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Hi. I just got a diagnosis of lymphocytic colitis today and found your group. I've been having diarrhea since October 4th - yes, I can pinpoint the date-completed a course of flagyl, suspecting giardia; then had a colonoscopy/biopsy and here we are. My doc prescribed a short course (3-4 wks) of Entocort to heal my colon. I'm hopeful, but skeptical of pharmaceutical "cures", leaning more toward the naturopathic. I haven't read through that many posts yet, but notice that a number of you are using dietary interventions and supplements. I've been taking fish oil for years and avoid dairy products and pork because they trigger migraines for me (and rashes and diarrhea with dairy). Any advice to get me started would be appreciated.
Thanks
New member
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
TP we are very glad you found us. You could read what Tex wrote to our newbie Suede.....until he finds your post. Also, read at www.enterolab.comI haven't taken any meds other than Welchol for my LC. I found this site on a Friday and by Monday, I was gluten free (GF). I did really well at first but then the D started again. I suspected another intolerance because of the experiences of the Potty People. The 2nd EL test showed that I had a soy intolerance....
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
Thanks for the welcome, Joan. I just read all the messages to Mackenzie, who joined a week ago. Good info.
My son has been gluten and casein free for about 8 years and we just got rid of soy for him a few months ago as well. His GI and autism symptoms improved dramatically with this diet. Dang. I guess I'm eating with him tomorrow. At least I already have some good recipes and a killer brownie mix.
Teresa
My son has been gluten and casein free for about 8 years and we just got rid of soy for him a few months ago as well. His GI and autism symptoms improved dramatically with this diet. Dang. I guess I'm eating with him tomorrow. At least I already have some good recipes and a killer brownie mix.
Teresa
TP
Hi Teresa, and welcome to our internet family.
The bad news is that LC cannot be "cured". The good news is that the symptoms can certainly be controlled, and if you choose to do so, they can be controlled by diet changes alone, for most of us. Some of us have such severe symptoms, that a med such as Entocort may be necessary to help achieve remission, and then after the intestines have healed sufficiently, the Entocort dosage can be slowly tapered, and eventually stopped completely, so long as the diet is maintained.
When MC is triggered, in most cases, another gene is also triggered that makes us gluten-sensitive. Gluten is a component of the primary protein in wheat, so we have to avoid anything that contains any trace of wheat. Rye and barley have a similar effect, and to a limited extent, oats, so we also have to avoid those protein fractions, (secalin, hordein, and avenin, respectively). We will almost always test negative with the classic celiac blood tests, but we are just as gluten-sensitive as most celiacs. Most GI docs are still unaware of this connection with food intolerances, so they will argue that diet changes will have no effect on MC, but many of us here are living proof that the doctors are totally wrong when they make that claim. Most of us are also casein-intolerant. Casein is the main protein in milk, and this has nothing to do with lactose intolerance, though most of us are also lactose intolerant, at least until our gut heals.
As Joan mentioned, about half of us are also intolerant of the protein in soy, (soya), and a few of us are intolerant to the proteins in other foods as well, but these are by far the most common. I see that you mention pork as an intolerance. In my case, I practically lived on pork and potatoes for a few years, while my gut was healing, but beef would cause symptoms for me. We are all different in many ways, but the vast majority of us are intolerant of gluten and casein, for starters.
So, if you prefer the natural way, and you are already familiar with avoiding gluten and casein in your son's diet, then I believe that your best bet is to fine-tune a diet that will work for you, and it should allow you to get your life back. This site contains a world of information on treatment by diet, and there is also a tremendous amount of information on meds that work for MC, if you should decide to try a med. Please feel free to ask anything, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey back to health. With your previous experience, you've got a big head start on most of us.
Again, welcome aboard,
Tex (Wayne)
The bad news is that LC cannot be "cured". The good news is that the symptoms can certainly be controlled, and if you choose to do so, they can be controlled by diet changes alone, for most of us. Some of us have such severe symptoms, that a med such as Entocort may be necessary to help achieve remission, and then after the intestines have healed sufficiently, the Entocort dosage can be slowly tapered, and eventually stopped completely, so long as the diet is maintained.
