Re: New here and need help!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi Wow! You poor thing!!I say get started right away. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will start feeling better. Go slowly though. Do the intro diet then gradually introduce new foods one at a time with a few days in between each one and keep a food/symptom log. This will help you determine if a new food causes a reaction. There is a chart at http://www.pecanbread.com/new/scdfoods1.html#beyond that will help you decide in what order to introduce foods. It is just a guide. Everyone is very different but this will give you an idea of how to proceed after the intro diet.Best wishes,Kim H.husband, , CD 1999, SCD 2002

First off, hello everyone. My name is Chris.

I am a firm believer in God, love Jesus, my beautiful wife of 6 years,

and my adorable son who is almost 2.

I am 25 and was diagnosed with CD in Oct 08. The "D" started in Sep

08 and just wouldn't stop. Then the vomiting and weight loss began.

I was 185lbs in Sep, by Oct 08 I was 141lbs. Four trips to the ER and

I finally got to see a GI and ended up in the hospital for a week.

Discharged on 40mg/day of prednisone and 2 weeks rest at home. Dec

08, back to the ER after beginning Imuran. I became violently ill

again and dropped another 10lbs in a weekend. GI starts me on

Remicade then quickly switches to Humira.

At home another 2 weeks, back to the hospital. Now at 120lbs. Sent

home on full time TPN, 300mg injectable cortisone.

Now Jan 08, 132lbs, down to 100mg/day injectable cortisone, humira,

9mg entocort.... ..

I have RESEARCHED SCD extensively and want to do it!!!

My question is...Is this the best time to start it? The cortisone has

the "D" down to 3-4 times a day but I don't know what will happen when

I come off of them....I know I will make it through the intro diet

just fine and could probably eat anything on the diet now.

Any guidance, recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

God Bless!!

[Guest guest]

I love your intro!! welcome!!! I believe God sent me this diet - I

would start ASAP and wean off the drugs as you can- it's tough

getting used to, a lot of work but SO worth it - God bless - we're

here for you

Eileen

1 year scd

Dx: celiac and 2 docs say crohns (1 doc non-specific corrosion)

that's neither here nor there becaue 9 months in my scopes showed no

inflammation so now they'll never know - and who cares !!! LOL!!!

>

> First off, hello everyone. My name is Chris.

>

> I am a firm believer in God, love Jesus, my beautiful wife of 6

years,

> and my adorable son who is almost 2.

>

> I am 25 and was diagnosed with CD in Oct 08. The " D " started in Sep

> 08 and just wouldn't stop. Then the vomiting and weight loss

began.

> I was 185lbs in Sep, by Oct 08 I was 141lbs. Four trips to the ER

and

> I finally got to see a GI and ended up in the hospital for a week.

> Discharged on 40mg/day of prednisone and 2 weeks rest at home. Dec

> 08, back to the ER after beginning Imuran. I became violently ill

> again and dropped another 10lbs in a weekend. GI starts me on

> Remicade then quickly switches to Humira.

>

> At home another 2 weeks, back to the hospital. Now at 120lbs. Sent

> home on full time TPN, 300mg injectable cortisone.

>

> Now Jan 08, 132lbs, down to 100mg/day injectable cortisone, humira,

> 9mg entocort......

>

> I have RESEARCHED SCD extensively and want to do it!!!

>

> My question is...Is this the best time to start it? The cortisone

has

> the " D " down to 3-4 times a day but I don't know what will happen

when

> I come off of them....I know I will make it through the intro diet

> just fine and could probably eat anything on the diet now.

>

> Any guidance, recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

>

> God Bless!!

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the advice. Anyone else have suggestions.....

I am worried the meds will hide any effects the from the diet. I

already printed out the chart from pecanbread and its on the fridge.

Already making yogurt...really did start the diet a few weeks ago but

fell off the wagon...

Should I start over...?

I know avacado, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter, carrots, green

beans and a lot of fruits are o.k. And I am already " halfing " my

juice. Almond flour is not my thing! **Came out how it went in**

(My son loved the banana pancakes) Like I said we've been

experimenting...Alot of stage 2 even further (I had a fresh salad

today w/ egg, cheese, carrots, cucumber)

I don't know...that's why I am here!

Another question...are your families on this journey with you?

My wife is with me 100% but we are worried about our son. He loves

fresh food/vegetables/fruit already and we cook at home..we want to be

preventive but not restrictive

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris:

Kim is right. To get the total benefit from SCD, you must start at

the beginning and work your way slowly through the foods. The

medicines you are on mask your symptoms so even though you won't feel

like the more advanced foods are causing you any problems, they

probably will be and once you come off the medicine, you'll be in a

world of trouble because you wouldn't have properly healed.

