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My holistic treatment and diet diary for Lymphocytic Colitis

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
My costochondritis has flared back up a bit :( Frankly, I'm not sure why. Obviously it may have nothing to do with food. The only real thing I changed up was adding bananas back in which I've wondered about a little so I've cut them back out and will test them again in the future. Another possibility diet wise is this is a delayed reaction to my birthday binge. Kinda frustrating though because my chest was feeling SO GOOD for a short time there. The good news is my eye is doing great which is usually a leading indicator for my gut.

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 4
Eye inflammation - 1
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 7
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
My costochondritis is now back to feeling great.

I'm confused and don't know what to think or do. I guess it's possible that cutting out bananas again could have this drastic an effect if that was the cause but... oh hell... I don't know. At least I feel good though!

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 1
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 7
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I've been struggling with some pretty bad diarrhea the last 18 hours or so. I'm going to assume it it just a stomach bug or food poisoning as I've been one of the lucky few percent that hasn't had much of a problem with that. I accidentally ate a LOT of normal pasta which MAY be the culprit. I normally eat gluten free pasta on the rare occasion I do eat it but my wife made some normal pasta and didn't tell me. Not her fault though, I was the idiot who accidentally bought the stuff in the first place.

My eye inflammation is back as well. I've been pondering that and I'm going to try cutting out the carrot juice for a few days to see if that makes a difference. I hadn't drank any for a couple days and my eye was feeling better then yesterday I drank a ton and bam. I drink a LOT too. Just a little experiment :)

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 4
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 7
 

Gianni

Moderator
Hmm interesting about the carrot juice, I don't see any reason why it would aggravate the eyes but who knows. Maybe you overdosed on Vitamin A? Although dietary vitamin A overdose is nearly impossible.

The pasta might also be the culprit here especially if it were white pasta. Refined carbs will increase your glycemic index and cause oxidative stress and inflammation.

If you have them, include some kiwi's and swiss chard. Both are high in the antioxidant lutein which is amazing for our eyes.

http://www.naturalnews.com/010203_lutein_eye_health.html

Gianni
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
My eye inflammation has been going down quite nicely but I'd estimate it to be a 1.5-2 still. The, "this is kinda annoying" range. I have cut out the carrot juice but have still been eating carrots from the garden. I'm going to try cutting them out and see what happens. I realize it doesn't make much sense but I got the idea because my wife has a carrot allergy and her eyes get all red with them sometimes. It's not a strong theory on my part but it's all an experiment :)

Gianni, the pasta I eat is gluten free and is rice, quinoa, or flax based or a combination thereof. I do try to limit my intake of it but my wife gets a pasta craving every 10 days or so.

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 2
General aches - 2
Happy Scale - 5

I've been pretty moody the last few days. I'm not sure why. My lack of aerobic exercise no doubt doesn't help.

I've been eating some kiwi as well :) The swiss chard at our local store didn't look good to me and the ones I planted got decimated by bugs :(
 
What issues are carrots likely to cause with eyes, specifically? I know that I've heard that carrots are good for eyes, but what do they do specifically? Is this just a correlation thing for you that you're trying out?

I've been having a lot of trouble with my right eye ever since Izzy (then 2 years old) put her fingernail through my cornea directly over my pupil last year. I saw an opthamologist last week who prescribed regular application of hypertonic solution to help heal/close a "bubble" that's formed in my cornea over the injury. I wonder if some sort of supplementation might help ensure healing so that I can avoid any sort of laser surgery, which scares the life out of me.

I guess I wandered off topic a bit here... sorry. :)

Based on this thread I am eager to start supplementing with Mg and journal my own results with just that, but I'm wondering if I should wait until I'm at baseline bowel-wise for the best picture.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Frankly Muppet, I don't know what issue they would cause. Let's look at just one aspect from Linus Pauling:
Isomers of retinoic acid (RA) act as hormones to affect gene expression and thereby influence numerous physiological processes. All-trans-RA and 9-cis-RA are transported to the nucleus of the cell bound to cytoplasmic retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABP). Within the nucleus, RA binds to retinoic acid receptor proteins (diagram). Specifically, all-trans-RA binds to retinoic acid receptors (RAR) and 9-cis-RA binds to retinoid X receptors (RXR). RAR and RXR form RAR/RXR heterodimers; these heterodimers bind to regulatory regions of the chromosome called retinoic acid response elements (RARE). A dimer is a complex of two protein molecules. Heterodimers are complexes of two different proteins, while homodimers are complexes of two of the same protein. Binding of all-trans-RA and 9-cis-RA to RAR and RXR respectively allows the complex to regulate the rate of gene transcription, thereby influencing the synthesis of certain proteins. RXR may also form heterodimers with thyroid hormone receptors (THR) or vitamin D receptors (VDR). In this way, vitamin A, thyroid hormone, and vitamin D may interact to influence gene transcription (3). Through the stimulation and inhibition of transcription of specific genes, retinoic acid plays a major role in cellular differentiation, the specialization of cells for highly specific physiological roles. Many of the physiological effects attributed to vitamin A appear to result from its role in cellular differentiation.
So who knows what could be happening due to my high consumption of carrots but it's definitely affecting all kinds of stuff, much of which I don't understand and even more that science has no idea about yet. I just went and looked at the bottle of carrot juice I get from Costco and it says it contains the juice of 17 carrots. I was consuming one of those every two days and on top of that, another 1-2 carrots fresh from the garden. So around 8 carrots per day for a prolonged period. I believe too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing so I'm testing the possibility. If my eye inflammation disappears and stays gone, at some point I'll reintroduce carrots and see if it comes back.

I believe that we were once in much greater tune with the goings-on of our bodies. We didn't eat our food while being distracted by TV then jump on the computer and post on a forum. We'd eat our food and feel. We might feel for awhile that our bodies craved carrots so we'd consume them because they were in season. Then our bodies in one form or another would crave something else because that's what we needed and carrots were out of season so we'd move on and eat other stuff. Our body's would get a break from that specific food for awhile and other processes could take over. Now many of us (myself to a severe extent) are emotional eaters. I crave doritos and chocolate, not what I really need or don't need and I haven't been paying attention to the subtle signals my body sends me. So now it's screaming at me.

I'm trying to listen to my body and understand what it's trying to tell me.
 
I think you're probably right that without modern distractions (and modern variety of available foodstuffs) it was probably easier to correlate health/body changes with diet changes, but with delayed effects and trying not to be eaten by bears and all, I don't know how wide that gap could be.

