Good news! Diet caused remission?

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Sophia

Sophia

Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
183
Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share some really good news I got today! I'm so happy!

I started on something similar to the Specific carbohydrate diet on 11 June. Just before starting the diet, I had a fecal test taken, and the test result was 455.

On 5 July, after less than a month on the new diet I had another fecal test taken.

I got the results from the test today, and guess what! My value was 16!!!!!

YAY!!!

Has anyone else had fecal tests done recently? Do you find that the results (high or low) correspond with how you feel?

:D :D :D

I'm going to celebrate by going to bed early! ;)

Lotta love and peace!
 
Hi everyone!

Thanks for the sweet messages! :) I feel pretty good now, at least after finding this out. ;)

The FeCal test is a test done on a stool sample to see how much calprotectin there is in the stool. This is thought to be a good marker of how severe the inflammation in the bowel is.

I've read a few articles on the FeCal test, but all of them are in Norwegian, so no use in giving you the links to them. I'll see if I can find some in English! :)

Here is the scale that I was given (I've translated it, so please excuse me if some things don't make sense!)

Known IBD:

50 mg/kg: Value is within the reference area, mucosal healing is probable
50 - 100 mg/kg: No or little IBD activity
100 - 250 mg/kg: Light to moderate activity
250 - 500 mg/kg: Moderate activity
>500 mg/kg: Strong activity

Here are a few links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faecal_calprotectin

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18050298 (This one also presents a different fecal test looking at a different protein than calprotectin, which has a high accuracy it seems. Never heard of this before. )
 
believeinbeingwell said:
Sophie are you still following this diet? Has anyone else had success with this diet?
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Yes, I am still on a diet. My diet is:

No sugar, no grains (not even gluten free), no milk/cream, no red meat, no potatoes, max one fruit a day. (Hope I didn't forget to mention anything...)

I eat this: Vegetables, salad, chicken, fish, nuts, seeds, cheese and berries (yum!). I also take supplements: multi-vitamins, omega 3, chrome and zinc. (I would advise you to check if you need any supplements, and especially if going on a strict diet, because you may eliminate certain foods that are primary sources of some nutrients. Getting help from a dietician is good in this respect because they know what you can substitute with. Also us Crohnies may have a lower uptake of certain nutrients due to our inflamed intestines, so worth checking that out...)

This is a special diet that my dietician gave me after interviewing me about my disease and reading my food diary. If you have the strength to try and go on a diet without supervision you could, but I know that having someone supervising me and having someone to discuss with/give me recipes and knowing that they can help me alter the diet over time if needed is "comforting". :)

As you can tell I'm not really on the SCD, but something similar. I found reading breakingtheviciouscycle.info useful and interesting, and it seems pretty well-founded to me.

I would say give it a try with the diet, it can't do any harm, and if it works it is wonderful to be able to control the disease without/with less medication. :)

I know several people have had success with changing their diet, but it seems that many of us are slightly different and benefit from leaving different types of food out of our diet. Maybe it has to do with where our Crohn's is located, or maybe it is due to our bacterial flora in the intestines, or maybe it is something completely different. Who knows.

From what I have seen though, many people find their condition improves after cutting out gluten, sugar and milk. But people say different things here, so obviously this is a complex topic, which doesn't have one right answer, it seems.

I wish you the best of luck with managing your disease, and with a diet if you decide to try it!

Hugs,
 
I followed the SCD diet to the best of my ability. I did feel good and lost weight. Also the swelling/bloating went down. The problem I had.. it is very isolating and I went crazy trying to incorpoate only those foods. It is hell when goign out to eat.. or some i know don't eat out at all.. let alone go to someone's hosue for a meal. And i seemed to be constantly hungry. I could never get enough to eat. I eventually starting bingeign I was so hungry..and the guilt and fear came in bad.
I jsut keep trying. Right now I need a program to lsoe weight. I've been overweight for a long time. I am considerign going to Weight Watchers. my disease is fairly well under control. I don't have a lot of pain. I also know that lifestyle is a big issue. I have a family who lives in crisis and chaos. I can go there too.. but have to listen to my bosy and some tiems.. pull myself out and islaote from them. I use the disease as an excuse some tiems cause I know they don't want to hear the truth.
 