When MC is triggered, in most cases, another gene is also triggered that makes us gluten-sensitive. Gluten is a component of the primary protein in wheat, so we have to avoid anything that contains any trace of wheat. Rye and barley have a similar effect, and to a limited extent, oats, so we also have to avoid those protein fractions, (secalin, hordein, and avenin, respectively). We will almost always test negative with the classic celiac blood tests, but we are just as gluten-sensitive as most celiacs. Most GI docs are still unaware of this connection with food intolerances, so they will argue that diet changes will have no effect on MC, but many of us here are living proof that the doctors are totally wrong when they make that claim. Most of us are also casein-intolerant. Casein is the main protein in milk, and this has nothing to do with lactose intolerance, though most of us are also lactose intolerant, at least until our gut heals.
As Joan mentioned, about half of us are also intolerant of the protein in soy, (soya), and a few of us are intolerant to the proteins in other foods as well, but these are by far the most common. I see that you mention pork as an intolerance. In my case, I practically lived on pork and potatoes for a few years, while my gut was healing, but beef would cause symptoms for me. We are all different in many ways, but the vast majority of us are intolerant of gluten and casein, for starters.
So, if you prefer the natural way, and you are already familiar with avoiding gluten and casein in your son's diet, then I believe that your best bet is to fine-tune a diet that will work for you, and it should allow you to get your life back. This site contains a world of information on treatment by diet, and there is also a tremendous amount of information on meds that work for MC, if you should decide to try a med. Please feel free to ask anything, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey back to health. With your previous experience, you've got a big head start on most of us.
Again, welcome aboard,
Tex (Wayne)
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.
Thanks for the info, Tex.
I do feel fortunate to have a diagnosis so soon after I started having symptoms - almost three months - seemed like an eternity until I started reading some of the posts here. And then to find this group right away. And, hey, I already knew what gluten was, even though I was dragging my feet on quitting it. I think soy will be the most difficult thing for me to avoid. Do you or does anybody else have a recommendation on how to go about eliminating things from my diet? You mentioned living off of mainly pork and potatoes for a long time and somebody else posted that they ate maybe three things until their gut healed. I have no idea what to eat tomorrow. I guess gluten, casein, and soy free is a good start. How long does it usually take to see changes?
You also mentioned somewhere (and I can't remember where now, I've been all over this site) that some members have had neurological side effects to Entocort. I couldn't find anything else on that, could you tell me more?
Thanks again.
I do feel fortunate to have a diagnosis so soon after I started having symptoms - almost three months - seemed like an eternity until I started reading some of the posts here. And then to find this group right away. And, hey, I already knew what gluten was, even though I was dragging my feet on quitting it. I think soy will be the most difficult thing for me to avoid. Do you or does anybody else have a recommendation on how to go about eliminating things from my diet? You mentioned living off of mainly pork and potatoes for a long time and somebody else posted that they ate maybe three things until their gut healed. I have no idea what to eat tomorrow. I guess gluten, casein, and soy free is a good start. How long does it usually take to see changes?
You also mentioned somewhere (and I can't remember where now, I've been all over this site) that some members have had neurological side effects to Entocort. I couldn't find anything else on that, could you tell me more?
Thanks again.
TP
Teresa,
Evidently, some of the GI docs are beginning to catch on to the fact that this disease is not nearly as rare as the medical literature claims that it is, because your diagnosis was a pretty fast, by previous standards.
Look at some of Jean's lists in the following forum, to get some idea of which food ingredients should be avoided, in order to avoid soy, gluten, casein, corn, etc.:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6
If you will look at the sixth post in the following thread, (a post by me), you will see a list of seven old threads where we listed what we were eating on the day of those posts. Remember that we don't all have the same intolerances, of course, so some diets are more liberal than others:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8354
Also, there are at least a couple hundred proven recipes listed here, in Dee's Kitchen (Dee is a professional chef):
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
I see that you found Barbara's description of how Entocort affected her. Her effects were probably the quickest and most severe, (neurologically, at least), of any member here. When you look at the listed side effects of Entocort, you can often find neurological effects listed as a possible side effect for long-term use of the drug. For example, at this site:
http://www.drugs.com/pro/entocort-ec.html
you can find this listing:
I don't recall ever seeing this listing under short-term trial adverse events, however, and the neurological adverse events mentioned by members here, have usually occurred after only a few days of use, and sometimes after only one day of use. In some cases, these effects have even included loss of balance and coordination, IOW, rather severe neurological effects, (as in Barbara's case). Vertigo has been mentioned somewhat frequently here, by members who use Entocort, though the more severe effects have been experienced by only a few. With as many members as we have, and so many years of accumulated data from actual experience, we have learned a lot of things that can't be found in the literature, and we have discovered features of the disease that are unknown to most GI docs.
