Fasting with Crohns
Question:
There is some support to the idea that eating maintains the normal physiologic functions of the GI tract including absorption of salts and water, maintaining the normal barrier to microbes and antigens in the GI tract and maintaining normal proloferation of the intestinal cells. One such study was in the Lancet in 1986 by Roediger– Metabolic basis of starvation diarrhoea: (yeah, those Brits spell funny) Something like saltines (starchy carbohydrate) or a little (finely divided) fiberous material may be appropriate to feed those little cells lining the GI tract and keep them happy– Pete (MS, RD) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m real interested in this. You say to eat during the day – crackers, whatever, just something… I’m trying to find the relationship myself and have been suprised when I drink Ensure (a liquid diet/nutrition product) that it doesn’t seem to help the blockage. I’ve started drinking just water for a day or two after a blockage bout and been okay. I’ll then eat a little and go from there. Thanks for your input! Owen G. Squires (CD for 12 years) For me, fasting gives me diarrhea to the point of incontinence. And I’ve noticed during flares that if I don’t eat at least a *little* something (like a couple of Saltines), my diarrhea does get worse. Has anyone else out there had this problem? Yep. It took me a while to work out the relationship but if I don’t eat during the day, I’ll be trotting in the evening – GUARANTEED. I’ve learnt my lesson now and ALWAYS make the effort to eat – pain or no pain. My theory is that the bowels stay active whether there’s food there or not. If there’s no solid, the result is liquid, which passes through quicker, resulting in more frequent and painful vivits to the lav. Loperamide helps, but like they say, prevention is better than cure. I eat, therefore I am. BTW, what are Saltines? — Simon. SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM
Response:
FYI "Saltines" are Saltine crackers… A brand that has turned into a food! I’m real interested in this. You say to eat during the day – crackers, whatever, just something… I’m trying to find the relationship myself and have been suprised when I drink Ensure (a liquid diet/nutrition product) that it doesn’t seem to help the blockage. I’ve started drinking just water for a day or two after a blockage bout and been okay. I’ll then eat a little and go from there. Thanks for your input! Owen G. Squires (CD for 12 years) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – For me, fasting gives me diarrhea to the point of incontinence. And I’ve noticed during flares that if I don’t eat at least a *little* something (like a couple of Saltines), my diarrhea does get worse. Has anyone else out there had this problem? Yep. It took me a while to work out the relationship but if I don’t eat during the day, I’ll be trotting in the evening – GUARANTEED. I’ve learnt my lesson now and ALWAYS make the effort to eat – pain or no pain. My theory is that the bowels stay active whether there’s food there or not. If there’s no solid, the result is liquid, which passes through quicker, resulting in more frequent and painful vivits to the lav. Loperamide helps, but like they say, prevention is better than cure. I eat, therefore I am. BTW, what are Saltines? — Simon. SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM
Response:
BTW, what are Saltines? — Simon.
popular USA brand of soda cracker, manufactured by Nabisco. In the original version, very bland, easy to digest.
Response:
writes BTW, what are Saltines? popular USA brand of soda cracker, manufactured by Nabisco. In the original version, very bland, easy to digest.
Mmmmm….sounds GOOD! Persoanlly, I try to eat food I really like. B4 I was dx’ed, my weight went down from about 14 stone to 9 1/2 (200 lbs to about 130) due to the pain-nausea-appetite cycle. Then the pred. kicked in and I binged! Food never tasted so good! I got back up to 11st., but, unfortunatley, the symptoms returned as soon as the pred. was reduced. After a year of ups and downs, my fear of long-term side FX made me decide to get off the dreaded pred, and as a result, I now have a constant, if relatively mild case, which is eased, if not dispatched, by Loperamide. Despite the Lop. I still have bad days and it’s on these days that I struggle to eat – the nausea can be hard to overcome, but, as I said B4, if I don’t eat something, the trots get worse, sometimes MUCH worse. So what I try to do, is think of something I REALLY fancy to eat, and go for it. Sometimes it works, sometimes I’m fine until the 1st mouthful, then my bowels kick up again, and, depending on how bad they complain, suddenly the sumptuous platter of delicacies b4 me doesn’t seem so appetising. Consequently, due to brain/pain association, ‘what I fancy’ varies from week to week. For example, I’ve been ‘off’ big fry-ups for months now. Still, like they say, variety is the spice of life – and I am thankful that I can eat at all. I know a lot of you have it far worse than I. I used to feel very sorry for myself – until I found this NewsGroup. Now I see things a little differently – my sympathy (and empathy) to you all. — Simon. =~`~= =~“~= =~= ~= =~ / ! / ! / ! ` ! ! ! ! ! ! / ! ====’
Response:
BTW, what are Saltines?
