Guest guest Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Dolores, when my husband was diagnosed with diabetes I made him loose 30 lbs with diet and some exercise. ever since, he has been on the almost starch free diet, food intake every two hours, no meds, a1c 5.9, sugar 80 to 112. how is your thyroid? it seems to be a connection: hypothyroidism, diabetes, diarrhea, ovarian cysts. do your own stool ph? I think it's difficult! Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 11:29:25 AM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  This sounds like a good idea. I can do a steak and leafy salad every day of the week. In my youth, I used to do that diet everytime, I would put on an extra 5 lbs and it always worked. Can i add green peppers, onions and some garlic salt to the meat? Just kidding! I usually do flavor my meat with onions & peppers & garlic. This is the easy part. As far as the fast, that is a bit scary as I take two kinds of antidiabetic meds and am afraid of going into hypoglycemia. I would rather do that when a doctor is monitoring me. I had the discussion about the lowered standards of the morning glucose being 80 or below with several docs and most of them don't agree with it. They prefer the 90-120 range. They said it is more important to keep the A1C down around 6 which shows that the patient has kept the glucose readings at a more even level. In my early years before I had my sugar under control, I went into hypoglycemia several times and that was scary. Once in a crowd, I started shaking violently and profusly sweating. luckily I knew the symptoms and grabbed a bottle of Pepsi and drank it down fast and then followed with another until the shaking stopped. I was drenched with perspiration That happened when I was first put on diabetic medication. The doctor took me off the medicine and I went along on diet & exercise alone for another two years before I was put on newer, safer meds that did not produce the drop in glucose I had experienced earlier. Right now I am on metformin and Januvia. I had been on Metformin & Amaryl for a long time with great success. But like all diabetic meds, they stop working after a while. I was then put on Injectible Insulin, and had the sorest thighs. My thighs all turned black & blue. That was the only place I felt comfortable injecting myself. and the Insulin was not keeping my glucose level low enough. So, I was given Januvia about a year ago and my readings have been good since. If I am to go on a fast it would have to be under the direction of an M.D. I couldn't try it alone. It is a good suggestion, but for me a scary one. Couldn't I just stick the pH paper into the loose stool and read the level of acidity or alkaline the way saliva results are read?~~~I'm going to try it and see. ~~~~ Just curios, ~~~~~Dolores   From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Would that happen if the Prevacid I take is as infrequent as one 30mg capsule once or twice a week or less at times. I only take one when the entire esphagus feels like it is on fire and never checked it out to read that it was a proton pump. I should be more diligent and read the little pamphlets that come with the medication. Most of the time I do, but since I take it so rarely it, I didn't bother. Again you are opening up my eyes to further info. Thank you so much. Dolores From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Ana. That is amazing what you have accomplished for your husband's diabetes. He eats every two hours, no meds and is totally controlled. May I ask what he eats every two hours? Is it just a snack or full meals? Do you carry foods with you when you go out? Are you able to travel? How do you manage to create meals without much starch? When he does eat starch, what kind and how much does he eat? I hope you don't mind all the questions. I am very curious how you can manage a life style with stopping to eat every two hours. I am lucky if I eat twice a day! I find that food preparation for 3 people twice a day takes up so much of my time. How do you do it? How long has he been a diabetic? When I was first diagnosed I went two years on diet and exercise alone. But then my body started to make its' own glucose, so I finally had to go on meds which covered me well for many years, but then they stopped working eventually and I had to tryother things including injecting myself for a time. I have been a diabetic for at least 20 yrs. So, my diabetes is pretty far advanced and yet I am doing well for this many years. Yes, my thyroid gets checked with each new doc I see and it has always been normal. I have now gone two days so far w/o any diarrhea, so I am happy. Please let me know how you manage to feed someone every two hours. That sounds incredible to me. Do either of you work or are you both retired? Do you have children or family living with you? I just want to know how you manage this? You ought to write a book about this so others can