I probably don't need egg nog and whiskey, though, so there's that. ;)

I've been craving whole milk (has to be whole) like CRAZY for 3 weeks solid now. I've been drinking so much of Izzy's milk that I have to buy an extra gallon almost every week. Intuitively I suspect it's bad for my Crohn's and that's why I almost never drink it, and I KNOW it's bad for my asthma, but I've been insatiably craving it for about 23 days now. It's odd to have such a very specific craving.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I don't think it's odd at all. I think it's quite natural and the body saying, "I need this or these specific nutrients". The question is whether that need is being met by what you're consuming or not. If a pregnant woman is iron deficient and starts eating ice cubes because of it, obviously that isn't going to help and yet that's exactly what happens to many.

If it was me, I would run an experiment. I'd consume what I was craving unless I knew it to be unhealthy and see if it satiated my craving after a short time. If it did and I didn't experience any adverse affects, then that's great. If it didn't satiate my craving, then I'd know I'm probably not getting what I need and see if I could figure something else out. If I was craving milk and what I purchased from the store wasn't helping, I'd personally seek out raw milk to try that, but that's just me and many would disagree with that idea.

I agree that the delayed effects can be problematic. But if all I'm eating is 5-15 organic, whole foods, then it's not too hard to figure out when something is going wrong. If I'm eating 20-40 processed foods each of which contain 20+ ingredients, many completely unnatural, then it's much harder to figure out where the reaction is coming from.

I'm admittedly grasping at straws here but I seem to get lucky once in awhile and the long term trend I've been experiencing over the last two years and been towards improved health. It's hard not to get frustrated at times and frankly, I do. I think that's where some of my binges come from. But I feel in my heart that I can feel well again and my long term health will actually benefit from all of this as I reconnect to what is optimal for my body.
 
No I think your argument about a small number of organic whole foods makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't call it grasping at straws. I wish it were more feasible for me to do it. I can certainly make some changes in that direction. My hurdles will be budget, availability, and the fact that my tiny plot of land has clay soil and doesn't readily grow much of anything.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Budget and availability are certainly hurdles. Your clay plot is absolutely not. If you actually want a cool garden, I'd suggest starting here. People don't have to grow their own food like me though. Finding local farmers markets and connecting with the local growers who are passionate about growing healthy food would be a good step.
 
We have local co-ops that will sell you a box of miscellaneous seasonal stuff for a decent price, but it's more expensive than the grocery store and we just instituted a very strict budget to get our finances under control. And in the winter you're back to the grocery store unless you buy double or triple during the growing season and then get into canning.

I think my dream is a raised plot and/or greenhouse, but I'm not sure if I have room for the latter and I have to be careful of my electric use, as utility rates are sky high in CT, and my water use (well goes dry with too much watering, and uses electricity, too).

Aside from the cost I think my biggest "obstacle" are two special needs kids and the fact that my wife and I work alternate schedules. It's a worthwhile thing to do but it'll take serious planning.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I feel like my lack of aerobic exercise casts a shadow on everything I'm doing here. It is so important yet I haven't been doing it. Enough of that BS. Starting today, I'm setting aside time like Cat-a-Tonic suggested. 5-6pm today is aerobic exercise time.

Someone get the defibrillator ready.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
My gut is a mess right now. Two days ago my wife made a mung dal with onions which I theorize may set me off (onions that is). I've also been eating tomatoes from the garden which is different than normal and I've wondered about tomatoes. Then of course last night we went to a party for New Years and I not only fell off the wagon, I shot and ate the horses. So who knows what the culprit(s) are.

Lower right gut pain - 6
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 2
General aches - 2
Happy Scale - 5

I've been doing aerobic exercises each day at least. Though I skipped it today as my gut hurts too much.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David, were the onions cooked or raw? That seems to make a difference for me, I can do cooked onions just fine but raw ones cause me trouble. Tomatoes cause me trouble too - they don't hurt, but they don't digest either and I always pass bits of undigested tomato (skins, seeds, and flesh - none of it breaks down for me) when I eat it. And I'm presuming you mean alcohol when you talk about the wagon and the horses? I was brave enough to have 1/2 a glass of white wine on New Year's eve but that is my limit, any more than that would do me in so I'm not surprised that you're feeling poorly after a night of (I'm presuming) drinks.

I'm glad to hear you're exercising regularly! I don't do enough cardio myself either, I lift weights a lot and that's my favorite thing so other forms of exercise sometimes get neglected. I recently got an exercise bike though and I am trying to ride it for at least 20 minutes every day that I don't lift weights. That way, even if I can't make it to the gym, I can still get some exercise at home. I did weights Monday, cardio & yoga yesterday, weights today, and I'm planning for cardio tomorrow and weights on Friday. I also ate crap that did awful things to me over the holidays (salad, eek!), but I find that if I can manage to exercise anyway, more often than not I wind up feeling great during and afterwards. I am having that day today in fact, I felt yucky all morning with nausea and many bathroom trips due to poor recent food choices, but I marched myself to the gym anyway, felt fantastic during my workout and feel pretty good now. No more nausea and I feel energized. :) Anyway, that's my two cents. I hope you recover soon from all the holiday food and drink naughtiness.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
The onions were cooked Cat. As for the wagon and horses: alcohol, gluten, yeast, and got knows what kind of ingredients in the amazingly delicious Colombian food I was eating in gargantuan amounts. Luckily things have calmed down quite a bit already:

Lower right gut pain - 3
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 2
General aches - 2
Happy Scale - 7

I was back exercising again today. Setting side some time like you suggested has made a huge difference. Thank you so much for that suggestion :)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I'm glad that's working for you! I can never quite tell if I'm a normal person or not, ha ha, I'm such a creature of habit that planning time for exercise is just what works for me. Plus the fact that I literally can't just drop everything and work out - I have to prepare by not eating for several hours, loading up on Tums, etc. It's a commitment for sure but it's what works for me! Very glad to hear you're doing well with it too. You are absolutely doing your body a huge favor by exercising regularly - I only ever feel like a normal healthy person when I am working out, and if I go a few days without exercise, I definitely feel worse. I know that's only anecdotal evidence, but it's all I really need to keep up with my exercise. :)
 
I hope you're feeling better by now, David.

Based on your endorsements of Mg, I picked up a Magnesium/Calcium/Zinc supplement that provides 133mg of magnesium (as magnesium oxide) per pill, with a recommendation of 3 pills per day. I'm curious to see what, if any effect there is.
 
