Amalgam Fillings and Ulcerative Colitis - Is there a link?

"Mercury is one of the most toxic substances on the earth, surpassed only by plutonium, according to Dr. Paul Gilbert of the Academy of General Dentistry. Mercury amalgam dental fillings have been used in the United States and UK since 1833 and 50 percent of their composition is toxic liquid mercury. Mercury poisoning is pervasive, affecting the entire body, according to well-known advocate of amalgam removal, Dr. Hal Huggins. Recovery from mercury poisoning is long and tedious."

So my question is to all you UC suffers....Do you have amalgam fillings? 


I know mercury is extremely dangerous but hadn't actually made the link between UC and mercury fillings before until 2 days ago when I went to see Greg Emerson who specialises in Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.


I'd just about sat down in the chair for the 1hr long consultation when I was asked to open my mouth so Greg could have a look in.  He started counting my amalgam filling and given the fact I grew up in the 70's in the UK, I have a mouth full of amalgam fillings - 10 in total of which I'd say 5 are really big fillings.


So to cut a long story short, he basically said I needed to have all the mercury fillings removed before he could treat me any further.  Apparently Root Canals also pose issues for your health.


Greg Emerson showed me the following video - Smoking Teeth = Poison Gas - and based on this, I have decided to proceed with having my fillings removed in the hope it will cure my UC for ever.  I also have a gold crown that needs to be looked at as it may contain mercury and as you may have seen in the video - gold and mercury is a big no no! 


I have found a Holistic dentist to remove my 'silver' fillings as a "normal" dentist may expose me to more mercury when he drills out my teeth. Yes, of course it's going to cost me a fortune to have all this work done, but I have actually been thinking about having these fillings changed for quite a while now and if I do manage to rid myself of colitis, what a miracle that would be.  Yes, you are hearing the skepticism now, as how many times have I thought I might have found the cure, only to be disappointed.  But for me, this could be a win win situation.  I have had these fillings in my mouth for the last 25 - 30 years and they have been leaking into my body and maybe this is what is causing me all my problems and ulcerating my colon.  It does kind of make sense!  What have I got to loose?  Yes cash, but at least I'll have a nice white mouth.


I hate dentists with a passion, as some of you may have read in my previous blogs, but I'm going to do this.  My first consultant is on 4/4 so I'll let you know how it goes.  If anyone has heard of the mercury / UC link or of has any theories, please let me know.


And finally, here's a link to another story I found - Amalgam Removal Ends Colitis.  Again I'll be the skeptic until proof is supplied...unfortunately, previous experience shows that people trying to sell you something are out to make a quick buck.  But here's hoping!

Summer is nearly over

Time really does fly.... thats us nearly half way through February already!  I honestly do think, the older we get the quicker time goes and I do wonder if I really appreciate my life enough.  I remember my Dad saying a few years back, that although he was 75, in his mind he felt in his 20s-30s, but his damn body was the thing letting him down.

Maybe that is why I was given this crappy disease to try and make me appreciate life to the full instead of squandering it away.  In times of remission (even if short) I certainly do appreciate being able to go places and not having to panic too much if I can't see a toilet straight away.  That doesn't mean I don't find out where the toilets are...just in case!

I also wish I could make travel plans for the future without first panicking over whether I'll be ok to do a plane ride or not.  I want to go back to Canada skiing again next winter and I'd love to spend some time in New York, all I need is the courage to book the flights and accommodation.

I'm getting there though.  If I can just keep this UC at bay for most of the time I might just make that trip next year!

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to see a guy in Brisbane called Dr Greg Emerson - http://www.drgregemerson.com/ - he's quite famous in his field apparently.  His waiting list is 7 months long, so I'm hoping for a cancellation by Easter.  If any of you have heard about him, please let me know either way as he's very expensive and I hate to be wasting money on a lost cause.

How much would you give for a 'normal' life?

5 years into this crappy disease, I often wonder what it would be like to be 'normal' like everyone else again. But what is normal anyway and is it all really only a facade? People put on such false faces all the time and why, just to look better in front of other people or pretend they have more than they really have. What a lot of wasted effort. UC unfortunately teaches us all about humility. I don't even know how many little 'accidents' I have had in the last few years, but each time it happens in public I deal with it and clean myself up and deal with the pity others show for me. How humiliating but with it comes inner strength. So maybe I'm richer for my own type of 'normal' life but no, I wouldn't wish it anyone else.