The net treatment time to remission, seems to depend on how much damage has been accrued to the intestines, (IOW, how long it took to get a diagnosis and to begin treatment), and on our genes, (number and type of intolerances). We have discovered that those with double DQ serologic equivalents have more intolerances, and have a much tougher time achieving remission.
I hope this helps.
You're more than welcome,
Tex
Evidently, some of the GI docs are beginning to catch on to the fact that this disease is not nearly as rare as the medical literature claims that it is, because your diagnosis was a pretty fast, by previous standards.
Look at some of Jean's lists in the following forum, to get some idea of which food ingredients should be avoided, in order to avoid soy, gluten, casein, corn, etc.:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6
If you will look at the sixth post in the following thread, (a post by me), you will see a list of seven old threads where we listed what we were eating on the day of those posts. Remember that we don't all have the same intolerances, of course, so some diets are more liberal than others:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8354
Also, there are at least a couple hundred proven recipes listed here, in Dee's Kitchen (Dee is a professional chef):
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
I see that you found Barbara's description of how Entocort affected her. Her effects were probably the quickest and most severe, (neurologically, at least), of any member here. When you look at the listed side effects of Entocort, you can often find neurological effects listed as a possible side effect for long-term use of the drug. For example, at this site:
http://www.drugs.com/pro/entocort-ec.html
you can find this listing:
as part of a group of possible adverse events due to long term use in clinical trials. (Hyperkinesia refers to abnormal, or agitated muscle movements, and paresthesia refers to tingling or numbness of skin, and associated issues).Central and Peripheral Nervous System: hyperkinesia, paresthesia, tremor, vertigo;
I don't recall ever seeing this listing under short-term trial adverse events, however, and the neurological adverse events mentioned by members here, have usually occurred after only a few days of use, and sometimes after only one day of use. In some cases, these effects have even included loss of balance and coordination, IOW, rather severe neurological effects, (as in Barbara's case). Vertigo has been mentioned somewhat frequently here, by members who use Entocort, though the more severe effects have been experienced by only a few. With as many members as we have, and so many years of accumulated data from actual experience, we have learned a lot of things that can't be found in the literature, and we have discovered features of the disease that are unknown to most GI docs.
The net treatment time to remission, seems to depend on how much damage has been accrued to the intestines, (IOW, how long it took to get a diagnosis and to begin treatment), and on our genes, (number and type of intolerances). We have discovered that those with double DQ serologic equivalents have more intolerances, and have a much tougher time achieving remission.
I hope this helps.
You're more than welcome,
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.
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kate_ce1995
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1321
- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 5:53 pm
- Location: Vermont
As for what you can eat if you want to try going gluten free...just eat what your son is eating. Many try keeping to real basics...plain meat and potatos or rice as they try to understand the diet, along with the element of not wanting to eat because of the D. Since you are already preparing gf foods, I'd probably (my opinion) just go along with his diet for now. Even the multi-intolerant (hopfully Polly will chime in...she is the queen of multiple intolerances) seem to improve at first with removal of just one or two intolerances, then additional ones were found as they tried to go from good to great.
You found an awesome group!
Katy
You found an awesome group!
Katy
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
- Posts: 3865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
- Location: SE Pennsylvania
Welcome Teresa!
Sorry to see why you are here but this family can really hope each other through some rough days. Diet is my main solution after trying numerous drugs and the last being Entocort which did have side effects for me in the balance department. At first gluten seems very difficult to give up but it does become common place after a while and sorting out of diet has been very instrumental to a number of us.
Keep reading and nothing is too far off the wall to ask.