You found the right place to come for guidance and questions. Without

this group, I would have never made it so far on this diet. Search

the archives, there is a wealth of information that will help you on

your journey!!!

Good luck.

I'm speaking from experience here <wink wink>

Misty Kimble

CD - no meds

SCD - 1 year

>

> Hi

> I say get started right away. The sooner you get started, the

sooner you will start feeling better.

> Go slowly though. Do the intro diet then gradually introduce new

foods one at a time with a few days in between each one and keep a

food/symptom log. This will help you determine if a new food causes a

reaction.

> Best wishes,

> Kim H.

> husband, , CD 1999, SCD 2002

-------------------------------------------------------------

> First off, hello everyone. My name is Chris.

>

> My question is...Is this the best time to start it? The cortisone

has the " D " down to 3-4 times a day but I don't know what will happen

when I come off of them....I know I will make it through the intro

diet just fine and could probably eat anything on the diet now.

>

> Any guidance, recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

>

> God Bless!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hello again,

I am worried the meds will hide any effects the from the diet. They probably will. Many have experienced this. They were able to tolerate a much wider variety of SCD legal foods while on steroids and once they got off, they had to drop back to a more basic diet and work their way up again.Already making yogurt...really did start the diet a few weeks ago but

fell off the wagon...

Should I start over...?I know avacado, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter, carrots, green

beans and a lot of fruits are o.k. And I am already "halfing" my

juice. Almond flour is not my thing! **Came out how it went in**

(My son loved the banana pancakes) Like I said we've been

experimenting. ..Alot of stage 2 even further (I had a fresh salad

today w/ egg, cheese, carrots, cucumber)I don't know...that' s why I am here!My advice is to go back to more basic foods. Do the intro, then introduce peeled, de-seeded, well cooked fruits and veggies. The reason for doing it this way is to give your body and damaged digestive system things that are easy for it to break down and absorb the nutrients from and to give it time to start healing.Almond flour, peanut butter, raw fruits and veggies are all very hard to digest. That's why they usually aren't introduced until later when some healing has taken place and your system is in a position to handle more.

Another question...are your families on this journey with you?I am. I'm on the diet 100% with my husband. We don't have illegals in the house and I only eat SCD food. Other than moral support for him, the diet keeps me healthy and keeps the weight off. My weight has normalized since being on the diet....something I was never able to achieve no matter what I did. SCD is very good at this. Normally people that need to gain, will gain and people that need to lose, will lose. When we started the diet, I was overweight and was underweight. We were eating the same things....he gained and I lost. It's a lot easier to gain weight when everything is not passing straight through you though.

My wife is with me 100% but we are worried about our son. He loves

fresh food/vegetables/ fruit already and we cook at home..we want to be

preventive but not restrictive

I don't have kids. I do have my younger sisters living with us though. They eat SCD when they're at home and eat whatever when they're not here. Maybe y'all could have him eat SCD while at home but allow him to have pizza and cake at birthday parties and the same snack as everyone else at daycare, etc. If he develops a good relationship with food early on and grows up eating a healthy diet, which SCD is, he'll just be all the better for it. Wishing you and your family the best.Kim H., husband, , CD 1999, SCD 2002

[Guest guest]

Welcome -- glad you found us (though sorry you needed to!)

The lady who was my mentor on SCD was told by her doctor, after a

colonoscopy, that her gut looked like bloody lace. He was all for

surgery. 14 months of fanatical adherence later, her gut was fully

healed. (Not everyone is quite that lucky, but it's nice to know it can

happen!) Her doc said that if he had not diagnosed her himself, he would

not have believed she was the same patient.

I didn't start almond flour for a number of months after I started SCD,

because, as you noted, it came out the way it went in.

My husband is with me on this journey -- we weren't granted human

children of our own. However, I introduced my sister to the diet, and my

niece, and my niece has two little boys, one five and one 7 months. My

niece has recovered enough to be able to add some non-SCD foods in, but

she's pretty careful.

My husband eats 100% SCD at home with me, but if we go out, he may get

something with rice or breaded or something if he's of a mood for it.

He'll occasionally get ice cream while I'm doing my water therapy, or

maybe a chocolate bar. But that's it.