Well, I know it's probably too early to be attributing anything to the supplements, but I gotta say, I've been working on a saltwater tank project all day yesterday and today. Yesterday, as I expected, after about 2 hours of hauling water, salt, and sand; working in confined spaces requiring lots of hand and arm strength on fittings; carrying loads up and down stairs; extra bending; lifting; etc.. I was really feeling it. I felt like I had run a marathon. I could feel the lactic acid building up in my muscles, my back and legs hurt, my neck hurt, I felt fatigued and older than I am and pretty miserable (but continued to work for hours longer anyway, feeling totally wiped out by bedtime.)

Today, I've been hauling sand, salt, and water; trucking gallons of water up and down stairs; adjusting fittings while crammed into tight spaces; and just basically the same routine.

Today, though, I feel flush with energy. My back doesn't hurt. My legs aren't tired. My neck and shoulder still hurt, but they always do because I habitually "pop" them.

I do have an odd sort of muted headache that feels unusual, but that's all.

I've only had two of the pills so far, but seriously, today is so much different than yesterday. The only other variable I can think of that's changed is that I had coffee (with caffeine, sugar, and cream) yesterday and only herbal tea (with caffeine) today.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Cool, I hope it continues :) I like that your supplement has a little zinc as well as that is something Crohnies are sometimes deficient in and 5mg per pill isn't too much (zinc toxicity is a very real thing).
 
OK, I don't mean to threadjack so if I have more to say I'll start my own thread, but man, I'm on day 3 of 3x daily magnesium supplements and I feel awake and alert and energetic. It hasn't taken away all the aches and pains, but I seem not to get tired muscles as quickly as I used to, even though it's only been 3 days on this stuff. I feel an alertness that I used to get from caffeine, except it doesn't wear off at lunchtime.

My biggest issue today is that I've returned to work after a few days off (another variable to consider, I guess) and I'm sitting in my cubicle feeling very restless and like time's a wasting while I do my very sedentary job. :(
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Threadjack all you like. I don't mind :) Or start your own, I'd love to follow that as well.

Either way, I'm glad you're feeling a little better :)

Google for exercises you can do while sitting in your chair. Or get up every 10-15 minutes and do a little exercise of some sort. It's not healthy to be so sedentary anyway.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Muppet, I work a desk job too and sometimes I just have to get up and do some yoga or jumping jacks in my cubicle. If you can do it without anyone seeing, or if your boss/co-workers are okay with it, I say do some exercise at your desk. Can you take walks outside during your lunch/breaks? I'm very fortunate that there is a gym in the basement of my workplace, so I use it all the time during my lunch hour. Is there a gym nearby or could you exercise before or after work to burn some of that energy? I am rarely restless so long as I am able to work out regularly, in spite of sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

David, how's your exercise going? Still doing it every day? What type of cardio are you doing?
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I've been really good about exercising. :) On Sunday I went and played a 2 hour soccer game which kicked my ass (still out of soccer shape) so I took Monday off, but other than that, I've been sticking to it.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I have a new suspected trigger.

Bananas.

My wife and I dehydrate bananas. We don't add ANYTHING else but I've recently correlated gut pain with consumption of these. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I suspect it pretty strongly due to some testing I've done this past week. I'm going to cut out bananas for a couple weeks, see how I feel, then reintroduce them.

Considering I have 9 banana trees in my yard with fruit on them, I hope I'm wrong :(

Lower right gut pain - 3
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 2
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 7
 
Are you sure it's not related to the drying process? I've found that banana chips give me trouble, but not bananas. In my case it might be a preservative that's been added, but who knows.

It's a shame, because I love banana chips.
 
Also, your posts are just more and more ammunition in my fight to convince my wife that we need to move to a state with a lower cost of living so that we can get a plot of land and grow at least some of our food.

Ideally, we'd move to a country with sane universal healthcare, but that's already a non-starter with her. :)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David, bananas are a trigger for me too. I noticed a while back that they seemed to make my GERD worse - I would taste banana when I'd vurp, even if it had been 4 or 5 hours since I'd eaten a banana. So I tried giving them up for about 6 months. I recently tried introducing them. All was going okay until I was hungry one day and ate 2 bananas in the same day. Pain! So I am back to avoiding bananas. They clearly don't agree with me although I'm not sure why they affected my GERD the first time around and then caused pain the 2nd time. I hope when you reintroduce bananas that you have better luck than I did! But I wouldn't be surprised if they still cause you trouble too. Keep us posted, I'll be interested to hear how it goes either way!
 
I have trouble with bananas too. I've heard that very ripe bananas tend to be easier to digest, and the SCD actually specifically recommends only eating bananas that are ripe with plenty of brown spots. Perhaps when you try to reintroduce them it might be worth starting with ripe ones first to see how you get on, then if everything seems ok try some slightly greener ones.

I also agree with muppet, the dehydrating process could be the problem. When I was on the LOFFLEX diet I was told to avoid dried and dehydrated fruits - I think this was mainly because of insoluble fibre but I may be wrong, it could also have been because a lot of commercial dried fruit has added sugar (which obviously wouldn't be an issue for you since you made them yourself and didn't add anything).
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
How are you doing, David? Any falling off the wagon lately? Still exercising regularly?

I think I actually started over-exercising. I didn't give myself a rest day for too long and my legs got painfully sore because I was working them every day - even though I was alternating cardio with weights, my legs still got a good workout every day so I was risking injury. I gave myself a rest day and felt SO much better. So, it's awesome to exercise a lot - but listen to your body and take a rest day if need be.

Muppet, how are you doing? Still energetic on the magnesium supps? I took magnesium for a bit but it seemed to give me looser stools and I didn't notice any change in my energy levels or anything else, so I've stopped taking it for now.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I've been meaning to update but kept getting distracted :D

Frankly, I'm doing fantastic. In the last week, I have twice gone out to Italian restaurants and not only did I not order pasta (the gluten nails me) but when they brought out that incredibly delicious bread and olive oil mix, I didn't have a single piece. In the past, my mind would always justify having some. "My gut is already killing me, I might as well" or, "I'm feeling good, a little won't hurt too much". I FINALLY didn't give in. I realize that's easy for many of you, but it was quite a break-through for me.

:banana:

My eye inflammation isn't 100% gone but close enough that I'm going to rate that a 0. It has been glorious not having to deal with that annoyance for a few days.