FINALLY!!!!

Yep, it's been a while since I posted, but with work and the kids and coming home, it's been busy busy busy.

What a few months! Landed a great job in a great team. Kids doing well back in school. House back to nearly normal. Just UC to deal with.

On the UC side of things, I can't believe it. I think I'm finally back into remission after a long 2 years on Pred. My saviour (with some side affects) is Imuran. I'll risk the side affects if my life is back to semi normal. You still get the odd "OMG toilet run" moment, but that for me seems to be down to eating food that does not agree with me...a bit of IBS I think.

I was reflecting with my husband my UC life and he reminded me of the time just before UC when I went through a very angry period. Looking back I wonder if this was part of the UC. Did something change chemically in my body with kicked off a chain of events that lead to UC 2 years later? There were various UC initial symptoms from about a year before the big UC attack.

Anyway, if any of you can remember a very angry period in your life before the onset of UC, please can you let me know. I'm going to talk to my GI next week about this to see if she has heard it from anyone else who had an initial angry stage before UC onset.

We all go through so many stages with UC. I'm just happy I made it back to this stage no matter how long it lasts! I need this time just to feel semi normal again and no matter what happens next I know I can cope!

A day off work and hitting hippy country :D

Hi all - I'm back to reality with a bump, but life is good in Brisbane. Got a job fairly quickly (too quickly for my liking really!!!) and normality reigns again.

Winter here is brilliant with average day time temps of 20C. For most 'Brits' here it's the best time of the year. Lovely clear blue skies and dry.

So today we took a drive to Byron Beach as I have 2 days off work and the kids are on holiday. Saw no whales heading north to the warmer waters, but great day out. Played pétanque (french boules) on the beach and took a trip up to the light-house.

Byron Beach is the most easterly point of Australia. The longboarders arrived there in the 1960s. This was the beginning of Byron Bay as a tourist destination, and by 1973, when the Aquarius Festival was held in Nimbin, its reputation as a hippy, happy, alternative town was established. It still has some of that charm, but as with everything, the 'rich' folks have also discovered it and things have moved on from being laid back to a more commercial. Still a nice place to visit though.

UC wise I'm now on Imuran. Yep there's side effects and it can take 3-6 months to fully work. I'm 2 months in and seeing some improvement, but we'll wait and see if remission is achieved once the preds are stopped for good in a few week. Tried to get off them 2 weeks back and ended up in a bit of trouble so I restarted them and I'm not down to 10mg a day.

I'll post again within the next 2 months as by then I should know if this latest drug is working. Fingers crossed again.

Nicotine gum - a possible lead to remission?

So I used to be a smoker way back in 2000 and quit to start trying for a baby. Quitting was relatively easy for me as I fell pregnant very quickly, so restarting smoking was not an option.

I wasn't what you'd call a heavy smoker, but would have between 5 - 10, 1mg cigarettes a day with 10 being a night on the town fuelled with beer and champagne. (Oh for those days pre kids and a mortgage...oops I digress)

All up I'd say it really took me about 7 years to really get over the addition. Often when people smoked I'd want one, but I never allowed myself to give me, so me starting nicorette gum to try to get my UC into remission comes as a bit of a surprise and was not a decision I took lightly.

I actually read a couple of articles last year about the possible benefits of nicotine and Ulcerative Colitis, but the thought of restarting smoking was not something I was willing to consider.

The nicotine thing sat in the back burner of my mind until this week, when after a "little accident" on my first week back to work, the sudden idea of giving nicorette gum a go came to me.

So on Friday 6th May, I started my trial with just 1 piece of 4mg gum. From then, my daily dosage will then be 2 x 4mg nicotine gum (once about 1 hr after breakfast and once in the afternoon) for the next 3 weeks. After that I'm not sure. I do intend to reduce the mg as I do release this can not be used for ongoing maintenance without varies other side affects kicking in.

The scary thing is that this might actually work. In just over 2 days I have seen a change, but be warned I have seen changes before with other things I have tried, only to see them fail within a week. This one I am a bit more confident about, but we'll see....I'm for ever the optimistic pessimist.

I'm not advocating anyone use nicorette gum to see if they can get their UC under control, I just want to share what I am doing. It may or may not help me in the longer time to gain remission, but I have to give it a go just in case. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please read the health warning below as you need to be aware of possible side effects if you do decide to try it.

If anyone has tried this approach whether successful or not, please let me know.