One of my chuckles was the time he was going to be traveling, and I joked

that he would have an easy time because he wouldn't have to be keeping an

eye for illegals for me. He looked a bit plaintive and then said,

" Could you make a bag of travel food for me? SCD food tastes so much

better than anything I could buy.... "

<wry grin> I wish I could give you the 65 pounds you lost... I'm

trying to get rid of that much. (I have a reverse problem with my gut

issues... most people lose weight because of their illness. I gain

weight.)

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

peanut butter is a VERY VERY advanced food and as Marilyn has said

before one of the reasons people usually fail on SCD. one year into the

diet, i can only handle very small amounts of peanut butter at a time i

actually put myself into a flare by making the apple pie from the scd

recipes site over the holidays. i ate the whole thing in 1 day. i do

better with almond and pecan butter but i still can't eat much. i would

def nix the pb until you feel like you've healed substantially.

everything else sounds good though.

good luck!!!

misty kimble

cd - no meds

scd - 1 year

> I know avacado, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter, carrots, green

> beans and a lot of fruits are o.k.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the tips...PLEASE keep them coming....I'm so confused on

what to do....like I said I started the diet but started to lose

weight again.....I had to add whole wheat flour back in and pasta to

get to the measly 135 I am at now....Through my ignorance of diet the

only thing I've found that causes me to run to the porcelain is

sugar....every thing else which isn't SCD legal is o.k.

Please help...I don't want all of these meds or a life like this...I

want to commit to SCD I know God brought me here! But I have to put

on some healthy weight!

[Guest guest]

I don’t have much advice in that I’m only on the diet since the beginning

of January, but I can tell you that it’s made a major difference in my life

already. No, things aren’t perfect, but I’m not running to the bathroom as

much, have some energy, my pain is gone for the most part and I even worked

three days this week!

I too lost weight at the beginning- 10 lbs to be exact (and for

me who is 5;9’ and 110 lbs that was too much!). I really felt that whole

cleanse thing happening. I’ve put on 5 of those lbs already. Still don’t

tolerate yogurt or DCCC or eggs, so yes, I feel like I’m very limited as to

what I can eat.

Have you checked out nomorecrohns.com I found that to be a very

inspirational website. I e-mailed her and she e-mailed back with suggestions –

try that.

Sylvia

SCD – almost 1 month

CD – 1999

Pentasa

From: BTVC-SCD

[mailto:BTVC-SCD ] On Behalf Of r_christopher.whitmore

Sent: January-29-09 1:52 PM

To: BTVC-SCD

Subject: Re: New here and need help!!!

Thanks for the tips...PLEASE keep them

coming....I'm so confused on

what to do....like I said I started the diet but started to lose

weight again.....I had to add whole wheat flour back in and pasta to

get to the measly 135 I am at now....Through my ignorance of diet the

only thing I've found that causes me to run to the porcelain is

sugar....every thing else which isn't SCD legal is o.k.

Please help...I don't want all of these meds or a life like this...I

want to commit to SCD I know God brought me here! But I have to put

on some healthy weight!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply!! I am so torn.....I keep hitting the " refresh

button " every 10 minutes hoping someone will respond with experiences,

thoughts, etc....

QUESTION....If I go back to the intro say for two days since the

diarrhea has subsided....why be so cautious as to what I add....I eat

cooked zucchini, with garlic and onion almost every night!

We had SCD spaghetti the other night--delicious by the way!!

I ate a completely uncooked salad the other day with carrots, romaine,

egg, apple vinegar and what I believe to be SCD legal soy sauce as it

does not contain wheat...(Can someone comment on that too..I know

Elaine said no on the soy sauce as most contain wheat..this one does not)

Like I said torn...

[Guest guest]

Also, ANYONE who wants to talk further......please feel free to e-mail

at chris.whitmore1@... or Skype me. I would love to talk

further!! Almost in tears about his decision....

I want my health back so bad!!!

[Guest guest]

Please forgive me if I missed something, but WHAT decision by WHOM?

Terry

Re: New here and need help!!!

Also, ANYONE who wants to talk further......please feel free to e-mailat chris.whitmore1gmail or Skype me. I would love to talkfurther!! Almost in tears about his decision....I want my health back so bad!!!

