Antibiotics for Gut

Grandson at 3 months

Had a visit with my rheumatologist this week. She prescribed flagyl to clean out my gut as I'm not able to eat again and will set up an appointment for an infusion for my osteoporosis. Other than that, nothing to report.  Don't have to go back for a year which is a first as I've been going every 6 months. 

As for the food intake problems. Things have gotten to the point where they were last winter (January/February?). Every time I take food orally, I vomit and get diarrhea. The last time my GP prescribed flagyl, 250mg 3/day for 10 days. It worked and I was able to eat uo until recently so as much as I dislike taking it, if it'll give me another 6 months of eating it's well worth it. Durig the ten days I am only eating 3 crackers on some days to take the edge of my hunger pangs and that's it. Well, almost, as I am allowing myself the luxury of a morning cup of coffee which doesn't seem to be doing any harm and the pleasure I derive from it is worth any problems it may cause.

GI Doctor visit

Just realized that I failed to talk about my most recent GI Doctor visit  of a couple of weeks ago. My major concern going in was my persistent diarrhea. Although it's been better since my experience earlier this year, it still continues to interfere with my ability to get out and with the arrival of spring I really needed to address this problem.

So, the long and the short of it is, since the immodium is not working, I now have a prescription for codeine - 30mg to be taken as needed and repeat after 6 hours if necessary. Of course the down side is that if I overdo it, I'll end up with the opposite problem, constipation. So far it seems to be working. I still get diarrhea,often in the morning but if I take the codeine, it's been working although sometimes requiring the follow up after 6 hours. And because of its pain suppressing capabilities, I have been skipping my NSAID when I take the codeine.

Life is good.

July 26 update:

Still have diarrhea most mornings but after an hour or so of repeated trips to the bathroom, I'm good for the rest of the day. This morning was the first time in months that I haven't had diarrhea. Yesterday I took three 30 mg pills just to see how that would work out. With the prescription, I only have enough for 2/day but there were a couple of days when I only took one so had the extras. sen though I was ok this morning, I took a pill anyway. It's now 10:00 am ad no bm. Wondering how long this will last. Maybe the answer is to take 3 or 4 pills one day and then go wight for a day. Worth a try anyway.
No nausea or vomiting for maybe 3 weeks now. Although I have been eating, I skip a day if I feel the least bit bloated and that seems to help.

I knew It had been a while since I made an entry here but 4 months? Wow.
Guess I'll start with my vacation this July. First one since contracting scleroderma. Spent a week in northern Ontario at a cottage resort with my daughter and her hubby - son also came up for a couple of days. Wonderful time, fresh caught fish every day, great weather, days spent sitting by the lake. Oh yeah.

August was fairly uneventful except that I now have a display of my artwork at a local studio. Sales are slow but hopefully will pick up as the holiday season approaches. Actually, I've had a couple of orders this past weekend so yipee.

September has meant I've been been very busy. Now  volunteering for the library doing one on one ESL, have taken on another ESL student through the Arthritis society where am currently teaching a 6 week program. There's also the work I do with the Scleroderma society and I'm taking a writing course which began last month and will end in April. Add in appointments and the lie and there's seldom a day when something's not going on. Not complaining though.
And speaking of appointments, saw GI doc today. Having some blood work done to check iron levels and vitamin D (because of prednisone). Also had doctor write a prescription for imodium which I take regularly to ward of chronic diarrhea. Aside from the diarrhea, my health is good as is life in general.

Scotch Oats

Bought some scotch oats, also known as, Irish oats or steel cut oats, yesterday and had a bowl full for dinner. I moistened them with rice milk and used a bit of maple syrup as a sweetener. Tasted pretty good and went down well. This morning, however, I did have a bout of diarrhea, but just one and and as soon as it was over, all was well again. In fact, I felt really well. Been good all day in fact. So my thoughts are that this might be a solution for when my diet constipates me as it has done a couple of times, although only mildly and no longer than a couple of days.  And there's also the fact that oatmeal is one of the healthiest foods going.
This evening I made a stir fry using leftover chicken breast, and a stir fry veggie mix I bought at the market containing, red, green & yellow peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and onions, the last item being the only one not on my edible list, but it was a small amount and I knew they'd add to the flavour considerably so decided to risk it. Used about a tsp of ghee to fry up the veggies (surprising how far a little bit of ghee goes), added the cooked rice and meat. Scooped out about half the mixture added a little soy sauce and gobbled it down.  Absolutely delicious.  Now about to enjoy a cup of peppermint tea and settle in for the evening.
By the way, I attended an open house at the arthritis Society this afternoon where there was an abundance of delicious looking treats but I ate nary a one. Wasn't easy but glad I resisted. I did bring a gingerbread cookie home which I may have with my tea. Better idea, save to eat next time I have ginger tea.

New Recipe

In my research looking for alternatives to pasta with the traditional tomato sauce (not on diet), I discovered that fennel met the criteria for my current diet. The recipe included chile flakes/hot pepper which I didn't include, and a small amount of olive oil  which I also eliminated. Instead I pre-cooked the ingredients in a small amount f chicken broth.

The verdict- delicious. Admittedly I was a bit sceptical as I couldn't imagine anise (liquorice) flavoured spaghetti but the taste was very mild - perhaps because I went easy on the fennel seeds. In fact, if anything, the result was a little flat.  Perhaps  a little more parmesan, or mild spices.  Will definitely try this again but not before I try another recipe I found using carrots and ginger.

Generally speaking then, the diet is going extremely well. My stool is firm, having regular BM's and no longer am in fear of going out lest I have diarrhea. Better than I've been in months if not years. Life is good.

