Signs of improvement?

[Guest guest]

I was diagnosed with UC in March, and have been on the SCD since April.

It appears to be working although I'm not certain it is working

perfectly. For the past 3 weeks I have eaten only chicken soup, hard

boiled eggs,boiled apples, bolied carrots, homemade yogurt with honey

in it, boiled spinach, and very diluted apple cider. Earlier on I was

eating DCCC, as well as ripe bananas, but I seem to have less bleeding

now that I have eliminated those. How do I know if something is giving

me troubles? Basically, Over the past 3 weeks or so, the typical

pattern is 1-2 " stools " that are just 2-3 tablespoons of mucous with

maybe a little hard stool. Then every 2nd or 3rd day I'll have a larger

solid stool that is about like a hot dog with a little of the mucous

also. Seemingly randomly, (like once a week) I'll have some cramping

and the long thin painful stools with blood at the end. Before I

started the diet there was blood almost every other day, so I think

thats a good sign...What puzzles me is that it seems totally random. I

wonder if its the order in which I'm eating the food? Has anyone else

gone through these stages of improvement? Also, what is " die off " ?

Thanks for being more helpful than the medical industrial complex...

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I'm pretty close to you in experience -- I just started SCD at the very end of March. You talk about your diet being more limited in the last 3 weeks. Is that because you started having more problems, or were you just looking for better results than you were getting with a more expanded diet?

I had outstanding results with the diet very quickly, and at about 3 months (end of June), thought that I was very nearly symptom-free. Then, in mid-July, I started slowly going down-hill -- having a lot more gas, mucus, some constipation, and some bleeding. I THINK that this is my 3-month die-off (even though it's coming a little late, and lasting a little longer than I'd expected). I think that " die-off " is when the bad bacteria giving me UC starts finally starving to death from lack of the kind of food that feeds it, and is passing out of my symptom. I think that the gas and mucus are the dead bacteria, or at least are caused by the dying bacteria. I guess I'll know a little more surely when things start getting better again, which, actually, they already are a little.

If you're bleeding a lot, you probably don't feel ready for nut butters, but I have to say that my almond butter has been the best food to keep me " regular " (cures my constipation and produces a pretty well-formed bowel movement at least once a day).

Good luck!

Ann

UC, SCD since 03/30/2008

I was diagnosed with UC in March, and have been on the SCD since April.It appears to be working although I'm not certain it is working

perfectly. For the past 3 weeks I have eaten only chicken soup, hardboiled eggs,boiled apples, bolied carrots, homemade yogurt with honeyin it, boiled spinach, and very diluted apple cider. Earlier on I waseating DCCC, as well as ripe bananas, but I seem to have less bleeding

now that I have eliminated those. How do I know if something is givingme troubles? Basically, Over the past 3 weeks or so, the typicalpattern is 1-2 " stools " that are just 2-3 tablespoons of mucous with

maybe a little hard stool. Then every 2nd or 3rd day I'll have a largersolid stool that is about like a hot dog with a little of the mucousalso. Seemingly randomly, (like once a week) I'll have some cramping

and the long thin painful stools with blood at the end. Before Istarted the diet there was blood almost every other day, so I thinkthats a good sign...What puzzles me is that it seems totally random. Iwonder if its the order in which I'm eating the food? Has anyone else

gone through these stages of improvement? Also, what is " die off " ?Thanks for being more helpful than the medical industrial complex...------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

"Die off" is also known as the herxheimer reaction (you could try a google search) and is when we feel a bit yucky and have symptoms due to selective bacteria dying in our guts. When they die they release toxins which our bodies then have to deal with. The scd specifically alters which bacteria in our guts survive and thrive and which ones die due to what we feed them in our food selection and intake.

In regards to the skinny bms', it is probably due to inflammation. This can be helped in various ways. Have you tried fats with anti-inflammatory properties such as coconut fat or fish oil? I simply melt a dessertspoon or so of coconut fat on to my poached fruit after tea. Its lovely & simple. Start with small amounts of coconut fat because this is another food that can cause die-off.

Stick with it, it sounds like you just need to keep tweaking a few things & enhance your awareness of what your body is telling you.

Best of luck

Gillian

scd 20 months

undiagnosed Crohns

hla B27 pos

Signs of improvement?

I was diagnosed with UC in March, and have been on the SCD since April. It appears to be working although I'm not certain it is working perfectly. For the past 3 weeks I have eaten only chicken soup, hard boiled eggs,boiled apples, bolied carrots, homemade yogurt with honey in it, boiled spinach, and very diluted apple cider. Earlier on I was eating DCCC, as well as ripe bananas, but I seem to have less bleeding now that I have eliminated those. How do I know if something is giving me troubles? Basically, Over the past 3 weeks or so, the typical pattern is 1-2 "stools" that are just 2-3 tablespoons of mucous with maybe a little hard stool. Then every 2nd or 3rd day I'll have a larger solid stool that is about like a hot dog with a little of the mucous also. Seemingly randomly, (like once a week) I'll have some cramping and the long thin painful stools with blood at the end. Before I started the diet there was blood almost every other day, so I think thats a good sign...What puzzles me is that it seems totally random. I wonder if its the order in which I'm eating the food? Has anyone else gone through these stages of improvement? Also, what is "die off" ? Thanks for being more helpful than the medical industrial complex...