SCD Diet?

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I found their website very interesting. Some good information on there about how the bacterial culture goes down after time, and that yogurt fermented for 10 hours is 60 - 65% lactose free.

I guess if you're wanting to fully try SCD, no, this is not a product that you can have. If you are wanting to get the most live culture in your yogurt, this looks like a great product, and definitely cheaper than buying a pill form of probiotic.

I posted this somewhere else - but. . . if you have an electric skillet (with a temp gage) you don't need a yogurt maker, just heat your milk, cool it down to 110, add your starter and then pour it into a couple of containers that fit into your skillet (that are heat proof), put a therometer in one of the containers, put the lid over the whole thing and set your temp gage low. Moniter the thermometer to see when it reaches 105 - 110, and then leave it for 24 hours.
 
Hi All

I am new here and I have been reading all of your posts with extreme interest. My Rhumatologist thinks I have Crohns. Right now I am eating in much the same way as the SCD diet advocates and I am finding a lot of relief. I am wondering if anybody here lives in England and if any of you might be able to point me in the right direction to find a gastroentorologist that understands how this diet works

Kindest regards

Joanne
 
Gosh, I also would like to know about any GI or Colo-rectal surgeon in California that would be also understand this diet and believe in it enough to suggest it to their patients. I am not taking drugs right now, and my GI does not like it. They make me feel that if I don't take the drugs I will never heal from my fistula. But I am healing, so I just don't get it. I maybe having some infection issues due to the fistula as it is an open wound!!! I mean come on, there is a seton and it won't close and it's a hole, and that a lone means it is a problem. ONce the seton is out then and ony then will I know it will heal altogether. But I think they won't even touch me unless I am taking these drugs. I am thinking about actually lying to them and telling them "yes" I take the drugs you are giving me. I mean I have no crohn symptoms. But they say "that doesn't matter, you have a disease!!!"
 
Well, with a couple of blip days, I've been pretty much sticking to SCD eating, but I have been feeling pretty tired.I bumped into the lady who was my smoking cessation counsellor who is also the diabetic counsellor and was chatting with her about it. She was a bit concerned about the lack of carbs, but maybe I didn't explain the diet that well to her.
I think I'm going to see if I can get an appointment with a dietician here to make sure I'm replacing the potatoes, bread etc with things that will give me the necessary 'good carb' intake.
 
Grumbletum,

We must take our SCD multi-vitamins also ( after intro-diet - I believe) and eating veggies and fruit and honey do provide us carbs, just not like what we are used to. I thought removing so many carbs would be bad fir my health but so far I am looking like I was when I first got married, 15 years ago and my blood tests show that everything is functioning normally. I have lots of energy more than before. The only negative thing that happened to me on this diet is that because I was over weight and lost all that bad fat it happened too soon to fast. So I passes some very tiny kidney stones a few times and then my hair was falling out a lot. That all stopped. Back to normal and not losing anymore weight. I am staying consistent in my weight now.
 
Thanks, Hope, I think you are right. I'm not taking any vitamin supplements at the moment just cod liver oil caps ( when I remember to take them!. ) I think I might be needing some B12. I've broken out with annoying sore bits at the corners of my mouth and nose and I read somewhere on the forum that this is probably due to B12 deficiency and/or a build up of candida.
The manifestations of this disease never cease to amaze me!
 
Hope, that's great to hear as I need to lose quite a bit of weight too. Well, the hair falling out and kidney stones don't sound good but the weight loss does.

Um, has your hair grown back??
 
Yes, my hair is growing back. I noticed it immediately as it fell off more hair coming through. I lost 65lbs and I was fat before. Now I am not fat and not too skinny either. I can wear anything now! I needed to lose that weight.
 
Very encouraging, Hope. I'm glad to hear your hair grew back also. :D

I've yet to restart the diet. I've been going back and forth but am leaning towards fully committing. For me, the pros so far outweigh the cons that there's really nothing to think about. My main issue is not ever being able to eat out like I like. But I've been thinking about that perspective and thinking "never" is a pretty intimidating word. If deciding I can eat out 4 times a year (after being on the diet long enough) and making wise menu choices gets me to the point of being okay with the diet then I'm comfortable with that.

And the things I'll be able to eat...all the things I miss terribly....are many more than the two things I'm hung up on (pasta and rice). Hummus, salads, veggies...gosh, I miss that stuff.

And losing all this extra weight wouldn't be too hard on me either. :D
 
I haven't noticed any problems with the carbs. I run every day so I make sure I have an orange or banana before I head out. I track all of my calories on Loseit! a free online site. It keeps track of my carbs as well as the other nutrients. I try to keep it at around 100 or so carbs, which isn't hard. I get them in the form of veggies and fruits and find I feel enormously better now that I'm not eating mass amounts of carbs. In my humble opinion, you can never go wrong by eating your carbs in only veggies, fruits, honey and the things we're allowed. Even being super active, I never feel a lack of energy from not eating a lot of carbs via potatoes, grains, etc.
 
I'll have a look at that site Katie. I think I need to monitor my carb intake. I might just be tired cos I think I'm having a bit of a flare at the moment and fighting the pain makes me tired. I don't like popping too many paracetamol, but just have to sometimes to function.
P.S. How was your break?
 
Grumbletum,
It was awesome! We worked 4-5 hours a day on the fence posts and got in over 1/3 of the fencing for the 5 acres. We bought a 12x26' cabin with a loft that's being built right now and will be delivered in a month. When we go back to set it up, we hope to get another huge chunk of the fence in. Gearing toward selling our house here in Albuquerque and moving out to the "farm" in a year +. I'm sad we had to leave. Patience is HARD for me. Can't wait to be out there permanently.
 
That sounds beautiful, Katie. :) Edited to say I checked out your blog too and it IS beautiful. I love how open and remote it is.
 
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It does indeed, and I had a look on your blog. Very exciting and looks like a real 'away from it all' kinda place :)
 
So, those of you who have gone through intro, what was that period like. I am on day 3 and alternating between starving and painfully full in a matter of 10 or 15 minutes. Also just really constipated-I haven't had a BM since I started. And staying away from all the other food in my house is proving nearly impossible. Was your experience similar?
 
Mine wasn't but only because I was really sick with a virus at the time. I had no appetite and felt so bad from the virus that I never really noticed any Intro symptoms besides a headache. I wasn't constipated but my diarrhea got quite a bit better. I've read constipation is sometimes a problem on the intro but don't remember what to do about it.

I hope you feel better soon.
 
Mine was really easy but for a headache from no coffee. I was never hungry or overfull but I'm used to eating pretty high fiber. If you aren't I'm thinking it could be hard on your system. Everyone is different though. I log all my calories on a phone app so if I have problems I can look back and be reminded of what I ate. Maybe try that?
 
I've been on the Specific Carb Diet for about a week now - I haven't made my own yogurt yet, but a yogurt maker is being delivered soon! I have been eating good quality plain yogurt with fruit, sugar-free dried fruit, honey and some nuts. I've been baking my own almond flour sandwich buns, banana bread, and have been eating a lot of eggs with allowable cheeses and cooked vegetables, as well as spaghetti squash with vegetables and parmesan.

But I'm feeling just awful. Right before the diet I had been taking quite a lot of probiotics and started having diarrhea, so I backed off on the probiotics in fear that the probiotics were causing it. I then started the diet, still experiencing diarrhea, and I just started feeling more and more bloated and really tired, with no energy. Yesterday I started seeing a bit of blood again (whereas I hadn't seen any blood in months), and today I woke up feeling very sick. There is also a stomach flu going around here, so I'm wondering if the blood, and nausea/weakness I'm experiencing today is the flu, but I'm not sure.

I had been continuing with the diet despite these symptoms because I had been wondering if what was happening were the "die-off" symptoms - but now I'm not so sure!

I'm wondering, also, if maybe eating so many rough and diarrhea-causing foods such as fruit and nuts might be making things worse at the moment and that the reason I'm so tired is because I'm not absorbing much of it, either.

Has anyone else experienced symptoms similar to mine in the first couple weeks of the diet?



Diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2003. Currently on 25mg oral Methotrexate per week. Taking vitamin D, calcium, folic acid, fish oil, some probiotics.
 
You really need to start with only the INTRO Diet. You did read the book, right? for the first week, if you have already start out slow. Introduce something new EACH week, not each day. For example don't eat the store bought yogurt!!! This is not part of the SCDiet. Don't eat the sugar-free dried fruit. Wait after you are feeling good for at least a couple of months before you do that. Take it easy on the almond bread. Only one meal of those a day at first and that include the banana bread, just until you have had to symptoms for a while. Eggs are okay, but try scrambled. And try to stay away from cheese until after the the intro diet, and easy on the cheese. Easy. Just a little sprinkled here and there, cooked veggies are good. Don't do Parmesan yet until you know you are doing good with the other cheeses. Make sure the cheesses don't have a lot of additives that could be starchy. These are not die-off symptoms. You should take it easy (adding one thing a week at a time) to see if anything can give you a flare.

Please take a look at this site for Common SCD Mistakes: http://www.pecanbread.com/p/how/mistakes.html

Good Luck.
 
Thank you for all your advice and the link, as well.

As soon as I wrote my last post, I started to realize my problem, in that I did this far too quickly, and that at my current state, it was causing far more harm than good.

Although I have quite a few symptoms, my CD is not severe and my inflammatory levels are being controlled by Methotrexate and are thus in a high-normal range. So I was impatient and thought I was ready to transition to the diet right away.

I was wondering if any of you could give me some advice and tips for beginning? I will start the intro diet, but what should I eat after the intro diet and before I'm ready to eat fruit, vegetables and cheese?

I'm in school and going into a really intense Term right at the moment and am worried that the intro diet and after that, introducing foods slowly might not provide me enough calories and energy to get through it all... Maybe this isn't a good time to start. The time spent making food is one thing that concerns me, but I'm way more worried about not having enough energy to cook, attend school and do homework.
 