P.S. Just rejoined the workforce this week after a 2 year sabbatical....now that was a hard week. Oh to win the lottery!

How do I use NICORETTE^® Gum?

As per - http://www.nicorette.com.au/product-range/gum/

NICORETTE® Gum is not an ordinary gum so you should not chew it constantly. To make sure you get the most from your NICORETTE® Gum, use the NICORETTE®chewing technique.

Health effects of nicotine

As per Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine_gum

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor; it constricts arteries, making it harder for the heart to pump blood through the body. Repeated nicotine exposure contributes to accelerated coronary artery disease, acute cardiac ischemic events, andhypertension Additionally, studies have shown that nicotine exposure contributes to stroke, peptic ulcer disease, and oesophageal reflux. Further, nicotine may cause wounds to heal more slowly and may be associated with reproductive toxicity. Moreover, nicotine can cause the body to release its stores of fat and cholesterol into the blood.

Nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicotine gum, that were used for long periods of time may be associated with an increased risk of contracting oral cancer among people who have a specific gene mutation in their mouth, according to a study done at University of London.

Muscle control

Two unpleasant symptoms which affect some new users, and existing users who make excessive use of nicotine gum, are hiccups and a perceived constriction of the throat muscles, as accidental swallowing of saliva containing high amounts of nicotine may cause irritation.

Gum disease

Prolonged nicotine chewing gum use may also cause gum disease. Nicotine constricts blood vessels, including those of the gums, which has led to speculation that long-term use of nicotine gum may contribute to risk for gum disease. However, one clinical study has found no connection between 15 weeks of nicotine gum use and oral health.

OMG!!! ...now hair loss

So this is something that I have just noticed...you may remember form previous posts that way back on Sept 09 when I went for my first French haircut, that she basically cut my hair a lot shorter than I'm used to an since then I have been trying to grow my hair back to the longer length it was. For the past 18 months though my hair has been really dry and I put that down to the climate here. Because of that I got it regularly trimmed and keep it in a short bob up until December 2010 when I decided it was time to grown it longer again in readiness for going home where it often in a ponytail due to the heat and humidity in summer.

Well, imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I tried to put it into a ponytail and finally realised that I have probably lost over 1/3 of my hair. I always had loads of the stuff, to the point were I used to ask the hairdresser to thin it out. I have no idea exactly when this started happening and have only just come across an article last night which seems to suggest predisolne is the cause. Didn't know of that little side effect!!

I restarted Pred again last December, but that also coincided with a trip to the hairdressers that wrecked a heap of hair due to over processing, so I didn't make the connection with predisolne until now. It's been over 3 months and the hair I had expected to grow back hasn't.

So a little research last night lead me to discover this...some people lost about 1/3 of their hair over the course of 6 weeks while tapering down on pred. When their hair grew back, it grew back curly instead of straight and the texture was different.

OMG!!!

Well, I'm tapering down...although I severely doubt I'll get off Pred as I'm bleeding already at 30mg and have been since I tried to drop to 40mg. Once I get back to Australia I have an appointment with my GI, but that isn't until 10th May. A long wait time. Oh well, what can you do?

Another thing I've read is that in general medicines can affect hair loss. Maybe it is Pred, maybe it's not, but I'm missing a heap of hair!!! .... hopefully it will grow back soon...we're leaving here on Friday, so hopefully by 7.30pm on Saturday night, I'll be about to arrive back on home soil :D ....maybe I'll even get back into remission after 2 years of hell...well a girl can dream :D

Ever started an e-mail with "Bullshit"?

Ever started an e-mail with "Bullshit"? ... well I hadn't until the other day:D

So here's what happened.... I put an onine order in for 5 magnet fridge magnets...just 12cm x 4cm..plastic..not heavy...you get the gist? They came to a total of $34.75 (USA dollars) and along with that I paid an additional $12 (USA dollars) for postage to France. That's a fair enough postal cost I reckon. I paid for this on a debit card and only put enough money onto the account to cover costs. I do payments this way when I haven't done business before with overseas companies I'm ordering from. Previously I've had to cancel credit cards as funds have been deducted without my approval and for me this is the easiest way to handle it now.

So here's the e-mail I got 2 weeks after I put in my order...

