Enteral Nutrition, Intro

So my latest research topic is on Enteral Nutrition.  I started down this path because of a friend who has experience with it.  I’m reading Margaret Oppenheimer’s book “Beat Crohn’s: Getting Remission with Enteral Nutrition” in order to learn more.

First though, let me say that I have not stopped my current diet.  I am still doing a modified SCD diet, which in reality is an elimination diet.  I’ve taken out all of the stuff that COULD pose problems for me, and am slowly adding things in to see what they do.  I’ve had great success with this diet, and plan on continuing it for a long time.

Back to the enteral nutrition…..

As best as I can tell (and I’ve just barely started reading the book), enteral nutrition is a liquid diet that you go on for a period of time, depending on severity of symptoms, and supposedly has the chance of bringing you into remission. 

Without knowing anything yet, it still makes some sense to me, simply because if you are on a liquid diet, your body is not having to work hard to digest your food.  Instead, your system can rest, and focus on recovery.  Makes sense, right?

I’m a titch skeptical, to start, that this diet can bring on remission, though I do believe in the idea of a liquid diet to help with Crohn’s.  I am a skeptic by nature, and always want to check things out thoroughly before incorporating them into my life. 

I do feel that a liquid diet could help me in the future, especially when in a flare.  During a flare if you can give your system a rest, it might subside and heal faster and easier.  Also, if it can give me a good amount of nutrition and know that it won’t upset my stomach, I’m all for that.  That’s just my thinking, though!

As I continue to read this book I’ll let you know what I find, and if I decide to incorporate it into my diet or not.  The idea intrigues me, so I am looking forward to learning more!

 

GROSS!

Okay, I choked it down, but this was gross.  Today I started the supplements that N2 gave me (he’s the one with Crohn’s).  Some of the pills were horse pills, but I was able to get them down.  What got me was all the powder stuff I had to mix in liquid and drink.  I’ve been doing the Intestinal Repair Complex, and that’s been fine.  But in addition to that I had to add a HUGE scoop of this stuff called Inflamax (it’s got stuff in it to help the gut heal, plus gives me tons of nutrients), and a probiotic.  To make matters worse, I had a wonderful blond moment and thought, “I’ll just make some fresh juice with my new juicer and add ALL this stuff to it.  It will be great!” 

Not…..

The Inflamax was very gritty, and was a “spice” flavor, which did nothing for me.  I can stomach a lot.  I even got through 2/3 of the Golytle colonoscopy prep with NO TROUBLE!  To me, it’s really just mind over matter.  Tell yourself it will taste good, and you don’t have a problem.  Convince yourself it is going to be gross before you’ve even tasted it, and you will have problems.  Simple.

But the gritty consistency was almost sickening, and that’s what got me.  I’m not sure if I didn’t mix it good enough, or it was the fresh juice, or what.  I did manage to choke down about 10 oz of the 12 that I made, but that was it.  No more.  I just couldn’t get past the “sediment” feeling as it went down my throat.

And guess what?

I get to try it again tonight!

Hooray…….

 

Shooters

Today and last night I have had what I call “shooters.”  They don’t happen very often.  I had only two last night, and maybe 6-8 today, mostly in the morning.  On average, they might come one an hour, or two an hour and then nothing.  Basically, it’s like someone has slapped you on the face real hard, real quick, and then the pain is gone.  It lasts less than a second, but is VERY sharp.  Not enough to double me over, simply for the fact that it doesn’t last long enough for that.  But they are still sharp enough to make me take notice.  They are on the right side, mid-belly, and not what I would call lower right quadrant pain, which happens almost at the hip-joint.

These shooters are not very comfortable.  I can be dozing off, and one hits, and it instantly shakes me awake.  The eye-opener for me though was this:

If this is what “normal” Crohn’s pain feels like, I have no idea how people cope with it day in and day out.  If this pain lasted more than a minute, I think I would be crying on the floor in a huddled mess.  I have no idea what caused this, and have no idea how to stop it.  Thankfully, it has calmed down this afternoon and evening.  I hope it doesn’t come back tomorrow.  I’ve also not eaten a lot of varied food.  Broth is coming up when I finish this.