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 2
Eye inflammation - 0
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 8
 
Magnesium still seems to be working great for me, and Sarah reports positive effects from it as well. We both seem to be in a better mood on it, although she's also newly on methyl-prednisolone so it's hard to say for sure yet.
 
In fact, maybe I'm exaggerating, and my decision to just try to be healthier in general (though I haven't actually put this much into practice yet) is playing a role in things, but seriously, I think supplementing magnesium has made me a better person.

I always thought I had Seasonal Affectedness Disorder (never diagnosed) and I had hemmed and hawed about asking my doctor for an SSRI. Since I started taking Mg, I'm feeling so much better it's ridiculous. Maybe there's some placebo action involved, but if there is, I don't care. I'm in a better mood. I feel less stressed out and overwhelmed (I've also recently used mint.com to write a comprehensive budget for my family, so that helped with stress, too).

My teenager still drives me crazy, and I'm working on that. Actually, since she started supplementing Mg, she's driving me a little less crazy, and has gone back to work on her art and writing with a fervor that had been missing for awhile (new methyl-prednisolone course may be helping this.)

I feel better physically. I feel better about myself. I feel better about other people. My job doesn't stress me out like it used to. We're going through a re-org here and it was making me mental. I'm still worried about some things, especially whether they'll try to change my work hours, but overall, I'm not really sweating it.

The past TEN YEARS have seen me as one giant bundle of stress and angst and worry and between writing the budget and supplementing this stuff, a lot of that has just melted away.

It seems CRAZY to lay so much of this at the feet of a simple dietary supplement, and there have been some other contributing factors as well, but man, seriously, I feel so much different it's ridiculous. Now I'm eager to take a look at other minerals/nutrients/dietary factors I might be missing.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
There's lots of potential things at play here Muppet. Magnesium is known to take part in over 300 biochemical reactions. It is SO IMPORTANT in SO MANY areas and that's just what they've discovered so far. In regards to what you specifically list, a couple possibilities:

1. Magnesium deficiency by itself can lead to depression, anxiety, irritability, etc.
2. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to SAD. Magnesium is a co-factor of vitamin D. In other words, you need enough magnesium for vitamin D to properly work.

I'm of the opinion that magnesium deficiency is critical in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease.
 
I don't doubt that the RDA for Mg is well researched, but I'm a little confused by the fact that the major reason it's listed as so important is that it's a component of 300 some odd enzymes in the body. Well, enzymes are catalysts, and not consumed by reactions, right? So.. why the constant need for replenishment?

Still, can't argue with the apparent results.
 
Now I'm taking a serious look at my youngest's diet. She's a really, really, really picky eater and I know that her nutrition isn't even close to balanced. I'm not sure I can do much about it until she's a little older, though.

She's been having serious constipation lately so naturally I'm all wigged out about that. :/
 
That's a horrendous understatement. :D

Her autism diagnosis seems to be mostly bogus, in my opinion, but boy does it seem to manifest around mealtime, bedtime, and any time she's exceptionally tired. Maybe that's what normal toddlers are like, though. I can't remember from my first. :)

I read the article and got a little cross-eyed toward the conclusion, but it doesn't seem to be recommending life-long Mg supplementation. I need to do more reading about this. Still, the RDA is there and that's compelling by itself.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Ugh. Garlic and/or onion definitely kicks my ass. I had some three nights ago and ended up with some serious diarrhea. One more test this evening and I sit here feeling absolutely terrible, wanting to go to sleep, but my gut feeling terrible. God I love the taste of both, but no more of them for me. I don't feel like testing anymore to see if it's one or both that sets me off. I'm putting both as confirmed.
 
I can't cope with onion or garlic either, David, but I can cope with well-cooked leek. Perhaps that's worth a try.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David, I can't do garlic either. A friend of mine posted something on facebook recently, a recipe for a garlic soup that supposedly can stop the common cold in its tracks (I didn't read the accompanying article so I don't know how scientific it actually was). I believe the recipe called for 52 cloves of garlic. Yeah, no thanks, I'll take the cold instead! I'd take 52 colds over 52 cloves of garlic, eek! I think my insides would turn into lava and melt (also not very scientific) if I ate that soup.

And if it makes you feel any better, I confirmed that garlic is a trigger for me the day of my hubby's grandfather's funeral. I had spaghetti the evening before the funeral, and there was some fresh chopped garlic mixed into the sauce. I felt okay that evening but woke up feeling terrible. I obviously couldn't skip the funeral though, my in-laws dislike me enough already so I couldn't not show up. An hour car ride each way plus nothing but trigger foods (fruit salad, ham, nuts, etc) being served after the funeral meant it was really not a good guts day, and I had to pretend that everything was okay because I knew that day was not about me. So yeah. I now know not to try new foods just before any event like that!
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I just woke up with some heartburn. Not a big deal but it's no fun. A few chugs of the goat milk kefir I've been buying, and it's almost gone now. Such a wonderful product. So good in fact that I just emailed the company:
Greetings,

A few months ago I purchased your goat milk kefir after seeing it in a Whole Foods here in Southwest Florida. I was instantly hooked; it is a truly wonderful product. As someone with Inflammatory Bowel Disease who is treating himself holistically, I was already on my way towards remission. I don't credit your product with putting me into remission, but as I sit here, I know that it helped send me in that direction. It has been part of my healing process. And for that, I am truly grateful to all of you who are involved in the process of making this wonderful product.

I notice your product flying off the store shelves at this point which tells me that others are experiencing the same. I see you've been in business for over 30 years so you already know success. But I'm guessing this is a whole new level of success for your company and you're being asked to continually ramp up production. As a businessman and someone who is now working to develop a sustainable food forest, I know how hard this can be. I know how hard it can be to maintain your personal and product integrity and still ramp up production. I know the pressures you will face from the big business and I know how the allure of money can change things.

As I sit here typing this, I beg of you, PLEASE do not compromise your integrity as you grow. I am happy to pay $6.99 for your product. If necessary, I'll pay $7.99, $8.99, $9.99, heck, $29.99 because I know your product is quality and helps me stay healthy. That is invaluable in today's world as so many have compromised their integrity. I am not alone. Please continue to help heal. Expand as needed, but in a manner that sustains. We'll support you and if necessary, fight for you as long as you maintain your integrity.

Thank you for all that you do.