fromthegut said:
I followed the SCD diet to the best of my ability. I did feel good and lost weight. Also the swelling/bloating went down. The problem I had.. it is very isolating and I went crazy trying to incorpoate only those foods. It is hell when goign out to eat.. or some i know don't eat out at all.. let alone go to someone's hosue for a meal. And i seemed to be constantly hungry. I could never get enough to eat. I eventually starting bingeign I was so hungry..and the guilt and fear came in bad.
I jsut keep trying. Right now I need a program to lsoe weight. I've been overweight for a long time. I am considerign going to Weight Watchers. my disease is fairly well under control. I don't have a lot of pain. I also know that lifestyle is a big issue. I have a family who lives in crisis and chaos. I can go there too.. but have to listen to my bosy and some tiems.. pull myself out and islaote from them. I use the disease as an excuse some tiems cause I know they don't want to hear the truth.
Click to expand...

Hiya,

I too found it difficult in the beginning, especially since I didn't feel full after eating vegetables, salads and grains. After I while though, it was as if I got used to it, and I felt full from my new meals, and I didn't get that intense hunger feeling that I would always get before. I would just get so hungry all of a sudden, and be desperate for a candy bar or some quick calories just to feel better. I don't have that now, and it feels good. I hope you'll find back to a diet that helps you again, even though it's difficult. What I do is, I go out to eat occasionally and try to go to places where they have healthy food. Most of the time all dishes are with some things I can't eat so I have to ask them to not serve me potatoes for example, but most restaurants are more than happy to give you some extra vegetables if you ask. :) Also, I think, if you have the disease under control, and you mostly stick to a diet, you can go out sometimes and not worry too much about the sugar in the dressing and the potato on the side, because eating it will be an exception and won't matter too much in the long run. :)

I thought it was really helpful to go to a dietician who helps me with my diet, gives me recipes and sees to that I get all my nutrients even though I'm eliminating some foods. Maybe that would be a good solution for you too? A dietician would also be able to help you on your weight control, with body analysis, good recipes etc. But changing life style and diet takes time and effort. There is no changing that...

As far as support goes, I feel I've found tons of it in here, and it is so helpful talking to people who know what you are going through! Way easier, and there are so many nice people here! :)

Good luck with everything!

Hugs,
 
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I think I see what is going on.

They evaluated how much unabsorbed energy was passing through your gut and modified your diet to make it more easily digested. That brought the amount of calories that were not getting absorbed down. It that right?

I find it interesting how diet works with this disease. We have troubles in the small bowel that result in poor absorption of nutrients and or re-absorption of Bile. Once that stuff hits the large bowel it causes grief.

It's great that you are managing the symptoms with a diet! Feels great to be in remission don't it :D
 
:rosette1:So happy for you Sophia! Maybe on the diet forum you could go into more detail about your diet and recipes for us. I am interested in trying this.

As a side note, my father is from Harstad Norway!
 
Aaw, you guys are so sweet! :)

Mountaingem: A fellow Norwegian, what great news! :D Have you ever been in Norway? I can definitely post a thread with more details of my diet. I'll do it first thing next week after I've been on a short holiday! :D

Take care all of you, and talk soon! xoxo
 
Sophia,

thanks for your reply. I started the scd - one day so far (and I already cheated - tee hee - just had a small biscuit) but I am on track and committed to it, because I think it can help me eat more in the long run. Going to a dietician is a good idea. I went to one, but the diet she gave me was generic and one had to eat EXACTLY the same thing every day - NO variation, which drove me nuts. SCD, while very limited has at least a little variation. I can't wait to include the home made yoghurt - which is like week 8 or something. I do worry a little that one eats a lot of fruit. I've been so long on a candida diet that I'm so trained in no sugar - even fruit, but I'll keep going and see how it is. I eat, chicken, fish, carrots, zuchini, bananas, baked/cooked apples and pears. Each week, I add something new.:hug:
 
That is great news, and I am happy you found something that helped you out.

You have got to be eating some pickled herring. No Norwegian can give that up without a fight.

Apparently the U.S. is one of the only countries that thinks diet plays no role in this disease. I am glad there are other countries that are more sensible about this.

Dan
 
D Bergy said:
That is great news, and I am happy you found something that helped you out.

You have got to be eating some pickled herring. No Norwegian can give that up without a fight.

