Re: Just starting out:Few questions

May 24, 2010

Well, I just read that carrots might be an issue for some so I'll steer clear,

but any other advice or answers would be greatly appreciated.

>

> My name is Joe. I'm 21 years old, male, slightly overweight. I have IBS, with

alternating constipation and diarrhea, going on three years now. I also have

some abdominal pain, but the main issue is leakage. I will have huge underwear

stains after less than an hour after leaving my house.I am pretty much confined

to my home, which is depressing to say the least. I've had pretty much

everything done, colonoscopy, endoscopy, abdominal scans, blood work and fecal

tests, breath tests, and most recently an anal rectal monomotry, all reveling

nothing.

>

> Anyway, I just wanted to describe my situation, give you an idea of what's

going on with me. I recently started the SCD diet in the hopes that it'll help.

I am on day five and I had some questions.

>

> I'm doing the intro diet right now. For the first few days I noticed a slight

change in bowel habits although I still had the leaking. When should I notice

any significant change? And should I introduce new foods before feeling better?

>

> I made some chicken soup as described on the Pecanbread website. And it went

right through me. It gave me horrible diarrhea. Is it possible that I have a bad

reaction to the carrots?

>

> How do I go about introducing the foods? I have read the book, and I'm keeping

a food diary, but I don't know how to go about introducing the new foods. I see

the stages on the pecanbread website. How can I tell if I had a bad reaction to

a specific food?

>

> What about probiotics and suppliments? When should I introduce them?

>

> I'm doing this alone for the most part and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

I've tried a lot of different things already and they don't seem to help. I'm

pretty skeptical to say the least. All my friends have moved on with their lives

and I feel like just stuck in this one spot. I guess my last question is if

anyone else on here dealing with anything similar. I know this is mainly for

Chrohn's and IBD, but I'd feel a lot better if someone with similar issues had

improved with this.

>

May 24, 2010

Hi Joe,

Carrots went right through me too. I would try the soup without them. Everyone

progresses differently.Have you been tested for Celiac?

Keep a food journal and add one food at a time, and wait 3-4 days to see what

happens.If you tolerate it, then progress. Probably one new food a week is a

safe pace.

SCD is overwhelming at first, but you will get the hang of it. Are you doing the

SCD yogurt?It is a good source of probiotics, but you can also get legal ones,

as well as legal vitamins. Just like food, introduce each one slowly and one at

a time. The SCD yogurt and/or probiotics are important and helpful.

It is so difficult to feel confined to the house, especially at 21. Hang in

there. Many have gotten relief from D over time.

PJ

>

> My name is Joe. I'm 21 years old, male, slightly overweight. I have IBS, with

alternating constipation and diarrhea, going on three years now. I also have

some abdominal pain, but the main issue is leakage. I will have huge underwear

stains after less than an hour after leaving my house.I am pretty much confined

to my home, which is depressing to say the least. I've had pretty much

everything done, colonoscopy, endoscopy, abdominal scans, blood work and fecal

tests, breath tests, and most recently an anal rectal monomotry, all reveling

nothing.

>

> Anyway, I just wanted to describe my situation, give you an idea of what's

going on with me. I recently started the SCD diet in the hopes that it'll help.

I am on day five and I had some questions.

>

> I'm doing the intro diet right now. For the first few days I noticed a slight

change in bowel habits although I still had the leaking. When should I notice

any significant change? And should I introduce new foods before feeling better?

>

> I made some chicken soup as described on the Pecanbread website. And it went

right through me. It gave me horrible diarrhea. Is it possible that I have a bad

reaction to the carrots?

>

> How do I go about introducing the foods? I have read the book, and I'm keeping

a food diary, but I don't know how to go about introducing the new foods. I see

the stages on the pecanbread website. How can I tell if I had a bad reaction to

a specific food?

>

> What about probiotics and suppliments? When should I introduce them?

