Hello all. Flare and help!

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:20 pm

Diagnosed 4 years ago lc. Bought the book and followed the diet. Once it settled down I've been mostly good. About 2 weeks ago small issues and now it's full blown meltdown. Stomach acid...burning d....fatigue. loud stomach gurgles. Tried ketchup over xmas break and green peppers. Seemed to not set well.....but weeks later now I'm a mess. Went to er and am on prednisone. How do I fix this....safe foods not working!

Post by **tex** » Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:59 pm

Sorry to hear of the flare. Did you use budesonide the first time to help reach remission? If so, you may need to go through the full treatment again. Without budesonide to help suppress the inflammation, it may (will probably) take several months for the diet to achieve enough healing for remission to return. Full flares can prove to be very tough to resolve. Foods need to be be squeaky-clean safe, and stop all supplements.

Tex

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 1:28 am

I seem to be stuck in a cycle of horrible heartburn that wakes me up around midnight and keeps waking me up then as soon as I get up it's the d and burning. Is there a way to break the cycle? Maybe stop the acid in my throat and burning stomach?

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:04 am

Vitamin D has been shown by published research to help prevent heartburn and reflux (in larger doses — 5,000–10,000 IU). Magnesium can help to prevent reflux, but be careful because too much of the wrong kind of magnesium can cause diarrhea, and it might be counterproductive if you already have diarrhea.. Since this is happening while you are sleeping, make sure that you never lay on your right side. When we lay on our right side, the stomach is above the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), so if the LES spasms or otherwise leaks, acid will get into the throat. Lying on our back, or our right side, the LES is above the stomach and reflux shouldn't occur. If you're turning onto your right side while sleeping, lay a pillow or something in the way so that you can't turn onto your right side while you're asleep.

If you're eating any carbs, they're a primary cause of heartburn/reflux. A minimum-carb or no-carb diet has been shown to cure heartburn for most people.

I hope this helps.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:44 am

Also, avoid eating 3 or 4 hours before going to bed so that your stomach should be close to empty by bedtime. Especially avoid heartburn and reflux promoters such as tomatoes or any other citrus fruit, fried or fatty foods, spices/garlic/onion, chocolate, caffeine, or mint.

Tex

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 8:58 am

You are awesome thanks for the advice. It's good to get some positive info when you are feeling rough. The prednisone seems to be helping.....I fly home today so tomorrow I will try and get back on budesonide. I haven't needed meds since initial diagnosis. About a month ago I started eating the dried pineapple bites for some flavor in my life.....could this have been the trigger? Usually a small flare will last a day or two... but this is very long.

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 10:40 am

Maybe, but probably not. As you said, when we are well-healed, small flares usually don't last long. Something else probably contributed, such as stress, maybe even stress caused by the Holidays. Stress alone is capable of breaking long-time remission if it's significant enough, or lasts a while.

Tex

Post by **Rosie** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 12:06 pm

Also, you might want to look into the Pepto-Bismol treatment. A recent newsletter had an article on this. It might help with heartburn too.

https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 856994.pdf

I had a flare a few months ago and have had a clean diet for years now. Who knows what caused it. But I tried the Pepto treament and it really helped. My experience was that although I improved somewhat, I was still having D during the treatment. I was discouraged, but after I stopped the Pepto my gut went back to fairly normal after a few days. So a delayed reaction for me. Of course everyone is different.........

Good luck, we know how discouraging a flare can be!

Rosie

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 1:11 pm

Been on pepto tablets for a long time...usually take 2 or 4 a day. They aren't helping right now. If this was caused by stress and not a food mistake will it clear up faster or does that not matter?

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:22 pm

To be honest, I really don't know what the statistics might be, but thinking back about a few of the cases posted here, stress-induced flares may be more difficult to resolve than diet problems. For one thing, it's usually more difficult to get the stress under control than to correct one's diet. IOW, stress often becomes a chronic issue, and since stress creates intestinal inflammation, it can take a while to resolve that inflammation, after the stress is gone.

That's just my opinion, based on published research showing that stress causes inflammation.

Tex

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:40 pm

Went to family doc....he only prescribed 6mg budesonide.....he wouldn't let me get 9. Wants me to find a specialist in my area. Anybody good down here in mobile al or pensacola fl??

Post by **tex** » Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:45 pm

The closest I'm aware of would be around Atlanta, GA. GI docs who savy MC are few and far between as a rule.

Tex

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:01 pm

All Day Chemist could provide Budez equivalent to Budesonide - I just ordered it they come in 3mg but it could supplement your 6mg. A 90day pack was $63 includes shipping so in essence it would be a month supply of 9 mg per day if one went that route.

I am trying it to see if I can break my cycle flare that hit after I got a cold in November....this was after I had an Explant surgery in July so perhaps the stress of that, and then the cold that took forever for the mucus to clear out (close to a month of that yuck) and then the holidays....so I suspect stress caused mine.

You don't need a prescription for this either....I just gave them a copy of my drivers license to prove who I am and verify my address.

armstrongpilot · Post by **armstrongpilot** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:04 am

Thanks erica. Sorry to hear u are flaring again. This is Tmi but I don't understand.....prednisone is giving me very hard stool with mucus d inbetween.......do I need fiber or metamucil to find and equilibrium? It is so wierd to have const. And d at the exact same time! Man I hate this.

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:13 am

Predinsone was too harsh on my system, the budensonide is a lot less pushy as I call it on our system than prednisone is. Fiber will scratch, as I interpret it, the lining of our intestines so the only other alternative would be a magnesium citrate to help move along stools....I would be able to deal better with some D than too much C...C hurts and is really uncomfortable.

Thanks Armstrongpilot, your scenario is rather tricky while trying to cater to both sides of the spectum. I do hope you find your happy medium soon.