Starting scd during flare after remission

[Elizajp]

I'm new and this is my second post.

I got diagnosed with crohns when I was 16. Am 23 now. Was put on pentasa and entocort. Had flares on and off and managed with medrol dose pack and (once) 20mg of prednisone. Went gluten free during college while not in a flare but not exactly in remission and saw a huge change. Along with gluten free I started eating no refined sugar, dairy free (other than cultured dairy,) high fruits and vegetables, lots of fermented foods, organic- began adding in some free range, good quality bison and beef when I got pregnant for extra protein and fat. I had been doing very well on this and got off all medications. I always do have a tendency to have mini flares in the spring that I can usually control with probiotics. This spring is different. Probably due to lack of sleep with my new baby, I flared a few weeks ago. Doctor started me on Uceris yesterday. Hoping to see results.

In the meantime, I have been researching SCD. I had researched so many of the typical offenders (sugar, gluten, dairy) but had never even considered grains being an issue. SCD is completely new to me. I'm willing to try it because I really want to stay off more medications- but it's also pretty overwhelming right now. My main symptom is diarrhea and I've lost weight. I already struggle to keep weight on. Right now I'm fending with eggs and Orgain protein shakes. I guess my question is- is it worth it to start SCD right now in my state? From what I've read I can't really tell if SCD is something you start mid-flare or if it's a lifestyle change for general, chronic issues. Prior to this flare I had been doing so great- my GI tract was impeccably predictable (went twice a day, perfectly formed stool, etc,) so I just have a hard time believing I have an intolerance to grains especially when my flare seems clearly stress/lack of sleep related. Plus, I know a lot of people lose weight on the SCD intro diet- I can't afford to lose more weight right now... I also don't have a lot of energy/time to deal with all the new cooking methods while just kind of in flare-survival-mode/new-mom-survival mode. So- advice? Should I just wait out the flare for Uceris to kick in? Or should I commit to SCD even though this flare seems to be a kind of one time issue in my otherwise healthy GI tract?

 

[kel]

There is nothing wrong with starting the diet in a flare. I don't know how long uceris takes to kick in. When I took it before I never really noticed a difference and switched to prednisone after a month or so.

You may find paleo diet easier to follow at first and it's what I recommend to people unless you're dead set on scd. If paleo doesn't work then you can move on to scd paleo AI.

Side note: I always flare in the spring as well. Mine seems to be brought on by seasonal allergies acting up.

 

[Elizajp]

Thanks for your reply!

Perhaps I will try paleo. I just can't fathom how meats wouldn't bother me right now, though it seems everything bothers me so I guess it wouldn't hurt to try!

Regarding springtime flares- have you tried taking allergy meds for that? If so, do you notice a difference? Interestingly, years ago before I had crohns I had bad seasonal allergies with the typical sinus symptoms. Now that I have crohns I don't have the sinus symptoms. Wonder if the allergies just manifest themselves differently now.

 

[kel]

I took singulair for a year or so but it didn't seem to help much. Now I take claritin, which seems to work better and also I keep lots of sudafed on hand for congestion. Also sometimes allegra d works well. Basically if I feel like claritin isn't cutting it I change to allegra. I still started to flare in feb. but I got it under control pretty quickly.

A few years ago when I was on humira and then remicade I would get sinus infections constantly and the sinusitis would lead into a bad crohns flare. Like every month pretty much. This year I haven't taken any immunosuppressants and haven't had near as much allergy troubles.

 

[hugh]

The SCD diet (and the GAPS diet) has an intro stage[1] which is a very important part of the diet and VITAL if you are in a flare.
It isn't about just eating "legal" foods, if it were then you could just eat almond flour and honey and then complain when SCD doesn't help your health.
Get the book,
[1] http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/p/the-intro-diet/
http://pecanbread.com/f/how/introdiet.html
http://www.gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html
"Following the Introduction Diet fully is essential for people with serious digestive symptoms: diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, some cases of constipation, etc. The Introduction Diet will reduce the symptoms quickly and initiate the healing process in the digestive system."

 

[chrohnotrigger]

Yeah I second doing the SCD Intro Diet during a flare. I did the same thing and literally overnight I stopped having to poop every hour. In addition, the pain subsided dramatically over the course of 2 weeks.