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Just checking in with a few comments on a 2 week trip I survived to Europe and a question.
Just returned from traveling Europe for 2 weeks. I was a little nervous about the trip but have been feeling good so thought it would go well. I had been gluten free for almost 2 months prior to the trip and was concerned it would be difficult traveling and eating out to stay away from gluten. I managed really well (the airline even had GF meals on request) until we got to Italy. It has been my dream to eat my way through Italy and I just couldn't resist the pasta........so I indulged for a full week! I ate spaghetti, lasagna, tons of bread....... I really enjoyed myself but know it will be take a while to get the gluten out of my system. I am on Entocort 9mg per day and it really works well for me so I can pretty much eat whatever I want. I really want to back off the drug though so am home now and ready to get serious about my diet. I am praying that it is only gluten I am sensitive to but time will tell.
My question, for those who have a gluten sensitivity, can gluten make your joints, body ache?? After being diagnosed with MC in April I went on Enotocort and it has been a God send for me. I was struggling with aches and pains in my joints but didn't think the two were related. When I cut gluten out of my diet a couple of months ago my aches and pains disappeared! I have felt great until I went on my gluten binge in Italy. About a week after eating all the pasta the aches and pains came back with a vengance! Anyway, I am home and back to the GF diet for about a week now and the aches and pains are diminishing. Has anyone experienced this with gluten??
Love this group and am soo happy to have found you all!
Kim I was diagnosed last April and have been on 9mg of Entocort as well. I had over 10 years of aches and pains and was even diagnosed with FMS, which turned out eventually to be MC.
Yes gluten can and does cause aches and pains. If I end up eating a small amount I will have achy joints and muscles within an hour. Once the gluten has cleared the system it does settle down. Be aware though, if you are reacting this way the Entocort does not stop the reaction, it can only help mask the symptoms.
Think of MC as a cut and Entocort and diet as a bandaid. If by eating gluten you continually aggravate the cut it will take a long tome to heal, bandaid or not. It really does take a combination of the diet and the medication to allow for the body to heal properly. There are several on this site who have achieved remission, but it does take a while, for some a number of years.
Have you had any Enterolab testing yet? There are many of us who also react to soy and dairy as well.
Thanks for posting and I am glad your trip went well
It's good to hear that the trip went so well, and you were able to thoroughly enjoy yourself.
Yes, gluten causes arthritis symptoms for many of us. Before I cut out gluten, my knees became so bad that I had to use a cane to walk, and I have a couple of fingers that were so inflamed that they grew crooked and twisted. That damage to my fingers is permanent, of course, but after I cut out gluten, and the inflammation faded away, all my arthritis symptoms disappeared, (other than the crooked fingers), and I haven't had any arthritis problems since then, (I've been in remission for 6 years, now).
You're fortunate that the Entocort works so well for you - many of us would have had severe D, to go with the aching joints, if we had ignored our diet, even taking Entocort.
We're glad you found us, and thanks for the vacation report.
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.
Glade Europe was fun. I know what you mean by Italy and pasta. I have fond memories of that.
Pre and post Dx MC, I did not have any obvious joint aches and pains until I started tapering off Entocort. I now have some mild aches in fingers and nees (and some occasional balance issues have returned). Of course, I am off Gluten and other food that I am intolerant too. So, for me, something else is going on to cause what look like arthritic symptoms. As we keep saying we are all different.
Entocort is a corticosteroid and since 10% goes into the system it probably should have the effect of reducing inflammation in the joints (as well as obviously in the colon). In your case it seems the gluten ingestion was probably too much for the Entocort to dampen down an arthritic type immune reaction.
Seems to me that either a leaky gut (caused by gluten and/or other food intolerances?), or reduced adrenal production of the bodies own corticosteroids, or both can cause these aches and pains. I think Gabes recently started a discussion on adrenal issues.
It is pithy you choose Italy to start eating gluten again, especially it is one of the gluten free Walhalla’s of the world. If there is one country where it is easy to survive on a gluten free diet, it is Italy. At least so I have heard. What I have been reading on a Dutch gluten free message board, even the smallest grocery shop in the smallest town (like Tex’s one horses towns) still had gluten free stuff. Also a lot of restaurants serving gluten free pizzas. Italy has a relatively a high percentage of people with celiac (actually there aren't more than in another countries but more diagnosed). The reason is that it is standard to check all infants (or toddlers) for this disease. An example for the rest of the world I would say!!!
Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
I really enjoyed myself but know it will be take a while to get the gluten out of my system. I am on Entocort 9mg per day and it really works well for me so I can pretty much eat whatever I want. I really want to back off the drug though so am home now and ready to get serious about my diet. I am praying that it is only gluten I am sensitive to but time will tell.
