Hi fellow UC’ers! I have officially ended my “intro” to scd, but I feel frustrated! Nothing really has changed with my colitis…I have however found that I’m in better moods, more focused, have more patience for my kids, and have a bit more energy (which DEFINITELY IS A GOOD THING!). My husband actually noticed too and commented how “he has his old Angie back!” This makes me VERY happy considering I too have been struggling with mood issues for quite some time now. Any-who….I am very disappointed that I haven’t noticed the slightest bit of improvement in my colitis. I’m figuring it will take some more time, but it is rather discouraging seeing that this is the FURTHEST THING from being an easy diet, especially when you are a sweet freak… and man, do I miss my coffee, and toast, and beer, and ice cream, and chocolate, and…you get the idea!
I’m still having all the symptoms of my flare, still on 20 mg prednisone, and sulfasalazine. And I don’t think the yogurt really agreed with me…the only time I tried it, I was in the bathroom every 1/2 hr. And, I made it EXACTLY according to btvc. Now, I’m scared to try it again. I lost 5 lbs in less than a week, and I’m SO sick of plain chicken, plain beef and the thought of the chicken soup makes me seriously gag! SO, I moved on and have started eating other scd legal foods. Afterall, it does state 3-5 days max on the intro. What are your thoughts and experiences on beginning the diet? Is the “d”, blood, and mucus supposed to subside during the intro? Maybe it won’t work for me? I’m confused because my interpretation after reading btvc was that the “d” was supposed to stop during the intro, and not to introduce anyother foods until your ‘d’ is better?  Any comments, suggestions on this matter? Thanks!
Hi there! My name is Angie. I am 34, happily married and have 3 young children. I suffer from severe UC and have many “extraintestinal manifestations” related to my IBD.
Hey Angie,
First and foremost, BIG FAT CONGRATS on getting into the diet, thats a success in and of itself. Secondly, miracles don’t happen overnight, just to the same tune as full blown UC symptoms don’t start overnight either. So, just like some other things in life, the SCD for you just might take some more patience and persistence(and heck yes, the diet is super hard to stick with especially if its your first time trying it and you have never really watched with a microscope what you put in your mouth before.) I think others would agree that miraculous results like some has is not always the case after 2-5 days, and I have even heard others talk about 1-2 months before noticing decent results. So I think the morale of the “beginning the SCD story” so far at least is the classic “everyone’s differnt”. Kinda like the response that some physicians give with regards to how people react to medications. Just in this case, I don’t think you need to worry about long lasting side effects/prescriptions/horrible tasting pills etc…
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP. You won’t be the first to go through the intro diet without massive flying colors, and you surely won’t be the last. But you most definitely can be in a large group of people who stuck with the diet and slowly over time started to see symptoms go away.
And please realize this, although I was I guess on the luckier side and noticed massive improvements quickly, the girl who told me about the diet the day I started it told me to stick with it for AT LEAST 2 Months before making any judgements as to its effectiveness.(The reason being, everyone has difference response times, everyone comes into the diet with a different degree of symptoms, yadayadayada…)
I’m super pumped that you are at where you are at. I really would be doing jumping jacks out here if you keep going and see some good results. The fact that your mood is picking up is probably worht its weight in gold to you and your husband/kids. So that’s something to be proud of, and a healthy/happy mind is probably even more important than anything for someone who is trying to get out of a long flare.
I think you are most definitely on the right track. And just as a side note, I know I’m not supposed to be drinking as much coffee as I do, but you wouldn’t be the first either to get your coffee or something else not totally legal back in your mix once you get the symptoms under control.
Keep it up, and please keep us posted.
Jessica, if you are reading, can you chime in here with some thoughts?(or anyone else for that matter)
Hi Angie!
Congrats on starting the SCD!! I am a mother as well and was flaring from beg. of June until now. It is super hard to juggle it all, but somehow I have gotten thru it, and you will too!!!
Started the diet beg. of Aug and started to feel better around Aug 23rd…so, the 2-5 day thing was SUPER frustrating to me (I’ve been on pred/asacol/remicade for the past 3mos as well). For the longest time I would just cry bc I thought I was doomed to have my symptoms forver. Then one day things started to look up. I had more energy, happier…blah, blah, blah…but the last improvement for me was the “d”. (Not qute sure if it was the meds or the diet…but I’m not wiling to test out the theory yet) That was the last thing to get better. I think in my case it was also mental…I was hoping and stressing over what was going to work/not work and the moment I accepted the diet as a part of my life and realize that I wld be able to have a cpl things in the future (once healed) that were my favs…it made everything a whole lot better. (I’m a sweet freak as well!) In the beg. I wld stay away from raw veggies, raw fruits.
The book BTVC is great but there are other cookbooks out there if you put SCD into the AMAZON website. I found some sweet stuff that made me very happy and curbed my sweet cravings (for the moment). Baked apples with an almond butter crust. For some reason sweet stuff made me feel better. I’ve made candied pecans (maybe after the “d” is gone). I found that fish was better than chicken. I mostly cook cod or mahi-mahi or flounder. If you want I can send you some of the recipes that have helped me…..let me know and I will send them thru!
Hang in there! You can do this! Keep your head up…and stick to it! :)
Michelle
Angie, have you tried goat’s milk yogurt? Some tolerate it better than cow’s milk yogurt. For me it was the opposite. You have to experiment if things aren’t working as Elaine says they should.