>

> I'm doing this alone for the most part and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

I've tried a lot of different things already and they don't seem to help. I'm

pretty skeptical to say the least. All my friends have moved on with their lives

and I feel like just stuck in this one spot. I guess my last question is if

anyone else on here dealing with anything similar. I know this is mainly for

Chrohn's and IBD, but I'd feel a lot better if someone with similar issues had

improved with this.

>

May 24, 2010

Joe,The probiotics would be really good. If you are able to make SCD yogurt, I would suggest doing it soon -- start with a very small amount like 1/4 tsp it is powerful stuff and it will definitely rearrange your gut flora. If tolerated, then build up from there to a maximum 3 cups per day. You can get acidophilus capsules if you aren't making the yogurt yet. check out GI Pro Health http://www.giprohealth.com/scdophilusnext.aspx They also have a good dairy free yogurt starter culture called GI Pro Start. Again, start slowly and build up. If you are having brisk D, don't eat eggs for now. When you do try the carrots again, make sure that you puree them

if you didn't do that the first time you tried it. Sometimes when the gut is particularly unhealthy and we don't chew our food well enough -- even when we think we are very careful to chew well -- the gut can't handle it and just passes it through.At day five, you should start adding new foods. You might try a ripe banana or well cooked green beans. Some people who don't tolerate the carrots actually do well with peeled and deseeded zucchini instead. Look for things like increased D or C, gas, bloating, pain as signs that you aren't tolerating a new food. You might have a little of the gas/bloating when starting the probiotic, but it should clear quickly and not come back at the same level -- if it gets worse, then I would say you aren't tolerating it. Look for small improvements that happen gradually rather than big improvements. Sometimes it will be a long time in coming and then you realize that you

actually have made a big improvement over when you started. In your food journal note time of day, frequency in bathroom trips, quality (gas/bloating/blood/pain) and degree (a lot, mild, etc.) to help you discern what is agreeing with you and for overall improvement comparison.Good luck on your journey to health!AmeliaTo: BTVC-SCD Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 4:22:12 PMSubject:

Just starting out:Few questions

My name is Joe. I'm 21 years old, male, slightly overweight. I have IBS, with alternating constipation and diarrhea, going on three years now. I also have some abdominal pain, but the main issue is leakage. I will have huge underwear stains after less than an hour after leaving my house.I am pretty much confined to my home, which is depressing to say the least. I've had pretty much everything done, colonoscopy, endoscopy, abdominal scans, blood work and fecal tests, breath tests, and most recently an anal rectal monomotry, all reveling nothing.

Anyway, I just wanted to describe my situation, give you an idea of what's going on with me. I recently started the SCD diet in the hopes that it'll help. I am on day five and I had some questions.

I'm doing the intro diet right now. For the first few days I noticed a slight change in bowel habits although I still had the leaking. When should I notice any significant change? And should I introduce new foods before feeling better?

I made some chicken soup as described on the Pecanbread website. And it went right through me. It gave me horrible diarrhea. Is it possible that I have a bad reaction to the carrots?

How do I go about introducing the foods? I have read the book, and I'm keeping a food diary, but I don't know how to go about introducing the new foods. I see the stages on the pecanbread website. How can I tell if I had a bad reaction to a specific food?

What about probiotics and suppliments? When should I introduce them?

I'm doing this alone for the most part and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I've tried a lot of different things already and they don't seem to help. I'm pretty skeptical to say the least. All my friends have moved on with their lives and I feel like just stuck in this one spot. I guess my last question is if anyone else on here dealing with anything similar. I know this is mainly for Chrohn's and IBD, but I'd feel a lot better if someone with similar issues had improved with this.

May 24, 2010

I don't have celiac. I was blood tested and had the upper endoscopy which ruled

it out. I did puree the carrots, and it didn't work out. The reason I knew it

was the carrots for sure is because on my first day, I made it without the

carrots and tolerated it pretty well.

And I've been eating the eggs, a lot of eggs actually. I'm not far in, so I'm

thinking maybe I should just start over at day 1 to be safe.