Seeing that I’m only 36, I wonder if at some point in my life with Crohn’s, will I be incapacitated with this type of pain that lasts not for a second, but for a day, or a week, or a month? 

I can’t even imagine it lasting more than 5 minutes, it was so intense.

Yikes……

 

Zucchini noodles

I must say that these were good, but in no way were they filling.  I cannot see how they would suffice a normal person for a meal.  A small part of the meal, yes.  But they couldn’t even work for noodles with spaghetti, I think.  Just too much work for too little food.  I was very disappointed in the amount of “noodles” that one zucchini gave me.  Maybe a 1/4 of a cup total. 

Basically, you take a zucchini and peel it (without the skin) with a potato peeler.  It comes off in long, skinny slices.  You then put it on a tray that has butter on it, salt it a little, and let it bake for around 25 minutes at 215 degrees. 

They were really good, but were just not enough.  It also might have been the liberal use of real butter and sea salt that I used that made them good, but it was a good treat for tonight.  Something different is always a good thing!

I also made a small hamburger and put onion and chives goat cheese in it.  Not very good, I must say.  But at least it was a good try!

 

Well….

After I made those brownies the other night, I had some pretty good gas and gurgles that lasted into the night.  Nothing painful, but still uncomfortable at times.  Yuck…

I know that on the SCD peanut butter is one thing that some people cannot handle.  The brownies had a cup of natural peanut butter in them.  It really stinks if I actually can’t have peanut butter.  There are so many things to do with that! But maybe eventually I’ll be able to do it more?  I hope….

I’ll try the Almond Crisps later this week and see if almonds do anything to me.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had them.  It seemed before that I was able to handle them, but who knows!

Tonight for dinner I’m trying the zucchini noodles from SCD.  I’m not anticipating that they will replace real pasta, but I am hoping that it will give me something I can eat and add variety to my diet!

That is one of the biggest drawbacks to Crohn’s:  the bland diet.

Ah well.  We Crohnies get used to it….I hope!

 

Brownies

Not much else to say today.  We are in the house just chillin’ and watching movies.  I am making myself SCD brownies though.    I think I deserve them.  I decided to go with them instead of the cookies even though I so far seem to be able to handle the nut flour in the cookies.  The brownies though just have the peanut butter and honey and egg, so I KNOW I can enjoy it!

It was pretty pathetic earlier this week though.  My good friend and I went to lunch together.  Normally, we would share a yummy plate of food.  But now, I can’t do that!  She looked at her prime-rib dip and steak fries, looked at my scrambled eggs, and said, “It just doesn’t seem right!” 

Ah well.  Such is life with Crohn’s.  I’m glad I can eat what I can eat, and am losing the weight I am (30 pounds so far!).  Maybe tomorrow I’ll have something more profound to say. 

Maybe……

 

Cool website

Today I found myself trying out my new juicer that my husband got me for my birthday.  Actually, it not only makes juice, it can “chop, shred, slice, dice, mix, and make your meal preparation easier than you can imagine!”  (Hahaha…read that last line as if it was some guy on an infomercial!). 

Anyway, it is a pretty cool appliance.  To try out the juicer, I made a juice of apples, carrots, celery, beets, and a titch of ginger.  Overall, the juice was really good!  I want it a bit colder when I drink it, so in the future I’ll either chill the juice or just add ice cubes.

So as I was drinking the juice I wanted to learn about the foods that I just put into it.  I searched the Westin A. Price website (I know that he was one of the first pioneers into and a promoter of a more “primitive” diet).  I also looked up Sallon Fallon and Mary Enig (also two very highly regarded people in this area).  I found some things from them, but was losing patience.  Sometimes I have a lot of time and energy to devote to “googling” around the web.  But today I wanted my answers right away!

So I googled the individual foods, and besides Wikipedia, I kept being sent to this website:  http://whfoods.org/

Here’s why I like this site:

When you search for and find a food, it is talked about in a very organized fashion with good titles to the different sections.  It tells the benefits, vitamins and minerals, and all sorts of other things about this food but without overwhelming you with needless facts.