Regards,

David Chapman
I've still been feeling great. The costochondritis has flared a little but that's ok. I was weak today and stopped at a Chik Fil A and had gluten and other crap. I was driving my parents to the airport and had a 1.5 hour drive back home and was sleepy so got the food to help keep me awake. Hopefully it doesn't negatively affect me much, if at all.

Lower right gut pain - 1
Costochondritis - 3
Eye inflammation - 1
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 8
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I've been meaning to update about my electrolyte enhanced water. I turns out my recipe of sea salt and baking soda was terrible. I'm an idiot and for some reason it entered my brain that baking soda has calcium. It does not. It's basically more salt. So if you've been using my recipe, I'm REALLY sorry but it's probably not good. :(

After a bunch of research, I found, purchased, and installed this product in my water system. Now the calcium and magnesium that my water treatment system strips from the water is put back in automatically.

:banana:
 
Owww! Nice thread! I'll have to follow along. I'm just getting around to the cleaner water idea, I've been drinking spring water of late, and seem to be having some success with it. Whether the success remains is yet to be determined, but always nice to feel and look healthier too.
 
The spike of euphoria I got from Mg supplements has died down after about a week and a half. I'm not sure if this is because I coincidentally started allowing myself caffeinated coffee again in the mornings (due to some recurrent constipation, related to the supplements?) or not around the same time as I stopped feeling the mild day-long "high" from magnesium or not. I guess that's worth a trial.

I have noticed that I feel much, MUCH less compulsion to click my left shoulder and the left side of my neck. The constant "live wire" tingling I have felt in my shoulder and neck for AT LEAST TWENTY YEARS seems to be MUCH, MUCH less after around 2 weeks of Mg supplementation. I'm convinced that THIS at least, can't be a coincidence.
 
Today marks day 7 that I've been somewhat healthy with the gut since I began drinking spring water. Hard to say for sure if it is the natural water that is helping. Further time will tell. Figure though with having this success, I'll look into one of those household water purifiers, along with the additional machine that re-adds a few healthy minerals.

I believe there is one item I can attribute to the spring water helping for sure. It happened right after i began drinking the natural water. For a number of years I've been uncomfortable when sitting. My gut can be slightly bloated. That feeling has largely gone away. Makes me wonder if I might be overly sensitive to chlorine or fluoride found in tap water.

It could possibly also explain some of my worst days, where I was in the bathroom all day long. All speculation, but on those bad days with trying to stay hydrated, possibly the chlorinated tap water I was drinking was further irritating my gut.
 
Yeah, very well could be about the food allergies. It wouldn't surprise me and is something I'm testing too with a food journal. I live in the middle of farm country where pesticides and herbicides are frequently used.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Prior to drinking your spring water, what were you drinking? Your regular tap water? If so, do you have a filtration or water softener system on your tap water?
 
I was simply drinking tap water before. No filtration system is in the house, other than now I've added a chlorine remover to the shower.
 
I know you said it's OK to threadjack, but I still feel bad flooding this thread. Just not bad enough to go make my own... ;)

I missed my magnesium this morning and I coincidentally notice quite a bit of pain in my left shoulder and neck, and a very large desire to click/crack both continuously.

This could be psychosomatic as this particular pain/tic has definitely responded to anxiety in the past, and I'm a little anxious about missing the supplement pill (in that I'm expecting to feel sluggish and that the pain in my neck will come back).
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Muppet, seriously dude, post as much as you want in here. I welcome all comers :)

*passes the peace pipe*

I'm feeling great! This evening I laid on my bed and went probing for pain in my lower right quadrant. At my worst, prior to diagnosis, the pain was bad enough when pressing with a hand that I ended up with a CT to see what was going on. Twice. "There's nothing wrong with you" was the diagnosis twice ;)

Fast forward to this evening. I can still feel a very small area of pain but I have to really press to get to it, and it's small. It was quite diffuse in the past. I can't claim 0 for my pain, but I can't say 1 either. There's still something in there that's healing. Whether there's active inflammation in there, I have no idea.

I've been testing apples (Pink Lady variety as I believe different varieties make a difference) a little and so far no heart burn like they gave me in the past which is interesting. I've also had cheese fries a couple times with no problem. And lots of chocolate. Heh.

Lower right gut pain - .5
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 1
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 8
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I just chewed down on a piece of hard candy and shattered it. In the past, my teeth have felt somewhat brittle and sensitive. It donned on me as I shattered the peppermint into tiny shards that my teeth feel strong. In the past, my teeth got so bad that along the gum line my enamel was wasting away to the point they had to fill it. These weren't cavities mind you, it was the hard minerals in my teeth wasting away and leaving holes.

My teeth feel... healthy now. Changing my diet, growing super nutritious food, getting tons of vitamin D, taking magnesium and some calcium, and the occasional vitamin K2 as Beach outlined here. Whatever was wrong with me was wearing away some of the hardest parts of my body. I can't imagine what it was doing to my insides. Actually, I can. I have felt it. It wasn't good.

My body is healing.

:banana:
 
Ya!!!!! Glad another MC suffer is in less pain and doing better!

I'm the same, still doing good to the gut. Quite pleased about it. it's always a little funny when the gut begins behaving well. I've been working hard on my diet, been good with what I eat, not cheating. And now that the hard work is paying off I want to tell everyone, family, friends something along the lines of "You won't believe what I did in the bathroom!":D I can get away with that here on the Crohn's forum - obviously not so much with others.

My teeth on the other hand are a different story. I had an old root canal tooth break. So next week I'm having a tooth implanted. Shouldn't be painful, nor take long, but have been told to expect to hear lots of "crunching noises". Might have to bring my ipad to drown that out.

Bit concerned about a recent dental report from a new dentist I began seeing. My old dentist is letting his newly graduated daughter take over the business. It was my first time seeing her. To my surprise she told me I have two cavities. Grrrr....Since changing my diet 5,6 years ago, along with taking the supplements, I hadn't developed a single cavity. This was a huge change from when I used to eat anything I wanted, 6 years earlier. Back then I was a cavity creating machine, sadly. So anyway, I'm becoming cynical in my older age, and wonder if I really need the dental work or not. I'm thinking I'll go ahead with the filling, but I think at this point I'd be better suited seeing one of those prevention dentists I've been reading about. I'll have to research if one practices here in town, or possibly in Florida.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I started playing soccer at some pickup games here in town about a month ago. The last two times I've gone, after the game I would notice white powder on my forehead. Not a ton, but certainly visible. I realized that this was from my sweat. I don't think it's salt though it could be. I actually theorize that it's magnesium and/or MAYBE calcium. I know I've never been deficient in salt but haven't had this kind of powder since I was young.