learn your secret. You've got my curiosity. Take care and have a happy 4th. Dolores  From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Dolores, we are both retired, I am in a wheelchair, my wonderful husband does all the cooking wheat is replaced with brown rice when absolutely needed breakfast is tomatoes, cheese, ham, olives, avocados, peppers, basil, scallions or eggs more of the same two hours later, half banana soup, nuts, apple, two hours later more nuts and cheese around 2 or 3 PM by 5 or 6 PM dinner: fish or meats with salads at 8 PM some animal protein, nuts, yogurt among fruits apples are best meats, fish, cooked with onions, lemon, capers, NOT potatoes once in a while we eat beans or chick peas lots of soups lots of raw veggies no cakes or alcohol he swims every day, plays ping-pong twice a week, takes resveratrol, iodine, chromium picolinate, niacin happy 4th to you too Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 4:14:43 PM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hi Ana. That is amazing what you have accomplished for your husband's diabetes. He eats every two hours, no meds and is totally controlled. May I ask what he eats every two hours? Is it just a snack or full meals? Do you carry foods with you when you go out? Are you able to travel? How do you manage to create meals without much starch? When he does eat starch, what kind and how much does he eat? I hope you don't mind all the questions. I am very curious how you can manage a life style with stopping to eat every two hours. I am lucky if I eat twice a day! I find that food preparation for 3 people twice a day takes up so much of my time. How do you do it? How long has he been a diabetic? When I was first diagnosed I went two years on diet and exercise alone. But then my body started to make its' own glucose, so I finally had to go on meds which covered me well for many years, but then they stopped working eventually and I had to tryother things including injecting myself for a time. I have been a diabetic for at least 20 yrs. So, my diabetes is pretty far advanced and yet I am doing well for this many years. Yes, my thyroid gets checked with each new doc I see and it has always been normal. I have now gone two days so far w/o any diarrhea, so I am happy. Please let me know how you manage to feed someone every two hours. That sounds incredible to me. Do either of you work or are you both retired? Do you have children or family living with you? I just want to know how you manage this? You ought to write a book about this so others can learn your secret. You've got my curiosity. Take care and have a happy 4th. Dolores  From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hi Dolores, the older we get, the less acid our stomach makes if you have your gall bladder, main factors to a good digestion are: plenty of acid in stomach, good digestive enzymes and balanced gi flora when you take ppis, you suppress acid production, protein digestion is impaired, gi flora changes to fit the existing ph. can you lift your head, trunk when asleep, have early dinner, take peptobismol, etc instead? Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 12:47:14 PM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Would that happen if the Prevacid I take is as infrequent as one 30mg capsule once or twice a week or less at times. I only take one when the entire esphagus feels like it is on fire and never checked it out to read that it was a proton pump. I should be more diligent and read the little pamphlets that come with the medication. Most of the time I do, but since I take it so rarely it, I didn't bother. Again you are opening up my eyes to further info. Thank you so much. Dolores From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Hi Ana, What do you mean by, " Can I lift my head & trunk when I am asleep? I don't get up when I am asleep! I get up after I am awake. Only sleep walkers get up when they are asleep. That question didn't make any sense to me. I know you meant to ask something, but I didn't get what you were after.  I just re-read the e:mail and I think you mean,  do I elevate my head and trunk on a pillow when I sleep... If that is what you meant, then the answer is no. I sleep on my side and sometimes on my stomach and I have never used a pillow in my life. I cannot sleep on a pillow. When I was first diagnosed with scleroderma, and extremely ill, I spent most of my time sitting in a lazy boy chair and slept all the time. But, we got rid of the chair when we moved and now there is no room in my new place for a lazyboy chair plus the only time I lay down now is when I go to bed. I sleep with a C-PAP machine on my face because I have severe sleep apnea. It is not comfortable to add the pillow.   I get the part that Prevacid reduces the acid and as I get older my acid decreases.   