When I am adding a new food into my diet, I want to learn what the benefits or potential risks might be associated with it.  For instance, through this website I learned that beets can be good for reducing inflammation.  I found that ginger can too.  So my juice today and two inflammation-reducers in it.

Still, this website doesn’t contain ALL the information I would want to know.  In looking up beets on Wikipedia, I found that some ancient civilizations would use beets to treat constipation.  Now, that’s a good thing for me right now since I do tend towards that direction.  But if someone does not have that problem or is a “normal” Crohnie with diarrhea, adding lots of beets might not be the best idea.

Anyway, it was a great website and likely one I will come back to over and over again!

 

When it rains….

Today is my birthday.  Earlier, I said to myself, “what a crappy Birthday.”  Just honesty here.  It’s kinda not been the best today.  Want my list?

Crohn’s:  means I can’t go out to a nice dinner, have a glass of wine, and eat chocolate cake.  I could have chicken, or fish.  Exciting…..

Car:  wouldn’t start this morning.  Took it to the shop.  $1200 and we’ll have it back by noon tomorrow.

Kids:  son can’t hear.  Too much fluid in his ears.  Needs either A) drugs, or B) tubes again.  Cost involved….2K if it’s the tubes.  $100 for the drugs.  But, do I want to flood my sons system with drugs again?  I hear the UK doesn’t treat ear infections with antibiotics anymore.

Money is just kinda tight.  To have to deal with all these things, on my birthday, just really stunk.  I wanted some time today.  I had my schedule and what I was going to do for myself.  I ended up crying.  I ended up telling God my sorrows.  I want it to not be my birthday.  I want the Crohn’s to go away so I can enjoy dinner.

Sigh….

Want my other list?

Crohn’s:  I’m learning how to eat VERY good.  It will translate to better eating for my family.

Car:  My car will have had a good check-up, and should be fine for years to come.

Kids:  My son is wonderful and bright.  Even though he can’t hear you, he is able to stay on track in school through visual cues.  Tonight he played his piano song upside-down and memorized.  I’m calling him “My Little Mozart” now.

Life:  I still have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and family and friends who love me very much.

God:  I still have a God who has never left my side.

I will be okay.

 

Dinner

So, this is what I had last night:

• Chicken breast (I cut this up small and fry it up with lots of coconut oil, garlic, and onions.  It makes great leftovers, and has a wonderful blended flavor)
• Steamed carrots
• Baked apple (I cut this up, drizzle honey and butter and cinnamon on it, and bake it until soft)

Overall, this was a tasty meal.  I’m glad I was able to figure this out, and at least get something to eat that was somewhat nourishing!

 

Eating

Sigh……..

One of the hardest parts about my Crohn’s right now is getting enough to eat.  Yes, I’m scared to put new food into my mouth.  I also have almost no appetite.  I still like the foods that I know I CAN eat.  I just don’t want to eat. 

It is making me exhausted, not having enough to eat.  This whole week, I’ve had such trouble finding energy just to do anything.  On Thursday I took a 2 hour nap, and could have slept 2 more and still felt tired.  I wonder if I’m anaemic as well?  Possible.

I don’t want to have to think about what I’m going to eat.  It’s too much work. 

But…I don’t want to just “pop-a-pill.”

Guess I better go figure out what’s for dinner.

 

Staying Positive

Someone asked me the other day how I can stay so positive in the midst of such a life-changing experience.  I didn’t get a chance to answer this person at that moment, but I thought it was a good question.  As I went to bed that night I mulled the question over in my head, and decided that I needed to tell you WHY I can stay so positive.

On the outside, it’s pretty simple.  I know God is in control.  Period.  I have NO question at all about if I’m going to be okay.  I know I will. 

Now, I know it’s not always going to be easy.  Having a simple faith that “God’s got the whole world in his hands” does not mean that pain and sorrow will not fall upon you.

