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Even with all of the publicity surrounding gluten sensitivity these days, no one else recognized such a common symptom - not even Dr. Briffa, apparently.
Is it any wonder that the disease continues to go undiagnosed for years, in most cases. 
Tex
Zizzle - Regarding your comment on Dr. Briffa's Blog
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Zizzle - Regarding your comment on Dr. Briffa's Blog
Am I the only one who considers it rather odd that only one other commenter, (besides you), mentioned gluten sensitivity as a likely answer to the question, "What’s causing this lady’s stomach to bloat after eating?"?
Even with all of the publicity surrounding gluten sensitivity these days, no one else recognized such a common symptom - not even Dr. Briffa, apparently. Is it any wonder that the disease continues to go undiagnosed for years, in most cases.
Tex
Even with all of the publicity surrounding gluten sensitivity these days, no one else recognized such a common symptom - not even Dr. Briffa, apparently.
Is it any wonder that the disease continues to go undiagnosed for years, in most cases. 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.
Tex,
That caught my eye, too. I thought that (light/fluffy) article mentioned that she had tried a GF diet - but clearly not for long enough to know for sure, AND I would guess she'd have had to eliminate dairy and soy as well, plus many other grains, to eliminate such a dramatic bloating response.
Maybe that's why Dr. Briffa didn't feel comfortable suggesting it - she wasn't his patient, and the article implied that gluten had been ruled out as a suspect (as I read it - maybe I misremembered??)... Thankfully this young woman isn't suffering apparent other, debilitating symptoms (yet?)...
I think I just talked a friend into doing a trial version of the "Whole 30" diet - which is basically one month of hard-core Paleo: no dairy, no grains, no legumes, no alcohol, no sweeteners...
Frankly, for me, this will be a relatively minor change... but she is more symptom-motivated at the moment, so it's a fair deal... if/when we set a date, I will be so relieved for her. I have to say, when my non-MC friends have worse symptoms than I do... I start to feel a little more comfortable saying what I *really* think.
Good for you, Z, shining a little light into a dark corner - and saying what you really think.
--Sara
That caught my eye, too. I thought that (light/fluffy) article mentioned that she had tried a GF diet - but clearly not for long enough to know for sure, AND I would guess she'd have had to eliminate dairy and soy as well, plus many other grains, to eliminate such a dramatic bloating response.
Maybe that's why Dr. Briffa didn't feel comfortable suggesting it - she wasn't his patient, and the article implied that gluten had been ruled out as a suspect (as I read it - maybe I misremembered??)... Thankfully this young woman isn't suffering apparent other, debilitating symptoms (yet?)...
I think I just talked a friend into doing a trial version of the "Whole 30" diet - which is basically one month of hard-core Paleo: no dairy, no grains, no legumes, no alcohol, no sweeteners...
Frankly, for me, this will be a relatively minor change... but she is more symptom-motivated at the moment, so it's a fair deal... if/when we set a date, I will be so relieved for her. I have to say, when my non-MC friends have worse symptoms than I do... I start to feel a little more comfortable saying what I *really* think.
Good for you, Z, shining a little light into a dark corner - and saying what you really think.
--Sara
Hmmmmm. Maybe I should have read the original article article before I posted about it. 
A few simple tests at Enterolab could have easily answered the most vital questions. The case bears all the earmarks of someone trying to selectively eliminate foods from the diet, instead of eliminating all possibilities, achieving remission, and then trying to selectively add foods back into the diet to test them, one at a time.
I had the same problem myself, for a year and a half. Eliminating certain foods doesn't always work. When you're just going in circles, you have to cut out everything known to cause problems for virtually anyone, and then work backwards, because as long as you continue to eat anything to which you react, you will continue to react, no matter how many foods you are avoiding.
Dr. Briffa's suggestion that the problem might be due to a deficiency of gastric acid sounds plausible at first glance, but if that were the problem, the bloating wouldn't begin within 15 minutes - it takes longer than that for most foods to begin to rot. In fact, for such a fast response, this smacks of a mast cell response, because only an IgE-based response could occur that quickly.
Tex
A few simple tests at Enterolab could have easily answered the most vital questions. The case bears all the earmarks of someone trying to selectively eliminate foods from the diet, instead of eliminating all possibilities, achieving remission, and then trying to selectively add foods back into the diet to test them, one at a time.
I had the same problem myself, for a year and a half. Eliminating certain foods doesn't always work. When you're just going in circles, you have to cut out everything known to cause problems for virtually anyone, and then work backwards, because as long as you continue to eat anything to which you react, you will continue to react, no matter how many foods you are avoiding.
Dr. Briffa's suggestion that the problem might be due to a deficiency of gastric acid sounds plausible at first glance, but if that were the problem, the bloating wouldn't begin within 15 minutes - it takes longer than that for most foods to begin to rot. In fact, for such a fast response, this smacks of a mast cell response, because only an IgE-based response could occur that quickly.
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.
I kind of regretted the moments I spent reading that dim-witted article, but my heart goes out to that young woman. On the one hand, she's lucky her symptoms seem only to be inconvenient and a little embarrassing, rather than life-threatening (or even just life-ruining)... but there could be more to this than anyone has found, such as your very reasonable suggestion about mast cells, and there could be additional consequences she'll face down the road.
I credit your example and shared thinking about this for getting my life back. If I had eliminated only gluten, I might still be flailing. I knew it made me sick, and suspected dairy, but in the beginning almost all grains made me feel awful, and had no idea about eggs and almonds - it was only by slamming the brakes on eating *anything* I thought might be at fault that I stopped a horrible and unrelenting flare. The Pepto helped, but would in no way have stopped the runaway train... I think for someone who's less dramatically unwell (perhaps like this young woman?), it's a hard sell, as you say, to go drastic. But drastic is actually easier than tinkering. That seems counter-intuitive, but it makes sense to me!
Love,
Sara
I credit your example and shared thinking about this for getting my life back. If I had eliminated only gluten, I might still be flailing. I knew it made me sick, and suspected dairy, but in the beginning almost all grains made me feel awful, and had no idea about eggs and almonds - it was only by slamming the brakes on eating *anything* I thought might be at fault that I stopped a horrible and unrelenting flare. The Pepto helped, but would in no way have stopped the runaway train... I think for someone who's less dramatically unwell (perhaps like this young woman?), it's a hard sell, as you say, to go drastic. But drastic is actually easier than tinkering. That seems counter-intuitive, but it makes sense to me!
Love,
Sara