Bubbasmi, the website in the link Hope posted also has a page with stages for introducing stuff that a lot of people find helpful as a guide.

Even if your CD isn't severe and under control there is still physical damage that needs to heal. That's why it's best to introduce things slowly.

It does sound like you might do better to wait considering your upcoming stresses and time management issues. :)
 
Well, fellow SCD'ers, I'm back on the intro diet today. I'm feeling pretty bad with a headache and fatigue and generally just meh. I'm thankful to not be nauseous though. I hate that.

Looking forward to this next couple of days being over with. Meh.
 
It's now day 6 and...I am amazed. Amazed! I got worse at first, which I found out can be normal, but once I added yogurt my D tapered off. And that yogurt...YUM.

My cramps are almost gone also. I suspect they'd be gone completely except I keep working in the yard which aggravates them. I'm still having a fraction of the pain I used to and working in the yard much, much more.

Did I mention my energy level is up? I get tired in the afternoons but I honestly thing that's blood sugar due to not eating a hearty breakfast as soon as I get up.

I just can't say enough about SCD. I'm paranoid it'll go away, all these wonderful improvements but I suppose not. :D I'm really in awe of this diet!
 
That is great news PC, and it must be such a relief for you.
I'm still sticking with the diet too, but to be honest I think I came off the intro diet too quickly. I too am almost totally pain free at the moment, but that will be due to the Pred which my GP put me on. I have my first GI consultation on May 16. Got the appointment letter about two weeks ago, and spoke to my GP as my symptoms were developing ( pain in left side as well as right, and bad lower pack pain ).
My stomach is not handling red meat very well I (probably cos of the narrowing in my bowel) and I don't like jelly, so it left me with not a lot to eat on the intro which I found quite hard. I love the yoghurt too.
Will be intersting to see if I stay symptom free once I'm off the Pred.
 
As a 37 year old newbie, I just wanted to weigh in on this topic (since a Google on diet and Crohn's is what brought me to the board in the first place!)

I am almost diagnosed with Crohn's (that is, my GI guy wants to scope for certainty, but he's already pretty sure).

I've been low-carbing for about a year, with varying degrees of faithfulness. Probably about 80% on program at my best. I was doing it primarily for blood sugar control and weight loss, but an interesting thing started happening about two months ago.

I would get "the stomach flu" each time I cheated with sugars or grains. Usually about every week to ten days or so. Within a day or two of getting rid of the grains and sugar, my gut would settle back down again.
I'm a bit slow, so I never made any connections... ;)

Two weeks ago, my "flu" had localized to what I was convinced was my appendix. I was pained, but not agonizingly so, on the right side, bloated and had had nothing but d for nearly a full week.
I wound up in the hospital for four days. I was severely dehydrated, my gut bacteria was insanely out of control, my c-reactive proteins were showing massive inflammation, and the CAT (for my supposed appendicitis) showed a very unhappy colon and ilium, as well as the thickened appendix.
They decided that doesn't look like appendicitis so much as Crohn's.
*sigh*
Appendicitis would be preferable...


So, my first thought is, OK, what should I not be eating? Since this is a disease of the digestive system, even if food doesn't cause Crohn's there's no way I can believe there aren't things that exacerbate it.

My GI guy said we're just going to worry about getting the inflammation and infections under control first (I'm still on Flagyl and prednisone) and talk diet later. Which didn't make any sense when he said it and makes less the more I think about it...:rolleyes:

So of course the first thing I did once getting out of the hospital and their starch-based "soft" food was to go back to low carb "soft" food. Afterall, that's what had been bringing my gut back into happy-mode every other time I'd had this "attack" so I didn't even think about it that that's what I would do this time, too.


Then I started reading and researching. Same as everyone else does, I'm sure, when they get the label.
And the SCD thing kept coming up. That and Paleo.
Both are a version of low-carb...
hmmm...

Looking at the symptoms, I've probably had this for several years, at the very least. And I'm quickly coming to believe that my mostly-low-carb diet is a big part of what kept it in check for so long!

Going forward, I'm going to give a try to the SCD (since it allows simple sugars in the form of honey, grapejuice, etc.) and I'm trying to avoid artificial sweeteners. I've already ordered Breaking the Vicious Cycle, as well as one of the cookbooks from Amazon. :thumleft:

Anyway, I firmly believe I've already had completely unknowing success with my little version of SCD.
 
Ahh yes, Grumbletum, the Prednisone Diet. So popular. :stinks: I hope you stay symptom free after you wean off. In any case, you can always start over with SCD and go slowwwwly. I've got all those nut products (and salads, gosh I miss salads!) dangling in front of my face keeping me going. :D I never have found any dry curd cottage cheese locally. I've read if you make yogurt out of half-n-half it pretty much mimics the cottage cheese so I think I'll try that.

ItsMeFred, yep, I was in the ER with that "stomach flu" a couple of times. :D It sounds like you're well on your way to already doing SCD. If you decide to give it a go your Intro should be easy since you've already gotten so many grains out of your system. Good luck.
 
An article I found in the midst of my research:
Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis by Barry Groves,PhD
(Google it. Apparently I'm not allowed to post URLs until I've made more posts...)

The gist: An Austrian physician and researcher has been treating Crohn's and UC with a low carb diet for about 40 years with great success. (Probably very similar to SCD)

So this begs the question: The SCD has a great deal of anecdotal success over the last 20 years or so. Dr. Lutz had 4 decades of clinical success with his low-carb diet (I'm guessing his last book Life Without Bread probably outlines it quite well) but this isn't standard clinical protocol?

I realize people can eventually get to the point in this disease where diet can't control it, but shouldn't this be a first-line of defense? Or, if researchers and doctors are hesitant because they're unsure of it's efficacy, shouldn't this be something that is being researched extensively??

Why does a simple starch diet seem to be the most commonly recommended??
 
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Your guess is as good as mine. I've heard drug companies fund a lot of the studies that get the most publicity so that'd explain a lot. A lot of people are unwilling to eat such a restricted diet, so I suspect even if docs knew about it/believed in it they'd get tired of suggesting it to a public that has been weaned for decades on a fix-it-with-a-pill philosophy. If not for the foods I'll be eating in the advanced stages I'm not so sure I could do this either.

I just watched an interesting documentary called "Food Matters" that goes into a lot of theories as to why holistic approaches are not funded, published widely, or recommended more.

I was just thinking yesterday how fortunate we are to have the internet. Imagine if you had to rely on real-time word of mouth to hear about SCD. I don't even like to think about it.
 
I agree!

I can't even imagine how I would be responding if I were getting this dx 20 years ago! Thank God for the readily-available information on the 'net.

A lot of people are unwilling to eat such a restricted diet, so I suspect even if docs knew about it/believed in it they'd get tired of suggesting it to a public that has been weaned for decades on a fix-it-with-a-pill philosophy.
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I wonder if this is it... Much like low-carb for weight loss. A lot of people understand that it works but they just don't want to give up their Twinkies and Coke long term.

For that matter, ironically, I've got a good friend who has been chasing a mysterious gut ailment since last fall. They scoped her but it came up inconclusive for Crohn's, but it's looking more and more like it's at least UC. She envies my fast, clear-cut label. ;)

When I suggested she try low-carb, just to see what it could do for her, she absolutely dug in her heels. I don't get that. I eat GOOD stuff when I LC. Not Twinkies and Coke, true, but still good. (And man! If I can add honey, the options are limitless! lol)
But she absolutely refuses to consider it.

Given the choice between cutting grains, sugars, etc. and having to be on meds, with their assorted side-effects, to control pain, infections, inflammation, etc? I just don't see where there's a choice to be made, I guess. I'm going to go path-of-least-resistance for as long as possible!
 
I am with all you about this. I have spoken to two ladies with diverticulitus and one just laughed when I told her that she would have to give up grains. The other one just said it was too overwhelming for her lifestyle to eat this way.

I don't get it. I would do anything natural to get my symptoms to the point of NONE! Anything! I mean who wants an active disease? Seriously! And now even more so because I am scared to death of getting another abscess. Starchy food is not worth it! I like health much better. I hate suffering sooooo much. But i guess not everyone is the same.
 
Oh and by the way, this diet can also heal people who have acid reflux! My husband and I had it really bad before I got the Crohns, and once I started the diet the reflux went away. Starchy food, yeast, hmmm. I think that can make acid a lot worse. My husbands acid reflux went into remission too, but he doesn't have to eat SCD, but he does it with me and it helps him lose weight, but when he goes off the diet and starts binging he gains weight and gets acid reflux again. Once he goes on the SCD again, he feels better, and loses weight again.
 
I do not follow any specific diet, i basically eat what my body lets me eat. Trust your gut LOL!
I purchased "Great Taste no pain" it has some nice ideas and good advice, like eat fruit seperatley.. .. BUT.. .. i found it rather intimidating because of all the restrictions i have and the guidelines are mumbojumbo when it comes to what to eat with what.

Still look for ideas on plain simple meal ideas.

Wish you every success with your diets and will keep a peep out to see how it is going.
 
hope4 said:
The other one just said it was too overwhelming for her lifestyle to eat this way.
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That's what I keep reading as an argument against both LC and SCD-- "It's too restrictive!"

Seriously?!?
A bowel resection is restrictive. A colostomy bag is restrictive.
A diet is merely an annoyance.
And that's only if you let it be.

Personally, I'm a good enough cook that I don't find it very restrictive.
(OK, so I'm not a particularly good cook. I just have a really good collection of cookbooks. lol And am too cheap not to regularly cook from scratch. ;) )
And truly-- the joy of being able to add honey! Words can't express. :D
 
I investigated SCD about a year ago and rejected it for the same reasons as mentioned, too restrictive, can't give up my grains. I understand feeling that way. I guess we all do. :)

At the beginning of this year I took a turn for the worse that didn't let up unless I was on prednisone. I knew I was facing going on more powerful medication and/or regular pred bursts, so that's when I decided to give SCD a try.

