch with the GI doctor that I now have, but he is not in until tomorrow. I decided to try the accupuncturist and have an appointment later today. Anything I should know before going to her? I have been to a couple in the past for my shoulder, never for this.

Nancy

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:33 am

Nancy the acupuncturist should understand that he / she needs to work on the areas related to the GI tract and they should be able to tell if a certain area needs more work. The goal is effective communication, be sure to carefully describe what areas are bothering you and be sure to describe this is an inflammatory condition and that this is not irritable bowl. The treatments for those 2 types are different.

--Joe

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:53 am

Hi Nancy,

Sorry that you're having a flare. Besides the things that Joe named, many/most people here can tolerate pork, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Eggs are a good source of protein, unless you feel that you're sensitive to them. If you believe that ice cream triggered your flare, then yogurt would also be a problem, since it is loaded with casein.

As you're probably aware, Dr. Fine's original recommendation of 8 or 9 Pepto-Bismol tablets, (or the equivalent dose in liquid Pepto), for 8 weeks, brought remission in over 85% of cases, (which is much more effective than the efficacy shown by the 5-ASA meds, and Entocort). The 5-ASA meds and Entocort are usually effective in about 65 to 70% of cases, on the average.

Good luck with your treatment,
Tex

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:05 am

I will make sure to mention the difference to the acupuncturist today. I also called Enterolab to get information from them for the testing of dairy and gluten. I did call my secondary insurance company who were very helpful, but can't really help. Medicare is my primary insurance and Enterolab does not contract with them. My insurance company asked me why and I didn't have an answer. Does anyone know why? Also, they asked if there were other labs that do the same because it is something Medicare will pay for.

Tex, those are interesting percentages regarding Pepto Bismol and will up the dosage for sure. Do you know if constipation becomes a problem with taking the higher dose? Although, why would I worry about constipation???? LOL

Nancy

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:32 am

Not everyone can tolerate such high doses of bismuth subsalicylate. Quite a few members here have developed either GI symptoms, (such as C), or neurological symptoms, from that treatment. Also, whenever other GI docs told their patients to try the treatment, they "forgot" to tell them that it was necessary to follow a GF diet, also, otherwise they would relapse after the treatment was completed. That's why Dr. Fine no longer recommends it. These days he recommends diet alone.

As to why Enterolab does not contract with Medicare, I'm just guessing here, but anyone who contracts with Medicare agrees to accept whatever they offer to pay for the service, (regardless of the actual cost of the procedure). I would assume that the government isn't willing to pay a fair price for the stool tests, so Enterolab can't afford to do business with them.

There are other labs that offer stool tests, but none of them offer the technology offered by Enterolab, so their results would be pretty much worthless for the type of food-sensitivity testing that we need.

Tex

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:42 pm

That's what I thought about the Medicare payments.

Thanks again Tex.

klhale · Post by **klhale** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:45 pm

Enterlab is not the only source for food allergy testing. I went to an allergy doctor and had food testing, where they stick you on your forearm, and then they note the reaction. The tests were positive for: gluten, milk/dairy, tomatoes, baker's yeast, soy, onions and many more. And they were right, I can't eat any of these.
Medicare does pay for this type of testing.

There is no cure for these allergies, other than avoidance.

Karen

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:47 pm

Good to know, Karen. Thank you!

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:42 pm

Tex, it was your info about potential pitfalls of pepto that led me to taper off my usage of it so rapidly, and thanks for sharing it (again), as I doubt I would have found it in the archives, unless I had been actively searching. Fortunately I was able to quickly lower my intake and reduce the duration, probably because I had already stopped all gluten and was eating super cautiously.

I took 8/day for full 2 days - actually started with two the evening before, when I first had some on hand. I believe it was because of my GF/DF/*F eating that I was able to back off from 8. I moved on to 5 the third day, then 3, and then just 1. I bet Dr. Fine is right, and diet alone would have done it, but I was grateful for the relief.

I'm very grateful for those words to the wise!

Sara

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:48 pm

Enterolab does not test for food allergies. Food allergies are IgE-based reactions, caused by histamine release, as a result of dermal contact with allergenic food items, and often resulting in anaphylactic symptoms, involving the skin and the respiratory system.

Entoerolab tests for food intolerances/sensitivities, which are IgA-based reactions, involving the digestive system. These two categories involve two different types of immune system reactions, and while it is certainly possible to have both types of sensitivities, skin reactions and respiratory system reactions are not direct response symptoms of MC. Dermatitis herpetiformis, for example, is a part of celiac disease, not MC.

Mastocytic enterocolitis is a different type of phenomenon, which is probably much more widespread that is commonly believed by the GI community.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:57 pm

Sara wrote:I bet Dr. Fine is right, and diet alone would have done it, but I was grateful for the relief.

I'm sure you're right. The diet alone, can take a long time to bring relief, (typically, 6 months to a year), so any type of medication that works, (including Pepto-Bismol), can significantly speed up the process, so long as we can tolerate the treatment. Pepto actually has some antibiotic properties, which makes it more effective as a therapeutic treatment, than many people realize.

I'm glad it worked so quickly for you.

Tex

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:03 pm

The diet alone, can take a long time to bring relief

To stop the diarrhea? Maybe I'm just too impatient.

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:03 pm

Arlene, I don't think we should be over-patient with debilitating symptoms. Diarrhea is bad, your body knows it, your mind knows it, your schedule knows it. And that's without the associated "discomforts" - I've never been a fan of jumping to take a pill at the first sneeze, but these symptoms can be miserable and disruptive to each of us, and to those around us (or those who expected us to show up and get things done, or....)

If I didn't notice rapid relief, I would have doubted myself about the pepto (just the color alone is so off-putting, seriously - bubble-gum pink??). But now I'll make sure to have it in my purse and my medicine cabinet, just in case.

In this case I don't think patience is *necessarily* a virtue ;)

Sara