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Dear Paula,
Thank you for your order. It is ready to ship, but because of the size and weight, the cost to ship your order is $40.00 through Fed Ex or $35.54 through USPS. You have paid $12.00. Please let me know how you would like us to ship your order and if the additional amount is okay to add to your credit card.
Thanks,

Sommer Brant
Customer Service


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HHMMMMMM...well that wasn't the actual words I thought ....and here's my reply

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To: Sales
Subject: RE: New Order # 5200002165


BULLSHIT!
No I am not willing to pay extra when you advertise that for my cost of order the shipping cost is $12.00. Please explain how you think you have the right to charge me more! I have a copy of your website shipping costs advertising the price. Refund my money immediately as this is false advertising before I take further action!!



Paula

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In the mean time, I'd contacted my debit card company and asked them what I could do in situations like this and if there was any way of getting my money back, to which they replied yes and started the process for me. I did however get a reply back from the company, with an apology, but realistically, the damage was done.

As you can see from the e-mail below, they were able to reduce the size of the packaging. But the point is why couldn't they have done that in the beginning and saved all this hassle. Why would I pay more for postage than the actual cost of the contents?

I cancelled the order and got all my money back, including all bank charges.

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From: Dawn
Subject: New Order # 5200002165

Paula,
I apologize that you were contacted about paying more money for shipping. You are correct, our website does not say anything about charging more money for shipping. All shipping costs are based on the size and weight of the box. I took your package back to our shipping department and asked them to re-package it in a smaller box so it would be less expensive to ship. We were able to reduce it to about half the size of the original box. If you’d like to continue with your order at no additional shipping charge please let me know and we will ship it today via USPS otherwise we will cancel and refund your order.

Warm Regards,
Dawn
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Oh well, all's well that ends well and the debit card is the way to go.

What a month

Nearly time to go home :D - I'm so excited :D - 1 car and 1 house gone, just one more car to go next week. In less than 15 days I'll be back home in my own house in my own little suburb and life might get back to "normal" again. Well, as "normal" is to me :D

Like I said before (many, many times)...life in France has had a few downs, but there has been ups along the way. If only I hadn't have had UC to deal with...but heck...life might have been a bit boring then and I might never have gotten to appreciate certain things in life.

Do you ever wonder why were were given this crappy disease to cope with? Sometimes I reckon it's to make me a better person, but bloody hell, was I really that bad a person to begin with? Jez, I'd never want to inflict this disease on anyone, no matter how much I hated them! Hate isn't probably the right term...but you know what I mean!

But, without the UC, I would never have agreed to come to France ... without the UC, I would never have met some of the lovely people that I had ... without the UC, I would never have gotten to learn to drive like this mental French people in Provence, without the UC, I would never have learn't to curse in another language and without the UC, I would never have had such much fun there in the 'good' months. So yeah, I have a lot to be grateful to UC for. I still want rid of this damn disease though!! Can someone please "beam me down" a cure please!!

How do you know when it's time

How do you know when it's time to go get the op?

So I asked my neighbour this question last month and the answer was, "You just know". Well, I don't know.

How much pain do I need to be in? Should I wait until the doctor tells me its time? Should I wait for the first signs of cancer?

I'm hoping that I never have to have this operation, but reality is that I will at some stage. I want the miracle!! I don't want the op.

I was reading a story the other day about Freddie Mercury and it stated that is only Freddie could have survived another year, the advances in medicine and especially in the treatment of HIV and AIDS could have saved him.

I know UC is not on the same level as Aids, but I keep hoping that if I can survive with colon intact for a bit longer, then the medical world might actually have the break through that we need.

2 years on

I've learnt a lot about myself in 2 years ... some of which I'll never admit to publicly neither, but at least I know. I never was able to relax here in France ... too many things where against me ... but heck I did have fun when I was on the preds.

As long as I'm safe in my house in the flare-ups times then friends were always welcome to come over. We head home for a quick "sort the house out" trip in 2 weeks and life is certainly on the up. I got a doctor here to give me all the meds I wanted. Believe me I was truly surprised...I must of had that look on my face that scares the crap out of people when I get forceful. Doctors 0 - Paula 1 on this occasion :D ...

I only came out of remission when this whole trip started..so maybe stress is my trigger...let's see how I'm going come April when I'm home for good.

2 years is along time away from home...especially my home town of Brisbane...it got a bit wet last week, but in true Aussie spirit, Queenslanders don't stay down for long ... I wish I was at home to help out all those poor families though...so much loss and destruction.

Next time you are feeling down, just think to yourself, I'm still here and kicking and can do something about it.