I've gone down a size in jeans in a week (I'm a fat crohnie) without being hungry and having more energy than I've had since my diagnosis. I can't complain about that, let alone the fact that I'll be feeling better and better and eating more and more exciting food as I advance along. :D I'm an SCD zealot, lol.

I was wondering about acid reflux, Hope, as I was having problems with it and it's gone away since day one. Very interesting. I know people with the issue but I doubt they'd be interested in such a massive dietary overhaul.
 
I'm an SCD zealot, lol
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I'm on that road... ;)
But I'm coming from the direction of "Paleo" since, as a low-carber before diagnosis as crohnie, that's what I first recognized it as. With a few minor variances, SCD and Paleo are virtually identical, btw.

I had already come to the very strong conclusion that the theory that the over consumption of grains in our modern societies is what causes a host of medical issues (from diabetes, to obesity to auto-immune diseases) that whether I'm officially diagnosed or not, following a "specific carb"/Paleo diet seems to be the logical thing to keep doing.
 
Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. I've been experimenting with the SCD and Paleo diets over the past year and have had varying results but at the moment - my symptoms are the worst they've been in a long time. I think I might turn back to a strict SCD diet and start from the beginning again to make sure I do it right. I'm pretty sure that I introduced new foods too quickly the last time and that may be the reason behind me not getting the same level of success as others.
 
Yoghurt starter?

I've been using a bit from previous batches to start new ones. But reading the instructions again today it says not to do that. Does anyone know why?
 
I have a question for those of you who are well versed in the ways of the SCD, if you guys don't mind!

I have been on the diet now since last Friday (April 29th), so that makes 9 or so days now. I began the day of a colonoscopy, seeing the empty bowels as a type of "clean slate" to start afresh on the diet.

The first couple of days I felt pretty good - eating the homemade chicken soup, broiled halibut with only salt & pepper, broiled chicken or broiled turkey patty with super mushy carrot. But after the first 2 days I went back to having brisk diarrhea. However, I'm not in terrible amounts of pain, just mild pain and general bloating and discomfort.

I can't find the cottage cheese anywhere - It's really irritating, because I live in a big city (Vancouver, Canada), so if anyone here is from this area and have found it, I'd love some guidance! Anyway, I introduced one banana on day 3 or 4, as well as homemade apple sauce - I think introducing both in the same day was a mistake, but as I'm at school all day on week days, it's really hard to know what to eat all day so that I don't starve. So I backed off on both of those foods and reintroduced banana a couple of days later and that seemed ok. Then I had some more apple sauce even later and again, I *think* it was ok. I also introduced boiled eggs on day 5 or 6.

I have been following the pecanbread stages since the beginning, really. So as per the stages diet, I have been slowly introducing small amounts of brick cheese like havarti and cheddar, and eating peeled, steamed zucchini.

I wasn't able to eat the yogurt until day 7 because I just didn't have time to make it until wednesday evening. Anyway, the day I tried the yogurt I felt some pain and gurgling, but much more activity that I felt may have been a good thing. And I've had the yogurt a few more times and it hasn't caused the same pain again. But it also hasn't settled my diarrhea.

I'm still having brisk diarrhea as I did before I began, and I'm becoming quite frustrated. I know I should be patient, but I'm just constantly in fear that I'm doing something wrong or that it just won't work in my case.

How often is it the case that you don't see any improvement for the first couple of weeks? Or how often do symptoms become worse before they get better?

Oh, and one more question regarding the cottage cheese. There IS a type of dry curd cottage cheese available in Vancouver by Dairyland (which is a dairy producing company here in British Columbia). In my research, I read on a message board about the cottage cheese and places to find them in Canada, that there is a dry curd cottage cheese in Vancouver that comes in large, blue and white tubs, which is the exact description of the cottage cheese that I have found. However, on the label, under Sugar it says "Sugar 2g", which I understand it NOT SCD legal, right? Legal cottage cheese should say Sugar 0g on the label, yes? I've been quite confused about the conflicting things I've read and was hoping for some clarification.

Thank you in advance for your responses! i'm sorry this is such a long message!
 
Hey there
Might be that you are introducing the yoghurt too early? I believe you should be symptom free before you start taking it. I found, ironically, for the first couple of weeks that I had D which wasn't a major symptom of mine before. But I figured that was my system clearing out all the bad stuff.
I still have it now, but only a 2 or 3 bowel movements a day so I'm not sure if it's all the fruit and veg I'm eating ( I was a real chocolate and cake fiend before ) or if it's possibly a side effect of the Pred.
Can't help you with the cheese on the Canadian front as I'm in the UK, but have you seen Katie's instructions for making your own cheese earlier on in this thread? It's really easy to do. I'm on a small island, so can't get it here either.
 
Grumbletum said:
I've been using a bit from previous batches to start new ones. But reading the instructions again today it says not to do that. Does anyone know why?
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My understanding is the fresh starter is more reliable. I'm coming up blank but was just reading about this over the weekend. I'll see if I can find it. You have the book, right? I'm sure I saw it in the book in the yogurt section.
 
Hi Bubbasmi,

I got worse before I got better and I was in a panic about it. But it's perfectly normal. You're doing some serious digestive housekeeping so you're going to have some symptoms beyond intro. It does make it more difficult to determine what's die-off compared to a food reaction, but you'll get better and better at understanding what your body is telling you. Today is only my two-week anniversary of starting SCD and I'm already pretty confident in reading my digestive symptoms. You might think about joining the Yahoo BTVC (Breaking the Vicious Cycle) discussion group. It's been a great source of information and encouragement for me.

I understand how discouraging it is when you don't see the dramatic results you've read about. What helps me is to concentrate on ANY improvement, no matter how small. You're in less pain, right? That's an improvement! Are you having diarrhea less often? That would be an improvement. It sounds like you're doing it right so my guess is your healing is just going slowly. Lucky you, right? It was suggested to me to get some legal s. boulardii, which is a good yeast that's supposed to help with diarrhea if it's caused by a bad yeast (candida).

Finding the cottage cheese seems to be impossible for a lot of people and you can do SCD just fine without it. I am and a lot of people have. You can order it online but it's expensive that way. As for the brand you mentioned, yes, it's illegal with all that sugar in it. The comments I've read are that the author of the book stressed it because it was an easy go-to food rather than it being necessary for the diet (she could shop in New York city!). Straining the yogurt for several hours or overnight will give it a milder flavor and firmer texture similar to the cottage cheese.

Take care!
 
I wonder if it's our overuse of antibiotics here because grains are the main food source for millions all over the world where, ironically, IBD is unheard of.

Or our over consumption of sugar in all it's forms. ??

Either way, like you, I'm doing so much better on this type of eating that I have no plans to stop. Maybe the rest of the world can handle grains. My bowels can't!

itsMeFred said:
I had already come to the very strong conclusion that the theory that the over consumption of grains in our modern societies is what causes a host of medical issues (from diabetes, to obesity to auto-immune diseases) that whether I'm officially diagnosed or not, following a "specific carb"/Paleo diet seems to be the logical thing to keep doing.
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I can't speak to others, but I seriously doubt antibiotics had anything whatsoever to do with my Crohn's. I have only used antibiotics a handful of times in my lifetime and none at all in about 10 years... To the population in general? Possibly...
And there is also the overuse of antibiotics in our food supply.

And we do know some things are inflammatory to the human system. Glucose or insulin (I can't remember which off the top of my head) is one. Ie, too much starch/sugar means too much glucose/insulin in the body.
Not to mention the fact that sugars and starches feed the gut bacteria as discussed in BTVC.
Another is lineoleic acid (most of the vegetable and seed oils except olive oil are extremely high in lineoleic acid).

You're right, though. There are populations who exist almost exclusively on "cheap" grains. But then the question becomes one of quantity... Of course, this is speculation.
Lower diagnoses might also have a lot to do with quality of available healthcare.

Definitely something worthy of more research...
 
I'm pretty sure IBD is unheard of for the most part in Japan and I know they have good healthcare (in the large cities). On the other hand, they also don't overeat like we do so maybe that's the difference.

Personally I'm suspicious of something in my past. Over a decade ago it was discovered during a surgery that I had a section of my colon constricted almost shut with an endometriosis nodule. Who knows how long it had been there, and I'm picturing all that food backed all the way up in my intestines, fermenting, wreaking toxic havoc on my system, and bacteria overgrowing by the gazillions. Throw just one dose of antibiotics into that environment and it's a recipe for disaster. Yikes.
 
Bubbasmi,

It is probably the yogurt for sure. I did that same thing. At first I seemed to get better until I added the yogurt. Once I stopped it I got better. Now after a year I may add very little yogurt in a smootie or baked item but only a little and only once a month. I don't even do the dry curd cheese either. A kooky Harvarti or cheddar yes. But if I were u I woul not have cheese until u have formed stool no more than 2 bowel movements a day. I believe you will get there. Have faith in this diet, learn from your mistakes. I realize it's hard to snack during this initial stage and being in school or at a job. Maybe u can bring a cool lunch box with scrambled egg, boil eggs, or boiled egg Whites? If u are able to handle a ripe banana withou the big D then that's good too. Even Coles broiled chicken too. It's too hard on this diet if ur hungry so the key is - stay full- even if u eat cold meat from a lunch pail. I bring food with me everywhere I go cause I can't stand being hungry. Good luck and be positive it helps. I am so grateful to have found this diet.
 