I got a message in my private e:mail telling me that aloe juice cured GERD. I went to the store yesterday to check out the aloe section and there were many bottles and most had flavors added to them. Two were not flavored. Being a diabetic, I always check sugar content and the label said the bottles contained anywhere from 24 to 29 gms. That is way too much sugar for me. So, I didn't buy any. Does aloe contain that much sugar or is it added? Even the unflavored ones had that much sugar.  Now the early dinner part. I only eat when I am hungry. Which means I don't keep any kind of schedule. I make meals for Mom, but Mike and I never have any planned schedule to eat and in 35 years we never have. I usually eat in the a,m. when I take my meds and again in the p.m. when I take my meds again. I do that because I take a handful of meds and they make me nauseous. By taking them with food, I am able to hold them down easier. I take the Minocin apart from the rest of the meds without food. That doesn't sit too well sometimes, but I drink lots of water and get it down and sit at the computer for a couple of hours.  The rest of the day, I don't bother eating any meals. Mike and I have always made ourselves our own food whenever we desire something. Sometimes we both eat the same thing. Most times we don't. I like soups and salads. Mike like spicy mexican and chinese foods. I don't open up cans of soup. I make my own from scratch and my favorite is chicken soup with a carrot, celery, garlic, onion, a little bit of tomato sauce or v-8 juice for color and parsley, dill and a spot of salt with a piece of chicken, mostly breast or leg or leg & thigh. I remove all the fat from the soup. I add some rice or angel hair pasta cooked separately at the last minute when the soup is done. I put that in containers, freeze it and have a bowl sometimes around noon, and some evenings  I am happy with a green salad of raw veggies, flax seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, black olives, tomato. celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, onion, green pepper, sometimes radishes, sometimes shredded carrots avocados when in season, etc. It depends on whatever vegetable I have in the fridge. I have my own garden and just started raising my own veggies. They have not grown yet. For protein I will eat boiled chicken with all fat removed. Thin slices of lean steak tossed with onion and green pepper and pan fried with a bit of olive oil or sometimes I will boil up a couple of eggs or toss in some tuna, shrimp, sardines  or crumbled feta cheese into the salad. For drink I make fresh limeade from the limes on our trees with bottled iced water, ice made from bottled water and one packet of splenda. Should I get hungry in the middle of the day, I keep a few thin slices of cold fuji apple or a small 4 ounce cup of V-8 juice.or chomp on a piece of celery. I don't drink coffee, tea or colas and yes I have my gallbladder. I thought I was doing everything right, but the diarrhea started about two years ago when I started on clindamycin. But actually, I have been prone to loose stools since I was about 8 yrs old. That is when I took my first trip first to Florida and then to Canada. No doc ever found out why I get the runs whenever I travel but I always did. I went off the clindamycin, but the diarrhea would continue to come intermittently until recently when it became chronic. I realized from what one of the members said about hand washing  The problem may be that lately I have been working with soil that I bought at the store and using to plant some vegetables & spices. I have been scooping the dirt with my bare hands and most likely didn't wash my hands thoroughly enough with hot water and soap because I have been using the outside sink to clean up and that is not hooked up to hot water. I live in Puerto Rico and the water is tepid all the time so it never got hooked up to the hot water line. I had forgotten to put new soap at that sink for a few days and so I was just rinsing my hands after handling the soil and the plants. We shall see if being more diligent about that will help. Also, I have increased the acidophillus and the lactaid. I am lactose intolerant and sometimes I eat some cottage cheese with pineapple chunks. And rarely, drink some milk~~but always take lactaid prior to taking dairy of any sort including cheese. I moved from NY to a place where the air is fresh and we have a constant breeze from the ocean. There is no traffic or pollution and it is a very quiet street with no outlet. I am 300 ft. from the ocean and 350 ftl up on a cliff so the view is gorgeous. I take care of Mom which is stressful, but try to make the most of it and Mike help me all the way with all the chores. I don't know what else I can do to make it any better. I am taking all the suggestions offered and implementing what I think will help the most. I appreciate all your suggestions and will use the ones I think will apply and if that doesn't work, I will try some of the other suggestions. Thank you for everything, Dolores & Mike    From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Sounds delicious, but it also sounds like a lot of food. Don't think I could handle all that. It sounds like what I eat. Only not as much. I am little and all that would blow me up. Sorry to hear you are in a wheelchair. What got you in there? Good thing your husband can cook. I wish you the best. Thanks.