What it means, simply, is that a person has the confidence that, no matter WHAT happens, God will be there for them.  Even to the ends of the earth in the deepest, darkest caves, God is there.  It’s kinda like the children’s book “The Runaway Bunny.”  This little bunny tells his mom that he’s going to run away, in lots of different ways.  But each time he says something different, his mom counters that she will still be there.  In the end, the little bunny decides it’s just better to stay warm and safe with mom, rather than try to run away from her. 

I like the term “Papa Dios” for God.  For me, it means, “daddy God.”  Some people in this life don’t have good fathers, so it is harder for them to relate a good God with this term.  For me, I have come to realize that God truly is my “daddy God” in that he loves me, no matter what I do.  It also means that he will do anything for me, just as a father who loves his child will do anything for that child.  NO, He will not keep me from doing stupid things.  But, when I make a mistake, He’s there to pick me up, brush me off, and point me back in the right direction.

I can stay so positive because of HIM inside of me who gives me strength.  I can be FEARLESS because I know that everything works according to God’s will, even my illness. 

How do I know these things?

Because My God, my “daddy God.” has walked through the uglies of my life.  He has heard my pain, seen my pain, listened to my anger, and still loved me.  When I didn’t think I could live any more, he gently brought me back to life.  In the times when I wanted to run, He held me, and never let me go.  In facing my biggest fears and challenges, when the world seemed to crash down around me, He gave me a strength I didn’t know I had.  I am ASSURED that He will never leave me.  Even in the darkest pits of my soul, I KNOW He will be there.  I know it because I’ve seen it.  Period.

I am positive because, thankfully, I don’t have to have all the answers.  My life is His life.  I simply listen, and obey.

My Crohn’s is just another way that HE will be glorified.  To HIM be all the glory, forever!

I hope this helps you in some way.  If you still have questions, please let me know.  I live to share the HOPE that He has given me.

 

Doctors, Part 3

Okay, so this week I had some more visits with Naturopaths.  I’ll get into the details below but first, a bit of a disclaimer.    Being raised in a medical household, I have a natural skepticism towards any medical professional who does not have an MD or better yet, a DO, after his/her name.  When my dad was practicing back in the 70′s and early 80′s (if I remember right), there were a certain class of “doctors” that were starting to become popular.  These “doctors” did not have medical training like my dad did, yet the proclaimed they could do the same TYPE of things my dad did.  Living in the house, I heard a titch about them, and it angered my dad, who had gone through YEARS of medical training to become not just  Medical Doctor (MD) but a Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (DO).  What is a DO you might ask?  They are a doctor who has received their MD degree, but instead of just looking at symptoms, they are interested in the whole person.  So, with a DO, you have a doctor who will look at all your ailments, combined with who you are, and try to get to the root of the problem.  They are also trained in how the muscles and bones and tissues work together.  SO….if you need an adjustment, you can just go to your DO and he can “crack your back” or any other things that a chiropractor can.  Only difference….they went through many, many years of training to be able to do that.

My dad was very proud of the fact that he was a DO.  He worked hard for that title.  He truly looked at ALL a patient brought, not just a few symptoms.

I think my dad is likely rolling in his grave right now, knowing that I’m going to a Naturopath. 

So, on to my Naturopaths.  For simplicity sake, I will call them N1 and N2. 

N1 is the first Naturopath I went to.  He’s the one that wanted me to do a comprehensive stool analysis.  He’s also the one that has the REALLY nice office.  In this office….everything is tidy and perfect and in its place.  It is better than a lot of doctors offices or clinics, actually!

N2 is the second Naturopath I saw.  His office is the exact opposite of N1.  The building is small, everything is neat but more homey.  The sign outside is a bit dirty and needs cleaning.  The waiting area is separated from the receptionist by just an oriental screen.  My reaction when I first saw his office was….”You’ve got to be kidding me.”  BUT…this is the doc that has Crohn’s.  He also wanted me to do a stool analysis (I was able to use the other results for this though) as well as a food allergy test.  That is coming…so look for another post on that in a few weeks.