>

> Joe,

>

> The probiotics would be really good. If you are able to make SCD yogurt, I

would suggest doing it soon -- start with a very small amount like 1/4 tsp it is

powerful stuff and it will definitely rearrange your gut flora. If tolerated,

then build up from there to a maximum 3 cups per day. You can get acidophilus

capsules if you aren't making the yogurt yet. check out GI Pro Health

http://www.giprohealth.com/scdophilusnext.aspx They also have a good dairy free

yogurt starter culture called GI Pro Start. Again, start slowly and build up.

>

> If you are having brisk D, don't eat eggs for now. When you do try the

carrots again, make sure that you puree them if you didn't do that the first

time you tried it. Sometimes when the gut is particularly unhealthy and we

don't chew our food well enough -- even when we think we are very careful to

chew well -- the gut can't handle it and just passes it through.

>

> At day five, you should start adding new foods. You might try a ripe banana

or well cooked green beans. Some people who don't tolerate the carrots actually

do well with peeled and deseeded zucchini instead. Look for things like

increased D or C, gas, bloating, pain as signs that you aren't tolerating a new

food. You might have a little of the gas/bloating when starting the probiotic,

but it should clear quickly and not come back at the same level -- if it gets

worse, then I would say you aren't tolerating it. Look for small improvements

that happen gradually rather than big improvements. Sometimes it will be a long

time in coming and then you realize that you actually have made a big

improvement over when you started. In your food journal note time of day,

frequency in bathroom trips, quality (gas/bloating/blood/pain) and degree (a

lot, mild, etc.) to help you discern what is agreeing with you and for overall

improvement comparison.

>

> Good luck on your journey to health!

>

> Amelia

>

> ________________________________

>

> To: BTVC-SCD

> Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 4:22:12 PM

> Subject: Just starting out:Few questions

>

> My name is Joe. I'm 21 years old, male, slightly overweight. I have IBS, with

alternating constipation and diarrhea, going on three years now. I also have

some abdominal pain, but the main issue is leakage. I will have huge underwear

stains after less than an hour after leaving my house.I am pretty much confined

to my home, which is depressing to say the least. I've had pretty much

everything done, colonoscopy, endoscopy, abdominal scans, blood work and fecal

tests, breath tests, and most recently an anal rectal monomotry, all reveling

nothing.

>

> Anyway, I just wanted to describe my situation, give you an idea of what's

going on with me. I recently started the SCD diet in the hopes that it'll help.

I am on day five and I had some questions.

>

> I'm doing the intro diet right now. For the first few days I noticed a slight

change in bowel habits although I still had the leaking. When should I notice

any significant change? And should I introduce new foods before feeling better?

>

> I made some chicken soup as described on the Pecanbread website. And it went

right through me. It gave me horrible diarrhea. Is it possible that I have a bad

reaction to the carrots?

>

> How do I go about introducing the foods? I have read the book, and I'm keeping

a food diary, but I don't know how to go about introducing the new foods. I see

the stages on the pecanbread website. How can I tell if I had a bad reaction to

a specific food?

>

> What about probiotics and suppliments? When should I introduce them?

>

> I'm doing this alone for the most part and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

I've tried a lot of different things already and they don't seem to help. I'm

pretty skeptical to say the least. All my friends have moved on with their lives

and I feel like just stuck in this one spot. I guess my last question is if

anyone else on here dealing with anything similar. I know this is mainly for

Chrohn's and IBD, but I'd feel a lot better if someone with similar issues had

improved with this.

>

May 24, 2010

Joe,

There's a lot to learn at the beginning. I have mixed IBS, too. I'd

had so much trouble for 27 years I didn't dare try a lot of things at

first. I did intro on the chicken soup, some chicken, zucchini,

applesauce, and bananas. All but the banana was cooked and

pureed. It was pretty boring and I was pretty tired, but it made a

noticeable diffference. I waited 6-7 months to try anything like

eggs, and they were OK, then tried butter and cheese and they are OK.

