I guess I should start with me! This is a typical day lately. Keep in mind I had surgery about 5 weeks ago and havn't gotten my diarrhea under control since. I tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet but didn't have any relief so now I'm on a "relaxed" version of the diet.

Breakfast: Banana smoothie made with scd yogurt, 1/2 a banana, and some honey. I use my Magic Bullet :o). Or scrambled eggs with mostly egg whites.
Lunch: Tuna salad made with tuna, Light Miracle Whip, mustard, and sometimes a squirt of relish. I eat it along with Nut-Thins, my favorite g-free crackers!
Snack: A piece of cheese with some Nut-Thins or a banana with a little bit of natural peanut butter.
Dinner: SCD salmon pattie with or SCD chicken nuggets with ketchup. Sometimes a gluten free frozen dinner.
Snack: A banana smoothie frozen popsicle.

I also cheat and will have pizza and icecream...and I've really been paying the price for the icecream!

When really really ill I go for Ensure for a few days... if not TOO bad, BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) for a few days helps things calm down...


My mother had the gall to tell me that my problem is because I'm overweight (I lost 15 lbs in the last two weeks) and that I need to fast on water for 2-3 days and then eat nothing but raw fruits and veggies... I'm like, "that'll KILL me... literally" but then again, this is the woman who thinks its all in my head and just an excuse to be lazy and not work. (Literally said that to me...) Go fig.

rmansker, let mom take a peek before you flush, THAT can't be in your head or it would come out of your ears! LOL
As to the thread, I started a new lifestyle of eating today. Its called Great taste no pain and its all about the way you combine foods. You can find it at wwwgreattastenopain.com I'll let you know how it goes. If I can settle my tummy, I'll share it with the world!

Fraz ~ Please keep me posted on the new diet! I'd love to hear how it goes. Right now my big questin is gluten or no gluten???

The first time that a doctor told me that I was going to have to go on a liquid diet for the next 9 weeks, I was devastated. The whole conception of being on a liquid diet was something I just did not believe I could do. I tried over and over again during serious attack to fallow his advice, I never lasted more than a week, before I would emotionally fall apart.. For the last two years, I have had no other choice. Because my CD of the stomach has caused never damage in my stomach I developed Gastroparesis. I now live on a low carb foods that are easy to puree, and shake based nutrition.

By the weight, I was once told by a doctor that I would be cured of my illness if I lost weight. I laugh at this suggestion, of a diet because my calorie intake was already below the recommended about for my size. I have lost 30lbs in the last year, and I then leveled off and have not lost any in the last few months, despite the need to go to a clear liquid diet during a serious sinus infection that threw my whole system out of whack. I have come to realize with this disease, some people lost others gain, it all depends on the way each body works

That's laughable that a doctor said losing weight would cure CD. If that's the case, I should be "cured" of it about 3 times over, since the minute it plays up weight drops off me at a scary rate. My last flare up, which touch wood I seem to be slowly moving out of, I lost 20lb in a month.

I work with a guy who has Crohn's, and I've honestly never seen the fella eat a thing. But he's permanently slightly overweight. I'm not sure why the same disease affects the two of us so differently.

On bad days I eat fruit (oranges, bananas, and cantaloupe) applesauce, soy milk, edamame (soy beans) Quaker oats rice cakes, tuna salad on cucumber slices, zucchini and yellow squash and mashed potatoes. I am still trying to find things that are easy going on my tummy. Hope this helps!

Hi there!
Read your input for the first time. It reminds me of myself at your age, now I am 50. I had a tough time at your age with diarrhea bleeding...you name it. Through prayer I was guided to watch what I eat. I did this by keeping a record of everything I'd put in my mouth (no cheating. I discovered dairy to be my worst enemy... I did the test avoiding dairy for a time my diarrhea was gone - only a flare-up now and then and I soon discovered the reason would be something I ate had milk, butter, cheese, lactose of some form. Go figure...
My sister was diagnosed with Crohn's and never watched what she ate - I told her staying away from dairy seemed to help me but she said she didn't see any reason to think dairy was causing her problems...Today she has gone through too many surgeries to recall and has an illeostomy bag and still doesn't watch what she eats. I wasn't to a doctor till I was in my 30's - I dealt with it by avoiding dairy - cheating now and then because I love icecream too! I paid dearly later in the bathroom feeling like I was being turned inside out. When I had a flare-up I could eat nothing with out it giving me misery, so I would wait till my bottom would feel better then try anything small making sure no dairy was in it. I learned to listen after a few trial and errors!
Because I avoided dairy - I feel my condition has been very mild. This is what I do: First I avoid dairy. That means - Milk, most cheese, ice cream, butter was the ultimate worst for me and you need to be careful with margarines because they also contain dairy, read all ingredients when you by anything processed or tha's made by friends that has dairy. It will make a difference! I can have Silk (Soy milk)find the one you like. I think it tastes great but don't care for the one that is vanilla flavor. In place of butter or margarine I can use Shedd Spread's original or earth balance (which it great) at Giant Eagle stores. Goodluck! My Crohn's has been very mild perhaps your can be too! Eating nuts & grains helps me keep regular and everything else really hasn't been too bad for me. Keeping a record of what you eat really will help you to establish what causes your flare-ups and that will be your road to avoiding misery. Listen when your body tells you things! Good luck honey you've got so much ahead of you be healthy! My best to you, imneiss

Imneiss ~ what a nice reply :o). I actually have been writing everything down for over a week now. The hardest part for me is I am constantly taking little bites of my kids food :o). Starting today I will be even more detailed. I also write down every bm with a description. I've been using Silk lately but still eating cheese. What cheese works for you?