SO….I went to N1 yesterday in order to go over my stool analysis.  Wow!!!  I had no idea you could tell all this from a pile of poop.    This test looked at a few different areas.  The first was my digestion.  I was in optimal range for all of those results. 

The second was absorption, meaning…how well my body can absorb what’s being put into it.  This had a very interesting result.  There were 5 things it looked at.  The one out of whack was cholesterol, but not the HDL or LDL kind.  (I’ll try to remember all this correctly!).  Basically what this translates into is that I have a fat absorption problem.  Not just a minor problem, but enough to call it “malabsorption.”  This means that all the fat that I’m putting into my system (meaning, the good fats that my body needs), my body is not creating enough of the enzyme Lipase which helps digest and ABSORB these good fats.  Without the lipase, the good fats are just passing through my body and I am not getting the benefit of them.

The third area we looked at were metabolic markers.  This told me that, a) my hydrochloric acid in the stomach can be a bit higher.  With more hydrochloric acid, my stomach will be able to break down foods even better.  It will also balance out the SCFA distribution, but I cannot remember what all that means.  Sorry!  Since my hydrochloric acid was just on the verge, he did not want to prescribe any supplements, but instead told me to eat one lemon a day to see if that will be enough.  Easy enough!

With metabolic markers we also looked to see if there was mucus or blood in the stool (two very good markers of Crohn’s).  I did not have excess mucus (your body will produce extra mucus if you are in a severe flare…your body is trying to soothe the inflamed areas so the mucus is created to try to coat the intestines more….thus it shows up in your stool).  I still do have blood in the stool, but since we cannot see it, it is called “occult” blood.  Thankfully it is not the explosive bloody stools like I hear other crohnies talk about!  There is nothing that needs to be done with these markers.

The last part was microbiology.  Basically, what is the make-up of bacteria or pathogens in your stool.  Here, I’m again doing pretty good.  I have no pathogens to worry about.  No other bacteria that we might need to treat.  HOWEVER, I have NO lactobacillus in my system.  If you don’t know about this bacteria, I’ll tell you in brief.  It is one of the main beneficial bacteria that, when the gut is colonized with them, it fights off the bad bacteria.  This can have any number of chain reactions.  Because I have NONE of these, that means there is nothing to really fight off the bad stuff, and so I need to get those into my system NOW.  Looking back, I believe I have had this imbalance for years, and the medical doctors just never took notice of it.  I also question, again, the GI doctor who prescribed Flagyl and had my files available to him which showed this lack of this good bacteria.  I wonder if he would have prescribed this knowing I had nothing in my system already to fight off the bad stuff.

SO…all of this analysis to say that I am now on  these products:  Intestinal Repair Complex (which helps  to repair the gut), NESS #5 (which is a lipase enzyme), and Pro Flora Colonizer (which has the acidophilus and rhomnoisus bacteria that I need to help re-colonize my gut).  I have started these, and will try them over the next two weeks.

All in all, I like N1 because he is VERY knowledgeable.  This appointment was much better than the first one, but I still have questions about treatment.  Specifically….is he just treating the symptoms in front of him, or is he treating the whole person?

I will go back to N2 in three weeks to see what he has to say about the stool samples and the blood work.  I’ll go from there as to what my long-term treatment will be.

I probably have more to say about all of this, but I think that’s enough for now.  Stay tuned for “Doctors, Part 4.” 

 

Tired

Okay, so my attitude is generally pretty positive.  And truly, that’s the way I live.  I know it will all be okay.  I know I don’t have to have all the answers.  I know God’s got it in his hands.

But sometimes?  It just sucks to have Crohn’s. 

I am so tired today.  I think it is likely due to my diet, maybe some of my Crohn’s.  I’ve always tended to anemia.  I’m still very scared to eat different foods.  I eat a lot of chicken soup and yogurt.  But that’s not enough.  I love the weight I’m losing.  I can still lose a bit more.  But that’s not why I’m not eating.  I’m just not hungry, and I don’t know sometimes what else I can put together for myself.  I know I need to eat better, but…..it’s just so much work.  And when you are drained, physically and emotionally?  Just not gonna happen.