My mind wonders if this kind of thing is supposed to happen but we're so deficient in magnesium that our body doesn't allow any to be sweated out. I don't feel like it's unhealthy and my urine doesn't seem to be off. I actually feel great. I think I'll get some blood and urine tests done soon just to corroborate how I'm feeling.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David, that's weird about white stuff coming out in your sweat. I work out regularly and I've never noticed white stuff like what you describe. The only thing I'm sure that I'm frequently deficient in is sodium (confirmed via bloodwork), and I probably get low in potassium regularly too as I experience toe cramps fairly often. Anyway, let us know if you find out what it is, I am curious to know!

Going back to the kefir, keep an eye on things just in case. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but probiotics are apparently one of my triggers. I tried taking probiotic capsules daily for awhile and they made my GERD worse. So I stopped them, but at one point I decided I should try Greek yogurt since it is supposed to be so healthy. Fissures and hemmies aside, that was the only time I've ever bled out of my backside, and I was in pain for days after eating that one little container of Greek yogurt. Long story short, I won't be trying kefir, no matter how awesome you make it sound. ;)
 
David, that's weird about white stuff coming out in your sweat. I work out regularly and I've never noticed white stuff like what you describe. The only thing I'm sure that I'm frequently deficient in is sodium (confirmed via bloodwork), and I probably get low in potassium regularly too as I experience toe cramps fairly often. Anyway, let us know if you find out what it is, I am curious to know!

Going back to the kefir, keep an eye on things just in case. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but probiotics are apparently one of my triggers. I tried taking probiotic capsules daily for awhile and they made my GERD worse. So I stopped them, but at one point I decided I should try Greek yogurt since it is supposed to be so healthy. Fissures and hemmies aside, that was the only time I've ever bled out of my backside, and I was in pain for days after eating that one little container of Greek yogurt. Long story short, I won't be trying kefir, no matter how awesome you make it sound. ;)
Probiotics never did much for me either. I've wondered if it was due to taking the wrong type for what I need. Hard to say. There seems to be many for sale. I was reading this morning too of a firm announcing the discovery of 3 new "helpful" strains for colon health. Sound nice, but I guess we'll see.

I've seen you mention having some success with taking pysllium husks. That's something I'm thinking of taking in the near future, along with other fiber sources. Apparently soluble fiber is supposed to be helpful at naturally promoting a healthy gut flora. I'm hoping that is the case.

"Soluble Fiber: Food for Gut Flora"

http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2011/06/soluble-fiber-food-for-gut-flora.html
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Yes, psyllium husks do me a lot of good! I didn't know that about psyllium promoting healthy gut flora though, that's very interesting. My guts like psyllium a lot more than they like standard probiotics so whatever works! So, my psyllium story in a nutshell: When I hit remission, I didn't really have d much anymore, but I was still "going" anywhere from 4 to 10 times daily. I saw Dusty's thread about psyllium, and I happened upon psyllium husks one day at Whole Foods, so I gave it a try and I'm glad I did. I now go more like 2 to 4 times daily and I feel a lot more comfortable (I take one tablespoon daily - when starting out I would recommend no more than one teaspoon daily, start small and increase your dose gradually if need be). When I first started psyllium, I was a bit crampy for a few weeks, I guess as my body was getting used to it, but now I rarely cramp up. So yeah, psyllium has done me a lot of good and I definitely recommend giving it a try.

(Sorry to threadjack, David!)
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I laid in a nice warm bath this evening and relaxed. As I prodded my lower right quadrant, I couldn't find any pain. It has been well over 2 years, actually much longer than that, since I couldn't find pain in my gut. As far as I know, there's no equivalent of the CDAI for microscopic colitis but I am no doubt in clinical remission. Of course, as clinical remission is really just a reduction in symptoms, I've been in clinical remission for quite awhile. Am I in deep, stable remission? Is there even such a thing for MC like there is Crohn's? I have no idea on either account but I'm definitely not ready to declare that and want to have some tests done first. I do still have some costochondritis but that's about it.

An interesting thing has happened since I began remineralizing my water. I get thirsty. For the longest time, I haven't really felt thirsty. I'd work in the yard in the hot sun and sweat a ton, but I'd have to force myself to drink. Since adding the filter that puts magnesium and calcium in my water, I get thirsty. I think that's a good thing but I'm not completely sure. Heh.

Lower right gut pain - 0
Costochondritis - 1
Eye inflammation - 0
General aches - 1
Happy Scale - 8

:banana:
 
Hi David,
Yup, time for the dancing banana--sounds like (whisper it) --remission!!

So glad to hear that you are doing so well.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David! You can't post that you think you are in remission, and then not update for a week! We're (or at least I am) dying to know how you're doing, and if you still feel like you're in remission?

As for whether deep, stable remission is possible with MC - I would certainly think so. As you know, I'm still undiagnosed. Crohn's and MC are the two biggest suspects (my GI says UC has essentially been ruled out as I am not a bleeder). I'm in deep, stable remission. Does it matter which type of IBD I have? Sure, to some extent. There's like a 50/50 chance I have MC, and I've been in remission for close to 2 years now, for whatever that is worth.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Not much to update really. I'm still doing great and consider myself in remission :) Covered in poison ivy rash from working in the yard, but that's not a huge deal.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Woo hoo, remission! :D I hope you stay there a long time!

How's the diet going? Are you still exercising regularly?

Just a random thought, but when I first started going into remission, I questioned it. I referred to it as being "near-remission" for a while because I didn't trust or believe it was really remission. I do think there are gradients of remission, it's not just a black & white thing. It took a long time and it wasn't until I hit that "deeper" level of remission that I started to trust that it was really real. So, I'm proud of you for calling it remission this early in - you're more trusting than I am apparently. :p
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
The diet is going well :) For the most part I'm sticking to it pretty good.

I've joined an adult soccer league so between that and the farm work outside and other little exercises I do, I'm getting plenty :)

Thanks for checking in Cat!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
For a second I was like, soccer? But it's winter! Then I remembered you live in one of those fancy places that doesn't have winter. :p We can really only do outdoor sports here from like May thru September and they're saying we may get another blizzard next week. So, yeah... enjoy that outdoor soccer for me, the only outdoor exercise I'm going to get for awhile is more shoveling. :(
 
Big thanks to David for starting and caring for this welcoming forum. This thread in particular was very enlightening.