~~~~Dolores From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Hi Dolores and Mike, yes, I am sorry, what I meant to say is to elevate your head and torso at an angle of 30 degree so the acid would not enter your esophagus. sure, with the c-pap machine things get complicated. the secret with diabetes is small, frequent meals, minimum to no starch and regular exercise. try experimenting, learn to eat little and often and your pancreas and stomach will thank you. it sounds like you live in paradise, water, beach, your own garden...you also eat the right stuff, the only change you need, is frequent, small meals, every two hours or so and exercise. what put me in the wheelchair is my 25 years of ra. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 11:37:18 PM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hi Ana, What do you mean by, " Can I lift my head & trunk when I am asleep? I don't get up when I am asleep! I get up after I am awake. Only sleep walkers get up when they are asleep. That question didn't make any sense to me. I know you meant to ask something, but I didn't get what you were after.  I just re-read the e:mail and I think you mean,  do I elevate my head and trunk on a pillow when I sleep... If that is what you meant, then the answer is no. I sleep on my side and sometimes on my stomach and I have never used a pillow in my life. I cannot sleep on a pillow. When I was first diagnosed with scleroderma, and extremely ill, I spent most of my time sitting in a lazy boy chair and slept all the time. But, we got rid of the chair when we moved and now there is no room in my new place for a lazyboy chair plus the only time I lay down now is when I go to bed. I sleep with a C-PAP machine on my face because I have severe sleep apnea. It is not comfortable to add the pillow.   I get the part that Prevacid reduces the acid and as I get older my acid decreases.   I got a message in my private e:mail telling me that aloe juice cured GERD. I went to the store yesterday to check out the aloe section and there were many bottles and most had flavors added to them. Two were not flavored. Being a diabetic, I always check sugar content and the label said the bottles contained anywhere from 24 to 29 gms. That is way too much sugar for me. So, I didn't buy any. Does aloe contain that much sugar or is it added? Even the unflavored ones had that much sugar.  Now the early dinner part. I only eat when I am hungry. Which means I don't keep any kind of schedule. I make meals for Mom, but Mike and I never have any planned schedule to eat and in 35 years we never have. I usually eat in the a,m. when I take my meds and again in the p.m. when I take my meds again. I do that because I take a handful of meds and they make me nauseous. By taking them with food, I am able to hold them down easier. I take the Minocin apart from the rest of the meds without food. That doesn't sit too well sometimes, but I drink lots of water and get it down and sit at the computer for a couple of hours.  The rest of the day, I don't bother eating any meals. Mike and I have always made ourselves our own food whenever we desire something. Sometimes we both eat the same thing. Most times we don't. I like soups and salads. Mike like spicy mexican and chinese foods. I don't open up cans of soup. I make my own from scratch and my favorite is chicken soup with a carrot, celery, garlic, onion, a little bit of tomato sauce or v-8 juice for color and parsley, dill and a spot of salt with a piece of chicken, mostly breast or leg or leg & thigh. I remove all the fat from the soup. I add some rice or angel hair pasta cooked separately at the last minute when the soup is done. I put that in containers, freeze it and have a bowl sometimes around noon, and some evenings  I am happy with a green salad of raw veggies, flax seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, black olives, tomato. celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, onion, green pepper, sometimes radishes, sometimes shredded carrots avocados when in season, etc. It depends on whatever vegetable I have in the fridge. I have my own garden and just started raising my own veggies. They have not grown yet. For protein I will eat boiled chicken with all fat removed. Thin slices of lean steak tossed with onion and green pepper and pan fried with a bit of olive oil or sometimes I will boil up a couple of eggs or toss in some tuna, shrimp, sardines  or crumbled feta cheese into the salad. For drink I make fresh limeade from the limes on our trees with bottled iced water, ice made from bottled