I do miss being able to just eat something when I’m tired.  It’s too much work to make a smoothie, or heat up and eat soup.  I can’t just get into the cupboard and chow on something, good or bad.  I’d love a cup of coffee or hot cocoa right now.  Tea just doesn’t sound appealing.  I don’t crave anything, but I’m just missing it.

Yes, why did this have to happen to me?  I know, I know….all the spiritual answers, and I get that.

I just do miss my old life sometimes.

God is in control.

Always.

 

Chicken Soup

It truly is amazing how one can eat chicken soup day in and day out, and still never get tired of it.  Both Rubin and SCD have a recipe for Chicken Soup, and highly tout it’s ability to help.  I started on Rubin’s broth, called “Brasco Broth” back in November.  And I will say that I’ve eaten it at least once a day since then.  You would think that I would get sick of it.  And there are times when I can hardly stomach the idea of eating another bowl.  But as soon as I taste a bite, I remember how good it is (and it’s not just me as a cook either!).  Since this is a staple of my diet, I am glad that I’m not bored of it yet.

So, here is the recipe that I use, modified just a bit for me.  It is borrowed from Jordin Rubin’s book “Guts to Glory” and is called Brasco Broth there.  I think you can google the name of the soup and find the exact recipe, but this is how I make it:

• Start with a big ‘ol pot (it will need to be big…I use a 12 quart pot and it fills it half way full by the time I’m done!)
• Dice up three yellow or white onions and put them in the bottom of the pot
• Dice and add 6 stalks of celery, 8 carrots, 2 zucchini, and as much garlic as you want (5 or more cloves)
• Peel, grate, and add fresh ginger until you have a pile about 4 inches long
• Take one 4-5 pound whole chicken (minus the innards), wrap it in cheese-cloth, and place on top of everything
• Add about 3 tablespoons coconut oil 
• Sprinkle 2-4 tablespoons course sea salt (use less if it is not course)
• Add 3 quarts of water and,
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Bring everything to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook all of this on a low simmer for at least 4 hours.  The more you cook it, the better it will be for you.  When you are about 30 minutes from wanting it to be done, take the chicken out and let it cool.  Meanwhile, chop up a good sized handful of fresh parsley and add that into the soup to cook for 30 minutes.  De-bone the chicken and add it back in.  Let it cook for a few minutes more.  Viola!  The soup is done!

I have not researched each of these ingredients, but my friend who was a chef for 20 years tells me that ginger and parsley are both anti-inflammatory foods.  The coconut oil is a good fat for you.  The garlic I know is also good for you.  And the longer you let the chicken simmer, the more nutrients get sucked out of the marrow of the bones and go into the broth. 

There are times when my stomach would be a bit upset, and I get just a little bit of this soup and it calms it down.  Like I say, I’ve been eating it for almost two months now, and it still hasn’t grown old.  Even if you don’t have stomach issues, this is a great soup to make and have on hand.  It is very nutritious.  I freeze half of it, because I can’t eat the whole pot in a week. 

I hope you can try this soup out!  It is so basic, yet oh so good. 

 

“Avatar”

Okay, this has nothing to do with Crohn’s (unless you count the fact that I was able to order grilled Salmon from Ivars, it did just fine with my system, and I was able to sit through an entire 3 hour movie!), but just thought I’d let you know how I feel about the new movie “Avatar.”

It rocked!!!!

With two small kids, I can’t remember the last grow-up movie I went to.  I would put this movie along with others like “Dances With Wolves” or “Legends of the Fall”.  The movie was a complete Epic.  Nothing was left undone.  It encompassed the gamut of emotions:  fear, wonder, excitement, anger, love, happiness, etc.  The graphics were outstanding.  The plot, was not some thinly disguised excuse to make a movie go 3 hours.  It had an unlikely hero, his sidekicks, and a bad guy that at first, you actually kinda like.