Maggie
Sorry to see why you are here but this family can really hope each other through some rough days. Diet is my main solution after trying numerous drugs and the last being Entocort which did have side effects for me in the balance department. At first gluten seems very difficult to give up but it does become common place after a while and sorting out of diet has been very instrumental to a number of us.
Keep reading and nothing is too far off the wall to ask.
Maggie
Maggie Scarpone
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
___________________
Resident Birder - I live to bird and enjoy life!
Teresa;
Welcome to our on-line family!
I am somewhat envious of your situation - I spent 6 months with severe diarrhea before a diagnosis, and was told this was quick! WOW - in just 3 months you already know what's causing you to be sick! As Tex said, some docs are seeing this is more common than previously thought and they are now testing for it much sooner.
And, to already be aware of the GF diet - that seemed to take me forever to learn. I kept making mistakes (and suffering for them) as I tried to stick to the diet. As you probably already know, understanding the diet can make it commonplace in your life! That's great to already have recipes and understanding of the diet.
You mentioned someone eating just a few things to help with control. You may have been reading one of my posts. I have used the BRAT diet for control. That is an acronym for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Tea (some say Toast). Many of these foods are triggers for people with GI issues, but I learned this diet years ago and it seems to work for me. When I am on it, I eat small amounts whenever I want and never sit down to a "meal" - the small amounts makes it a bit easier on the GI tract, also. Tea is also very soothing to my gut, and I prefer peppermint tea for the soothing effect. Some also like ginger tea for an upset GI.
As for suggestions, I would just begin following what you feed your son, and staying with as much "plain" foods as possible (ie; meats cooked alone, vegetables cooked plain - without sauces - fresh or steamed fruits for dessert and possibly GF breads).
Here's to a blessed New Year and a healthier New Life!
G'ma Mary
Welcome to our on-line family!
I am somewhat envious of your situation - I spent 6 months with severe diarrhea before a diagnosis, and was told this was quick! WOW - in just 3 months you already know what's causing you to be sick! As Tex said, some docs are seeing this is more common than previously thought and they are now testing for it much sooner.
And, to already be aware of the GF diet - that seemed to take me forever to learn. I kept making mistakes (and suffering for them) as I tried to stick to the diet. As you probably already know, understanding the diet can make it commonplace in your life! That's great to already have recipes and understanding of the diet.
You mentioned someone eating just a few things to help with control. You may have been reading one of my posts. I have used the BRAT diet for control. That is an acronym for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Tea (some say Toast). Many of these foods are triggers for people with GI issues, but I learned this diet years ago and it seems to work for me. When I am on it, I eat small amounts whenever I want and never sit down to a "meal" - the small amounts makes it a bit easier on the GI tract, also. Tea is also very soothing to my gut, and I prefer peppermint tea for the soothing effect. Some also like ginger tea for an upset GI.
As for suggestions, I would just begin following what you feed your son, and staying with as much "plain" foods as possible (ie; meats cooked alone, vegetables cooked plain - without sauces - fresh or steamed fruits for dessert and possibly GF breads).
Here's to a blessed New Year and a healthier New Life!
G'ma Mary
Those who are not part of the solution, are part of the problem.
Teresa,
Here are a few other things to be aware of, while you are in the recovery stage: Many/most of us have problems with artificial sweeteners, (especially sorbitol), and large amounts of sugar can cause problems, while we are "sensitized", due to active MC. Fiber can be a real problem, due to the fact that the inflammation caused by MC tends to make the intestinal epithelium, (the inner surface of the intestines), extremely sensitive, and easily irritated. Because of that, many/most of us have to be very careful of most fruits, (especially the peel, since it is mostly fiber), and some vegetables, (especially leafy vegetables, such as lettuce). Fruit intake should generally be minimized, and any fruits and vegetables eaten should be well-cooked, (never raw). Avoid lettuce like the plague, until you are fully recovered. Melons cause problems for a lot of us, also, while we are reacting. Once you are in remission, and your gut has healed, you can slowly add fruits and vegetables back into your diet, and you will once again be able to eat raw fruits and veggies, without problems.