[Guest guest]

don't know what skype is but we're all here - ask away - yes i believe

the meds is covering your stuff - shouldn't be having that all now -

too soon - do your best with your son - we do the same here, healthy

eaters but not scd - alot of it is naturally scd

- i have 5 different diets going here and the best I can do is keep

going 100% fanatical to give the kids back their mom - I was 83 lbs and

now back up to 100lbs - (normal for tiny me) the weight will come - scd

legal food will put it there don't stray - it will work - can't gain

till you heal and absorb - takes time and I still shove tones of

calories in to keep this weight so I guess evn with no inflammation I'm

still healing - I know I have a while to go as I'm just barely starting

stage 3 at 1 year on scd

slow and steady wins the race

hang in

it will be real helpful that your family is scd too - easier anyhow

LOL :-)

hang in-

eileen

-- In BTVC-SCD , " r_christopher.whitmore "

wrote:

>

> Also, ANYONE who wants to talk further......please feel free to e-mail

> at chris.whitmore1@... or Skype me. I would love to talk

> further!! Almost in tears about his decision....

>

> I want my health back so bad!!!

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

Wwelcome.

I don't have Crohn's or any of these other terrible conditions that

some of our list member struggle with. My problem has never been

diagnosed as anything except IBS, which some doctors say is not a

disease but just a list of symptoms. In the end, it doesn't matter

what I call it. I was sick and miserable and at times wanted to give

up on life. With SCD, I went from having chronic D (about 15 to 20

times per day) to having normal bowel movements.

I've not had D for close to six weeks.

It took about 3 months for me to see enough progress to give me

hope. And yet three months is not a long time considering that I've

had chronic D for the last 10 years.

I don't know as much about this way of life as some of the people on

this list. What I do know is that I can make it from my house to the

store without fearing an " accident " , if you know what I mean. By the

way, I live two blocks from the store. I was at the point where I

could no longer meet with clients, teach seminars (which is how I

make a living) or visit friends. Traveling anywhere was out of the

question. I have mapped out every accessible bathroom in the Greater

Portland area and have used many of them too many times.

When I first started the SCD, I lost weight ... and I didn't have

much to lose. I also had food reactions to foods that I never had

bad reactions to before. It felt like a set back and I almost gave up.

For the first three months, I couldn't eat eggs. Now I can. Carrots

made me so sick I couldn't get out of bed. Now I eat them

happily. I am still careful with raw vegetables. I limit ground

nuts just because sometimes I feel unwell when I eat too much.

Boy, am I glad I stuck with it. Thank you, dear list members, for

all the support.

Three weeks ago I taught my first seminar in a very long time. I

didn't have to have my business partner take over because I had to

run to the bathroom.

Two weeks ago I went on a road trip with a friend, from Oregon to

Arizona. We had to make absolutely no emergency stops. I took the

plane back home and made it the whole flight (about three hours)

without having to run to the bathroom.

Last week I had the first salad that didn't come out like it went in.

I gained some weight.

Clients and friends tell me I look radiant.

And all of this since August 12, 2008.

I feel like I have my life back. My 30-year old daughter has a

milder version of whatever I have and she is starting to eat mom's

way and feeling better. My mother in Germany has a more severe form

of what I have and is having surgery this spring. I wish we had

learned about SCD a long time ago. Maybe it would have saved my mom

from surgery.

I hope this helps, Chris. As far as I'm concerned, this is the place

to be for people who have spent too much time in the bathroom and not

enough time living life.

Hannah

At 01:51 PM 1/29/2009, you wrote:

>Thanks for the tips...PLEASE keep them coming....I'm so confused on

>what to do....

[Guest guest]

I understand that feeling! (hitting the refresh button)

First -- you have Breaking the Vicious Cycle, by Elaine

Gottschall, don't you? Have you read it, or are you working from web

sites? (Not that there's anything wrong with working from web sites, but

you need to understand the hows and whys of the diet before you can

understand the real answers to your questions.)

Next, do you have a notebook or something to write down literally

everything you eat, when you eat it, and what your gut is doing in the

hours after you ate whatever? If you don't, GET ONE.

I had cancer surgery last April. I had to do a colonoscopy-style

clean-out before the surgery, and then I was on IV feedings for two days

after. Then I was allowed clear liquids for a day, then thick liquids,

then soft foods, then finally, a normal diet, although my surgeon

cautioned me to go slowly on things with a lot of fiber. The reason was

that after the clean-out and the surgery, my insulted gut wasn't ready to

go back to normal food, We had to re-introduce it slowly.

When a baby starts eating solid food, do you take him or her straight

from mother's milk to eating spicy Mexican food? Why not? Because his

system isn't able to process it yet.

Right now, your gut is sick, and not able to process food properly.

That's why you've lost weight. That's why the diarrhea.

Dr. Gee once said, " That which the patient takes beyond his

ability to digest does harm. "

Eating foods you are not yet ready for will not help you heal. You will

not gain weight from them.

My first months on SCD, I tolerated beef roast, pork roast, steamed

zucchini (first with butter, then with shredded cheddar), and soft boiled

eggs. When I graduated to green beans and chopped spinach, I

celebrated.