Good News

Ah, maybe I will get lucky as today I had the best news and I got a working Apple Mac Pro back :D and I also got a new Ipad for Christmas as my husband felt bad for me the the really old laptop I was using.

It could be a sign that things are turning a corner for me. I'm into signs...always looking for them..good or bad :D

Christmas Day night saw a very bad case of UC..it was so awful I had forgotten the pain and the toilet running. I as up for hours. But thanks to my stash of preds, everything is again staying put and we'll see what the first real 'movement' is like maybe by tomorrow :D.

Can't say what kicked it off but it could be prawns, a tiny bit of champagne, a mince pie or some chocolate ice-cream. I had so many different things that I don't normally have now, that's it hard to tell for definite.

So I have discovered a couple of new things...I blame myself for everything that goes wrong, even if I don't cause it directly myself. So I'm going to try and work on that one. I realised today that I've been punishing myself since Oct over the broken Mac, maybe if I hadn't have done that, but I did, so there you go.

So what next for me for 2011..... well, try to be more positive and get this UC under control and get back to Oz and get a job :D

Still hanging in there :D

Hi ya, yep, I'm still here and still in a flare up and still bitching and moaning about my UC and the fact that I can't get into remission. Seriously....why can't I get into remission?

I've tried everything I can think of and sometimes I think I'm on the right road only to get bumped right back to earth again. How frustrating is this disease?

So I have a stash of preds ready and by my reckoning I can start taking them again in just over a week. There's just enough then to get me back to Australia in February where I can get some more and also have a good old chat with my doctor. Nope I tried that over here with the French doctors and basically I got kicked out the door with a prescription for 5mg Pred a day when required. Get real, but I cashed in the prescription of 30 5mg tablets anyway and added it to my next stash! It buys me an extra 3 days @ 50mg per day if needed to get the blood stopped.

So what's new with me? Well I finally got to see a Naturopath and she's got me on a few new things so we'll see how they go. If anything does seem to be working for more than a few days, then I'll document it in my next blog...no point in giving false hope. I also had a bit of a scare with my 8 year old last month as he was getting heaps of stomach pains, so of course I conclude that he has what I have. To be honest I can see him as a candidate so I'm doing my best not to let him get what I have. I'm teaching him how to handle stress now...I'm teaching him how to deal with bullies and I'm really trying to teach him of how to deal with his insecurities as I really don't want him to be like me! Turns out the poor kid got hit with quite a few viruses along with getting stressed at school, but now I know what's going on in his head, I can try and help him.

Our time in France is nearly over and although a really do breath a really big high sigh of relief, I have enjoyed living here when I’ve been on the preds and symptom free, but I will be happy to go home and speak English all the time. Living in a foreign land is hard without being fluent in their language, but I have tried and can almost crack some jokes in French, though my form of humor may be different from many others :D

that will teach me to speak too soon :(

So I spoke too soon...and I'm all over the place again...no bowel control, though I have to say, it's not as bad as it was last year. So what the heck do I do now. The preds aren't working and I'm at a lose. I'm going ot taper the preds out over the next 4 weeks and to see exactly how bad this is ... if anyone has got any better ideas, please let me know.

And I've found another thing to try...heck...why not...so now I'm on a daily dose of cabbage or cabbage juice ... yep, I was suprised at the one too. Google it's benefits if you don't believe. One week into it, so who knows...I'll give it a few months and see if there are any benefits and let you know.

Is it really working?

It's just about the end of summer and the kids will be going back to school soon...yeah says I!!! Its actually easier to go to work somedays than have to listen to kids fight and bicker some days....kids can be very frustrating some times.

Anyway, I'm down to 15mgs of Pred and its going well this time. I haven't been this low without loads of mucus and blood sightings in 2 years!!!

All I'm doing different this time is trying not to stress out along with taking magnesium, zinc, Vit B and a good probiotic. Is that my cure...who knows.

The SCD diet left me feeling really low, but in 10 weeks I've bounced back to a high that a haven't seen in years...and no it's not been caused by the pred.

I don't know if eating less refined sugar and fat is also helping as all the doctors say that food isn't the cause. My jury is still out on that as I really think it's a combination of what is happening in my mind and what I'm putting into my body.

Lets see what happens in the next few weeks .... please keep the blood and mucus away .... please let my body heal after a nightmare 18 months ......

Maybe it's working this time

So as I said last time, I'm back on the pred, but the difference is that this time it might actually be working as I'm able to drop 5mg each week and so far it's a hell of a lot better than last time where I still had blood and mucus to deal with every now and again.