Quick background. Just got diagnosed with LC. At first, thought I had picked up parasites from a backpacking trip! Been a healthy type 1 diabetic for 39 years now, so modifying and monitoring diet to improve health is second nature to me.

This forum has inspired me to start an elimination diet and get the right concoction of supplements figured out.

Started by eliminating eggs and apples which I used to eat every day. Noticeable difference minus the eggs immediately! Going shopping for supplements today.

I have a week long, high-mileage backpacking trip scheduled for the fall so I am very motivated to find the right balance.

Big thanks again to David and others for sharing. I'll share my experiences as they unfold.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Hi HacksawOnRye, welcome to the forum. I'm afraid your post might get lost in the shuffle here - you might want to start a new thread in My Story to let people get to know you.

How long did you have symptoms before getting diagnosed with LC? Were you diagnosed via biposy? Are you on any medications for it? I hope you can get it under good control before your backpacking trip - good luck, and again, welcome! :)
 
Possibly an interesting bit of info. Way back a couple of months ago I started supplementing magnesium based on David's overwhelming support and evangelism for the stuff at the time. ;)

Well, recently (last 3 weeks) I've stopped taking it, just because I kept forgetting to do it, and eventually I lost the habit (pill planners have nothing on my absent mindedness).

My joints have all started hurting terribly, I have no energy, I caught a miserable cold just yesterday...

The thing is, I think all of these aches and pains and fatigue were my background level of health prior to supplementing magnesium. It seems much worse than I remember, but I went reading through some old blog posts and such and it's probably about the same, just magnified by the contrast of two months without all these problems.

So.. not very scientific, really, but magnesium seems to really work very well for me. Now to get back on it and find a way to keep the habit. :p
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Thanks for the update Muppet :) I'm pleased to hear the magnesium appears to be working well for you! I'll be curious to see if the symptoms go away again once you start back up. Please keep us updated either way.
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I finally got off my butt and ordered some blood work and a urinalysis (I do it myself rather than pay extra to go to the doctor). My results did indeed corroborate how I'm feeling!

CMP12+8AC+CBC/D/Plt+UA -- EVERYTHING normal except some trace ketones but that's no biggie considering my low carb high protein diet.
CRP - Normal
ESR - Normal

My urine pH was 6.0 which was a little surprising considering my magnesium supplementation. I would have expected it to be neutral or even a little alkaline. I'm going to do some more research on that and keep an eye on it with future tests. Probably nothing though.

I also got my plasma zinc tested just for curiosity sake as it was one of the few minerals I haven't had tested. It was 97ug/dL with a reference range of 56 - 134.

:dance:
 
This is (almost) entirely off topic, but it makes me so happy to hear about people playing football (soccer). I'm honestly never happier than when i'm playing, to the point where it just makes me smile thinking about others enjoying it in the sun. Good on you David, hope you keep it up!
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
It seems that Costco organic tortilla chips flare me for some reason. Looking at the ingredients, they're fantastic and other brand tortilla chips are fine. But if I get a bag of Costco tortilla chips, my gut is a mess until I stop eating them. I don't know if it's the variety of corn they use, the process they use to make them or what.

I've correlated this in the past but have been doing so well I figured I'd get a bag since they are so cheap compared to other organic tortilla chips. Sure enough, my gut got angry. No more for me.

This is an example of just how complicated finding triggers can be.
 
Co-founder now? Does that mean you're not an admin anymore?! :)

I just wanted to pop in and say that I've added Fish Oil supplements to my calcium/magnesium/zinc supplements that I started back when you were evangelizing for magnesium. :)

OH.. by the by, I went back on the magnesium and all the returned pain and unhappiness I was talking about in my last update went away. There's no doubt in my mind that magnesium makes a HUGE difference for me.

Now with the addition of fish oil (DHA? Aminos? Not sure what the "good" stuff is), I've gotten back a mental sharpness that I haven't felt since high school. I'm a creative guy. I love art, writing, reading, ARGUING... ;) and since adding fish oil to my regimen in concert with magnesium, and for some reason I think this is important, my mental acuity has jumped. I'm able to make MUCH more eloquent arguments. :-D

There's something to this supplementation crap, it seems...
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I'm no longer the lead admin. Jennifer is.

That's awesome that you're doing so well on the supplement regimen. I'm happy for you :)

In regards to magnesium, when they finally figure out the cause of Crohn's disease, I bet money that magnesium deficiency is a variable in that equation.
 
Well congrats to Crabb... Jennifer then. :)

Every so often I get bouts of ego where I think I'm the expert on all things Crohn's and should be running a place like this, and then I get over it, which is for the best. ;)
 
Oh I wasn't being subtle there. I don't think you have an ego problem at all. I'm kind of in awe of your knack for diplomacy and even handedness, which I wish I had. :)
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I didn't take it that way. I was trying to be funny and obviously failed :D

Up your dose of magnesium and maybe you'll win the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
I'm sure you didn't fail at humor, I'm just conversationally stunted. :)

If I do, I'll come back and revisit that whole ego thing. ;)
 
It is surprising at how some supplements such as fish oil, magnesium can change moods. At this point I don't remember how those supplements changed me all that well, it's been 5, 6 years since I began taking them, but recall how they effected others in my family. In general everyone is now much nicer and cheerful. It's wonderful. As I've joked with other, I inadvertently drugged my family for the best.

Vitamin D3 is another good mood enhancer.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
David, so glad to hear it's going so well for you. I must say though, I've been taking magnesium at your suggestion for a little while now, and I've been taking fish oil and vit d for quite awhile, and my mood/mental sharpness aren't any different. I will say, I had gradually increased the amount I am exercising, from 2x a week 2 years ago to every day now, and I have found that the more I exercise, the better my mood is. But I have only noticed this correlation with exercise, never with supplements.

I wish I had that mental sharpness that Muppet mentioned, too. I'm apparently not getting any noticeable benefits from my supplements as I have very bad short-term memory. So often I'll do things like, leave the house and get into my car. Then I'll think, did I lock the house? It was literally 10 seconds ago and I don't remember. So I have to get out of my car and check. Usually the house is locked but sometimes not. I do the same thing with taking my pills. I sit there on the couch with a pill bottle in my hand and I get distracted by the computer and then I think, I'm holding my pill bottle - but did I take my pills yet or not? I have to do something to make myself remember, like bite my tongue or say out loud, "I'm taking my pills!" so that I don't forget in a few seconds that I did it. I'm only 33 so it's not like I'm going senile (I hope!). Anyway, I'm happy to hear that supplementation is going well for everybody but me. :p
 
That's not good Cat. It sounds like you are falling apart. I recall earlier in the week your problem with new bleeding, and rightfully being concerned with that - with probiotics being a concern along with dairy foods. I recall also the folic acid problem not that long ago.