Tex
Here are a few other things to be aware of, while you are in the recovery stage: Many/most of us have problems with artificial sweeteners, (especially sorbitol), and large amounts of sugar can cause problems, while we are "sensitized", due to active MC. Fiber can be a real problem, due to the fact that the inflammation caused by MC tends to make the intestinal epithelium, (the inner surface of the intestines), extremely sensitive, and easily irritated. Because of that, many/most of us have to be very careful of most fruits, (especially the peel, since it is mostly fiber), and some vegetables, (especially leafy vegetables, such as lettuce). Fruit intake should generally be minimized, and any fruits and vegetables eaten should be well-cooked, (never raw). Avoid lettuce like the plague, until you are fully recovered. Melons cause problems for a lot of us, also, while we are reacting. Once you are in remission, and your gut has healed, you can slowly add fruits and vegetables back into your diet, and you will once again be able to eat raw fruits and veggies, without problems.
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.
Wow. I feel like I woke up this morning to find a bunch of new friends in my kitchen - friends with whom I can sit around in my pajamas and talk about poop! 
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and good advice.
This morning I talked with my father in law, who is a retired clinical pathologist, as well. He wants to look at my lab results and make sure we rule out lymphocytic lymphoma. Anybody hear of this or deal with it?
Thanks.
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and good advice.This morning I talked with my father in law, who is a retired clinical pathologist, as well. He wants to look at my lab results and make sure we rule out lymphocytic lymphoma. Anybody hear of this or deal with it?
Thanks.
TP
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RUBYREDDOG
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 158
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:45 pm
- Location: Glendale, Ca.
Teresa, Welcome to our group. You have already received some excellent advice, in this thread, alone. There is a lot to sift through on this site.
3-4 weeks on Entocort seems to be too short a time, based on the experiences of others in our group. Perhaps your doctor is just trying to give you an optimistic outlook for this disease. I commend him for prescribing Entocort right off the bat. Mine prescribed Prednisone, which did nothing for me but give me severe leg cramps. Time will tell if your doc will be able to help you or not.
I have taken the diet alone approach to achieve remission. It has been 6 months for me, but I seem to have reached a plateau of sorts, where I have a few good days followed by a few bad days, and some watery D on other occasions. I have been in this state for about 8 weeks now so I have decided to institute a trial program for 6 weeks, using Boswellia. This trial was beneficial for some who have UC. Hopefully this will give me better results than I have been able to achieve thus far.
Good luck on your journey to remission. You definitely have found the best place for real world information on MC.
Hotrod
3-4 weeks on Entocort seems to be too short a time, based on the experiences of others in our group. Perhaps your doctor is just trying to give you an optimistic outlook for this disease. I commend him for prescribing Entocort right off the bat. Mine prescribed Prednisone, which did nothing for me but give me severe leg cramps. Time will tell if your doc will be able to help you or not.
I have taken the diet alone approach to achieve remission. It has been 6 months for me, but I seem to have reached a plateau of sorts, where I have a few good days followed by a few bad days, and some watery D on other occasions. I have been in this state for about 8 weeks now so I have decided to institute a trial program for 6 weeks, using Boswellia. This trial was beneficial for some who have UC. Hopefully this will give me better results than I have been able to achieve thus far.
Good luck on your journey to remission. You definitely have found the best place for real world information on MC.
Hotrod
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Carol Arnett
- Gentoo Penguin
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:07 pm
welcome
Teresa,As I have seen, you have already been give tons of great advice so I will just leave out my two cents worth except to say that proton pump
Carol Arnett
Teresa,
To be honest, lymphocytic lymphoma is the last form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that I would be concerned about with a diagnosis of lymphocytic colitis. First off, lymphocytic lymphoma is a cancer of the B-lymphocytes, and LC is the result of a T-cell reaction. The odds of developing any type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, in connection with MC, are very small, typically a fraction of one percent, and these cases usually involve long-term cases of undiagnosed, or untreated gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and, of course, those cases would normally be T-cell related, (not B-Cell).
Your case was diagnosed extremely quickly. Lymphocytic lymphoma cases comprise only about 4 % of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases, altogether. Women are only about half as likely as men to acquire it, and it is quite rare, below the age of 50. Therefore, the odds of you having it are extremely small.