Very bland crackers with a little bit of salt on them. Usually eaten with soup or fed to people when they are ill with the stomach flu. Dietarily, they are very boring, so usually people who are ill are able to keep them down easily and not irritate their stomachs. Erica
Response:
For me, fasting gives me diarrhea to the point of incontinence. And I’ve noticed during flares that if I don’t eat at least a *little* something (like a couple of Saltines), my diarrhea does get worse. Has anyone else out there had this problem?
Yep. It took me a while to work out the relationship but if I don’t eat during the day, I’ll be trotting in the evening – GUARANTEED. I’ve learnt my lesson now and ALWAYS make the effort to eat – pain or no pain. My theory is that the bowels stay active whether there’s food there or not. If there’s no solid, the result is liquid, which passes through quicker, resulting in more frequent and painful vivits to the lav. Loperamide helps, but like they say, prevention is better than cure. I eat, therefore I am. BTW, what are Saltines? — Simon. SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, everyone, I’ve had Crohn’s at least twenty-two years now. I’m sure I had it for a number of years before I was diagnosed. I’ve learned to cope with the intestinal problems, but over the last couple years, the "secondary" symptoms seem to be getting worse and harder to deal with. Briefly, I have itchy skin and scalp, sinsus problems, dry itchy eyes and occassionly little white bumps under my eyelids, hives on my back, chest, and upper arms, sore and tight muscles, painful and stiff joints, as well as a general tiredness that never seems to go away. With all the pain, I typically don’t sleep well. I’m not currently on any medication.
Time to kick some ass, Les. I belong to an HMO (can’t help it, I work there and it’s the only insurance option offered to the employees); my doctor won’t refer me to a GI specialist. "Nothing new in Crohn’s treatment," he says.
Knows everthing about all specialties, does he? What a guy! Try changing primary care charlatans, or there’s certainly an appeal board. It’s your life. Make the call.
Response:
tried fasting, but got hungry. One doctor said to eat nothing but baked potato three meals a day until symtoms subsided.Let him try it, oh yes, you can put plain yogurt on the spud to get it down. Boring and didn’t work. Lenore
Response:
I’m not currently on any medication. I belong to an HMO (can’t help it, I work there and it’s the only insurance option offered to the employees); my doctor won’t refer me to a GI specialist. "Nothing new in Crohn’s treatment," he says.
Try looking into changing your primary care physician. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Wishing I never heard of Crohn’s, John Well, you could begin calling your illness "terminal ileitis," which is one of its earlier names, now disused because patients became unnecessarily alarmed when told that they had a "terminal" disease. — Wayne Marsh, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Wayne, unless I’m mistaken, ‘terminal’ means it will kill you, ‘chronic’ means you will suffer from said maladay forever. If I’m not mistaken of course, but this is how I understand the terminology…. Grundman
I think you’ll find that the use of terminal in this case is correct, as the disease affects the very last part of the small intestine, known as the ‘Terminal Ileum’ – hence ‘Terminal Ileitis’. And a right BUGGER it is, too! — Simon. SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM-SPAM
Response:
At least for me, a short fast (a couple days) does wonders. I actually can sleep at night and awake feeling refreshed and happy for a change. I’m not recommending this for everyone; but I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so, what success they’ve had.
For me, fasting gives me diarrhea to the point of incontinence. I was hospitalized in ‘92 for insertion of a TPN IV tube, and the doc wouldn’t let me eat the entire time I was there. The diarrhea got *so* bad after a couple days of not eating, and my doc couldn’t tell me why. I mean, nothing was going IN so why was all this stuff coming OUT? Finally, I got back home (I’d been at college) and my GI put me on a low-residue diet which I have been on since. Been in the hospital one other time and not allowed to eat, and bam! Back came the incontinence. And I’ve noticed during flares that if I don’t eat at least a *little* something (like a couple of Saltines), my diarrhea does get worse. Has anyone else out there had this problem? It’s really frustrating–eating the wrong foods upsets my stomach or makes my diarrhea worse, but NOT eating also gives me the trots too. Augh! Erica
Response:
Well, you could begin calling your illness "terminal ileitis," which is one of its earlier names, now disused because patients became unnecessarily alarmed when told that they had a "terminal" disease. — Wayne Marsh, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Crohn’s by any other name…..still sucks.
Response:
If I’m not mistaken of course, but this is how I understand the terminology…. Grundman
In this case, terminal meant the terminal portion, or end, of the ileum (as opposed to "teminal" or "end" of life). Paul R
Response:
I’ve learned to cope with the intestinal problems, but over the last couple years, the "secondary" symptoms seem to be getting worse and harder to deal with. I’m not currently on any medication. I belong to an HMO (can’t help it, I work there and it’s the only insurance option offered to the employees); my doctor won’t refer me to a GI specialist. "Nothing new in Crohn’s treatment," he says.
