Recently diagnosed with Crohns - Diet advice

[palwe]

Hi,

So, ive explained my story else where. just wanted a bit of advice on diet as the IBD specialist nurse and the consultant who did my colonoscopy said i have no dietary restrictions at the moment. however, id rather take a few precautions, if someone here can advise me what those precautions might be.

current status:

diagnosed with crohns in august 2011 after bowel resection (after suspected appendicitis) removal of 7cm small bowel terminal ileum, 9cm large bowel cecum and appendix due to "chronic inflammation and ulceration". had no pain at all before then, but did have some anal bleeding with a bowel movement since feb this year (see my story for details).

colonoscopy 4 weeks ago showed a small patch of ulceration had returned/been left at the site of operation.

medication prescribed was metronidazole and ive just finished the course. im being seen about long term medication next week (think they want to let my external wound heal first).

symptoms are very mild at the moment, a bit of abdominal pain appearing in various places (where you'd expect bowels to be located..) i do go to the toilet a couple of times a day. its never diarrhea but is sometimes a bit granulated. i get a bit of lower abdominal pain in a morning until ive been to the loo too. that seems to be a constant.

so, based on this information, can you advise what foods might be worth avoiding? i know everyones different.. but just a starter.

as an example, my family ate a home made curry tonight and my dad kindly made me a seperate chicken in cream sauce (with rice) instead. i presume thats better than a curry, but is that still bad in itself?

i like chocolate, crisps and particularly sour sweets, though i always make sure i eat fruit and vegatables, and drink plenty of fluids.

im prepared to cut out whatever is necessary, even sour sweets (my favourites) if it means i dont end up losing my bowels all together due to indulgence.

thanks in advance (a list of definite no no's would be helpful).

 

[Tesscorm]

Hi Palwe,

As others have mentioned, it seems everyone is different - frustrating, eh???!! My son was only diagnosed in the spring, so I'm still learning myself...

But, what my son's dietitian advised is no nuts (peanut butter, nutella are fine, but no 'pieces' of nuts), no seeds (not just sesame, sunflower but also tomato, grape seeds, watermelon, etc., no seeds in breads like multi-grain) and she said to go easy on 'skins' like potato skins, apple, peach, pear, etc. She explained that the nuts and seeds can cause an obstruction if you are flaring and the skins are just a bit harder to digest.

He did feel a bit unwell once when he ate a greasy breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese & sausage) and drank chocolate milk with it! But, we've tried the milk, eggs and cheese again, but on separate occasions and they were all fine...

So, I would suggest little bits of 'suspect' foods (such as curry, spicy, etc. plus other suggestions that I'm sure you get from others) and see how each goes...

Good luck!

 

[RadicalAnt]

@Tesscorm,

If your son's symptoms react anything like mine, you should recommend he try to balance his meals out more. Both sausage and the chocolate milk are high in fat, and I know that I do much better when I severely limit my fat intake. So, while I'd recommend he not eat sausage period, if he insists upon it, maybe try to ensure it's the only fat-heavy thing he's taking in during that meal. And then with a fat-lite meal, throw in the chocolate milk. Should make it easier on his system.

 

[Ithinkimafigher]

I've had the disease for about a year and the best advice I can give you for total health benefits is to find a perfect balance of diet excercise rest and stress management. It all depends on how quick you want to heal. Most people don't want to change their lifestyle drastically. I did. I went from 136 pounds out of the hospital to 150 in about 2 months with the mind set of a someone training for a marathon. It might not sound like much but were talking no increase in bodyfat at all and the pain and discomfort have decreased by 80 percent. Feel free to message me for diet tips. Stay alive my friend.