I have been doing SCD for about 1 year. I did it 98% for the first 6 months and had little or no results. I have been doing it 100% since then and have gone into full remmission. Oh, and I have Crohn's at a 6 level out of 10, 10 being hte worst.
I believe in this diet 100%.
I can see so many questions and wrong advice going around on this thread that I do not even know where to start.
The first thing is that I see people after a few days talking about almond flour. After a year even though I feel great I only eat cashew butter and cerrtainly no flour.
I learned the hard way slower is way better. I eat stage 3 and some stage 4 foods. I might be able to eat more stage 4 foods, but I feel so great I am still scared to try too much to fast. So 1st thing I would recommend is slow down,
It took me 6 months to figure out the small things I was doing wrong, like taking melatonin. I had little results in this 6 months, in fact at one point when I was in so much pain I thought I was going to end up in the hospital, I thought I would dump it. But some folks encouraged me to look at every little thing I was putting in my mouth and I did find some illegals. I am so happy I stuck with it. If it is not working I suggest really looking at every little thing. Do not dump the diet, as I said I was on it what I believed for 6 months with no results. Now you could not take this away from me with a gun.
DCCC must have 0 carbs. If it has carbs it is illegal.
You can not make DCCC as referenced above. We need to cook the milk for 24 hours to get the lactose out. The recipe above is illegal. If you can not find DCCC then you can drip scd yogurt.
Do not try to do this diet without buying BTVC. This is the one source of information you can trust. I have read the book I bet 6 times to ensure I am missing nothing.
Use a yogurt starter, the yogurt will be stonger. There are many options. I use GI Pro Start. It makes a great tasting product. Others love Yogourmet (they make two kinds, get the correct kind).
Yogurt makers can over heat yogurt, plug the yogurt maker into a llight dimmer and control the temp that way.

Anyways, these are just a few responses to somes of the questions. I hope I can help and learn
Dave
 
Hey Nicki
Been there done that on the "do over".
It worked for me and I hope it works for you. One thing that helped was to take the attitude that every thing is illegal unless I know for sure it is legal.
I ate organic dried cranberries cause they had ot be legal. NOt and I was sick for a week. Melatonin, 100% has ot be legal, not! Stopped and felt better right away.

The other big break through for me was going low carb. I read Life Without Bread which makes the low carb argument. As soon as I went low carb I started to feel better.

That is one reason why in this thread I see the discussion of baked goods and the diet not working and I am thinking perhaps it is to do with the carbs.

Best of Luck
dave
 
David, congratulations on your remission. I'm entering week 3 and seeing improvement but it's off and on. I'm forging ahead and have decided to give it 3 months instead of the single month BTVC recommends. Maybe I've misinterpreted it, but the book seems to imply diarrhea should be gone for the most part after the intro and at least by the end of the month, but that's definitely not been my experience. Also, it's hard to tell if an introduced food is an issue if you're having diarrhea off and on to begin with. It's confusing so I'm doing some tweaking.

Anyway, I picked up some Yogourmet but didn't know there was an incorrect kind. Can you tell me what the difference is so I can see if I have the correct one? Mine doesn't have bifidus if that helps.

Thanks also for attempting to correct the misinformation in this thread. I didn't feel comfortable doing so since I'm so new to this whole thing and didn't want to further confuse things.
 
Hi Partly
Thanks for the congrats. 8 months ago I has such a mess I could literally barely walk. As well as the CD mess I also had periferal nuropothy (drop foot). Last weekend I completed a 100k bike ride and felt great doingin it and after. This diet has changed my life.

The SCD yougourmet has 3 strains. The no good has more. lucy's kitchen sells the good stuff. Make sure yours is the same as that which is being sold there.


I was up and down for the first 6 months. You can expect both an inital and 30, 90 and 1 year die off. I had the intial, 30 and 90 day die off pretty bad. but no one year. I truly believe this diet can help even more folks but they give up too early.

hang in there, and be very careful with 100% of everything that you put in your mouth.

Look at all your meds, be careful with toothpaste. Eat 100% nothing out of a can.

make sure you are not getting cross contaminated from non SCD cooking surfaces, do not eat out....

It was these things that did me in for the first 6 months. That and the odd "cheat". Hey I am not that sick, so 98% should be more than good enough, right? Not for me, only 100% works for me and that is what the book says.
Dave
 
Bubbasmi - DCCC in Vancouver Canada

Dry Curd Cottage Cheese http://uclbs.org/resources/dairy.phpWestern Creamery Brand Pressed Dry Cottage Cheese (0.1% MF) It comes in a white square vacuum pack with blue and brown lettering and a circle logo. Packages are 500 grams. Visit their website, http://www.westerncreamery.com/, for pictures of the packages and more information.
M-C Pressed Cottage Cheese (0.1%). White Square vacuum package with blue lettering and a circle logo. Packages are 500 grams.

Both can be found at Loblaws (including those in Whitby and Oshawa), Highland Farms, A & P, Dominion. Don't buy the creamed pressed cottage cheese as it is not SCD legal.

Dave
 
Thanks for the Yogourmet info, David. I'll look at mine when I get up out of my recliner. :) And congratulations on your ride. That's so wonderful for you and so encouraging.

I do have to take OTC Tylenol a couple of times a week for back pain, which I'm not sure what to do about. I'm very careful about surface cross contamination and bought new pans although I'm still using some old plastic storage containers. Did you have a problem with that?

Other than that I honestly can't think of anything I could change. I am going to introduce s. boulardii slowly as my home test indicated a yeast problem. Maybe that's it.

I am doing better than pre-SCD though so that motivates me to continue and be patient. :)

Thanks for your suggestions!
 
You sound like you are fantically compliant. I forget but I thought we were not to have tylenol (not sure about that).
Have you looked at your carb level. I shoot for about 72 grms per day on a non workout day.
Have you read NOurashing Traditions BY Sally Fallon. I love this book. I try to eat a 24 hour broth based food from this book very day. It is crazy good, and super healing and healthy,
I never had an issue with plastic storage.
Gosh I wish I could share something that would really help
Well at least I can share my helaing thoughts moving your way
Dave
 
I doubt Tylenol is legal but I need the pain relief so I'm not sure what else to do. I also have 3 prescription meds I have to take each day so I'm getting illegals that way also I suspect.

It's possible I'm reacting to a food and I know the un-exciting answer to that...back to the intro then restart introducing things much slower (I'm eating stage 1 foods only).

Nourishing Traditions is on my To Read list already, thank you. :) I'm starting the s. boulardii then if that doesn't work I'll either look at my carb count or restart, not sure yet.

Thanks for you help and suggestions. I appreciate it.
 
Yup, I am firm believer. In fact SCD by itself was not working for me, It was the combination of low carb and SCD that beat back my CD.

I think Life Without Bread is a great book and another must read for SCDers. I was 100% legal and eating tons of high carb fruit, veg and then adding some honey. I was reading about and getting ready to start adding baked goods. BUt I was still feeling only ok. It was when I cust back on the carbs that I really went into remmission.

:)
 
David30005 said:
Yup, I am firm believer. In fact SCD by itself was not working for me, It was the combination of low carb and SCD that beat back my CD.
Click to expand...

In that same vein, you might also get a lot out of The Paleo Solution.
The prescribed "diet" is very similar diet to SCD, but the science comes from a different direction. Wolf tends to make his argument from the biomechanics of the digestive system, as well as the biochemistry of the various nutrients and how they affect the body, particularly inflammation (and how that in turn creates/worsens autoimmunes and other disorders).
It's also heavily referenced.

As stated in my first post in this thread, a few weeks back, I've been low-carb, more or less, for the better part of two years. Ie, very few grains/sugars for the most part. I truly think that played a big part in why my Crohn's has been so mild.
It also made it very easy to switch over to a SCD/Paleo diet.
 
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I bought Life Without Bread, and though it is a good book it still lets you eat RAW fruits, veggies, bread, etc. but limited in amount of carbs you can have that day. I think anyone who is having diarrhea, or too many bowel movements per day should just stick with the SCDiet, and don't over do it on the raw veggies, raw fruit, and honey. You should only comsume cooked veggies, or cooked fruit ONLY IF YOU GET NO REACTION to it. If you do then you are adding too much. For example, I now only have one bowel movement a day, yesterday I had a large fruit smoothie, and then had 3 peanut butter brownies, and also drank a cup of pure grape juice. Well then, I had another bowel movement right a way after all that!!! Not the big D, but not normal for me these days. So pay attention to what you eat and what your symptoms are! Remove food that is causing symptoms and add them later one at time, per week to see if it is still causing issues. It's a long process sometimes but totally worth it.

SCD for more than a year now. No symptoms unless I accidently consume something illegal (which is rare!).
 
Hi Erin
The way I do it is to always be SCD compliant. Then make adjustments from there. Can you let me know what adjustments you have made based on Paleo?

Honestly I am not that interested in the science. For example, I will not read more science about SCD. I read Life Without Bread, changed what I eat, I do not need more science. The amount provided was enought to convince me. But unlike what hope4 referenced I do not eat raw veg fruits of bread. I am first SCD 100 compliant then I make adjustments

So if Paleo made you eat different, and that difference is SCD complaint then I am interested.

If it is not SCD compliant or just provides a better / different explination than I would give it a pass.

Does this make sense on any level?
Dave
 
I'm the same way regarding the science. I read BTVC once, it made sense at the time (I speed read the science sections), but I couldn't explain it if I had to. I reference it for legal/illegal food questions and that's about it. I'm semi interested in finally comprehending human digestions vs. whatever the other kind is (see!) but obviously I've yet to pursue it. :D

I've got Life Without Bread on order and plan to read it with great trepidation as I hate the idea of giving up even more carbs but am willing to face that reality if need be.
 
I did life without bread, as SCD was not working the way I was doing it and had to make changes to get to full remmission. If I was in full remmission before I would have made some reductions but not to where I am now. But when you are feeling poorly and they are showing you studies showing a substantial reduction in crohn's symptons then it is pretty easy to make the changes.
And I am glad to meet someone who is not that interested. If I was that interested I would have been a doc.
 
