New to all this – S.O.S.!!

Introduction:

I’m a 51 year old New Yorker, with a background in theatre, but who works in finance, not a job I love but a realistic way to pay bills! Living in New York with a husband and child is not cheap… I have a 4 year old daughter that I conceived via fertility treatments and donor egg, so I’m holding up my end of the bell curve on motherhood. I like to think I’m doing a public service, making all those 40-year-old moms feel young! My husband has his own acting studio, so I stay connected through him to theatre.

Some more about me:

I am an extrovert, love to travel, and love my friends who are all way too scattered around the globe! I love to learn languages, love to read. I am a yoga lover, struggling to find time to practice. I spent years screenwriting and sculpting. I make my sculptures from found material – I love recycling junk into art. I’ve gotten better and better at screenwriting but have not sold or gained representation – a very difficult art. But at present I no longer have time for either of these… I’m searching for a way to keep my artistic spirit active – very difficult with full time work and a child! Can anyone relate to ‘losing yourself’ while your children are young? That’s me. Happily, raising a child is simply amazing.

Symptoms:

Now that I’ve started the Paleo immune protocol and a host of supplements like probiotics, etc., I no longer have the round, hard rabbit poops, and the many bloody mucous emissions. But my non-daily bowel movements, and mucous (sometimes bloody, sometimes not) are my main symptoms.

New to all this – S.O.S.!!

I just got diagnosed after my first colonoscopy because I turned 50, but also because I recently developed constipation, and some bloody mucous discharge. Additionally, within the last 3 years I have cut out alcohol (due to abuse), grains, oats and most diary (due to exhaustion responses which I took to be gluten/avenin/casein intolerance) and sugar (inconsistently, I admit). I’ve also had a foot fungus for several years which I have been sort-of keeping at bay with antifungal topical cremes.

Now that I’m reading about UC in depth, I see how all these things connect. And I see how I need to connect to an online community, because I am a bit overwhelmed with all the info, especially the conflicting info from the medical establishment vs. people who say I can live med free. I haven’t started taking any meds, I am trying diet first, doing the paleo immune protocol right now. But my questions are:

(1) For diet, do people recommend Paleo immune or SCD?
(2) My doctor says even if I’m symptom free without meds I can still have UC and be at risk for colon cancer. This would point to incorporating both diet changes AND meds (which I have seen recommended on some sites)- Does anyone have thoughts about this?
(3) Has anyone had the foot fungus I described that won’t go away, and does it disappear with the SCD diet?
(4) How long does it take to see a link between eating something bad and -let’s say- a bloody mucous? That day? Days? In other words, how do I know if there’s a connection?
(5) My symptoms started after I had my daughter, which involved a lot of fertility treatments, a donor egg and a c-section. Could these have contributed to the changes in my gut?

Medications I’m Taking/Taken:

I have been prescribed melsalamine, but haven’t started taking it. I don’t want to, but I also don’t want to risk colon cancer. Hoping this community can help me sort through all this.

written by Esther G

Submitted in the colitis venting area