corinne

Sleep paralysis comes and goes. Going gluten-free hasn't changed it for me. I wish I could relax when it happens and not panic about not being able to move.

I, too, have collagenous (microscopic) colitis and I currently manage it with a gluten-free diet. I don't want to be a pessimist, but this type of colitis, like many others, usually follows an up-and-down course. It can disappear for weeks, months and sometimes years and then come back for a period of time. If it does come back, you may want to go back to gluten-free. Also check out the following board: Open Original Shared Link.

I have a type of colitis (collagenous) not celiac disease. My mother has celiac disease and my gastroenterologist said that this type of colitis, although extremely rare (2 per 100 000) is associated with families with celiac disease. I'm not sure if there is a correlation between celiac genes and other types of colitis. Colitis is an up and down thing. Most of the time it's under control with a gluten free (and dairy, soy, etc) diet, but I do have flares from time to time and need medication.

I really heavily on eggs, fish and meat for calories (fruits and veggies don't have much) so the diet won't help much for you. Perhaps though, you can replace eggs, fish, meat with nuts. However, nuts can be hard to digest.

Breakfast: boiled eggs + canned fruit (peaches, pears, mangos or berries) or if I have more time I make pancakes from 2 eggs + 2 bananas in the blender.

Lunch: can of tuna or sardines and lots of cooked carrots.

Snacks: avocado or more canned fruit or bananas

Dinner: meat + squash

I'd prefer to not eat so much meat, but I wouldn't have enough calories to live on if I didn't. I react strongly to beans (including soy), nuts (even nut butters) and dairy so there isn't much choice for proteins.

Cruciferous veggies are cabbage, cauliflower, turnips broccoli etc. These are high fiber and hard to digest.

Eliminating caffeine might be a good start. Soy and beans can cause problems too, but this wouldn't leave you much to eat.

I have collagenous colitis (not celiac) which can also be treated with a gluten free diet in addition to eliminating any other food intolerances. I finally got the D and vomiting under control by eliminating gluten, all grains including corn and rice, potatos, dairy, soy, nuts, beans, cruciferous veggies, onions+garlic, sulphites, caffeine, spices and acidic foods. Very strict diet, but I figured it's just for a short time until the gut heals. I have been symptom free for 3 months so I thought it was safe to start adding foods back in. I started eating potatoes in December and everything was fine initially. Then in Feb. things gradually got worse and worse until constant D about 2 weeks ago. I was taking a lot of Imodium in order to be able to work. I quit eating potatos a week ago and things are fine again, no symptoms. ARRGGHH! It's great feeling good and being symptom free, but I might scream if I have to eat carrots, squash and bananas for my carbs permanently. Maybe it takes years not months for the gut to heal and I need to be more patient. I hope so.

Larry - good catch. I quoted that from a textbook I use and I should have questioned that data (shows what happens when chemists try to do microbiology ), but I went back to the original data and 8% of the bottled water had fecal coliform contamination. That makes much more sense.

I'm still somewhat dubious about the biological safety of bottled water unless it states on the bottle that a disinfection method such as UV exposure or chlorination has been used. Tap water seems the safest bet to me.

I tried for a while, but I never had success in keep it from leaking. I love mountaineering etc. and I thought this would be more convenient than packing yucky "waste" back to civilization, but no success. I might try it again if I can figure out how to make them work.

Actually, the FDA rules (which apply to bottled water) are less stringent than the EPA rules (which apply to tap water). Disinfection to kill microbes is NOT required by FDA rules for bottled water whereas it is generally required by the EPA for tap water. Many brands of bottled water, however, are disinfected, often by using UV light, and this is usually stated on the bottle. Testing for microbial contamination is required 1/week under FDA law, but is required 7-100+ times per week (depending on size of population served) under EPA regulation. The penalties for not meeting regulations are much stricter under EPA rules for tap water than under FDA rules for bottled water.

Another problem is that FDA laws only apply to water that is bottled in one state then transported across state lines and sold in another state. State laws apply to water that is bottled and sold in the same state. Some states such as California apply the FDA laws; other states have minimal regulations.

A recent large market survey of bottled water found that 10% of the bottles sampled were contaminated with E. coli.

I'd agree that spring water tastes better than tap, but it's not safer.

(I'm an environmental chemistry professor and this is part of one of the courses I teach.)

Way to go!!! It IS a huge thing to go from not being able to run to being prepared for an ironman. Good luck with the race and may your preparation kick in and get you in under the cut-off.