DCCC in Vancouver


Hello David,

What area in Vancouver does your SCD friend live?

I have the following information via email from "Liberte" the company that
distributes for Ontario-based "Western Creamery" ......

"For your information, the Dry Curd Cottage Cheese is the same as the Pressed
Dry Cottage Cheese and the code to order from Liberté is 4580 or 4581; this code
could be given to the dairy man. In Vancouver, find the product at either of
these locations.

WHOLE FOODS MKT DAIRY (CAMBIE ST) 510 8TH AVENUE WEST - VANCOUVER BC V5Z 1C5
778-370-4210
FAMOUS FOODS 1595 KINGSWAY - VANCOUVER BC V5N 2R8 604-872-3019

If these stores do not suit you, please give us your postal code and we will try
to find some more stores."

This same representative told me the product is legal on SCD (though I don't for
a minute assume she's an authority on SCD; she's just touting what she's been
told). Now in spite of asking them THREE TIMES, she neglected to provide me
with the posted carb count from the nutritional fact label .... so I phoned
Famous Foods and spoke directly with the dairy person. I found that Western
Creamery dry pressed cottage cheese has "0 Carbs / 1 gram sugar". The 500g
package sells for $6.99.

This website gives you an idea of the product:
http://www.westerncreamery.com/en/products.html
They have four different styles to choose from, which differ by way of fat or
salt content.

I also contacted Dairyland to find out about their DCCC (the one I've been
using), but I've not had a response yet.

Personally, I am going to stick to the Dairyland and/or Lucerne products. See
here (last item pictured on second row):
http://www.dairyland.ca/ProductFamily_CottageCheese.aspx
They are more readily available (at Safeway and Save-on-Foods). The carb count
is 1% and the sugar is listed at 2 grams. It's what I've always used, and
specifically recommended by the uclbs website. Plus, it has no adverse effects
on my gut.

Vivien
 
David30005 said:
Hi Erin
The way I do it is to always be SCD compliant. Then make adjustments from there. Can you let me know what adjustments you have made based on Paleo?
Click to expand...
Nuts, as an example. SCD doesn't really limit tree nuts (I'd have to double check the list, as I don't really eat nuts), but Paleo suggests using nuts as a condiment. Ie, in limited doses because of the inflammatory effect.
Dairy is another example. SCD allows hard cheeses. Paleo points out that dairy is a common irritant, if not outright allergen, and people with autoimmunes should really avoid it, even in the case of hard cheeses...
Grape juice is full of fructose. Allowed, watered down, on SCD. But recommended against, on Paleo. And so on and so forth.

Truly, you'd have to do the research to see it. And if you're not interested in the science, it probably wouldn't make any sense...
 
Thank you for explaining this to me. I read fod map and droped mushrooms, makers - pork, life without bread - carbs, nourishing tradtions - stock. Almost every time I read one of these diets I learn something and add or subtract something. Thanks again for the examples. I will for sure buy this book and I bet I make some change and I bet I will be healthier for it, so THANK YOU
 
That's pretty much what I've been doing, too.

Each of these diets have a LOT of overlap. But where they don't, I've been erring on the side of caution and avoid things that aren't universally approved.
 
hello

Hi I am kristen with a severe case of crohns and I am lactose intollerant so its hard to eat I have only found three things I can eat without hurting.I was wondering if I could try this diet.


















L
 
Paleo Diet

Hi Erin
I ordered the Paleo Diet book yesterday. I also started reading a bit on some sites. I have recently introduced cashew butter, It seems like I might have to take it back out. I have only read a bit but what I was reading talked about the balance between omega 3 and 6 and this makes sense to me.
I also found what looked like some great recipes on a Paleo web site that were SCD compliant without any mods.
I think this Paleo thing is going to align and compliment my approach to SCD. I also noticed they are focused on carbs, and this is consistent with my approach also.

Thanks again Erin and I will let you know.

If you have any thoughts please let me know

CHeers

David
 
I'm glad you're investigating it, David. Like I said, I've had a lot of luck with this combination, but at the same time, I wasn't very bad to begin with. So that might be the luck right there. lol

Kristen,
You never know until you try!
Read back through the pages of this thread as the SCD is described pretty well. Not to mention, links to the support sites with a lot of great info. But really you need to buy the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle. It has the direction you need, as well as the information for why it works.
 
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I eat very little of the cheeses/dairy the SCD diet allows. Tone honest I don't think the yogurt is good for everyone. Taking the SCDophilus capsules and SCD vitamins and minerals are good enough for me. I don't trust dairy products.
 
Hello

Hi,

I don't have Crohn's, or at least I don't think so... I have Celiac Disease and other issues... The gluten free diet has helped somewhat but I have developed several other food intollerances in the last 6 months. I tried doing 3 candida cleanses and a whole body cleanse, did the candida diet and was successful for the small amount of time that I was super diligent. However I ended up very hypoglycemic and an emotional wreck.

I am now trying the SCD Diet, I started a week ago. I don't have chronic D, for the most part I'm okay... just occasionally when I think I've been 'glutenated'.
I came across this forum while searching for DCCC sources in Vancouver Canada (not easy to find). I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has posted info on that because I have been so frustrated trying to find it.

I am not following the intro diet 100%, although I believe everything I eat is SCD legal and I avoid all the things that I know I react to... maybe I should do the intro diet though, I just thought I might be able to move into the other stages as I don't have D issues.

Any thoughts on that would be awesome... I have felt really great on the SCD diet until I went in for a teeth cleaning on Saturday. I'm assuming whatever polish or flouride treatment leaked down my throat caused the resulting 'boiling guts' feeling I associate with bacterial imbalance problems.

I have to use sensodyne now because of teeth sensitivity and I saw a post warning about toothpaste, so I'm wondering what damage the sensodyne is going to do to my SCD program.

Also, ironically I am a baker (and cook). I've gone back to school to train in another line of work but meanwhile I have to pay the bills, and I'm in a flour filled environment for a significant amount of time. I wear a mask but am still nervous, although I have gone spans of time without symptoms, still working during those times.

Anyway this is my first post, sorry it's so long. Any thoughts or feedback would be very appreciated....

Thanks!
 
Hello all,

Thank you again David, for your DCCC research!

Overall, I am now about a month into SCD, having restarted Intro this past weekend, and I think I'm started to feel better! I the first few weeks I felt the same, even a bit worse. Pain, bloating, discomfort, diarrhea 8+ times per day. And about 3-4 days before I restarted Intro I was doing Stage 1 more or less and was feeling less pain and going to the bathroom less. I also introduced a really high quality probiotic blend - I checked all the non-medical ingredients and they are legal. The bacteria in the capsules are just Acidophilus and L. Casei. Then I did 3 days of Intro and felt way better. Little to no pain, the number of times in the bathroom went down a bit each day, and now I'm only going 3-4 times per day and it's almost never urgent anymore!

However, I am in school all day Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. So after the long weekend ("May long weekend" was this past weekend in Canada) I went back to school and by wednesday I didn't feel as well... I attribute some of my symptoms to stress because school is really intense right now, and I spend from 9-5:30 at school without anything to eat except what I bring with me. I'm quite paranoid that I'm still doing something, or eating something that triggers symptoms. I'm doing stage 1, as per pecanbread - and I'm doing non-dairy right now because I don't trust that my body is fully ok with dairy. I feel a bit guilty because I made salmon the other night with a squeeze of lemon juice, and then I made homemade legal mayo with lemon juice & dry mustard, which are new foods... and maybe that was too quick? I guess I will continue to go as I'm doing... introducing foods slowly and see how I feel over the weekend. If I feel far better all weekend I will attribute a lot of it to stress and being out of the house all day! But maybe I will cut back on the honey and grape juice intake anyway and see if that makes a difference, too.

Anyway, I also apologize for my very long post!

Thanks!
 
coffee & SCD

I have a question regarding coffee. I was wondering how other people on SCD deal with coffee. Apart from what the BTVC says (which is that coffee and black tea are allowed if they are weak), I haven't come across anything regarding coffee in the beginning stages of the diet. I assume it's probably not a wise thing to do, given its laxative effect. But I notice for me, that if I don't overdo it with coffee, and have only one weak Americano or coffee a week or only a couple of times a week, it's not a huge trigger for me.

What do others think and do?
 
The stages are recommendations based on what a lot of others have experienced. But 1) the sages are only recommendations 2) Elaine recognized this is pretty restrictive and wants us to restrict only that wich is known to cause issues and 3) you need to do as the book says which is maximum of 2 cups of weak coffee per day.

Given the above it does not hurt you, I say go for it but carefully and watch for any symptons.

This is one of the hardest part of the whole program for me. I drink weka coffee now and wish daily to go back to "real" coffee. Extra bold Sumatra from starbucks, made strong with no cream.... sigh
Dave
 
Better success with SCD the 2nd time around

I have had UC since 2001 that was mostly kept in remission by Asacol and the occasional prednisone and rowasa at the start of a flare-up, and I am re-trying SCD a 2nd time after giving it a go in December 2010 after reading Elaine's book, since I've had a major flare-up since May 2010 that didn't react to prednisone, then 6mp, then humira... I think I'm seeing much better results this time. In fact two days this past week during days 5 & 7 I didn't have any pain, gas, blood, or diarrhea all day, though that may be attributed to the fact that I was eating less food than normal and everything but the meat was pureed or liquid (carrots & chicken soup broth), so perhaps there was less food in my system to aggravate my colon, and a lot more than normal was being digested since a lot was liquid & pureed.

I am following the ideas from the scdlifestyle blog, which I stumbled upon in iTunes. I started listening to their podcasts and decided to buy their ~$40 book.