What's different this time....easy, I'm not stressed at all. I'm enjoying summer and chilling out...I don't have to go anywhere I don't want to go and this year I have my first ever sun tan in 14 years!! I don't sunbathe in Australia as we just get burnt to pieces and last year I couldn't get my head around the fact that the UV index was only at 7....in Oz it can get to 15!!

So this summer I've read loads of books, went sight seeing and swimming, but all in all I'm much less stressed...maybe that is the key...who knows...time will tell. It's a bugger that there is only 4 weeks left before the kids go back to school....but heck this summer has been fun so far.

That doesn't stop the odd panic about loos, but no accidents so far...I even managed to hang on for over 1 hr...though it was really only a pee I needed but with our disease, well you just never knwo what is going to happen when you relax on a toilet. Why did I hang on 1 hr..well, we were at a finishing stage of the Tour de France, and when those guys fly past and only see them for 30secs would you have risked a bathroom stop? No way, I'd rather have an accident :D and was it worth it or what!!!

SCD Diet - Days 29 - 3x

Day 29 - Mon
Well, today I started with an illegal muffin with 2 eggs on top....mmm...it was lovely. I'm struggling with continuing the SCD diet as I didn't see any positive change. Maybe I've just given up too soon. Maybe I need to put more into it, but the food is so bland and boring. I telephoned a local Naturopath but wasn't able to get an appointment with her this week as she's going to her practice in Geneva and then I'm away next week, so I'll call again when I get back to set up an initial appointment with her and see how it goes.

For dinner I was good and everything was legal, but unfortunately I couldn't resist lemon cake with strawberry icing :( ... and I believe that was my downfall this evening I think. :(


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules), pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.1 kgs(136.9lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Not much passed except for the remains of the enema.
2. 11am - Normal with M & B mixed in and
3. 7pm - Urgency - D, lots of it
4. 8pm - Urgency D

Day 30 - Tue
I had another muffin today with poached eggs for breakfast. Apart from the muffin, that was it as far as illegals went. The rest of the day I was good.


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules),, pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Small BM, a bit of D & M..too hard to tell if there was any B.
   
2. 8am - A larger movement with a bit of M
3. 2pm - A bit of M
   
4. 9pm - Small BM's with a bit of M
5. 10pm - Small BM's with a bit of M

Day 31 - Wed
Today was a felt a bit weird in the stomach / intestine area. Not crampy and definitely not like the painful ones last week....just weird if you know what I mean. I'm in a funny mood to, so the 2 could be connected. Today I also started a tablet probiotic, so we'll see how that goes.


Meds - 4 x Salazoprin
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg), 2 probiotics(2x5 million)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - little to nothing & M with a few specks of B
   
2. 2pm - Slight urgency. M & B mixed in
3. 9pm - M and a bit of B only
4. 10pm - M only
   

Day 32 - Thur
The usual illegal of a muffin was eaten for breakfast along with a banana. Lunch was another muffin, some cheddar cheese and I shelled a few peanuts for a snack. I don't seem to have that weird feeling in my stomach today. Maybe the probiotic tablets did something although I was under the impression that it took at least 14 days for any benefit to be noticed. Maybe today is just a good day. Actually it was, I got my hair cut and coloured and really like it. Normally it takes until I wash it myself and the colour is a week old, before I like it ... I'm kind off fussy that way ☺


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules)
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Little to nothing & M with a few specks of B
2. 2pm - Little to nothing & M
3. 9pm - M and a bit of B only
4. 10pm - M only

Unfortunately I went on holiday and the SCD Diet was forgotten to my down fall....I'm back to scratch now and have to start with Day 1 of the SCD diet....I WILL try again

What exactly is a flare-up?

flare-up (flârp)

n.

1. A sudden outbreak of flame or light: a flare-up of the embers.

2. An outburst or eruption: a flare-up of anger.

3. A recurrence or an intensification: a flare-up of rheumatism.

I've been thinking about this for a while now about what exactly a flare-up is. I wonder if the powers that be will ever include a definition of flare-up for Ulcerative Colitis suffers...mmm probably not.

Generally my flare-ups begin gradually. First I notice a few drops of blood on the tissue roll, possible it might feel itchy, but then within a week or two I get the urgency to go. For the past 3 months or so I've been getting mild stomach cramps in the lower abdomen, and visible blood and mucus in the stool. I haven't been able to get totally out of this flare-up since I dropped to 30mgs of Predisolne the first...way way back at the beginning of March. Is this normal...does anyone else suffer the same way as me....never been able to get out of a flare-up without the aid of steroids?