I loved this movie because I like a good story.  This held my attention from the opening scene to the last.  I was able to invest myself in the story and the characters.  Leaving the theatre, I shook my head at the entire world of Pandora that was created for this movie.  Plants, animals, landscape…everything.  It had to be created from scratch for this movie.  This amazed me because this world truly was amazing.  I would love to visit…if it were not for all the big animals and un-breathable air!

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I highly suggest that if you have not seen it yet, to do so before it leaves the theatre.  If you are like me, it is one that you will remember forever.

 

Doctors, Part 2

So today I went to see the other Naturopath.  The appointment didn’t start out well…he was 35 minutes late and I was about to walk out the door.  Add on top of that the fact that his office was small, verging on the edge of being outdated, in comparison to the other docs office which was top of the line, and I just wasn’t sure how good he was going to be.  I was a little ticked going into the office, but I was glad that I didn’t fly off the handle. 

One of the first things we did was look over my colonoscopy pictures.  The doc looked at them, and said, “whoa….I don’t want to scare you….but that’s really bad.”  I just said, “really?”  Apparently, my inflammation in the colon is pretty severe.  (Probably why the GI doc wanted to put me right away on Imuran and not mess with the 5-MP drugs!) 

Anyway….I do love honesty.  Tell me the truth, and then I can move on and deal with it.

This doctor was much easier to talk with.  I felt I could ask my questions, without it being a burden on him.  He wanted to inform, and educate, me.  I like that.  I want to learn.  I want t know, as much as I can, why my body is doing what it’s doing and what we can do to help it.

Back to the Crohn’s in me:

A few things I learned from this appointment is that the auto-immune response in Crohn’s can be caused by a food or allergy trigger, or it could have been caused by an infection and now that the infection is gone your body can’t turn off the immune response.  It is not always just that your immune system has decided to attack itself.  (Which, to me says this:  why should I take a drug that will suppress the immune system when only 3 out of 4 people actually have Crohn’s where this is the issue?  What if I’m the one that it isn’t JUST my immune system, but I could be helped by looking at other things as well???)  There could be a very good reason why your immune system went out of whack.  And, if you can narrow down what the original trigger was, you can try to eliminate it, which is one of the first steps.

After you narrow down what might have caused the response (in other words…let’s say it’s a food allergy that sent your system out of whack.  take that food out, your system no longer has that as a trigger, and then you can try to heal your system and retrain it), you can then start to work on repairing the intestinal tract.  Part of that is digestive enzymes to help you digest your food better.  Another part is anti-inflammatory supplements.  And another part is certain supplements that help to actually repair your gut. 

It makes some sense to me.  A bit more than the GI doctor (he seemed to have blinders labeled with “DRUGS ONLY” on his eyes). 

This doc DOES at times use the major drugs with his Crohn’s patients.  Those are the people who are so badly inflamed though that they need to get the initial inflammation under control before they can start the healing process.

But I like the narrowing down process.  We will check for food allergies to see if there is a trigger there (Yay…no more guessing!).  We will also do a full stool panel to see what microbes are in the gut and in what quantity.  We’ll also do more blood tests (ugh!!!) to test for inflammatory levels, hormone levels, and a few other things.

Overall, I like this doc, and I’m think I’m going to go with this doctor.  His office wasn’t fancy, but I believe that gems can be hidden in the most unlikely place.  On top of all of that, he has active Crohn’s.  To me, that is very important because he KNOWS this disease.  I’ve also heard he is very curious, so if something is not working, he won’t just say, “oh well!” and move on.

I truly liked though being able to ask my questions, learn, and not be made to feel bad about having informed questions and taking my health in my own hands, per se.

Stay tuned, as I journey further along this natural path!

 

Coffee noises

So last night my stomach had a pretty good session of “coffee noises” going on.  These are the type of noises you would hear from a coffee machine, only they come from your abdomen!  They are pretty loud (or can be), don’t hurt a whole lot, but also don’t result in anything.  I can understand if a gut system is working something through and it comes out as gas.  But with the coffee noises, they rumble and grumble around in your stomach, but never come out.  That was last night.  I don’t know what I ate that could have caused it….I only had chicken soup for dinner. 

