Re: fairly new to SCD - have serious questions - little long

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I do not know much about Crohn's Disease, I have a child with ASD.

But, I'm sure your wife is in a lot of pain and discomfort, and you

both are pretty frustrated by now. IF IT WERE ME, I would give SCD

a real good try for at least a month. That is what Elaine states in

her book. That means: doing the intro for a few days, slowly adding

new foods (making sure they are peeled, deseeded and cooked), and

keeping a food journal. I have been doing this diet for my son for

almost a year now, and the key to success is GOING SLOW. I would

recommend not eating out at this point. Just be fanatical about the

diet for 1 month, and see if you have any positive results. And if

you aren't seeing any improvement by going to the Hoffman Center, I

would quit for a while, and see what SCD can do by itself. Please

keep us posted on how your wife is doing and/or you have anymore

questions.

Gia

Mom to Jack and

SCD 11 mos.

[Guest guest]

Where does she eat, when you go out? What does she eat? I think

there are other things that may be more detrimental, than the brand

of salt that is being used... Corn syrup or corn starch seems to be

in everything that you buy at the store. Most restaurants usually buy

big cans of vegetables or food that is processed in order to save

time at cooking.

I know nothing about the center you are talking about... You can take

a rest for the summer, and see if she will do the same or even better

just on SCD!!!!

Coral

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to chime in. I don't know if it's worth going to the

Hoffman Center (NYC). It's mentioned in Elaine's BTVC book in the

foreword, which is written by Hoffman. I called and never

followed through, they are expensive! My 3.6 yr.old son is on the

diet, but we are also. I pray that you find the answers you're

looking for, and that your wife gets better.

Liz, SCD 6mos.

[Guest guest]

1) Concerning the vitamins your wife is getting at the Hoffman Center, I'd

be very leery of taking broad spectrum vitamins like that. You have no idea

what the source of the vitamins are, and the source could be from some

illegal sugar. If you want to take vitamins, and feel you need them, I

would take each vitamin separately, and get them from sources you know are

OK.

2) Sorry to say, but for someone who is so easily offended by the wrong

foods, eating at home is the better option. That's what we do. Our son is

recovering from autism, and my husband and I do the diet with him. It helps

him so much with the support of the family.

3) At a recent conference on autism, there were mothers there telling

stories of success in as few days as 3. If you aren't seeing improvement, I

would guess that your wife is somehow getting something she should not. It

could be as simple as her tooth paste, or the flavorings on her dental

floss, or licking envelopes, or licking stamps. I have heard it said that

the difference between 98% legal and 100% legal is mammoth - ie, it's

extremely important to go strictly by the diet.

fairly new to SCD - have serious questions - little

long

> I am writing this for my wife.

>

> She has had crohns for many years & no treatments have worked thus far.

>

> After reading this group for a while my wife read the Vicious Cycle

> book & decided to give the SCD Diet a try - by now we were ready to

> try anything.

>

> We went to the Hoffman Center in NYC & under their care she started

> the diet 2-3 months ago. They give her nutritional counseling & advice.

>

> A few questions / comments:

>

> - So far we really havent seen any improvement in her condition - we

> are not yet dismayed as we know results can take a while - How long

> should we give the diet to work?

>

> - At the Hoffman Center, per their recommendation, my wife has had

> weekly intervenous vitamin infusions, specifically formulated for

> crohns patients. Anyone else out there doing this in conjunction ith

> the diet? They are costly approx $100 - $150 each time. Is this a

> waste of money?

>

> - My wife started the diet very strictly - preparing ALL foods at

> home. Even going so far as to using the one brand of salt they

> specified was SCD legal. That salt issue really meant you could never

> eat out because almost all food has salt in it & I am sure restaurants

> were not using the SCD approved salt. After they did many blood &

> allergy tests they found out she was allergic to gluten, potatoes &

> various other things. At our 2nd appointment, after about 3-4 weeks on

> the diet, their nutirionist said we could ease the restrictions a

> little bit & said she could eat out & not worry too much about what

> kind of salt was being used etc, because that was not one of her

> allergies. Now, after still not seeing any improvement I was thinking

> this eating out was hurting the SCD diet & perhaps you members might

> say " oh no, you can not eat out at all " .

>

> - Due to the crohns flare ups, before atarting the SCD my wife had

> always wanted to eat bland & that usually meant bread - which I guess

> with the gluten allergy was actually like poison. She was also a sugar

> junkie. All this has ended.

>

> While the Hoffman Center has been good at guiding us & the

> nutritionist is great, it is costing a LOT of money & they take no

> insurance.

>

> I am looking for some advice:

> - are we wasting our money at the Hoffman Center & with these

> infusions? Should we just follow Elaines Book & save the money?

> - should she only be eating home prepared foods where we know exactly

> whats in them?

> - any other input / advice greatly appreciated.... we have high hopes

> on this.

>

> Thanks

>

>

>

>

> For information on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, please read the book

_Breaking the Vicious Cycle_ by Elaine Gottschall and read the following

websites:

> http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

> and

> http://www.pecanbread.com

>

>