I am feeling some major changes, even 1 week in. There have been mornings with NO blood or D in the toilet, and there were two days last week where I felt completely normal. The biggest differences between my attempt in December and now are that in December I included dairy in the form of the dry curd cottage cheese and SCD legal yogurt as permitted by the SCD rules, and I also ate ANYTHING that was SCD legal. However starting last Friday, I limited my food during the intro diet to just chicken soup, pureed carrots, grape juice, grape juice jello, grilled burger patties, and eggs. The guidance from the SCDlifestyle guys is to not include dairy during the intro diet, and to also introduce new scd-legal foods one at a time, in the same quantity, and in a certain order based on ease of digestion, for four days to check for any bad reactions before trying a new food. Being an engineer myself, I can completely relate to this method of experimentation. Basically a lot of the things Elaine said were "legal" may indeed eventually be tolerable, however there are many baby steps needed at first to allow the diseased colon to rest and start recovering before diving in. I tried some pureed pears on day 5 and the bad symptoms returned on day 6, so I stopped them and will revisit them months down the line. I moved on to pureed summer squash the next day for days 6-9, 1 cup at dinner, as I wait to see if my bad symptoms lessen after some amazingly great days on days 5 & 7.

Also I've been using the free service at "fitday" to track my daily caloric intake since day 5 of the diet - prior to using fitday I was eating only around 1500 calories a day on the intro diet even though I felt like I was eating enough. I was clearly losing weight during the first week and a co-worker even asked me if I was sick or something. Also I started taking probiotics in the first week in May.

So for what it's worth, I'm committing myself to this diet for a very long time, especially since due to reasons related to my health insurance, I can't have a colonoscopy until July of this year. The last time I saw my doc in April, I was ready to cry in the office but now I feel a strong sense of optimism to reduce my symptoms and let my colon rest and improve after OD'ing on yogurt and sweet fruits in my smoothies over the past 6 months, which may have been hurting me more than helping reduce my symptoms and let my colon rest and recover some. I don't expect my symptoms to fully disappear by July, but I hope to feel better enough since April to result in him suggesting "lighter" meds than he might have suggested to me in April when I was miserable. As a side note, I'm not against the idea of taking some lighter meds such as the sulfasalazine that I'm on, while continuing the SCD diet for months and years ahead to check for good long-term effects...

So I'll have around 6-7 weeks of SCD'ing before my next doctor visit. I have been in a bad flare since May 2010 which I think was brought on by EXTREME work stress and lack of sleep or exercise from Feb-April 2010, and prednisone, 6MP, and Humira did nothing for me. In fact I was on Asacol, prednisone, 6MP, and Humira all at once from Nov 1 until March 3. My main GI ran out of options other than colon removal in January, so in late February he sent me to a different GI for a 2nd opinion. The 2nd GI took me off everything and ramped me off prednisone (including the Asacol that I'd taken since 2002) and put me on sulfasalazine and Benefiber starting on March 3 since he believed Humira didn't help UC, that possibly the Asacol was giving me diarrhea, and that he thought I may have IBS more so than UC, to be confirmed with a colonoscopy in July (we couldn't do the colonoscopy in March because I got a blood clot in my leg on March 4, believe it or not!).

I've had two EXTREMELY good days this past week after starting the scdlifestyle "enhancements" of Elaine's guidance, and I hope & pray that this is the start of something that lets me get my life back and without strong meds...it's been a long 365 days of reduced social and exercising activity.

I'm not related or tied to the scdlifestyle guys in any way and just wanted to mention this in case others wish to try their ideas and also to see if anyone else here has heard of them and/or used their ideas. I think some of the comments by "bubbasmi" above on May 26 resonate with their ideas, and that also prompted me to jump into this conversation.

Best to all!

Andy
 
Last edited:
Hey there Pgh, I have the Lifestyles book too. I love their methodical approach. Were you able to attend their webinar last week? I found it extremely helpful.

Regarding the coffee subject, I've had it a couple of times in the six weeks I've been on SCD. I'd kicked the habit prior to starting as I'd been wanting to quit anyway and weak coffee is gross
...no thanks. The two times I've had it I've drunk it full strength then chased it with a glass of water. I figure this dilutes it while I still get to enjoy regular coffee.

And speaking of Paleo, I was researching recipes and ran across some Paleo sites and was surprised at how easy it is to use their recipes. A huge lot of them don't require adjustments at all.

I just picked Life Without Bread up at the library and am looking forward to diving in as soon as my swollen allergy eyeballs de-swell.
 
Hi partlycloudy,

I did and enjoyed it, there were some some good tips and info. Have you been on SCD long, have you followed their methods, and what's your experience been?
 
PghAND said:
Hi partlycloudy,

I did and enjoyed it, there were some some good tips and info. Have you been on SCD long, have you followed their methods, and what's your experience been?
Click to expand...

I've only been on it six weeks. I'm feeling SO much better in terms of energy and lack of pain/bloating. I've lost about 25 pounds (need to lose more). Acid reflux has vanished. I'm still having erratic poo with a lot of diarrhea but am on s. boulardii and coconut oil for yeast overgrowth and betaine HCL for low stomach acid, which goes hand in hand with yeast overgrowth.

Overall I'm 75% better than pre-SCD. I'm committed for life I can confidently tell you that much.

I'm not following Lifestyles strictly but use it as a guide. I especially like their tweaks and just gave up most honey and bananas after listening to the webinar and feel so much better. I'd been in some pain and couldn't figure out why. Dang bananas. By the way, pain is my indicator of a reaction rather than diarrhea (right now anyway).

How about you? Are you following Lifestyles strictly or...?
 
I'm going to follow their suggestions pretty closely, if not to the T. I've only been on the diet for 9 days but there are definitely ups & downs - some mornings are great, some are still bloody, so I think I need to limit the variables while I figure out the safe zone.

I felt pretty awesome at the end of the intro diet, and have taken a little step back, so I'm going to either try eliminating the grape juice and jello for a while, or the eggs. Also I got really bad sleep this week and woke up 3-4 times a night several nights a week, so that could be a contributor too... At any rate, following their method should help me eliminate the variables.
 
The only reason I haven't followed them closely is I just couldn't face giving up dairy along with everything else I was giving up.

I think it's fairly common to kind of have a setback after the intro. I did and asked about it on the Breaking the Vicious Cycle yahoo group and found out it's common. Someone pointed out that it's taken years to get sick and we don't heal overnight. I was expecting instantaneous results! :D

Good luck!

PghAND said:
I'm going to follow their suggestions pretty closely, if not to the T. I've only been on the diet for 9 days but there are definitely ups & downs - some mornings are great, some are still bloody, so I think I need to limit the variables while I figure out the safe zone.

I felt pretty awesome at the end of the intro diet, and have taken a little step back, so I'm going to either try eliminating the grape juice and jello for a while, or the eggs. Also I got really bad sleep this week and woke up 3-4 times a night several nights a week, so that could be a contributor too... At any rate, following their method should help me eliminate the variables.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, that's good to hear. I'm on day 11 and the oddest thing is that even though I'm struggling to eat enough calories during the early stages of the diet (I can barely get 2000 calories into me since the healthy foods fill me up quickly), I don't feel as hungry between meals as I did before starting the diet when I ate more sugars. Generally I feel like I don't have that mid-afternoon tiredness at all, but I do feel like my overall energy level is at 75% probably due to the reduced caloric intake and (in my opinion) the reduced variety and reduced fruits.

I've always been able to stay thin while eating WHATEVER I wanted, and I always wondered if that was because of a fast metabolism or from malabsorption, even before getting UC in 2001. But it is hard to eat the 2000+ calories a day on the limited diet I'm on - I'm pausing the pureed pears since I think they caused a setback last week. I also started taking SCD legal multivitamins from GIProhealth a few days ago instead of my Centrum multis as well as their 10+ probiotics - I was an SCD yogurt fanatic from December until two weeks ago (cut out dairy during the intro diet) and also took Garden of Life primal defense probiotics for the first 3 weeks in May before replacing them with the GIP 10+'s.

I'm basically trying every smart thing possible to give this the best chance and see if it can make a difference. Although it's hard to note the differences made since they evolve slowly over time, the two very general things I can say with 100% confidence that are different from 14 days ago are that there have been no mornings on the toilet with heavy bloody diarrhea, and also I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to make a 4 hour drive and attend an all day wedding in June; before two weeks ago I was really fearing doing anything like that.
 
You know, I've noticed the exact same thing regarding my appetite. I've lost a lot of weight (I needed to) without really being hungry and I get full quickly. I'll sit down thinking I'm going to eat the whole cow then about 4 ounces later I'm full and have lost interest. I've NEVER lost interest in food before. I forget to eat a lot of the time.

One thing I've read is to add more oil and butter if you can handle it to help with energy and caloric intake.

I had to stop with pureed pears and apples too as my body isn't ready. I seem to be able to handle peeled raw apple much better although I don't eat it often.

Regarding your morning bathroom issue and your upcoming trip, that's wonderful! I'm still having a lot of diarrhea (am tweaking things to figure out if it's something I can change or just slow healing) so have had to look to other indicators to see my improvements such as more energy, less trips to the bathroom, less pain, etc.

I guess patience is the key with this diet.
 
After reading every single posting in this thread, I`d like to share my experience and add a couple of things that might be helpful. BTW, I was diagnosed with early stage of Crohn in May 2007 (Salofalk 3000mg per day). My condition was pretty much the same since then with sporadic really good and bad periods, BM just once a day, no D in a long time. I started SCD almost a week ago and I already noticed significant improvement, pain is 70% less!

Great good anti inflammatory supplement is oil of oregano. Make sure it contains at least 70% Carvacrol and it`s mixed with olive oil . Also it`s a great immune system booster. I am still not sure about recommended dosage and long term usage side effects but I use 5 drops in the morning and evening for 4-5 days, then make a break for about a week and so on. Give it a try!
Also, very good anti inflammatory supplement is pharmaceutical grade fish oil, but be careful , only PHARMACEUTICAL grade, not regular fish oil.