water and one packet of splenda. Should I get hungry in the middle of the day, I keep a few thin slices of cold fuji apple or a small 4 ounce cup of V-8 juice.or chomp on a piece of celery. I don't drink coffee, tea or colas and yes I have my gallbladder. I thought I was doing everything right, but the diarrhea started about two years ago when I started on clindamycin. But actually, I have been prone to loose stools since I was about 8 yrs old. That is when I took my first trip first to Florida and then to Canada. No doc ever found out why I get the runs whenever I travel but I always did. I went off the clindamycin, but the diarrhea would continue to come intermittently until recently when it became chronic. I realized from what one of the members said about hand washing  The problem may be that lately I have been working with soil that I bought at the store and using to plant some vegetables & spices. I have been scooping the dirt with my bare hands and most likely didn't wash my hands thoroughly enough with hot water and soap because I have been using the outside sink to clean up and that is not hooked up to hot water. I live in Puerto Rico and the water is tepid all the time so it never got hooked up to the hot water line. I had forgotten to put new soap at that sink for a few days and so I was just rinsing my hands after handling the soil and the plants. We shall see if being more diligent about that will help. Also, I have increased the acidophillus and the lactaid. I am lactose intolerant and sometimes I eat some cottage cheese with pineapple chunks. And rarely, drink some milk~~but always take lactaid prior to taking dairy of any sort including cheese. I moved from NY to a place where the air is fresh and we have a constant breeze from the ocean. There is no traffic or pollution and it is a very quiet street with no outlet. I am 300 ft. from the ocean and 350 ftl up on a cliff so the view is gorgeous. I take care of Mom which is stressful, but try to make the most of it and Mike help me all the way with all the chores. I don't know what else I can do to make it any better. I am taking all the suggestions offered and implementing what I think will help the most. I appreciate all your suggestions and will use the ones I think will apply and if that doesn't work, I will try some of the other suggestions. Thank you for everything, Dolores & Mike    From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 it's me again. I do not think the aloe vera that grows out there contains sugar. the sugar in the bottle is added for taste can you try the aloe vera leaf? Asian supermarkets carry it Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 11:37:18 PM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hi Ana, What do you mean by, " Can I lift my head & trunk when I am asleep? I don't get up when I am asleep! I get up after I am awake. Only sleep walkers get up when they are asleep. That question didn't make any sense to me. I know you meant to ask something, but I didn't get what you were after.  I just re-read the e:mail and I think you mean,  do I elevate my head and trunk on a pillow when I sleep... If that is what you meant, then the answer is no. I sleep on my side and sometimes on my stomach and I have never used a pillow in my life. I cannot sleep on a pillow. When I was first diagnosed with scleroderma, and extremely ill, I spent most of my time sitting in a lazy boy chair and slept all the time. But, we got rid of the chair when we moved and now there is no room in my new place for a lazyboy chair plus the only time I lay down now is when I go to bed. I sleep with a C-PAP machine on my face because I have severe sleep apnea. It is not comfortable to add the pillow.   I get the part that Prevacid reduces the acid and as I get older my acid decreases.   I got a message in my private e:mail telling me that aloe juice cured GERD. I went to the store yesterday to check out the aloe section and there were many bottles and most had flavors added to them. Two were not flavored. Being a diabetic, I always check sugar content and the label said the bottles contained anywhere from 24 to 29 gms. That is way too much sugar for me. So, I didn't buy any. Does aloe contain that much sugar or is it added? Even the unflavored ones had that much sugar.  Now the early dinner part. I only eat when I am hungry. Which means I don't keep any kind of schedule. I make meals for Mom, but Mike and I never have any planned schedule to eat and in 35 years we never have. I usually eat in the a,m. when I take my meds and again in the p.m. when I take my meds again. I do that because I take a handful of meds and they make me nauseous. By taking them with food, I am able to hold them down easier. I take the Minocin apart from the rest of the meds without food. That doesn't sit too well sometimes, but I drink lots of water and get it down and sit at the computer for a couple of hours.  