I’m wondering if it could be the peanut butter cookies I ate yesterday?  They are SCD (Specific Carb Diet), and made with things I THOUGHT I could handle, but maybe not?  I might try an experiment today and eat the other two for lunch (they really are very good!), and see if it makes my stomach hurt in any way. 

I’ve read from other SCDer’s that months 2-3 on the diet can come with flare-ups as your body is getting rid of all the toxins.  I sure hope that’s what’s going on.  I again was reminded that this diet is not just a couple of months to see what happens, but it will be a year or two on it.  Some people find it virtually heals them.  Others, not so much.

I’m hoping that my diligence and determination to do it right will result in it working for me!

 

Inulin

So yes, I will admit it:  I am a research junkie.  I love to have all the facts (or at least think I do!) so that I can make an informed decision.  I will also admit that sometimes my research does not give me the right answer!  But I hope that in those times I have people who will correct me, and that I will be humble and accept the guidance. 

I do have to say though that in this blog, anything I bring forth as “my research” will have my opinions, and my bias, and I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!!  Please do your own research if something here peaks your interest and form your own opinions.

One of my recent research topics was on Inulin, mostly because I kept seeing this ingredient on the Keifer milk and yogurt I wanted to buy.  Being a “Crohnie” now means that I need to read labels, and understand them!

From what I understand, Inulin is a naturally occurring carbohydrate (or fiber) found in such foods as leeks, artichokes, onions, asparagus, garlic, bananas, wheat, rye, and chicory root.  It is not absorbed by the small intestine, but instead will travel to the large intestine and be used there. 

In a healthy person, Inulin can be great.  It can help feed the good gut bacteria, helps keep you regular (like other fiber products), and can even help diabetics in that it does not raise blood sugar.

In fact, Inulin is such a highly adaptable product that fat, sugar, and flour can be replaced by it in processed foods!

But here’s my problem with it:

If you DO NOT have a healthy gut (meaning, the bacteria in your system is out of whack), and you ingest Inulin, won’t it just feed the bad bacteria as well as the good?  And what does an overgrowth of bad bacteria lead to?  Gas?  Bowel Problems?  Yeast?

Possibly, yes. 

I am frequently coming to the conclusion that the less you process a food, the better.  Inulin as a NATURAL source is probably fine.  I love to cook with garlic and onions!  But when you take something that is good in nature, and process it so it can be added back to foods, it just doesn’t seem right.  I would rather sweeten my yogurt with natural honey than have it artificially sweetened with something like Inulin.   

At this point in time, it seems that Inulin is not really needed by me, so I will stay away from those products that have it.  If there is even a slight question of what it will do to my system, I don’t want it.  Maybe further on in my disease-life I will have minor amounts of Inulin in a commercial yogurt I just had to have.  But right now, at the start of my diagnosis, I have to be VERY careful of what I put into my system. 

And the last thing I want to do, if I do indeed have a bacterial imbalance in my gut, is put something in there that will help all the bad bacteria grow even more, and potentially cause more problems.

 

Doing good!

I woke up today, and eveything feels pretty good!  Some very minor twinges of pain in the lower right quadrant (LRQ), but that’s normal for me.  I’ve had those pains for years.  Now though when I have them I wonder if it is Crohn’s?  It doens’t happen often, but if it does happen it happens at the beginning of the month.  I’ll let you know how the beginning of Febuary goes. 

So I think that what I had yesterday was just a bug.  YES!!! 

Off to some yummy yogurt and blueberries. 

Later…..

 

Update on previous post

So I’m doing okay now.  The diarrhea only lasted that short time.  My stomach still feels tender, and I feel some minor rumbles going on (different though than normal Crohn’s rumbles I’ve felt).  I ate some soup and yogurt with berries, and that has done just fine (those are always safe foods for me).  I need to drink more water, but other than that, I’m hopeful that this will pass tonight.  My husband Mark had something similar yesterday, and he was sensitive for the rest of the day, but was fine today.

This is the time that I HOPE it’s just a quick bug that will pass!!!