So I figured if steroids (or surgery) is my only way out, then I at least have to try something..hence why I started the SCD Diet. I'm just over 3 weeks into it and it's bloody hard to stick to. I haven't noticed any benefit yet, but then again, it's not a quick fix. I do wonder though how long it will take for me to see a change for the positive and a decrease in the mucus and urgency to go.

I'm trying to be realistic though...I'm coming of Predisolne even though there is mucus and blood present still. I can't live on those bloody awful little tablets for ever ... god knows what damage they have done already to my bones. As soon as I get home next year, I'm going to have to ask for a bone density test. I honestly couldn't face doing one here..it's all too hard living with this disease in a non English speaking country and that would lead me to stress. Actually, I've possible got a handle on my stress recently...I'm trying not to let things build up on me to the point where I explode.

So, back to flares...I read today that flared trouser (pants) will be back in fashion again for the 2010 Fall...OMG...I didn't wear them as a child in the 70's and I'm definitely not going to be wearing them this Autumn :)

And in case you're interested they are also saying that Metallic Dresses, Velvet Dresses, Capes and Ponchos and the Head To Toe Black Look will also be in this Autumn. At least I'll be happy to do black :)

SCD Diet - Days 17-22

Day 17 - Wed
Breakfast - 2 x SCD Raspberry Muffin
Lunch - Chicken, cucumber, cheese
Dinner - Pork Chops, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, grated cheese
Dessert - Fruit salad (Melon, strawberry, kiwi fruit, pears), Green Tea

Bowel Movements - 1 - More than normal M with a very very small bit of B mixed in.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin,10mg Prednisolne
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 62.2 kgs(136.8lb s)

Other - Today is my last day on 10mg Pred..yeah..I'm happy about that and happy that I'm finally going to drop another 5 mgs tomorrow. Today I realised that over the last week there has been a lot less rumblings and gurgles int he stomach / intestine areas...hopefully that's a good thing. OK, confusion time ... I cheated today with a 2cm x 2cm piece of biscuit...chocolate, toffee & biscuit bottom... I couldn't help myself, it was calling to me...anyway I ate it and liked it (not loved it mind you!) and washed a glass of water down with it. I will try not to do that again.

Day 18 - Thur
Breakfast - Banana
Lunch - SCD Muffin
Dinner - Chicken, Cucumber, Cheddar Cheese
Dessert - SCD Biscuit

Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M, but it does appear to be decreasing and more B than normally seen over the last week or so.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 5mg Prednisolne, pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 62.1 kgs(136.6lb s)

Other - Felt sick all day and I'm beginning to wonder is the almond powder is causing a problem. I'll persist for another few days and see if anything changes. Initially I thought it was because of the whole diet. The problem I have with almond flour is that we're not supposed to eat nuts as it can irritate the colon itself...it's hard to know...one group says one thing, another group says the opposite and mean while, I'm stuck in the middle trying to fix myself.

Day 19 - Fri
Breakfast - Banana
Lunch - SCD Biscuit
Dinner - Chicken, a piece of Pizza (illegal), Tim Tam Chocolate Biscuit (illegal)
Dessert - None

Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M and an increase in b noted especailly on the last movement.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 5mg Prednisolne
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.6lb s)

Other - Bored with this SCD Diet. A bit pissed off with life :(

Day 20 - Sat
Breakfast - Banana, SCD Discuit
Lunch - Chicken, Cheddar Cheese, 2 eggs
Dinner - Potatoes (illegal), Baked Bean (sauce only - but still illegal), mince
Dessert - none
Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M and again an increase in b noted especailly on the last movement.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 5mg Prednisolne
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 61.6 kgs(135.5lb s)

Other - At dinner time I was so hungry that I felt the need to eat potatoes. Totally fell off the SCD diet. Had an achy stomach all night...I'm not feeling very happy at this moment. I seem to have been in this flare-up for ever. I only got relief from the symptoms in Dec when I went back on the Preds. Since Feb though I've been back in a mild flare-up even though I was still at 30mgs Pred.