14 months ago, I was where you were at (not hospitalized, but on a liquid diet to get things under control). I could tolerate only diluted grape juice (still can't tolerate acidic juices such as cranberry). I add a new food every 4 days to a week. I have a good dose of the food (at least two servings in a day), then wait 2 days to see if I get D or vomiting etc. If things are ok, then I add the food to my diet and wait a couple of days before adding something else new. If I have a strong reaction, I'll wait a week or so for the tummy to settle before trying a new food. A dietician should be able to give you a list of the foods least likely to be problematic. Start with well-cooked foods, no seeds or peels or spices/irritating foods. I started by adding cooked carrots, squash, venison (I have friends who hunt), lamb. I actually react to rice and corn as do some people so it may be worthwhile waiting to add grains. As well as grains, dairy, soy, nightshades, eggs, beans, cruciferous veggies, caffeine and irritating spices are problematic for some people.

Bananas aren't a high calorie food. A medium size banana averages 105 calories - not much different than any other fruit or even a slice of bread. They're good value too for the calories - lots of potassium etc.

I love banana pancakes for breakfast - 2 bananas and an egg in the blender then cooked like a pancake.

Nicole,

I just started as a professor at Cal Poly this past August. What department will he be in? (you can pm me) I love the area and the school.

There's several health food stores that carry gluten free products and there's also a trader joes. I can send you addresses when you head out here. I don't have a GI yet (so far healthy and too busy to go to a doc). I've had mixed success in local restaurants. Some have been great; I've gotten sick at a few. Again, when the time comes, I can send addresses.

What are your plans for housing? It is pricy here. I ended up buying a very small condo in Atascadero.

I wish I knew I couldn't eat gluten when I was on my mission in France. I was sick (plus depression) a lot of my mission. That's all changed now I'm on the diet. There's actually 4 of us (in a ward of 150) who are gluten free and we sit together and have our own tray for Sacrament (rice bread for the other 3 and bread made from bananas for me - can't eat rice).

I travel a lot and it would really depend where you go on how easy it is to manage the diet.

Agar is a polysacharide extracted from algae (typically red algae aka sea weed). Most agar has no smell, but depending on the extraction, there can be a "seaweed" smell.

Mango - I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw some humor in this.

I would love to get my hands on these crackers. I can't eat corn or rice (as well as no gluten) so I've given up on anything resembling bread products. Crackers would be sooo nice.

Not sure how to answer this one. I was diagnosed with collagenous colitis by a biopsy. A gluten free diet often works for this disease so I tried it and was successful after eliminating dairy and some other foods.

I'm on the SCD and take citracal for calcium (can't eat dairy either).

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As of Jan. 3, I have been on the specific carbohydrate diet for 1 year. I have collagenous colitis not celiac (but it is related to celiac and is often treated with a gluten free diet). A gluten free diet helped some, but I still had daily D. After 3 months on the SCD, I have had no symptoms (except from mistakes or cross-contamination from eating out).

I cannot tolerate dairy, acidic foods ie tomatoes and oranges, high fiber foods ie spinach and broccoli, nuts or any beans so I have modified the diet. I take a calcium supplement because of no dairy. I need to plan ahead to make sure I get enough calories (I'm an avid runner and skier). For proteins, I eat fish, meat and eggs (can tolerate those). For carbs I eat well-cooked carrots, squash, bananas and canned fruit. I also eat lots of avocado to increase the calories. The diet is a bit boring, but it's worth it to feel good. PM me if you have questions.

I agree. If it looks normal and you're feeling good - no cramps, nausea, bloating, it's fine. How often you poop depends on how much your system can hold which varies from person to person and on how much fiber you eat. I don't eat any grains so I rely on squash + carrots + potatos for my carbs so I have about 3 BMs a day.

I just moved to California from Montana so I had to find a new doctor (too bad - my doctor in Montana was fantastic). I asked my new doctor for a thyroid test. I get this once a year because of multinodular goitre. When I went into the lab this morning, I found out that he had ordered a whole stack of other tests. That's great, but it would have been nice to be told. One of the tests is the celiac panel. There's absolutely no point to this test. First, I have been gluten free for a year. Second, I don't have celiac disease. I have tested negative on the celiac panel several times before when I was eating gluten. I have collagenous colitis which can also be treated with a gluten free diet. I have been in complete remission with the colitis now that I am gluten free. So now I get to pay (part anyways) for a test that I don't need.

Thanks for all of the yummy suggestions. I know it will be a lot easier over the holidays if I have treats I can enjoy.

Silent Night is my favourite too. My father was born in Salzburg, Austria and my aunt lives about 8 miles from the village of Oberndorf where Silent Night was first played. When I was little, we visited my relatives one Christmas and we went to a Christmas eve program at that tiny chapel.

Thanks for the suggestions. The salmon patties will definitely work and sound yummy.

I forgot to add that I can't eat nuts or chocolate either. I can't eat any flours (even quinoa or buckwheat) but I might try potato flour this week now that potatos seem to be staying put. Is it possible to make cookies with just potato flour? Anyone have candy recipes without nuts, chocolate or dairy?