Have you considered seeing a doctor for the memory and bleeding problems? I don't know what it would be, but something serious could be afoot, needing to be addressed.

I know personally for me, synthetic B vitamins such as folic acid, niacin, or simply a multi vitamin with Bs in it, hurts my memory, causing me to forget things. They make me feel chilled, which in turn seems to cause me memory issues, leading me to look for ways to warm up.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Beach, I do seem to jump from one problem to another, story of my life! The memory issues have been going on for a few years, they started shortly after I first developed IBD (which was in late 2009). I always assumed they were part and parcel of IBD - I started getting migraines around the same time, and my doctors were always more concerned about the migraines than the memory issues. I just figured they were all related somehow and never really paid it much more attention than that.

The bleeding was a one-day thing fortunately and I'm feeling a lot better today. The first time I bled, I did mention it to my GI, but since it was a one-time thing he wasn't too concerned. I see him again later this month and will mention this latest incident (although both incidents were related to dairy and probiotics, so I think now that I've narrowed down the trigger, I should be okay with just avoiding that stuff).

That's interesting about you getting the chills and memory issues from B vitamins. I take B12 and biotin but I don't get the chills from them, and the memory/migraine issues didn't coincide with when I started taking those either. I only get really chilled when I flare (and I haven't flared in 2 years). I can recall one bad flare where the chills would get worse after every episode of d, and it got to the point where I sat in a hot bath but still couldn't warm up. That was pretty miserable! I used to be one of those people who is always cold, but that has gotten a lot better since I've been working out so regularly. I guess I just needed to get my blood pumping more regularly or something along those lines. Long story short, no real chills or coldness for me and nothing like that related to the memory issues either.
 
Well, I hope you get to the bottom of the problems. Hopfully the doctor can be of help. I know many of these B vitamins are helpful for many, but you might give it a go to avoid the B12 and biotin for a few days to see if that helps your situation. It certainly helped me. Synthetic B vitamins, all of them, for what ever reason really do a number on my mental state.

I'm glad the warmer weather is moving into the mid-west. The water heater in my place is one of those small hot water on demand boxes. It's excellent at saving money, but the unit installed only creates luke warm water during winter. Oh, with this IBD condition I enjoy a nice hot shower or bath. I can get the chills when ills to the gut, or B vitamins it seems. Working out helps me too to warm up. It's one of the reasons why I got into exercising.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I think I will forgo the B12 and biotin for a bit and see if that does anything. I started taking B12 when I first was ill and suspected IBD, because all the research says that B12 is what IBD'ers tend to be low in - I never really bothered to re-assess taking it when I hit remission. And I started taking biotin back when I was on Entocort, as Entocort made my hair start to fall out, and someone from the Undiagnosed Club said that biotin can sometimes help stop/prevent hair loss. It worked, but I haven't been on Entocort for 2 years now, so it's probably safe to stop it. (If my hair starts falling out again, though, I will be going right back to biotin!)
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
I'm threadjacking David's thread again, but Beach, I wanted to give an update to my last post in here. I stopped taking Biotin and B12, and I've noticed absolutely zero difference with my memory issues. :p Yesterday I was in the shower and couldn't remember if I had shampooed my hair yet or not. Today I was in the gym and couldn't remember if I had done my hip stretches yet or not. So yeah, I'm the same as I was. Still can't remember if I did something 5 seconds ago or not.
 
Cat - It's funny you mention this today because I've taken 500mgs of niacin the last couple of days. I wanted to see how it effected me. I've been well to the gut of late. The dietary ideas I've been doing seem to finally be helping me greatly. So I wanted to see if there was a difference, being well and taking a B vitamin.

Nope, no change. This B vitamin still did a number on me. I'm having a difficult time concentrating today.

Hope you find out what is wrong with your memory. Did you remember to mention the problem with your doctor?
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I'm finding that my two biggest drivers for memory and ability to feel more intelligent than a snail are ample sleep and stress. Too little sleep and my brain goes on strike. Too much stress and my brain goes on strike.

Nutritionally I feel sound, those two are my next big steps.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Beach, I did not remember to mention it to my GI. I was wrapped up in all the drama of Asacol being discontinued - I did mention that I stopped B12 and Biotin, but I didn't get as far as explaining why. The Asacol stuff took center stage at that appointment.

David, I have sleep and stress pretty well under control so I don't think that's the culprit. As long as I work out every day, stress really doesn't get to me. I can leave everything in the gym and I feel so great and relaxed when I'm done. I sleep pretty well most of the time too, I make an effort to try to get 8 hours every night. Diet-wise I am admittedly still not the best though, although I am juicing more lately. I have noticed a correlation between brain fog and eating junk food, but the brain fog seems to be completely different from the memory issues. The brain fog is more of a lack of focus & concentration, whereas the memory issues are things like, I just left the house 10 seconds ago, but did I lock the door? I have a pill bottle in my hand, but did I just take my pills or not? It's a lack of immediate short-term memory for routine things.
 
I made a new vat of my homemade soup this evening for dinner. I thought I'd share the recipe:

- Home grown better than organic (BTO) okra.
- Home grown, BTO garlic chives.
- Home grown, BTO Moringa
- Home grown, BTO sweet potato vine leaves
- Home grown, BTO edible hibiscus
- Home grown, BTO yard long beans
- Home grown, BTO oregano.
- Organic peas
- Organic broccoli
- Organic red cabbage
- Organic cauliflower
- Organic zuchinni
- Tons of different spices and some salt

Usually I add some black or kidney beans but I'm out.

Toss in a big vat and boil for 15 minutes. Yummy :)
OMG! That would kill me! :eek2: But I bet it is so tasty!!
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
I'm still doing fantastic. I do still have recurring chostochondritis but it's not too bad. My gut is and has been fine. I'm eating wheat/gluten in moderation with no problem so I don't think that was an issue. In fact, I'm back on most foods with no problem although I am eating a substantial amount from my yard and little to no sugar.
 
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