Day 21 - Sun
Breakfast - SCD Biscuit, 2 eggs
Lunch - Avocado, Tuna, Cheddar Cheese, SCD Biscuit
Dinner - Mince, Broccoli, Carrots
Dessert - Melon
Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M and a further increase in b noted especially on the last movement.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 5mg Prednisolne
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 61.7 kgs(135.7lb s)

Other - Woke up this morning and had to run to the bathroom. I'm guessing the potatoes, but who knows.
As the day went on though, I felt normal, but it is disheartening to see more and more blood.

Day 22 - Mon
Breakfast - Banana
Lunch - SCD Raison Muffin with cinmamin
Dinner - Pork Chops, Carrots
Dessert - none, just green tea later
Bowel Movements - 6 - A far b it of M each time with traces of B mixed in. 3 movements were mucus only.
Meds - 3 x Salofalk granules (1g), 5mg Prednisolne, pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.6lb s)

Other - Yikes, today was not a nice day. Every time I ate things just went through me and I had to rush to the bathroom. I can only assume that have illegals on the weekend, have caused this problem. It felt like the bad old days...little or no notice and one accident. Not happy with myself. Thankfully I was at home most of the day when the urges came. I could have handled an hours round trip to school to pick the kids up otherwise.

Thoughts / Problems on SCD diet

• Days 19 & 20 saw me totalling blowing the SCD Diet. I'm not sure what was going on in my mind, but I'd had enough of the diet and digressed. I'm assuming that loads of people feel the same thing, but I acted on my hunger and cravings this time.
• Day 21 - I'm changing back to Salofalk to see if I can see any changes.
• I seems to feel a lot more angrier these days. Is that the diet or is that just UC? I don't remember being so angry so much of the time before UC. Maybe it was the anger that gave me UC....yes, I've been reading "How to Heal yourself" again...oh, just to be happy with life eh? Now wouldn't that be nice or would I still me mad about something or rather
• I'm back on the SCD Diet again and I'm trying to be good.

SCD Diet - Days 15-16

Day 15 - Mon
Breakfast - SCD banana bread
Lunch - Banana, cheddar cheese
Dinner - Mince Meat Bolognese, Maize Pasta* (I've since found out that Maize is corn and is illegal. I didn't particularly like it anyway, so I'd rather go without)

Dessert - strawberries, melon

Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M and a bit of B.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 10mg Prednisolne
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), Pred Enema
Weight - 62.5 kgs(137.8lb s)
Other - After all the gas yesterday, everything seems to have calmed down a bit now in that department.
I'm not going to try carbonated water for at least another week now and then we'll see if the same thing happens. I am going to use a pred enema for the next week or so as I think the mucus is building now that the pred tablets are dropping. It's hard to really tell, but I'm not taking the risk and ending up in the same state as last summer.

Day 16 - Tue
Breakfast - SCD Banana Bread
Lunch - Chicken, Cheddar Cheese
Dinner - Omelette (3 peppers Green, Red & yellow, tuna and cheddar cheese)
Dessert - Melon, Strawberries, kiwi Fruit, Pears, 1/2 SCD Raspberry Muffin

Bowel Movements - 3 - A bit of M, but it does appear to be decreasing and no B visible today as far as I could see.
Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, 10mg Prednisolne, pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), Pred Enema
Weight - 62.1 kgs(136.6lb s)
Other - Feeling normal-ish today. Still a little bit out of sorts, but definitely not as bad as over the weekend.

Thoughts / Problems on SCD diet

• Day 15 - Seriously over this diet, I can see why people quit. I'm going to try and hang on in there though. I really don't want to give up yet. I'd hate to look back and realise this was my last hope and I failed myself.
• A fellow SCDer send me a link today and from it I found out that when you start this diet there could be some Temporary Initial Symptoms. Last week I developed a rash, which I originally put down as pollen or heat related. But, as the days have went by, I now realise it might have something to do with the SCD diet. Hopefully it will be gone within the next week or two.
  
• Decreasing the preds to 5 mg on Wed for 5 more days. One thing I can say, is that I didn't get this far last time without a heap more blood and mucus, but this time I'm also using an enema when things look like going the wrong way. Time will tell.
• For anyone thinking about doing this diet, I'd really recommend clearing out all the 'illegal' stuff from your fridge and cupboards. I can't do this at the moment as I'm the only one on the diet in this house and I'd prefer to allow the kids threats still even if I can't eat them anymore.
  
• Day 16 - I seem to swing back and forwards on this diet...today was manageable. That doesn't mean to say I didn't have a bit of a wobble....but I wobbled myself away from the wheat and sugar temptations.