Apparently the U.S. is one of the only countries that thinks diet plays no role in this disease. I am glad there are other countries that are more sensible about this.

Dan
Click to expand...
+1

I admire people who can follow these types of diets strictly. They have a mental toughness that I don't seem to have. I went on SCD for about 4 months and did really well and got off all meds but I eventually folded and gradually started cheating more and more until I got really sick.

I don't know if I could ever get back on the wagon, I'll probably try again if I ever get very sick again. Just very hard to find the time to cook every food for myself. I'm a terrible cook so I ended up cooking tons of stuff while on SCD that turned out to be awful, so I ended up just not eating because the food I cooked was disgusting. I just need to find a woman whose an awesome cook.

can't believe this is an emoticon! :allright:
 
Okay, I'm sneakily in here at work trying to reply quickly! :p

Thanks, Mike! :) It isn't as hard as it sounds! Honestly! ;)

believinbeingwell: Glad you are trying out a diet. And I totally agree: variation is imperative! :) Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Dan: No pickled herring for me! The Swedes eat that more than us Norwegians, though my mum has always tried to get me to eat herring in every form or shape. I absolutely hate it! :p Probably is really healthy though! :D

Unfortunately I've also had a hard time trying to convince my doctors about diet having an effect over here. I was always told it had nothing to do with it, so I was quite happy about that. ;) Ate anything and everything. I only just tried going to a dietician recently as my only other option was Prednisone again. Wasn't convinced it would work, but I just gave it a try. :) And it seems to have been working wonders with me, but as my specialist said: It could just be the Crohn's naturally going into remission, as we all know life with Crohn's is "up and down"... :) Who knows, but I know I'm feeling much better right now! :) Are you on a diet?

Poppysocks: Know what you mean. It's difficult to remain strict over a longer period of time, especially if you feel so well that you can't really see the "problem" with just having a few of the "no"-foods. ;) I wonder how long I will last? :) And I'm also totally with you on the cooking. I pretty much suck when it comes to being creative and not using pre-fabricates in my cooking. It's a challenge, but I'm on it! My crispbread saved me though, I just make tons of it, and eat it like bread. It's easy and you don't have to be a masterchef to survive. :)

All right, time is up! Take care all!

Big hugs,
 
I hate to be contentious, but I have to say that one thing I really like about the diet is that it is so easy to cook. I know what you guys mean, about the additive stuff that makes food taste good, but personally, I find when I have fewer options, I make sure to use what I can - to put it to the best use. For example, chicken with carrots, a bit of salt (salt is what makes chicken so yummy) and paprika, in the oven and viola! I used to be so set on cooking the best, most gourmet kind of dishes, now I realize how good 'simple' tastes. (The other trick is to cook it for not too long). I must say though, that I do crave carbs. Thanks poppysocks for saying that we have mental strength to do it - you do too! It has to be worth it for you to go on. Keep us posted.
p.s. sophia - what's your crispbread about - probably made from seeds?
 
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This is WONDERFUL news Sophia! I have also been told that diet has nothing to do with Crohns. I couldn't understand how this was possible since all food touches my intestines directly. And yes it's a hard diet, but well worth it. I too follow a similar diet with great results. I am not quite as restrictive as Sophia, I do eat dairy and meat. I have cut out wheat, corn and gluten. I also cut out all derivatives such as ketchup, mustard, soy sauce... I have set up a blog specifying what I eat and what I don't eat. There are some recipes and recommendations for specific foods. As Sophia says, we don't know if this will work for everyone, but it is worth a try. If nothing else, it may by worthwhile to keep a food diary and keep track of what you eat and the results. BTW, I am currently medication free because of this diet. I have been for 2 years. Feel free to check out my blog:

www.HowIbeatCrohns-Lynne.blogspot.com
 
Hi again!

Believeinbeingwell: Yes, you are right, my crispbread is made out of seeds. It is really yummy! :) You can find my recipe here: lovinglifewithcrohns.blogspot.com

Uli: I am currently on Asacol (1600 mg a day). Not sure if it is of any help, but haven't dared to quit just yet. :)

Lynne: Yeah, we just need to spread the word so people can try it. And hopefully more people will have an effect from changing their diet. It is so worth the effort! :)

xoxo
 

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