Les: Your doc might be saying ‘nothing new in Crohns treatment’ but seems to me that you are not receiving any treatment. There are alot of medications out there which are quite effective for some people in obtaining/maintaining remission. For example, I obtained remission with Prednisone, and have maintained it with Salofalk – a 5 ASA preparation. When the intestinal symptoms went away, the secondary symptoms did so as well. If you read this newsgroup, you will have noted many other medications that are available. If you can’t convince your doc to refer you to a GI, you might strongly consider paying for the visit yourself. You can’t put a dollar value on the difference between feeling healthy and feeling unwell. The visit to the GI will cost a few hundred dollars if you pay for it out of your own pocket, and could be a life changer. It is only money. Your health is at stake here, and you can’t put a dollar figure on that. Ariel —
Response:
Wishing I never heard of Crohn’s, John Well, you could begin calling your illness "terminal ileitis," which is one of its earlier names, now disused because patients became unnecessarily alarmed when told that they had a "terminal" disease. — Wayne Marsh, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Wayne, unless I’m mistaken, ‘terminal’ means it will kill you, ‘chronic’ means you will suffer from said maladay forever. If I’m not mistaken of course, but this is how I understand the terminology…. Grundman
Response:
Wishing I never heard of Crohn’s, John
Well, you could begin calling your illness "terminal ileitis," which is one of its earlier names, now disused because patients became unnecessarily alarmed when told that they had a "terminal" disease. — Wayne Marsh, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Response:
I tried a fast a couple times over the course of a couple months time to see if it was just a fluke. At least for me, a short fast (a couple days) does wonders. I actually can sleep at night and awake feeling refreshed and happy for a change. I’m not recommending this for everyone; but I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so, what success they’ve had. Thanks, Les
Yes, absolutely. Fasting has worked for me for years. I also find that staying on clear liquids for a day or two to be very helpful. A word of caution however. If you happen to be taking prednisone be sure you take it with food. It can cause ulcers if taken with just water. Wishing I never heard of Crohn’s, John
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey, everyone, I’ve had Crohn’s at least twenty-two years now. I’m sure I had it for a number of years before I was diagnosed. I’ve learned to cope with the intestinal problems, but over the last couple years, the "secondary" symptoms seem to be getting worse and harder to deal with. Briefly, I have itchy skin and scalp, sinsus problems, dry itchy eyes and occassionly little white bumps under my eyelids, hives on my back, chest, and upper arms, sore and tight muscles, painful and stiff joints, as well as a general tiredness that never seems to go away. With all the pain, I typically don’t sleep well. I’m not currently on any medication. I belong to an HMO (can’t help it, I work there and it’s the only insurance option offered to the employees); my doctor won’t refer me to a GI specialist. "Nothing new in Crohn’s treatment," he says. In my earlier days, I was on Predinsone long term; it has nasty side effects; the disease is easier to deal with then the treatment. I stumbled across fasting a couple years ago when I had a bad case of the flu. I just couldn’t stand to eat anything for a couple days. Once the flu symptoms disappeared, I noticed that I seemed to feel better; but as soon as I started eating again, everything came back. So, I tried a fast a couple times over the course of a couple months time to see if it was just a fluke. At least for me, a short fast (a couple days) does wonders. I actually can sleep at night and awake feeling refreshed and happy for a change. I’m not recommending this for everyone; but I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so, what success they’ve had. Thanks, Les
Dear Les: Yes, I’ve noticed this as well. At a certain level of symptoms, I try to give my guts a "break" for a day or two – it usually helps. After a day or two, I start eating again, since I’m also paranoid about getting a blockage – I want things to keep moving. Good luck, AC
Response:
Hey, everyone, I’ve had Crohn’s at least twenty-two years now. I’m sure I had it for a number of years before I was diagnosed. I’ve learned to cope with the intestinal problems, but over the last couple years, the "secondary" symptoms seem to be getting worse and harder to deal with. Briefly, I have itchy skin and scalp, sinsus problems, dry itchy eyes and occassionly little white bumps under my eyelids, hives on my back, chest, and upper arms, sore and tight muscles, painful and stiff joints, as well as a general tiredness that never seems to go away. With all the pain, I typically don’t sleep well. I’m not currently on any medication. I belong to an HMO (can’t help it, I work there and it’s the only insurance option offered to the employees); my doctor won’t refer me to a GI specialist. "Nothing new in Crohn’s treatment," he says. In my earlier days, I was on Predinsone long term; it has nasty side effects; the disease is easier to deal with then the treatment. I stumbled across fasting a couple years ago when I had a bad case of the flu. I just couldn’t stand to eat anything for a couple days. Once the flu symptoms disappeared, I noticed that I seemed to feel better; but as soon as I started eating again, everything came back. So, I tried a fast a couple times over the course of a couple months time to see if it was just a fluke. At least for me, a short fast (a couple days) does wonders. I actually can sleep at night and awake feeling refreshed and happy for a change. I’m not recommending this for everyone; but I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so, what success they’ve had. Thanks, Les
Response:
Categories: Crohns Treatment | 
No Comments »