YOGA made wonders to me!!! A couple of years ago when I first joined local yoga club, I didn`t know about SCD , I was still on Salofalk 3000mg per day, my condition was ok, slight pain on and off, but after 2-3 months practicing yoga combined with some breathing exercises I was almost pain free (didn`t use any medications at all) not to mention that I gained weight, I was not on any specific diet back then. As soon as I stopped doing yoga my condition worsened and got back to previous stage. I am back to yoga and I would highly recommend it! Join a club, learn postures for a couple of months, after that you can do it at home.
You can find lots of breathing exercises on the internet or find a book called “The Yoga Breathing” by Scott Shaw, great book.

Cheers
 
Hello all,

I have been doing SCD for about 6 weeks now, and have noticed great improvements. More energy, less tired, more focused, less pain, fewer times in the bathroom. However, I was still having diarrhea, so I introduced S. Boulardii. The first couple of days were amazing - it was a really quick transformation! I was able to sleep in without having to get up and go to the bathroom, my pain was even less and I found that I could eat big meals of Stage 1/2 foods without much pain, bloating or going to the washroom! However, now, I've been taking S. Boulardii once a day for about 5 days, and I haven't been feeling nearly as well. It started as feelings of constant fullness... But the first 2 days of that I attributed it to eating more and thus being full! However, now I'm still feeling full and bloated all the time, slightly queasy - like nothing will digest, and both yesterday and today I've been extremely tired and exhausted. Today the urgent diarrhea and some pain is back... So not good.

The symptoms I've been having are similar to symptoms my mom has been having, which she thinks are maybe a flu... So maybe I have a bit of a flu right now, I'm not sure. Has anyone else felt these strange symptoms when starting S. Boulardii? Maybe it's another stage of yeast die-off? Bah. I hate not knowing! Haha. I'm not sure if I should stop taking it for a while or if I should continue - because the first couple of days it seemed to really help!

Thanks!
 
I'm starting the diet tomorrow and am hoping that it will be good for me! I'm a little nervous about getting enough calories, but I've read the suggestions of previous posts and hopefully I can ingest enough.
 
Desperado Dan said:
I'm starting the diet tomorrow and am hoping that it will be good for me! I'm a little nervous about getting enough calories, but I've read the suggestions of previous posts and hopefully I can ingest enough.
Click to expand...

Don`t be nervous, stay positive, do not give up!
Well, I am 5' 9", only 120 lb, I lost probably 2-3 lb since I started diet last Tuesday, not even 10 days ago but I can tell you, I feel much better, I have more energy, I sleep much better, overall great improvement.
Ok, I am in early stage of Crohn but it might not work so quickly for you ....... just be patient ........and good luck!
 
Well, after reading just about every post in this thread, mostly while suffering the consequences of a poor dietary decision, I believe tomorrow begins my foray into SCD...
 
Desperado Dan and Boioiod! That is great that you are starting the diet! I think it's amazing you are starting the diet after having been so recently diagnosed, too! For me, it took 8 years to finally get the courage to give up so many tasty things. But alas, I believe it is worth it!

In terms of weight loss, I have found it difficult thus far. But I think if done properly, you will gain weight naturally, over time. I have recently begun to eat a lot of high fat homemade yogurt (made from whole milk and half & half), as well as a lot of avocado. Then there's all the fish I eat! I have managed to keep from losing more now, and I'm six weeks in. I am hoping to gain some soon! I am 92 pounds and a size double-zero... I need to gain a bunch!

Good luck!
 
And I had to put it off for another day. Whatever caused me to start looking into this, probably my subconscious, knew I had a nice little flare up coming. Back to square one for now, perhaps I will try and pick up the diet once I can pull myself together.
 
Good luck to you all who're starting the diet! I've personally found the diet itself to be pretty easy because I don't get hungry but the dishes and clean-up....ugg. Prepare yourself! :D

Anyway, I've found the Yahoo BTVC group to be a rich source of information and support. They've helped me over some bumps and to figure things out since I'm so new to listening to my body.

I'm coming up on my 8-week anniversary of starting SCD and am experiencing so many wonderful benefits that I don't foresee ever going back to eating the way I was. I have good, steady energy all day. Heck, I have ENERGY period! I'm hurting right now because I spent all day digging in my flower garden yesterday and overdid it. I could have never done a fraction of that 2 months ago.

My depression and anxiety have lifted.

Even though I'm still struggling with diarrhea, the frequency is significantly diminished from about 8 times a day to around 2, give or take. Some days I have no diarrhea.

Pain (unless I dig holes all day) is significantly lessened.

Heartburn, nausea completely gone.

Did I mention my energy? With my energy improved to such an extent I can not only keep up with the cooking and cleaning but actually have some left over for fun things. You know, living life? Remember Life, that thing you've said goodbye to since getting sick? Well, I got it back. And that's the best thing of all.

Okay, I'll stop being hyper and fanatical. It's just so exciting to feel good after being sick for so long. :D

Again, good luck to everyone!
 
Hi again - for anyone who may be following, I'm on day 24 and so far so good. I'm definitely feeling much better than 3 weeks ago. Although the changes have been gradual enough that it's hard to fully describe the absolute improvements, I'll say in general that there has been a huge decrease in the bloody D in the morning and I can finally feel bold enough to go for 3 hour walks for the first time since June of 2010.

Even though the BM's have improved from absolute D to some formed 4's on the Bristol chart, there's always water coming out either with the 4's or with just water alone. There's been a period of 2-3 days about 2x so far where blood returned in the morning and sometimes throughout the day, but generally there's very very little blood in the morning now. Some random comments:

- I tend to feel best over the weekend and into Monday. By midweek I sometimes feel worse and the bad symptoms above return. I think it might be from getting more exercise over the weekend and better sleep.

- I think stressful days at work make me worse. I'm trying to manage that and get as much sleep as possible; I need to work on getting 8-9 hours of sleep a night on work nights.

- I cook now in large batches to save time and use lots of tupperware single-serving size containers. I can cook about 5-6 days' worth in one night, consisting mostly of broiled meats, chicken soup pureed carrots, and pureed squash for now. I use a pressure cooker for the soup and steamed vegetables and it saves a TON of time. Get a large one, you won't regret it, and the chicken in the soup is much more juicy and tender than from stove-top boiling.

- Unlike my attempt at SCD in December where I did the intro diet for 5 days (with dairy and eggs) and then jumped into eating anything SCD legal, this time I've kept out dairy & eggs & nuts & bananas & honey and I'm only introducing foods one at a time, for 4 days total, to test for any ill effects.

- I am keeping a good logbook of what I eat, what new foods I introduce, my BM's, my sleep length & quality, my stress level, my mood, exercising, etc... to try to stay on top of patterns and track things. I am following the guidance of www.scdlifestyle.com to introduce foods slowly.

- I am using fitday.com for their free service of tracking my calories and nutritional intake. I am falling short on potassium and just introduced spinach today as it was next in my Phase 1 cycle of foods and luckily is a good source of potassium. I'll give it 3 more days before introducing something new.

- I'm taking the SCD starter pack of supplements from giprohealth; I did feel a lot better after re-introducing a multivitamin after being off them for days 1-8, as I didn't trust Centrum to be SCD safe.

- The improvements are on a rocky road - each day of 3 steps forward is combined with 1 to 5 steps backward. Even though the BM's have improved from pure D to watery 4's and 5's, the cramps are still there often during BM's, and like I said earlier there are times of minimal blood and times with a lot. What seems to have disappeared though is my inability to go for long walks - before I couldn't make it 2 blocks w/o having to go to the bathroom even just a tiny bit - and also I haven't had any instantaneous accidents; I had 2 or 3 in April & May when I went for a walk but I feel a much better sense of control over that now.

- I've cheated 3x - once with birthday cake on day 11, a larabar on day 17, and two larabars this past Friday on day 22. I can't say they made my symptoms worse within a day, but I do think they may have given me some bloody D 3-4 days later. I cheated on Friday with two peanut butter larabars but I've held to the strict diet since then and will see what this week brings.

- I fight the urges to cheat by following advice I heard at www.scdlifestyles.com's podcast. I'll drink 2 glasses of water right away and usually that's distracting enough. If that's not enough I'll then eat a couple of spoonfuls of pureed carrots or squash. I know the time will come within a week that I'll try a larabar again but I do buy time with the water idea, it does work.

- Although I crave snacks at times, the days that I feel so much better than before are 99% of what I need for motivation and focus.

I have a colonocopy in July and can't wait to see what my GI#2 says. I was to have it in March but a blood clot in my leg prevented it, and at the time I saw him in February I was really struggling with bad flare symptoms. The symptoms are much less now. I'm hoping that this week brings even better improvements. Symptoms were so bad in January 2010 that my GI said his only option was colon removal and he sent me to a GI#2 for a 2nd opinion.

PGHAnd
 
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Coffee idea

I went back and read all the posts in this thread. I can not wait to try coffee again....maybe after day 30 as a reward that will be my 4-day trial food at that time.

But with Elaine's advice to stick with weak coffee - can anyone see a difference in watered-down coffee vs. drinking water before & after the coffee to essentially water it down in the stomach? I'd guess you'd have to drink the water soon before or after the coffee of course, but wouldn't that be a good way to enjoy the taste of real coffee? 8 oz water, then 8 oz coffee, then 8 more oz of water about 10-15 minutes later?
 
Pgh, that's wonderful news about your all-around improvements. Someone told me on another board that we didn't get sick overnight and won't heal overnight either. I may have already said that, can't remember.

Like you, I keep in mind my improvements to keep me on track and it's working so far.

I've only had coffee the one time when I drank it full strength followed by water. I think I also drank some water before but can't remember. I had no reaction whatsoever to it besides the caffeine energy burst. I'm just considering it a treat to have occasionally simply because I don't want to get hooked again.
 