Also, this is tricky to explain, but sometimes symptoms of diarrhea mean your body is flushing itself of bad bacteria and toxins. It can be a good thing, but if it doesn’t improve over time, then it’s not a good thing. It’s hard to know when it’s good vs. bad. But you are seeing improvement in your mood, which is HUGE should not be ignored. It’s a sign that the diet is working.
Here’s why, the intestines has MORE neurotransmitters than the nervous system. YES, it’s true. http://www.wisegeek.com/which-has-more-neurotransmitters-your-gut-or-your-brain.htm There’s even a new medical field called neurogastroenterology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogastroenterology
In people with bowel diseases, the intestines are so damaged that they can’t get nutrients from food. But in your case, because you are seeing improvements in brain function, it means you are able to absorb the nutrients from the legal SCD food you are eating.
Also, some medications can cause diarrhea, something to consider.
Hi Angie,
MY ADVISE TO ANY ONE WOULD BE TO SPEAK TO A DIETITION PRIOR FOLLOWING ANY RECOMMENDATION FROM THE SCD DIET!
I tried the SCD diet for 4 months. I was very strict. But unfortunately the only thing I acheived was to go dangerously under weight. My symptoms did not improve at all!
I am now off the diet and follwing a balanced diet from a qualified dietition for the hospital and gaining weight. My symptoms have improved slightly. I will put a post of the balanced diet in the next couple of days that may help you.
Good luck and bless….
I am really looking forward to Dan’s Balanced Diet from his nutritionist! I too went to a Nutritionist. while on the prednisone i have been eating almost anything and no symptons.. I am taking advantage now as i needed to gain weight back i have gained 13 pounds thank goodness. I have 3 weeks left on Pred so i am really nervous on what foods to eat I really DO NOT want another flare up !!! My nutritionist has me on Omega 3 vits and probiotic. Has anyone looked at the website IBS.com?? she has some great recipes and it’s all about proper digestion. Every one is so different .. good luck to all! Lori
Hi Angie, my name is Linda, and my son, who is 6, has been doing the diet for 12 days now. Right there with you on adjusting to the diet, as we are doing it together as a family. I can tell you we probably ate sweets, especially chocolate, every other day. My son is curently taking Asacol, Prednisone, Imuran, and Remicade. My goal for this diet is to give him back his health and to get him off of all of these monstrous drugs! My son has also not seen any BIG results yet, but I can tell you his bowel movements per day have decreased, but he still gets the diarhea with blood every day. The diet has been challenging, and it does require a whole lot of patience, but as each day goes by, it’s becoming a way of life for us and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. He has actually gotten more tired since doing the diet, but I think his body is also recovering from all the bm,fevers, and dehydration. As all us SCDers learn, your body is ridding itself of all the bad bacteria first, before we can see results of the good bacteria working. I can tell you since finding this support site, thanks Adam! and everyone on here for your support and comments, it has been a huge relief for me just to let things get off my chest as I worry constantly about my son and just want him to live a normal life. Please, stick with the diet and give it chance. the rewards will be totally worth it in the end.
Are you still eating chocolate? Be careful not to eat anything that contradicts the goals of the diet. You won’t see good results.
Angie,
Look through this information from pecanbread.com.
http://pecanbread.com/p/how/success1
Brows the links at the top. It will prevent you from making a lot of frustrating mistakes with the SCD (like I did).
The yogurt may not agree with you right away, and Ried is right, goat’s milk may be better, but I hate the yogurt it makes. Try introducing the yogurt more slowly–Like a tablespoon/day, then gradually increase.
Good luck. Don’t quit. Adam’s right– Give it 30-60 days before you make a judgement. Track your diet and your symptoms along the way–it will help give you encouragement.
I think seeing your energy levels go up is a good sign that the diet will give you improvements.
Don’t give up! It takes time but it is sooo worth it. Sometimes you feel worse before you get better (die off symptoms) that happened with me. By day 17 of the diet I was starting to notice serious improvements!
Good luck!
SO, a big thanks for all the comments and support! Funny how support from complete strangers can really give you a boost in a positive way! I have been extremely cautious and have only put “legal” foods into my body since day 1. However, yesterday…I ate at a restaurant with my husband and kids…I ordered a salad, since that was all that was scd friendly on the menu! I haven’t really been eating “raw” veggies because of my beginning stage but I figured since it was “legal” it won’t do a lot of harm. (just for the record, I had NO dressing.) Today, I woke up SO unbelieveably grumpy, down, had no energy, very short tempered and extremely fatigued. It was hell getting through the day with my kids. I just started reviewing what I ate yesterday and low and behold…it just dawned on me that the cheese that was on my salad was shredded cheddar. Cheddar is legal, but prepackaged shredded (which I’m sure it was) has illegals hidden in it! Unbelievable how sensitive my system is! I’m sure it was the diet-slip up that caused me to feel like this today! Amazing! Live and Learn I guess! I’m very determined to continue with the diet and look forward to it’s results. (in a way, I feel like a little kid waiting for my birthday to come, isn’t that funny?!)
I started the intro diet about 14 days ago. But, I wasn’t very good at it and every other day I’d eat something that would bring the symptoms back. Baked leg quarters from the grocer caused my latest…Funny how the flavorings used on store bought chicken are loaded with sugar, soy and milk products. I learned my lesson. Anyway, I’ve been very strict these past 3 days except I take a multi, omega 3’s and a probiotic. I’m doing the broth, chicken, carrots, etc. with a little hamburger thrown in. No eggs. No yogurt. No juice or gelatin. The blood and diarrhea have disappeared after being with me for the last year. Simply amazing. I think the key to the intro is simplifying it as much as you need to get it to work. One needs to be very careful of milk products.