The rest of the day, I don't bother eating any meals. Mike and I have always made ourselves our own food whenever we desire something. Sometimes we both eat the same thing. Most times we don't. I like soups and salads. Mike like spicy mexican and chinese foods. I don't open up cans of soup. I make my own from scratch and my favorite is chicken soup with a carrot, celery, garlic, onion, a little bit of tomato sauce or v-8 juice for color and parsley, dill and a spot of salt with a piece of chicken, mostly breast or leg or leg & thigh. I remove all the fat from the soup. I add some rice or angel hair pasta cooked separately at the last minute when the soup is done. I put that in containers, freeze it and have a bowl sometimes around noon, and some evenings  I am happy with a green salad of raw veggies, flax seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, black olives, tomato. celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, onion, green pepper, sometimes radishes, sometimes shredded carrots avocados when in season, etc. It depends on whatever vegetable I have in the fridge. I have my own garden and just started raising my own veggies. They have not grown yet. For protein I will eat boiled chicken with all fat removed. Thin slices of lean steak tossed with onion and green pepper and pan fried with a bit of olive oil or sometimes I will boil up a couple of eggs or toss in some tuna, shrimp, sardines  or crumbled feta cheese into the salad. For drink I make fresh limeade from the limes on our trees with bottled iced water, ice made from bottled water and one packet of splenda. Should I get hungry in the middle of the day, I keep a few thin slices of cold fuji apple or a small 4 ounce cup of V-8 juice.or chomp on a piece of celery. I don't drink coffee, tea or colas and yes I have my gallbladder. I thought I was doing everything right, but the diarrhea started about two years ago when I started on clindamycin. But actually, I have been prone to loose stools since I was about 8 yrs old. That is when I took my first trip first to Florida and then to Canada. No doc ever found out why I get the runs whenever I travel but I always did. I went off the clindamycin, but the diarrhea would continue to come intermittently until recently when it became chronic. I realized from what one of the members said about hand washing  The problem may be that lately I have been working with soil that I bought at the store and using to plant some vegetables & spices. I have been scooping the dirt with my bare hands and most likely didn't wash my hands thoroughly enough with hot water and soap because I have been using the outside sink to clean up and that is not hooked up to hot water. I live in Puerto Rico and the water is tepid all the time so it never got hooked up to the hot water line. I had forgotten to put new soap at that sink for a few days and so I was just rinsing my hands after handling the soil and the plants. We shall see if being more diligent about that will help. Also, I have increased the acidophillus and the lactaid. I am lactose intolerant and sometimes I eat some cottage cheese with pineapple chunks. And rarely, drink some milk~~but always take lactaid prior to taking dairy of any sort including cheese. I moved from NY to a place where the air is fresh and we have a constant breeze from the ocean. There is no traffic or pollution and it is a very quiet street with no outlet. I am 300 ft. from the ocean and 350 ftl up on a cliff so the view is gorgeous. I take care of Mom which is stressful, but try to make the most of it and Mike help me all the way with all the chores. I don't know what else I can do to make it any better. I am taking all the suggestions offered and implementing what I think will help the most. I appreciate all your suggestions and will use the ones I think will apply and if that doesn't work, I will try some of the other suggestions. Thank you for everything, Dolores & Mike    From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 The aloe vera gel I use contains no sugar. I think it is desert rose brand Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry® rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Thanks, I will check that out. Dolores From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 Hmm! Asian supermarkets may be difficult to find here. But I will check out the local markets to see if I can find it or maybe the health food supermarket may carry it. Will find out. Thank you for the tip. Someone also said that aloe comes in capsules. End of day 3 and no runs so far. Am implementing some changes and they seems to be working, so far. Best to you, Dolores & Mike From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2010 Report Share Posted July 4, 2010 OH! I am so sorry. Have you been on antibiotics? Or is the damage not reversible. Good thing your husband does the cooking. Yes, I do live in Paradise now. We wrnt to the beach today. It felt good to frolic in the