It may seem as if you became ill overnight, but you didn't. It takes time

to heal.

We're all impatient. We all want results yesterday. Learning how to be

patient and wait for healing gives us a good idea of how the Highest must

sometimes feel about us -- that it takes infinite patience to deal with

our impatience.

Now, what did you eat and when, today?

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

At 05:25 PM 1/29/2009, you wrote:

Also, ANYONE who wants to talk

further......please feel free to e-mail

at

chris.whitmore1@...

or Skype me. I would love to talk

further!! Almost in tears about his decision....

I want my health back so bad!!!

The objective of the list is to share our problems with each other. You

may have seen the note I posted earlier, thanking some of the staunchest

and most knowledgeable people who participate here.

I don't pretend to know everything about SCD. But what I don't

know, Kim M or Kim H may know. Or Mara or Katy or or any number of

other people.

But it's not the off-list sharing that helps the most -- it's the list

sharing. Because when you post a question to the list, you are getting

the resources of more than 800 people who have stood or are standing in

your shoes. Each of us has followed a different path as we walked to this

meeting site called BTVC-SCD. Each of us has knowledge to share. ANd each

of us, including you, has something to share with your fellow

sufferers.

Why are you in tears?

Remember the footsteps in the sand -- that when there is a single line of

steps, at the worst times in your life, that is when you are being

carried.

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

[Guest guest]

> From: BTVC-SCD [mailto:BTVC-SCD ] On

Behalf

> Of r_christopher.whitmore

> Sent: January-29-09 1:52 PM

> To: BTVC-SCD

> Subject: Re: New here and need help!!!

>

>

>

> Thanks for the tips...PLEASE keep them coming....I'm so confused on

> what to do....like I said I started the diet but started to lose

> weight again.....

Hi

Welcome to SCD and this list. As you've already found out, there are

some really wonderful people here to help give you the support you will

surely need as you embark on this journey. Yes, you will undoubtedly

lose a little more weight as you switch to SCD but as you heal, you will

be able to gain.

I had to force myself to eat higher fat foods to replace the missing

complex carbs ... like lots of butter on my veggies ... ice cream made

from whole-cream yogurt ... lots of cheese ... bacon (many low-sodium

brands are sugar-free) ... hamburger patties (with lots of cheese of

course) ...

With regard to eating raw salad, as many have said, your meds are

probably masking some amount of reactions, so it's really best to stick

with super soft easy-to-digest foods and leave the raw fruits & veggies

for much later after you've healed some, started to absorb more

nutrients and calories, and can start to slowly wean your meds (with

your doctor's supervision of course). As you learned, almond flour is

advanced (in spite of the BTVC indication that you can eat muffins early

on, most people don't tolerate nut flours for awhile). You can try

recipes with nut butters (except peanut butter, which is advanced) after

you've stabilized a bit.

I completely understand your being near tears. I cried a lot the first

couple of months on SCD because it was so hard to make every freakin'

little thing from scratch - and I really hated cooking. I disliked

eating basically the same limited set of food for weeks - but the fact

that I felt so much better (less trips to the bathroom, abdominal

bloating and pain disappeared) made me stick to it. I lost about 10 lbs

the first month or two and it took awhile to get most of it back. I'm at

a great weight now, though, 1-1/2 years after starting SCD.

Another tip is to eat small amounts of food many times per day - the 6

small meals theory. It's easier on your body and keeps a stream of

calories going in.

Hang in there - you can do it!

Kathy

UC since 12/05

SCD since 7/07

med-free since 7/08

symptom-free!!>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kathy! Everyone really THANKS!

Question...when is the best time to re-introduce the yogurt then? It

has become a treat of mine throughout the day....I am going to hate to

give it up!!

[Guest guest]

>

> Thanks for the reply!! I am so torn.....I keep hitting the " refresh

> button " every 10 minutes hoping someone will respond with experiences,

> thoughts, etc....

>

> QUESTION....If I go back to the intro say for two days since the

> diarrhea has subsided....why be so cautious as to what I add....I eat

> cooked zucchini, with garlic and onion almost every night!

>

> We had SCD spaghetti the other night--delicious by the way!!

>

> I ate a completely uncooked salad the other day with carrots, romaine,

> egg, apple vinegar and what I believe to be SCD legal soy sauce as it

> does not contain wheat...(Can someone comment on that too..I know

> Elaine said no on the soy sauce as most contain wheat..this one does

not)

>

> Like I said torn...

>