Even if you have swollen lymph glands, (a marker for lymphocytic lymphoma, or various other forms of lymphoma, for that matter), that's nothing to get excited about, because it was a common symptom for me, during many of my reaction episodes. Once I got my MC symptoms under control, all the swelling disappeared. Several members here have also been suspected by their doctors, of having all sorts of bad issues, such as pancreatic cancer, but the symptoms have always resolved, once the MC was brought under control. MC can affect virtually every organ in the body, and until it is brought under control, some diagnostic tests for other diseases, will often give false positive results.
Anyway, I don't believe that you have anything to be concerned about in that department. It's always a good idea to ask for a copy of your pathology report, though, when you receive a diagnosis of MC, because sometimes you can spot notations that your doctor wrote off as insignificant, and therefore didn't even consider, so he or she didn't even bother to tell you about it, when in fact, after doing some research here, or elsewhere on the net, you may discover that something important was overlooked, or simply ignored. It appears that some doctors may not be particularly good at interpreting pathology reports, and they can overlook relevant details, especially if they're not up to speed on MC. Some doctors still consider it to be, "just a little diarrhea".
And last, but not least, it is not unknown for pathologists to make mistakes when interpreting slides of biopsy samples, simply because they are not familiar enough with the markers of MC, (or whatever disease they are investigating). Also, like other doctors, I'm sure that in some situations, in their efforts to investigate and rule out other forms of IBD, they might possibly overlook markers relevant to MC. This may be a dirty little secret in the trade, but the fact of the matter is, pathologists are human, also, and no one is perfect. I'm certainly not implying that your FIL is not perfect, because as far as I'm aware, there is no reason to suspect that he is not perfect. Not all pathologists are as credible, however. It should be interesting to see what he has to say about it. He may be able to provide some interesting insight.
Tex
To be honest, lymphocytic lymphoma is the last form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that I would be concerned about with a diagnosis of lymphocytic colitis. First off, lymphocytic lymphoma is a cancer of the B-lymphocytes, and LC is the result of a T-cell reaction. The odds of developing any type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, in connection with MC, are very small, typically a fraction of one percent, and these cases usually involve long-term cases of undiagnosed, or untreated gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and, of course, those cases would normally be T-cell related, (not B-Cell).
Your case was diagnosed extremely quickly. Lymphocytic lymphoma cases comprise only about 4 % of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases, altogether. Women are only about half as likely as men to acquire it, and it is quite rare, below the age of 50. Therefore, the odds of you having it are extremely small.
Even if you have swollen lymph glands, (a marker for lymphocytic lymphoma, or various other forms of lymphoma, for that matter), that's nothing to get excited about, because it was a common symptom for me, during many of my reaction episodes. Once I got my MC symptoms under control, all the swelling disappeared. Several members here have also been suspected by their doctors, of having all sorts of bad issues, such as pancreatic cancer, but the symptoms have always resolved, once the MC was brought under control. MC can affect virtually every organ in the body, and until it is brought under control, some diagnostic tests for other diseases, will often give false positive results.
Anyway, I don't believe that you have anything to be concerned about in that department. It's always a good idea to ask for a copy of your pathology report, though, when you receive a diagnosis of MC, because sometimes you can spot notations that your doctor wrote off as insignificant, and therefore didn't even consider, so he or she didn't even bother to tell you about it, when in fact, after doing some research here, or elsewhere on the net, you may discover that something important was overlooked, or simply ignored. It appears that some doctors may not be particularly good at interpreting pathology reports, and they can overlook relevant details, especially if they're not up to speed on MC. Some doctors still consider it to be, "just a little diarrhea".
And last, but not least, it is not unknown for pathologists to make mistakes when interpreting slides of biopsy samples, simply because they are not familiar enough with the markers of MC, (or whatever disease they are investigating). Also, like other doctors, I'm sure that in some situations, in their efforts to investigate and rule out other forms of IBD, they might possibly overlook markers relevant to MC. This may be a dirty little secret in the trade, but the fact of the matter is, pathologists are human, also, and no one is perfect. I'm certainly not implying that your FIL is not perfect, because as far as I'm aware, there is no reason to suspect that he is not perfect. Not all pathologists are as credible, however. It should be interesting to see what he has to say about it. He may be able to provide some interesting insight.
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.