salt water and feel the waves. It has been such a long time. I will have to take time out and do this more often. Yes, I am trying your 2 hour feeding schedule. I am on day 3 with no diarrhea, so far. I seem to limit myself to snacks rather than meals as my stomach is not stretched enough to allow too much food in. But I am trying and so far I 'm doing good. Thank You, Dolores & Mike From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Hi, If my memory serves me okay, I remember reading that the actual plant is not good to ingest as is due to the fact that there is a laxative effect. The processing takes that ingredient out of the leaf and you do not need that. Carol_DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Dolores....Day #3....Great!!!! Judy In a message dated 7/4/2010 9:14:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, martysfolks2004@... writes: OH! I am so sorry. Have you been on antibiotics? Or is the damage not reversible. Good thing your husband does the cooking. Yes, I do live in Paradise now. We wrnt to the beach today. It felt good to frolic in the salt water and feel the waves. It has been such a long time. I will have to take time out and do this more often. Yes, I am trying your 2 hour feeding schedule. I am on day 3 with no diarrhea, so far. I seem to limit myself to snacks rather than meals as my stomach is not stretched enough to allow too much food in. But I am trying and so far I 'm doing good. Thank You, Dolores & Mike From: Ana Andrescu <_anaandrescu@..._ (mailto:anaandrescu@...) > Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea _rheumatic _ (mailto:rheumatic ) Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <_martysfolks2004@..._ (mailto:martysfolks2004@...) > Sclero Derma <_rheumatic _ (mailto:rheumatic ) > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative. But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma. I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often. I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also. Dolores [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Hi Carol. R U referring to the aloe leaf itself. I have a nice size plant that I just bought. If I remember my plant that I had in California, I think it was making babies all the time. If so, I will transplant them. The gel that oozes out of the plant heals cut and burns quickly and good for sunburn also. Very soothing. Or R U referring to the licorice plant...I haven't looked that one up yet. Been busy surfing the net. Looking to order a hot tub. Just checking what is out there. Take care, Dolores From: Bob & Carol Zarn <bczarn@...> Subject: rheumatic Re: Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Monday, July 5, 2010, 10:33 AM  Hi, If my memory serves me okay, I remember reading that the actual plant is not good to ingest as is due to the fact that there is a laxative effect. The processing takes that ingredient out of the leaf and you do not need that. Carol_DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Hi Dolore, I have been on abx on and off. In the beginning all inflammatory parameters went down, then they plateaued and I began to feel worse. I stopped mino last year when my ankles started swelling and my right flank was hurting at night. Unfortunately, I never found a sympathetic infectious disease doctor willing to look into the infectious cause of my ra. keep up the good work, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> rheumatic Sent: Sun, July 4, 2010 6:05:58 PM Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  OH! I am so sorry. Have you been on antibiotics? Or is the damage not reversible. Good thing your husband does the cooking. Yes, I do live in Paradise now. We wrnt to the beach today. It felt good to frolic in the salt water and feel the waves. It has been such a long time. I will have to take time out and do this more often. Yes, I am trying your 2 hour feeding schedule. I am on day 3 with no diarrhea, so far. I seem to limit myself to snacks rather than meals as my stomach is not stretched enough to allow too much food in. But I am trying and so far I 'm doing good. Thank You, Dolores & Mike From: Ana Andrescu <anaandrescu@...> Subject: Re: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Friday, July 2, 2010, 8:22 PM  Hi Dolores, a few years ago, a study done by a north European country advised against the use of h pump inhibitors when on long term abx because of clostridium difficille propensity to quickly spread its colonies in an alkaline gut. therefor do a bacterial stool study and find out if you need the metronidazole or if you can't, just take the metro and see how it feels. are you positive for h. pylori? two glasses of raw cabbage juice for a month will do wonders, you maybe able to get away from the prevacid. good luck, Ana ________________________________ From: mike rosner <martysfolks2004@...