I'm just working up to trying yogurt but I've been taking SCDophilus

ever since the beginning, from GIProhealth.com. One thing you might

consider also would be to see if HCl helps you with protein

digestion. I've been using that for decades, but now (at ten months

on SCD) I don't seem to need it anymore and I'm eating a lot more

protein than before.

Good luck getting started and don't hesitate to ask questions. We

talk about all aspects of the diet and our problems here. It's

discouraging to be pretty much confined to the house, but a lot of us

know how that goes. It does get better.

May 24, 2010

Anyway, I just wanted to describe my situation, give you an idea of what's going on with me. I recently started the SCD diet in the hopes that it'll help. Welcome! I am on day five and I had some questions. I'm doing the intro diet right now. For the first few days I noticed a slight change in bowel habits although I still had the leaking. When should I notice any significant change?It's very different for everyone. It is a very slow process healing by diet, and you'll definitely need patience and persistence, but usually within a few weeks on the diet people can see small improvements, and it's those small improvements that you need to focus on. And should I introduce new foods before feeling better?Definitely. I think the max time you are supposed to stay on intro is 5 days, and after that you should start adding some other easy to digest foods like other cooked and pureed fruits and veggies.I made some chicken soup as described on the Pecanbread website. And it went right through me. It gave me horrible diarrhea. Is it possible that I have a bad reaction to the carrots?Definitely! I'm sure before long you'll get Marilyn's carrot story. If I recall correctly, she didn't get along with carrots fora very long time, and used zucchini on her version of the intro diet instead of carrots. Peace =)Alyssa 16 yo UC April 2008, dx Sept 2008SCD June 2009 (restarted)Azathioprine 75 mg 1x per dayPrednisone 30 mg 1x per day

May 24, 2010

Thanks for the responses everyone. Already, you all have been a great help. I

wish I had signed up for this before starting. Anyhow, I've decided I'm going to

start over from Day 1.

So, just to be clear. Applesauce (homemade, of course), bananas and zucchini are

okay for the intro. The book says not to try bananas until five days in, and

doesn't mention applesauce for the first five days. I just wanted to make sure

that it's safe to attempt it.

Should I puree it all, including the chicken and zucchini?

Then, in addition to that, grape juice, broiled beef patties and the chicken

soup should be okay, correct?

>

> Joe,

> There's a lot to learn at the beginning. I have mixed IBS, too. I'd

> had so much trouble for 27 years I didn't dare try a lot of things at

> first. I did intro on the chicken soup, some chicken, zucchini,

> applesauce, and bananas. All but the banana was cooked and

> pureed. It was pretty boring and I was pretty tired, but it made a

> noticeable diffference. I waited 6-7 months to try anything like

> eggs, and they were OK, then tried butter and cheese and they are OK.

> I'm just working up to trying yogurt but I've been taking SCDophilus

> ever since the beginning, from GIProhealth.com. One thing you might

> consider also would be to see if HCl helps you with protein

> digestion. I've been using that for decades, but now (at ten months

> on SCD) I don't seem to need it anymore and I'm eating a lot more

> protein than before.

>

> Good luck getting started and don't hesitate to ask questions. We

> talk about all aspects of the diet and our problems here. It's

> discouraging to be pretty much confined to the house, but a lot of us

> know how that goes. It does get better.

>

May 24, 2010

Thanks for the help, everyone. I already received a lot of information that has

been very helpful. I'm wishing now that I joined this before starting. Anyhow,

I've decided to begin again at day one.

I've got the conformation on the zucchini. Just to be clear, though. Are bananas

and applesauce okay for the intro? I know it says in the book that bananas

aren't to be started until day five. And the apple sauce as well. Should I be

pureeing everything for the soup? Even the chicken and zucchini?

I'm going to stay off the eggs and carrots for now. Then, I'll continue with the

soup, grape juice and broiled beef patties and hopefully these other new

additions.