I have to agree with "imneiss" about the effect of dairy on people with inflamed digesteive systems. I stopped eating all dairy and all foods with dairy in them about 3 weeks ago. My UC symptoms improved dramatically within two days and have continued to be pretty good. I'm even taking the opportunity to wean myself off from evil prednisone .... I'm now down to 7.5 mg per day and so far so good.

I tried going gluten free for three days. Didn't see any change in my symptoms, so I went back to eating whole grains.

Generally I take a probiotic when I first wake up, wait 30 minutes and have fruit (banana, grapes, grapefruit, apple, or whatever is available), wait another 30 minutes and have eggs with toast. Then I take all my suppliments - vitamin D, multi, folic acid, omega-3, B-complex, flax oil and calcium.

Lunch is typically leftovers for last nights dinner. And dinner is chicken with small salad and cooked veggies. Or maybe a pasta with meat. Or one of several different meals my wife and I enjoy.

Right before I go to bed I take another probiotic.

Lately this seems to work prety well for me.

MichDave ~ Ya, I'm really starting to think I should give up on the gluten free and try just dairy free for awhile. I havn't had relief from going gluten free but now that I've read so much about it I know how harmful it can be to your intestines. It's so hard knowing what to eat. It's like the more research I do the more confused I get!

There are 2 problems with UC/CD diets: 1) each person reacts differently and 2) none of them make sense. On the SCD I can have raw fruits and veggies, on the CD/UC "no list" it says no raw fruits or veggies.

So yeah, the more research you do, the more confusing it gets!

I had a really awesome lady contact me a few days ago concerning my book and told me about how she's been treating her son. The treatment is amazing. Its the first diet that actually MAKES SENSE. I'm like, "wow, why didn't I think of that?!" I've been pestering her for details and will definitely be telling everyone how it works... I'm slowly swinging into this new treatment after a very severe 3 weeks (REALLY bad bleed last night! omg, scary) but am starting with supplements, then will be switching over diets as I can afford the food, lol!

(I'll keep everyone posted on how I improve, or not improve over the next couple of months)

Here is Step 1: Supplements (I bought all mine at Walmart)
* Acidohpilus: 240 mg 3x/day
* Multi-Enzyme (Probiotic Formula) 3 before each meal
* L-Glutamine: 500mg 3x/day
* Cod Liver Oil: 1 3x/day
*B-12: 7500mcg throughout the day
*Aloe Vera: 2 pills 3x/day
*Lactase: as needed for dairy

The Acidophilus and Multi-Enzyme both need refrigeration. And I've set it up so I take the pills before every meal. Right now I'm on a liquid diet (Ensure, Vitamin Water, Jello).

I'm still taking the meds my doctor gave me: Sulfasalazine 500mg (8/day), Vicodin 7.5/750 (up to 3 per day), Prednisone (currently weaning, did no good) 30 mg/day currently, Promethazine aka Phenergan 25 mg 4 times per day.

After at least 24 hours on my liquid diet I'll advance to chicken soup and liquid, then from there to BRAT.

The bleeding has already slowed down so that's a good sign. No idea what caused it as I've been eating all the same foods for several weeks now, nothing out of the ordinary. *sigh*

I've been tracking for about a month now and the one sure-fire thing that KILLS me is roughage. I've had three salads and three Major "incidents" because of them. I don't seem to have too much trouble with Gluten, but I could be deluding myself. I'm on Prednisone now (and love that I'm not having debilitating stomach pain on it). Typical day for me:
-two eggs with jam on whole grain or potato bread toast (don't let the name fool you, it still has flour); soymilk
-soup and an avocado or leftovers for lunch
-rice with veggies or chicken for dinner.
-pasta seems to agree with me well (pesto or tomato sauce, all homemade, nothing processed). The pesto has parmesan in it, but I read somewhere that aged cheeses aren't as awful and that seems to be true for me.

bananas, watermelon, yams, potatoes, squash are all okay (seemingly).

One thing that a naturalist friend turned me on to is Congee; a brown-rice porridge that, when made with ginger is really soothing to my stomach. With a little cinnamon, it's quite good.

I don't really snack anymore. My one indulgence is Gatorade, but I drink that to try and stay hydrated because I exercise about 1 hr/day (although running seems to irritate my symptoms, swimming, exercise machines and weight lifting seem to be okay).

I hope this helps. :-)

I admire all your will power. I was born a picky eater and will gag at the mere thought of eating something i'm not used to. i'm also indian so that means that i cook spicy food for my family and i'm just too lazy to cook separately for myself so i end up living on snacks and fruit(easy food)

I basically cant eat anything. I get sick with fruit, veggies, bread, rice..you name it. Sometimes even water gets me running for the bathroom.
I just try to eat whatever I can just to live. I've gone from 185 lbs. to 104 lbs. in about 1 year.

Not fun...