Hello all,

Does anyone have any advice on gaining weight on the beginning stages of SCD? I'm 90 pounds and really really need to gain weight... But I'm having a really hard time doing so! I eat a lot of avocado and the new batch of yogurt I will be starting tonight will be two litres of half & half cream. Apart from that, I'm not feeling quite well enough to eat enough in a day to gain weight. I try to add in high fat oils to foods, like coconut oil or butter, and I have almond milk that I make into "ice cream" with a frozen banana, but I'm not too sure how high in fat just almond milk would be.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
Bubbasmi - look around for advice on coconut oil while on SCD and see if that might help. That seems to be highly regarded as being SCD safe and a good source of healthy fats. I had 3 tablespoons before bed, it does not taste bad at all. I don't know if there are SCD safe and un-safe brands, so I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any specific suggestions.

Partlycoudy, did you listen in on the Q&A seminar tonight? It was pretty helpful, but I'm looking forward to the Thursday seminar on supplements.

Today was one of my best days yet, with very little to no blood and only one trip to the bathroom at work. I expect more ups & downs in this process but today was a huge up. I exercised with a 5 mile walk on Saturday and got good sleep all weekend. I hadn't felt this good for all of May 2010 until starting the intro diet again 25 days ago. One day at a time, and I see some watered down coffee and a larabar in my future, maybe weeks from now, maybe months, but I can not wait. As hard as it is at times not having food snacking to de-stress with at work, every day I feel like today really makes it easy to stay on track. Plus I introduced pureed pears last Thursday with little ill effect so far, and I introduced pureed cooked spinach yesterday, it never tasted so good.

For any of you starting or thinking of starting SCD, the one side benefit is that after sticking to simple foods for a few days or weeks, every time you re-introduce something you took for granted before, it's like a huge gift. I am already dreaming of having more spinach with my dinner and pears for dessert tomorrow. Maybe there really is a gift or silver lining in here somewhere.

I do feel a bit tired though at times and wonder if it's calories or lack of potassium, as potassium is the one thing I can barely get 60% of the RDA in at the moment, even with the scd safe supplements, and I'm lucky to get 1500-2000 calories a day in me after probably getting 3000 calories a day for years (3000 calories with probably worse food absorption than I am getting now since I eat 100% healthy SCD phase 1 food with every vegetable & fruit cooked & puree'd for easy digestion)...
 
Bubba, I'm sorry I don't have any weight gain advice as I have just the opposite problem. I do know nut flours or even nuts are good for that once you can tolerate them but that doesn't help you now.

Pgh, I didn't sign up for the advanced course. Is that what you're referring to?

I've discovered honey bothers me and is probably responsible for my current flare. After my short re-Intro I began to eat too much again and started hurting and feeling exhausted again. I've not had any in 3 days and am feeling good. AGAIN. Let's see if I can remember this! :D

I also began taking the amino acid DLPA (DL-phenylalanine), which has stopped my diarrhea in its tracks since the second day. I take 500 mg of Solaray (it's legal) brand in the morning on an empty stomach. It's highly recommended on the Yahoo BTVC group. I'm much more pleased with it than the s. boulardii and have stopped that. Weren't you having problems with diarrhea?

Anyway, congratulations on your great day. It really helps keep you motivated to have one of those and to know they'll come more and more often until one day that feeling will be your norm, doesn't it?

And I totally agree, lol, that SCD really makes you appreciate the little things like pears or an eventual Larabar! I get really excited about watered down cranberry/orange juice these days.

Here's a couple of recipes I really like that make bready/muffiny textured things for us beginners.

First is Souffle Bread. I had to cook mine for 45 minutes on the first side then another 25 on the second (it could go longer for browning). An easy way to flip it is to butter your parchment before you pour on the batter. In order to flip it easily take it out of the oven, lay another piece of (unbuttered) parchment on top of it then lay a flat cutting board on top of that and flip the whole thing. Peel off your original piece of parchment to expose what was originally the underside of the bread.

Another tip is when you go to mix the yolks/DCCC with the beaten whites make sure they're mixed well. Those heavy yolks/DCCC will sink to the bottom through the whites so make sure to dig into the bottom to mix them in.

http://ataleoftwotots.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/scd-souffle-bread-best-ever/

Next are Squash Buttons. I make mine without honey and they're delish in a mild way. They smell like pumpkin pie but the flavor isn't as intense. If you can handle more honey and lots of spices you could re-create mini "pumpkin" pies.

Squash Buttons
by Debbie

1 large baked acorn squash or Butternut squash (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
2-3 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
Dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a mini-muffin tin.

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender and process just
until smooth.
Spoon into mini muffin pan filling cups only halfway.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes until buttons pull away from the sides of the
pan and appear dry and browned around the edges.
Carefully cut around the edges and lift out.

This a good "finger food" snack for school.

Tips and Variations:
Try coconut or grapeseed oil in the tins.
Substitute banana for squash. Try other pureed
fruits or vegetable. They may differ in texture. Steam pear
or apple, drain well on a dish towel and puree with the
eggs. You may need to add an extra egg just so it will hold together
better.
 
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So DL-phenylalanine, you say? I am intrigued. You have found it to be helpful without any of the negative effects of S. Boulardii?

I think I am like you, partlycloudy... as much as I hate to admit it, i feel better when I limit my consumption of bananas and honey. I find I can't even tolerate any other fruits other than banana and watered down Welch's grape juice... so, I will try to limit my consumption even more and see how I feel. It's hard though, when there are so few foods I can eat and I have to be out of the house 8 hours a day... But I am also intrigued by your squash button recipe! I just discovered how much I like Acorn squash this past week, especially mashed with coconut oil and a bit of cinnamon!
 
PghAND said:
That seems to be highly regarded as being SCD safe and a good source of healthy fats. I had 3 tablespoons before bed, it does not taste bad at all. I don't know if there are SCD safe and un-safe brands, so I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any specific suggestions.
Click to expand...

I think generally coconut oil should be safe, all you have to pay attention is to be EXTRA VIRGIN COLD pressed oil, it makes much difference. I use Nutiva extra virgin coconut oil, absolutely unprocessed. Non virgin oil can be processed or heat can be added to extract/process the oil which is not good at all.
The same applies to olive oil.
 
Yep, I use Omega Nutrition Extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil and it smells and tastes amazing. Especially when you fry banana pancakes in it!
 
Oh that's right, you were the one having the diarrhea. I've been so ditzy today.

Back in December I gradually cut my Lexapro dose in half and immediately went into a mild but chronic flare that essentially lasted until I started SCD, so I think endorphins play a big part in keeping my IBD under control. The DL-phenylalanine supposedly has a similar affect as an antidepressant and is also used for chronic pain.

I'm still not sure if I was having a reaction to s. boulardii (think it was the honey and betaine HCL), but most definitely the DL-phenylalanine is working much better for my diarrhea.

Yes, I was sad to say goodbye to bananas and now am grieving honey. Hopefully as we heal we can introduce fruits/honey successfully, but like you said, our food is so limited now it's difficult to give something up.

Add eggs to your acorn/squash combo and you've pretty much got squash buttons already. You should like them. I also tried regular yellow crookneck squash but they aren't nearly as good as the acorn.

I also tasted my first batch of the souffle bread this evening and it really does taste like bread. Cheapo and lightweight bread but still....BREAD! It felt like cheating as does eating the squash buttons. :D

bubbasmi said:
So DL-phenylalanine, you say? I am intrigued. You have found it to be helpful without any of the negative effects of S. Boulardii?

I think I am like you, partlycloudy... as much as I hate to admit it, i feel better when I limit my consumption of bananas and honey. I find I can't even tolerate any other fruits other than banana and watered down Welch's grape juice... so, I will try to limit my consumption even more and see how I feel. It's hard though, when there are so few foods I can eat and I have to be out of the house 8 hours a day... But I am also intrigued by your squash button recipe! I just discovered how much I like Acorn squash this past week, especially mashed with coconut oil and a bit of cinnamon!
Click to expand...
 
So, I'm a little confused and scared. I'm on day 5 of the intro diet and I went to see my GI doc (who's never heard of the diet, incidentally.) Because the sulfasalazine and Canasa haven't changed my diarrhea and I've developed a minor anal absess, he's additionally put me on Imuran (ugh) and Predsinone (double ugh.)

Is there a point to staying on the diet now? Will I even able to stay on it? If I stay on, how will I know it's the diet and not the drugs? Not to mention, I've heard horror stories for these drugs! I don't know what to do!
 
Desperado Dan said:
So, I'm a little confused and scared. I'm on day 5 of the intro diet and I went to see my GI doc (who's never heard of the diet, incidentally.) Because the sulfasalazine and Canasa haven't changed my diarrhea and I've developed a minor anal absess, he's additionally put me on Imuran (ugh) and Predsinone (double ugh.)

Is there a point to staying on the diet now? Will I even able to stay on it? If I stay on, how will I know it's the diet and not the drugs? Not to mention, I've heard horror stories for these drugs! I don't know what to do!
Click to expand...

From my experience, 90% of doctors that I met are so brainwashed or better to say programmed and don`t know how to use common sense and think out of box. I am afraid you won`t find many doctors who approve this diet.
When I visited my GI a while ago asking him about some alternative options he didn`t even let me finish the sentence saying , ...... oh no, no, no .... just stick to the prescribed medicine ...... blah, blah ......
For them, there is no cure for Crohn, period, but we know there`s people out there who accomplished complete remission!

I personally believe in this diet and I am 100% committed to it so I would advise you to give it a try and be strong, it`s not easy especially in the beginning but it will eventually pay off. As soon as you feel better, gradually reduce drugs and at one point stop using them then you`ll know shortly if this diet works for you.

After only two weeks on the diet, I feel far better in any way!


Good luck!
 
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