Two steps forward....

[SCDwife]

My husband, who has had many symptoms of Cronh's for years but is not diagnosed (waiting on scope) is struggling after a month of SCD. He cannot eat beef or dairy yet (yogurt and butter seem to be OK). I know it is two steps forward and one step back but he is starting to struggling with his limited food choices and sometimes my encouragements, although very much appreciated, are not enough.
Many symptoms completely resolved with SCD (HA, D, fogginess), however he is loosing a lot of weight still (he is not a heavy guy to begin with).
I logged on here tonight to look for some encouragement for him and us as a family. I see so many wonderful successes and some struggles as well, it is encouraging. Thank you for all of this information. I am definitely feeling his frustration though, any pearls of others wisdom would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[LisaL]

Hi SCD wife,
Welcome to the forum. I am sorry your husband is so miserable right now. Abdominal pain is bad enough, but having to restrict your diet only adds to the misery. Is he sticking strictly with SCD or does he have wiggle room. When I was at my worst I was able to find a few things that didn't hurt to eat, that made me reasonably happy. For me it was hot chocolate. The packet mixed with hot water. I was missing my coffee, the taste and the ritual and I found the hot chocolate perked me up and agave me a warm mug to carry around. I hope your husband can find something like that which will work for him.

Is he scheduled for a colonoscopy soon? I imagine that getting more concrete answers will help in some ways, although even that doesn't always make the food issue any easier. I would encourage your husband to careful experiment with some food he really likes.

I know that it was hard for my husband to watch me feel so bad. He would often say that he wished there was something he could do to help me feel better. I wished there was too...Just being supportive and empathic is what you CAN do.

Good luck,
Lisa

 

[Susan2]

:welcome: to the Forum.

There are some excellent threads where people are sharing their journeys with SCD and I am sure that they will make you welcome and give practical help.

If you go into the Diet, Fitness and Supplements section and run down the list of threads you willl find at least three concerned with SCD. Just join in or start a thread of you own in there with SCD in the title. I will tag KWalker and Charleigh and they can watch out for you.

 

[KWalker]

Thanks for the tag Susan, and welcome to the forum SCDwife! Like Susan said, there are a few of us on the SCD diet currently so we know what you guys are going through. Just out of curiosity, are you on the diet with him?

It doesn't really surprise me that he doesn't do well with beef (I'm assuming red) and dairy (although the SCD diet doesn't allow milk anyways). Does he tolerate cheese at all?

This is my 18th day on the diet and I've created a blog that you can click in my signature beneath my post so you can have a look at it if you'd like. Although my only real symptom is diarrhea, it started to clear up almost right away. I didn't seem to lose much (if any) weight while on the diet but I've had the flu for the last few days and haven't been eating anything other than apple sauce so I have lost a few pounds.

Overall, it's just a learning experience as to what works, what you like, etc. I've made some pretty expensive bread (because of the almond flour) and threw it out because it tasted like crap. Other recipes are really delicious so as time goes by you'll get the hang of it.

I too find it can be difficult at times because it cuts out most snacks, all fast food (obviously) and other smaller food items that taste pretty good and have some calories within them, but the way I look at it is that if our bodies can't digest those types of foods anyways there's no point in eating them just because they may be high in calories. I've started to realize that it's better to eat something with say 500 calories and be able to fully absorb/digest the nutrients than it is to eat something with 1000 calories but we can't digest any of it so it just comes right out. Do you know what I mean?

We also have an SCD monthly support group that Charleigh has started that you will find some useful info from as well as getting to know others that are doing the SCD or Paleo diet (very similar to SCD) and you can ask any questions you'd like.