Oh yes, one item missing from my diet is snacks. Crackers are supposed to be okay but haven't had much luck with them.  Bought some pretzels today. Just had a few and they appear to have less salt than most which, I guess, isn't a bad thing.  Time will tell if they work for me.

January 18,2013 Update:
Made the fennell spaghetti again. Used Ghee to sauté ingredients and added some stir fry veggies.  Topped off with Asiago cheese.  Even better than the first time. Today I will finish it off and have added some cut up cooked ham to the mix.

Lesson Learned

This past weekend I thought I would try a little experiment and eat something not on my anti-diarrhea diet. I bought an organic type Kraft dinner.  Shouldn't be too risky I thought because pasta is allowed and cheese has never bothered me, even though my research indicated that all dairy products , with the exception of yogurt, should be avoided. I'll spare you the details and just say it was a big mistake. About two hours after eating my experiment I paid dearly. So back to the diet it was and I've been good all week.
I have also tried a less risky experiment. Had a panini sandwich today made with half a white kaiser roll, lean sliced organic roast beef and cheddar cheese. No butter or oil.  I know, the cheese was a risk, but like I said, I've never had a problem with it.  That was five hours ago and all's well. This morning I had plain yogurt with sliced banana and dried blueberries. Tasty and nutritious.  And I'm still hungry but will resist eating anything else this evening. Don't want to push my luck.

*Update: Thought I'd try another stab at fish baked with olive oil. Big mistake.  No diarrhea but pretty bad reflux. Won't do that again.  I don't believe I spoke about reflux being a consideration in my diet but it s almost as much as a factor as diarrhea.

Update #2:
Fish again, this time brushed with ghee, about a tsp, and baked in oven.  No reaction, so I think ghee might just be the answer to the oil dilemma.

GI Problems

After enjoying several months of eating on a daily basis with no real restrictions, I started having problems about a month ago with frequent diarrhea and vomiting. I can only guess that after indulging in a wide variety of foods my gut has a build up of undesirable flora causing my problems.  Last week I researched foods that are good to eat when diarrhea is a problem and consequently went out and bought some chicken broth, rice noodles, chicken breasts, bananas and applesauce. (BRAT diet- bananas, rice, applesauce & toast).  I was okay for a few days but then the problems returned.  I haven't eaten in a couple of days now, just a cup of tea each day, but will make another trip later today to replenish my supplies.  My shopping list contains the following:

applesauce
peppermint tea
dried blueberries
carrots
white rice
bananas
yogurt
potatoes
pasta (made w white flour)
rice noodles
white bread (for toast)
chicken breast for steaming/poaching
chicken broth
fish. also to steam/poach
white rice
rice milk
Bambu - a coffee substitute

All of the items on this list except the last one are purported to be helpful in easing or eliminating diarrhea.  The last one is just something I remembered from a few years back which I thought I would try as a drink I could enjoy since I miss my daily cup of coffee which I avoid due to its obvious negative effects on my bowels.

Won't be buying all of these today but will see what I can find.

Update: It's November 24 and I am pleased to report that my gut is doing much better. No diarrhea or vomiting at all this week and I am generally feeling much better. In fact, if anything, I may have been too successful as I am leaning towards constipation.  Guess I'll have to find a happy medium.
My diet this week has included the following foods:
bananas, yogurt, dried blueberries, mashed potatoes, rice milk, steamed fish, soy sauce, peppermint tea and Bambu made with rice milk, peppermint tea
I had some fish left from the other day so plan on reheating that along with some rice.
-put blueberries in yogurt
-mashed potatoes made with yogurt, no butter/margarine
-soy sauce to spice up the fish and rice a bit

Admittedly, it's a pretty bland diet but it's worth it and once I've been on it for a while, perhaps I can add in a few items not on the list above just to spice things up a bit.

Update #2: Another week has passed and all's well.  This week's diet included chicken breast poached in broth and then adding some rice to make a soup, applesauce, yogurt w blueberries and plain, lots of peppermint tea- very soothing, mashed potatoes, again with yogurt,, some gluten free crackers, and today *fish but baked with herbal olive oil and salt and pepper - a bit of a risk I know because of the olive oil but I think I'm going to get away with it.  So much tastier than poached or steamed.
*See following entry.

Doctors' Visits

Wow, just noticed that my last post here was October 3.  Where does the time go?  I probably would have written sooner but I ended up cancelling a couple of appointments in November and December due to diarrhea.  And that pretty much sums up the last few months where my main concern has been exactly that.  Just recently I have made some progress using a combination of cephalex  and Immodium.

I have had a couple of flare ups so had my rheumatologist call in a prescription for prednisone which, as in the past, proved to be very effective.  And that brings me to my visit yesterday.  First of all my rheumatologist was delighted with my weight which now stands at 131 pounds.  I have not weighed this much in at least six years so, needless to say, I too am overjoyed.  Thank you TPN.  Also she wrote me a prescription for 200  prednisone with 3 refills, enough to last me a very long time.  I will continue to reserve it for those times when the pain is at a peak.

Today I saw my GI doctor.  Pretty uneventful except that, again, the dietician was pretty happy with my weight gain.  I also asked to have my J-tube removed which, much to my surprise, he did right there on the spot.  Only problem is that some fluids seeped out the hole where the tube had been and man did it stink.  My tpn has now been reduced to 6 days a week.  And that's about it for my doctors' visits.

So, generally, things are going pretty well.  The last couple of days the pain has been slowly worsening so must get my prescription to the pharmacy so I'll have some prednisone on hand.