> Sclero Derma <rheumatic > Sent: Fri, July 2, 2010 1:52:26 AM Subject: rheumatic Chronic Diarrhea  Hello group! I have a problem. I have always been prone to having a loose gut. It started in childhood. It was called travelers diarrhea back then and all the tests in the world came back negative. When I came down with systemic scleroderma, it was not my first symptoms, but somewhere in my third year of taking antibiotics, the problem started to become more frequent. Again all tests, colonoscopies, etc, were negative. So, nothing was done. The last gastro doc said , it just showed that my bowel had inflammation. Well this inflammation is getting worse. Now it is happening after every meal. I take acidophillus, Immodium after each loose B.M. and lactaid as I am also lactose intolerant. The lactose intolerance  started about 40 years ago. About 10 years ago I developed a hiatial hernia and an ulcer. Doc said it was negative for bacteria and gave me Prevacid. That did cure the ulcer and eased the heartburn from the hernia. Then along came the Scleroderma. The gut problem did not become uncomfortable until the 3rd year of my disease and by then I was healing all over because I was on Minocin. Now all the symptoms have gone, but the diarrhea and I noticed lately about once a month, I get a spell of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. After the episode, I feel fine and go on my way. So, tonight I did some research and it said that diarrhea usually occurs in the latter stages of the disease. How could that be is I am supposed to be in remission? All other symptoms are gone. My skin is soft and supple. My heart & lungs are behaving well. And my blood work ANA & RF is normal. I don't have any calcinosis, raynauds, sclerodactyly, but I still have a few red spots on my face which is the telangialectasia.Hope ( I spelled that right.) And I have some vitiligo spots on my forehead that developed early on and never went away. I also have white spots on my arms and legs that never went away. It looks like I lost the pigment in those spots. That could be part of vitiligo also. I don't have esophageal problems as I can swallow just fine. The problem is the dumping once the food gets down into my stomach. I get bloated, uncomfortable and gassy. I am confused. How could I be in a late stage of scleroderma, when all signs say I'm in remission. My last doc said it was the antibiotics and blood work showed I was not anemic. So, I am getting some nutrition. I am not underweight nor overweight. I am not a celiac. Have been tested several times. I am always negative.  But I am worried. Any thoughts or suggestions and has this happened to anyone else at the 3-5 yr level of having scleroderma.  I seem to drink lots of fluids as I lose lots of fluids and feel thirsty often.  I have increased my proteins as I think I am losing mostly proteins. Have been told in the past when I was hospitalized to increase my proteins. Seems I have been a bit deficient in that area.. Waiting to see if it is only me or do others with Scleroderma have this problem also.  Dolores     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Hi Dolores, It is the aloe vera plant that is not recommended to eat unless processed as there is something in it that has a laxative effect. I guess if you are needing the effect then it might be okay. carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Hehehehehe! No, I will not start nibbling on my aloe vera plant. That would be the last thing I need. They would have to hose me off the floor. Thank you, I needed a laugh for the day. We were just about to go out shopping when one of our tropical storms just blew over. Thankfully, they only last a few minutes. Going to the health food store to check out the aloe juices and some other things, but as you probably read today is day #5 sans diarrhea and I am ecstatic. You all were so wonderful in responding to my dilemma and I have implemented many of the suggestions and so grateful to the group for all your concerns and responses.  This is a very special group of people. I'm glad I found this site. My best to all of you. I don't usually jump in on the AS and reactive arthritis posts as I know very little about those diseases and the side effects from taking the antibiotics. I, myself with scleroderma would be afraid of taking Embrel long term. I know Lupus rears its ugly head with Minocin or so it has been reported. But I leave those questions to the experts and thank you Ethel for that report re: the FAQ. That, I will save and make reference to it when necessary. Take care all~~~~Dolores From: Bob & Carol Zarn <bczarn@...> Subject: rheumatic Re: Chronic Diarrhea rheumatic Date: Tuesday, July 6, 2010, 9:45 AM  Hi Dolores, It is the aloe vera plant that is not recommended to eat unless processed as there is something in it that has a laxative effect. I guess if you are needing the effect then it might be okay. carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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